Joy of Driving: The F40 & 675LT Spider
This past Saturday was a glorious day. Not a cloud in the sky, temperatures in the mid 70sF, and with Mrs. SSO booked into a local spa for half a day of pampering, I was left with the perfect opportunity to pull a couple of cars out of the garage and just go enjoy a drive. First up was the…
5- Karenable
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The Ultimate Collector’s Automobiles: The “Club” Cars
A few weeks ago, I was having a very enjoyable and enlightening conversation with a gentleman who has forgotten more about cars than I will ever know. One of the topics we discussed was what made one car more valuable than another and what was that magically attribute that all the ultimate high value collector’s cars have in common. While…
- 5
- Karenable
Maintenance Costs – The McLarens 2021 Update
I do get a lot of questions about supercar maintenance costs. Personally, I have tended to view this as a highly dangerous topic to document given Mrs. SSO does read all the articles I post. However, having taken the risk last year without any serious repercussions, and as we have completed another service cycle, I thought an update would be…
- 5
- Karenable
Ferrari’s Q1 2021 Results
Both Aston Martin & Ferrari reported their Q1 2021 results last week. Ferrari had an excellent quarter, even by pre Covid standards, and then was rewarded by a 10% drop in its stock price due to announcing that they were pushing back the 2022 financial goals by one year. Aston Martin also took a 10% hit to its stock price…
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Aston Martin Q1 2021 Results
Both Aston Martin & Ferrari reported their Q1 2021 results this week. Ferrari had an excellent quarter, even by pre Covid standards, and then was rewarded by a 10% drop in its stock price. Aston Martin also took a 10% hit to its stock price this week after reporting both a top and bottom line that beat analyst expectations. While…
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Aston Martin Q1 2021 Results
Both Aston Martin & Ferrari reported their Q1 2021 results this week. Ferrari had an excellent quarter, even by pre Covid standards, and then was rewarded by a 10% drop in its stock price. Aston Martin also took a 10% hit to its stock price this week after reporting both a top and bottom line that beat analyst expectations. While…
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Does McLaren Really Have Too Many Models?
One of the better known Car Influencers, Doug DeMuro, recently did a video titled “McLaren Has Too Many Special Cars”. A number of people have sent me the video and asked me if I he has a point. To be able to properly answer that question, I had to sit down and actually watch the video, all 14 minutes and…
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Thoughts: Ferrari SUV, Aston Martin, SCG, GMA & More
I thought I would share a few thoughts and observations on a number of things that have recently caught my attention in the auto universe. None of these has enough depth for a full blog in their own right but thought they were still worthy of sharing. What the future will look like in six months is anyone’s guess but…
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Aston Martin’s Q4 & Full Year 2020 Results
Aston Martin announced their Q4 and full year 2020 results this week. In December, Executive Chairman Lawrence Stroll gave an interview to the Financial Times in which he stated that “demand right now is phenomenal” so I have been eagerly waiting to find out what Stroll’s definition of phenomenal is as certainly the first three quarters of 2020 were a…
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5 Supercars I’m Looking Forward to Driving in 2021
Sitting here on a cold wet Saturday morning with sheets of rain sweeping across the front lawn brings back fond memories of summer drives in Scotland. The potential that we might be able to take a long road trip or two later this year is incredibly appealing. With 2021 bringing hope that normalcy may return at some point, it has…
- 5
- Karenable
Thoughts: Ferrari SUV, Aston Martin, SCG, GMA & More
I thought I would share a few thoughts and observations on a number of things that have recently caught my attention in the auto universe. None of these has enough depth for a full blog in their own right but thought they were still worthy of sharing. What the future will look like in six months is anyone’s guess but…
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Monterey Car Week Report 2019
This was our first time at Monterey Car Week. I would probably best describe Car Week as combination of the Goodwood Festival of Speed and the Goodwood Revival spread out over multiple stunning locations and then supersized in the best American tradition. We arrived on Wednesday late afternoon and departed the following Monday morning (see: McLaren 675LT Spider Road Trip). In between, it was…
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Bentley Continental GT Speed Convertible
Weekend With A Bentley Continental GT Speed Convertible Courtesy of Park Place, our local supercar dealer, we recently spent a few days living with a Bentley Continental GT Speed Convertible. Bentley is a brand that has been slowly growing on me over the last couple of months. This transformation started with the Mulsanne short termer we had last autumn. While…
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Bentley Bentayga
Weekend With A Bentley Bentayga We recently spent 36 hours living with a Bentley Bentayga. Our loaner car was a pearly white and instantly earned the nickname “Beluga”. Going in, it was a car I wanted to hate. It represents just about everything I try to avoid when choosing a preferred mode of transportation. It is huge, heavy, and about…
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Joy of Driving: The F40 & 675LT Spider
This past Saturday was a glorious day. Not a cloud in the sky, temperatures in the mid 70sF, and with Mrs. SSO booked into a local spa for half a day of pampering, I was left with the perfect opportunity to pull a couple of cars out of the garage and just go enjoy a drive. First up was the…
- 5
- Karenable
The Ultimate Collector’s Automobiles: The “Club” Cars
A few weeks ago, I was having a very enjoyable and enlightening conversation with a gentleman who has forgotten more about cars than I will ever know. One of the topics we discussed was what made one car more valuable than another and what was that magically attribute that all the ultimate high value collector’s cars have in common. While…
- 5
- Karenable
Ferrari’s Q1 2021 Results
Both Aston Martin & Ferrari reported their Q1 2021 results last week. Ferrari had an excellent quarter, even by pre Covid standards, and then was rewarded by a 10% drop in its stock price due to announcing that they were pushing back the 2022 financial goals by one year. Aston Martin also took a 10% hit to its stock price…
- 5
- Karenable
Does McLaren Really Have Too Many Models?
One of the better known Car Influencers, Doug DeMuro, recently did a video titled “McLaren Has Too Many Special Cars”. A number of people have sent me the video and asked me if I he has a point. To be able to properly answer that question, I had to sit down and actually watch the video, all 14 minutes and…
- 5
- Karenable
Our Former Ferraris – Where Are They Now?
For most cars, once you sell them, that’s the end of the relationship. In the supercar world, that’s not necessarily the case. Over the last 18 years we have owned 16 Ferraris. Of the 16, 15 have gone off to be cherished, or inflict financial ruin, on new owners. Of about half of those 15, I am either aware of…
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Planning Our 1st Epic Drive of 2021
I have hope that things will get better this year with the roll out of the Covid-19 vaccines and that by September or October a road trip will be possible. In great anticipation, I reached out to a group of friends with whom we have been doing road trips for over a decade now to gauge interest. It’s a great…
- 5
- Karenable
To Cork or Not to Cork?
Editor’s Note: The following article was written by my brother, the Wine Collector (his wine cellar is probably worth more than my garage). The Wine Collector is a bit of a car enthusiast himself and he has owned a Ferrari 430 Spider for many years. Do screw cap wines and supercars go together? You don’t buy a Ferrari or a…
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Supercar Road Trip: Part 3
We recently moved from Texas back to near where I grew up in New England. As part of the move, Mrs. SSO and I decided to drive the Maserati Granturismo Cabrio and the McLaren 650S Spider respectively the 1,800 miles northeast. This would be the first time Mrs. SSO and I had done a road trip driving in tandem. As…
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Supercar Road Trip: Part 1
We recently moved from Texas back to near where I grew up in New England. As part of the move, Mrs. SSO and I decided to drive the Maserati Granturismo Cabrio and the McLaren 650S Spider respectively the 1,800 miles northeast. This would be the first time Mrs. SSO and I had done a road trip driving in tandem. As…
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Chicago
Chicago: A Great American City By Mrs. SSO While I normally write about Hotels, that was just a functional aspect of a recent trip to Chicago with Mr. SSO. Chicago is right up there with other great International Cities. It is so much more than being home to the Chicago Bears Football Team or the Chicago Cubs Baseball Team (although when you…
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The Use Case Rule of Car Collecting
Earlier this year I met a wise experienced car connoisseur over zoom (it is 2020). This gentleman has owned a number of cars that have also passed through our garage over the years (including a Ferrari F50, 16M, McLaren 675LT) along with at least one that I can only dream of (McLaren F1). He introduced me to the “Use Case…
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Our Other Sports Cars
Almost all of the articles I’ve written have been on the supercars we have owned over the years. Both before and alongside these cars, we have also owned a number of other sports cars over the years that have remained anonymous. I thought I would do a bit of a trip down memory lane on the rather eclectic group of…
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Ferrari F50 to the Jaguar XJR-15
Car Collecting Journey: Ferrari F50 to the Jaguar XJR-15 Recently I wrote an article on our experience owning a Ferrari F50 (The Ferrari F50). Looking back today, owning the F50 was a watershed experience in our car collecting journey. It both changed the direction, and has heavily influenced, all our car buying since. The F50 firmly cemented several critical attributes we look for in…
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Collecting Supercars
Recently I exchanged a few messages with a gentleman who was looking for a bit of advice on plans for his car collection. I quite enjoyed the exchange and hope I was able to provide at least a modicum of useful insights. I found the experience fascinating as it forced me to reflect back on our car collecting experiences over the last…
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Supercars We Have Sold
Supercar Ghosts With the McLaren Senna arriving shortly, I have been reflecting back on the different supercars I have owned over the years. They basically fall into three groups; missed and would like it back, enjoyed owning but it was time to move on, and thank god it’s gone. For the sake of brevity, I will only touch upon my…
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Joy of Driving: The F40 & 675LT Spider
This past Saturday was a glorious day. Not a cloud in the sky, temperatures in the mid 70sF, and with Mrs. SSO booked into a local spa for half a day of pampering, I was left with the perfect opportunity to pull a couple of cars out of the garage and just go enjoy a drive. First up was the…
- 5
- Karenable
The Ultimate Collector’s Automobiles: The “Club” Cars
A few weeks ago, I was having a very enjoyable and enlightening conversation with a gentleman who has forgotten more about cars than I will ever know. One of the topics we discussed was what made one car more valuable than another and what was that magically attribute that all the ultimate high value collector’s cars have in common. While…
- 5
- Karenable
Maintenance Costs – The McLarens 2021 Update
I do get a lot of questions about supercar maintenance costs. Personally, I have tended to view this as a highly dangerous topic to document given Mrs. SSO does read all the articles I post. However, having taken the risk last year without any serious repercussions, and as we have completed another service cycle, I thought an update would be…
- 5
- Karenable
McLaren’s 2020 Results
McLaren finally got around to reporting their Q4 and full year 2020 results this week on April 28th. Most other publicly traded automotive companies had reported back in February but as a private company McLaren operates under different reporting requirements. When reporting results, unlike both Aston and Ferrari which as public companies host presentations and a Q&A session for analyst’s,…
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McLaren Senna: 2 Years of Ownership
We have owned our McLaren Senna for just under two years now. It is very much a car that I am still learning and bonding with. Its capabilities are immense, and I feel like I have yet to get anywhere near its limits. If there is one word to sum up the Senna its focused. Driving a Senna is intense,…
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The Ultimate Collector’s Automobiles: The “Club” Cars
A few weeks ago, I was having a very enjoyable and enlightening conversation with a gentleman who has forgotten more about cars than I will ever know. One of the topics we discussed was what made one car more valuable than another and what was that magically attribute that all the ultimate high value collector’s cars have in common. While…
- 5
- Karenable
Thoughts: Ferrari SUV, Aston Martin, SCG, GMA & More
I thought I would share a few thoughts and observations on a number of things that have recently caught my attention in the auto universe. None of these has enough depth for a full blog in their own right but thought they were still worthy of sharing. What the future will look like in six months is anyone’s guess but…
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- Karenable
Ferrari & Tesla’s 2020 Results
In the last two weeks, both Ferrari and Tesla have reported their 2020 full year results. This article is the first time I have analyzed Tesla’s results. I decided to do so alongside Ferrari’s as these are the two car companies that Wall Street values very differently from other car companies. Tesla’s current market capitalization of $820 billion is larger…
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Options for Buying & Selling Supercars
Recently I was having a discussion with a gentleman on the different options for buying a supercar, the benefits of each, the potential negatives, and the costs. Over the years I have bought and sold supercars through official dealers, brokers, independents, at auction, and privately. Each of these have there own positives and negatives. If you were going to plot…
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The SSO Awards: 2020
As the final article of what has been an unprecedented year hopefully never to be repeated, at the goading of a good friend, I’ve put together a short 2020 awards list covering the automotive universe in general. In putting the awards list together, I would like to first acknowledge that I have no real basis to be doing so (that’s…
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The Ones That Got Away: F1, Enzo, & a Carrera GT
When I was writing the article on the Ferrari 288GTO, F40, F50, Enzo, & LaFerrari recently, it got me thinking not just about the wonderful cars we have been fortunate enough to own over the years, but also about a few that got away. Of the many acquisitions we have made, there have probably been as many that didn’t happen…
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Supercar & Hypercar Market Update – January 2021
Back in October 2020, I summarized the situation among supercar manufacturers Supercar Market Update Q3 2020 as: So, how does this square with record levels of unemployment and economies that are officially in recession? When you stand back and look at both the actions governments have taken to date and the profile of the average supercar buyer, it actually makes…
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Planning Our 1st Epic Drive of 2021
I have hope that things will get better this year with the roll out of the Covid-19 vaccines and that by September or October a road trip will be possible. In great anticipation, I reached out to a group of friends with whom we have been doing road trips for over a decade now to gauge interest. It’s a great…
- 5
- Karenable
5 Supercars I’m Looking Forward to Driving in 2021
Sitting here on a cold wet Saturday morning with sheets of rain sweeping across the front lawn brings back fond memories of summer drives in Scotland. The potential that we might be able to take a long road trip or two later this year is incredibly appealing. With 2021 bringing hope that normalcy may return at some point, it has…
- 5
- Karenable
The SSO Awards: 2020
As the final article of what has been an unprecedented year hopefully never to be repeated, at the goading of a good friend, I’ve put together a short 2020 awards list covering the automotive universe in general. In putting the awards list together, I would like to first acknowledge that I have no real basis to be doing so (that’s…
- 5
- Karenable
The Bayside Restaurant: Home of New England’s Best Lobster Roll
This is actually the first standalone restaurant review we have ever done. All the prior one’s have been included in road trip reports. However when a restaurant consistently makes the best lobster roll in New England, it has earned the right to have its own review. The Bayside does, and it certainly has, for the two years since we first…
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To Cork or Not to Cork?
Editor’s Note: The following article was written by my brother, the Wine Collector (his wine cellar is probably worth more than my garage). The Wine Collector is a bit of a car enthusiast himself and he has owned a Ferrari 430 Spider for many years. Do screw cap wines and supercars go together? You don’t buy a Ferrari or a…
- 5
- Karenable
Supercar Road Trip: Part 2
We recently moved from Texas back to near where I grew up in New England. As part of the move, Mrs. SSO and I decided to drive the Maserati Granturismo Cabrio and the McLaren 650S Spider respectively the 1,800 miles northeast. This would be the first time Mrs. SSO and I had done a road trip driving in tandem. As…
- 5
- Karenable
Supercar Road Trip: Part 1
We recently moved from Texas back to near where I grew up in New England. As part of the move, Mrs. SSO and I decided to drive the Maserati Granturismo Cabrio and the McLaren 650S Spider respectively the 1,800 miles northeast. This would be the first time Mrs. SSO and I had done a road trip driving in tandem. As…
- 5
- Karenable
Chicago
Chicago: A Great American City By Mrs. SSO While I normally write about Hotels, that was just a functional aspect of a recent trip to Chicago with Mr. SSO. Chicago is right up there with other great International Cities. It is so much more than being home to the Chicago Bears Football Team or the Chicago Cubs Baseball Team (although when you…
- 5
- Karenable
The Ultimate Collector’s Automobiles: The “Club” Cars
A few weeks ago, I was having a very enjoyable and enlightening conversation with a gentleman who has forgotten more about cars than I will ever know. One of the topics we discussed was what made one car more valuable than another and what was that magically attribute that all the ultimate high value collector’s cars have in common. While…
- 5
- Karenable
Thoughts: Ferrari SUV, Aston Martin, SCG, GMA & More
I thought I would share a few thoughts and observations on a number of things that have recently caught my attention in the auto universe. None of these has enough depth for a full blog in their own right but thought they were still worthy of sharing. What the future will look like in six months is anyone’s guess but…
- 5
- Karenable
5 Supercars I’m Looking Forward to Driving in 2021
Sitting here on a cold wet Saturday morning with sheets of rain sweeping across the front lawn brings back fond memories of summer drives in Scotland. The potential that we might be able to take a long road trip or two later this year is incredibly appealing. With 2021 bringing hope that normalcy may return at some point, it has…
- 5
- Karenable
The SSO Awards: 2020
As the final article of what has been an unprecedented year hopefully never to be repeated, at the goading of a good friend, I’ve put together a short 2020 awards list covering the automotive universe in general. In putting the awards list together, I would like to first acknowledge that I have no real basis to be doing so (that’s…
- 5
- Karenable
A Few Thoughts & Observations
As 2020 is thankfully coming to a close, I thought I would share a few thoughts and observations on a number of things in the auto universe. I didn’t think any of these had enough depth for a full blog in their own right but thought they were still worthy of sharing. What 2021 will bring is anyone’s guess but…
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- Karenable
