Cars We Love & Who We Are
More than the polished parts and hard to find pieces, the special interest vehicles people collect embody the character of each owner. “Cars We Love & Who We Are” profiles individual special interest vehicles and the proud owner committed to its preservation.
Conversations with People We Value
Talking with skilled professionals who support our passion for collectible automobiles.
Roads We Remember
Some roads discovered far from home reward us with a once in a lifetime driving experience. Others are old friends revisited to elevate our spirits and celebrate the joy of life behind the wheel.
In Search of the 7th Royale Series – All the Episodes Here
Cars We Love & Who We Are #16
Especially for guys alive when the Jets last won a Super Bowl, identifying future stewards of car enthusiast culture represents a real concern. There exists a certain uneasiness as they straddle the intersection of history and hope.
From time to time Drivin’ News enjoys exploring exciting and positive examples of the hope. Some weeks ago teenage demolition derby driver Christian Farquhar spoke about his passion for smashin’.
Now, comes the story of two inspired and talented young racing enthusiasts. Partnering in a shared unconventional vision with a shoestring budget, these BMW aficionados plan to intrude on the local JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) dominance in drifting with a worked 1990 BMW E30 coupe.
Meet Dominick Carluccio and Jamie Cooper.
Wurst Käse Motorsports
Left: Jamie Cooper Right: Dominick Carluccio
In their mid-twenties, whip smart and quick to laugh, both Dominick and Jamie speak fast car fluently with a distinct euro-performance accent.
The whole drifting thing had not been the inspiration for their initial 1990 E30 coupe project. Dom bought the car simply because he liked it. However, the car itself inspired the drifting dream. Dom says, “We were amazed by how well it handled and the power from that 2.5-liter inline 6.” Clearly they felt the E30 had the bones to make a hell of a drift car. Seeing is believing and what they were about to see set their smoking wheels in motion and gave birth to their joint venture, Wurst Kase Motorsports.
Jamie says, “It all came together about a year or so ago, Dom and I went to a drifting event at Virginia International Race Track and by chance connected with drifting team “Insane Wayz.” “Insane Wayz” campaigns on the Professional Formula Drift (Formula D) circuit with a BMW E30 powered by the original M20 engine hooked up to a turbo diesel Cummins turbo. Accepting a generous offer from an “Insane Wayz” team member, they received a full tour of the car. Both Dom and Jamie took notice of how well everything fit together and functioned.
Rear clip of E30 4-door
Dom says, “We’re just sitting there reviewing all the modifications and we are going ‘we could do that and we could do that. Yeah, we could do it!” Returning home they immediately bought two 1990 E30s with a vision of turning them into one badass […]
Cars We Love & Who We Are #15
Even before Covid, the internet expanded the scope of car enthusiast interactions to a global scale. BaT, blogs, forums, etc. profoundly extended our reach. At times far beyond our grasp. Covid simply doubled down on our reliance on the Web as our personal intermediary in conducting transactions especially those involving purchasing things like vintage cars. What could go wrong?
“A lot,” says friend of Drivin’ News, Tom LoRusso.
Singing the CarGurus no title blues
Tom LoRusso with his untitled 2001 BMW 740i Sport
Titanium Silver Metallic 2001 BMW 740i Sport with Gray leather interior, Tom LoRusso knew exactly what he wanted. Over time he had missed a couple of opportunities. Undeterred, he soldiered on. In late February of 2020 an apparently beautiful example popped up on Cargurus.com. It was a California car. Tom, an experienced mechanic in a earlier life, conducted his due diligence. Photos looked great. Carfax produced no red flags. Next step would put him in touch with an experienced BMW mechanic in California to do an onsite PPI (Pre-Purchase Inspection). The report back confirmed that Tom had found a sweet example of his heart’s desire. Tom pulled the trigger.
With a price agreed, and the broker’s confirmation of title, Tom arranged shipping and transferred the money.
Before shipping, the broker emailed all the paper work for Tom’s electronic signature. He confirmed the title would be coming. Tom had emphasized that he would not take the car without a title.
It took a week or so to ship the car to Tom’s home in New Jersey. A brilliant spring sun gave life to the well preserved silver metallic paint as the BMW eased down the carrier ramp. It displayed the condition and quality Tom had expected. Two days later the ownership paperwork came in the mail. Right about this time Covid-19 became news and went viral, so to speak. Tom accepted that Covid would complicate matters and prepared to patiently await his opportunity to register the BMW in New Jersey. During that time he would drive using the temporary California tags. As the lockdown dragged on past the 30-day limit of his California tags, Tom felt significant relief with news that, due to Covid, New Jersey had extended the legal life of temporary tags. Then, in July, long awaited relief arrived.
News reports announced that the […]
Conversations With People We Value #14
As car enthusiasts we revel in the beauty, the performance and the perfection of the vehicles we love. We also recognize that for the vast majority of us the skills required to properly maintain the 4-wheeled objects of our affection exceed our level of expertise. The responsibility for preserving our classic automobiles at a high level rests on the shoulders of a shrinking body of skilled artisans. As these gifted craftsmen age out of the community we find ourselves painfully aware of their critical value in preserving the health of our classic car hobby. Once plentiful, this, now, dwindling breed features men who rank as savants in their respective fields. None more so than Steve Ellis.
Rebuild it and they will come –
The life of Carburetor Steve
Steve Ellis with custom tri-power for a Chevy small block
Sitting on Steve’s work bench, the three Weber carburetors belong to a 1964 Ferrari Lusso. Steve, in the process of explaining his complete rebuild of the, now, perfect threesome, gets interrupted by a guy who bursts through the door announcing his entry with a warning. “This box stinks! Careful when you open it.” Within the stinking box resides the carburetor for a 1948 Dodge sedan afflicted with vintage gas from before Hess sold toy trucks. As Steve says, “Welcome to my world.”
1948 Dodge 1-barrel and 1964 Ferrari Lusso Weber tri-power
Better known and revered as Carburetor Steve, Steve Ellis has displayed his total mastery of everything “carburetor” for 41 years with the last 37 years spent in his own business, Steve’s Carburetor Shop in Lyndhurst, New Jersey. Totally at home and at ease amidst a thoughtfully organized chaos of carburetor innards and completed foreign and domestic setups, his shop features completed examples of vintage carburetion ranging from the mundane to the exotic.
Since Steve began, profound changes driven by emissions requirements, computers and performance demands have morphed the nature of carburetor rebuilding. Over the last 40 years Steve’s business has pivoted from an emphasis on supporting a vast population of primarily generic travel appliances to providing life support for the vehicles owned by automobile enthusiasts dedicated to enjoying the landmark cars that brought the 20th century’s golden age of the automobile to life.
Steve says
, […]
Here’s this week’s question:
Most taxis found in American cities in the mid-20th century were made by one company. Name the company.
Answer to last week’s question:
In “Little Old Lady from Pasadena” what car did she drive and what was the car’s color? – Shiny red Super Stock Dodge
About the blogger
Burton Hall has written for an automotive client list that includes Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Maserati, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Peugeot and Volvo. He has also written for The Washington Post, AutoWeek, Corvette Monthly, Jaguar Magazine, BMW Magazine, Hemmings.com, Hagerty Magazine and numerous auto restoration buff books.
A member of the Society of Automotive Historians, he, in 2014, created and has since taught the adult school program “Collectible automobiles as a passion.” In 2020 he originated and has since produced the Drivin’ News blog.
As a classic car hobbyist, He owns a 1961 Corvette that he bought in 1967, a 1953 Jaguar XK120MC Drophead Coupe that he restored after finding it disassembled in a barn in 1980, a 2003 BMW 330i he bought new and a 1951 MG TD that presently serves as a planter and centerpiece in his garden. All are great drivers, except the MG which has a few bugs.
RECENT POSTS
02/02/26 – A Winter Rebirth? Deciding Whether to Recondition My Aging Daily Driver
01/12/26 – Aging Beloved Daily Driver Quandary: Refresh or Replace
12/08/25 – Visiting old writings from the Hemmings bible
11/10/25 – A Car Guy Offers Lessons in Taking Misfortune in Stride
10/20/25 – Intuitive Genius Wielding a Hammer and Chisel
09/05/25 – Classic Autos and Autism, Sharing a Journey to Betterment
08/11/25 – Every Car Tells a Story, Here are 6 Good Ones
07/20/25 – 2025 Mille Miglia; Hot Town, Summer in the City
07/01/25 – In Search of the Lost 7th Royale – (Part 3. Episode 20 – A Snowball’s Chance)
06/14/25 – In search of the Lost 7th Royale – (Part 3, Episode 19 – Frozen Freeway to Freedom)
05/29/25 – In search of the Lost 7th Royale – (Part 3, Episode 18 – End Game)
05/15/25 – In Search of the Lost 7th Royale – (Part 3, Episode 17 – The Best Laid Plans)
05/01/25 – In Search of the Lost 7th Royale – (Part 3, Episode 16 – Bugatti Royale Resurrection)
04/17/25 – In Search of the Lost 7th Royale – (Part 3, Episode 15 – The Ultimate Barn Find)
04/09/25 – In Memoriam – Driving My Sister to Mobile
03/20/25 – In Search of the Lost 7th Royale (Part 3, Episode 13 – Return to a Heart of Darkness)
02/20/25 – In Search of the Lost 7th Royale (Part 2, Episode 11 – A Wounded Bird Points the Way)
02/06/25 – In Search of the Lost 7th Royale (Part 2, Episode 10 – Harrowing Escape into an Unknown Future)
01/23/25 – In Search of the Lost 7th Royale (Part 2, Episode 9 – Priceless Bugatti Lost in the Fog of War)
01/10/25 – Automotive Crimes and the Man Who Solved Many of Them, Talks AirTags, Fobs and Much More Pt. 2
12/04/24 – Jaguars Trans-formation into the New Coke of Automobile Re-branding
11/21/24 – New York City Automotive Crimes and the Man Who Solved Many of Them Pt 1
10/20/24 – The Charming Terror of Driving on Ireland’s Back Roads
09/14/24 – A Secret Sauce and Successful Recipe for Mixing Kids and Classic Cars
08/25/24 – America’s First Car Show for Kids?
08/01/24 – Classic Trucks Loaded With Memories
07/11/24 – Making It Happen: Collectible Car Fair for Kids and Teens
06/20/24 – This Mr. “T” Sells 100-year old Fords to German Car Enthusiasts
06/06/24 – When Car Rustlers Stalk eBay, What Does eBay Do?
05/18/24 – Loving but Leaving the Blue Ridge
03/28/24 – Collectible Car Fair for Kids and Teens
03/14/24 – A Sharp Engineer’s Insights Inspires a Quantum Leap in Methanol Injection
02/29/24 – Betraying the Brand or Smart Business? Part II
02/15/24 – Betraying the Brand or Smart Business? Part I
02/01/24 – The Black Adder VI, An Outrageous Hot Rod Bentley
01/18/24 – Defining Collectible Car
11/23/23 – Amish Buggies, Where Worlds Collide but No One Crashes
11/09/23 – An Old Car Guy Goes Face-to-Face With Facebook Marketplace
10/26/23 – What’s a Burton
10/12/23 – Carvana Confusion – Dude Where’s My Car?
09/28/23 – Mobility Matters – Navigating life in a wheelchair
09/14/23 – MG Shatters Records on Hitler’s Salt Flats in the Shadow of WWII
08/17/23 – In search of the 7th Royale (Part 1 – Episode 8)
08/03/23 – In search of the 7th Royale (Part 1 – Episode 7)
07/20/23 – In Search of the 7th Royale (Part 1 – Episode 6)
07/06/23 – In Search of the 7th Royale (Part 1 – Episode 5)
06/22/23 – In Search of the 7th Royale (Part 1 – Episode 4)
06/08/23 – In search of the 7th Royale (Part 1 – Episode 3)
05/25/23 – In Search of the 7th Royale (Part 1 – Episode 2)
05/11/23 – In Search of the 7th Royale (Part 1 – Episode 1)
04/27/23 – Charlie Ross, Gooding’s Master of the Auction Rostrum
04/13/23 – Trapped by a Forest of Trucks
04/03/23 – Hundred-year old Bulldog, Beloved but Doomed?
03/16/23 – Read the car, not the book and other words of wisdom that pave a path to Pebble Beach
03/02/23 – Woulda, Shoulda, Coulda with one of America’s most important cars
02/16/23 – A Silver Ghost story. Real or Fake. You decide.
02/03/23 – Fanfare for an uncommon man. A decorated soldier passes at 98.
01/19/23 – Dr. Fred Simeone’s Mona Lisa car legacy. Part 2. Fascinating backstories of cars he preserved.
01/05/23 – Dr. Fred Simeone’s love, vision and priceless racing legacy Part 1
12/08/22 – Driving to history, Visiting America’s oldest tavern and the man who saved it
11/24/22 – How to manage down a classic car collection
11/10/22 – Saving the farm, Barry Wood’s beach club in the Blue Ridge
10/27/22 – When the collection outlives the collector, a daughter’s point of view
09/29/22 – Benny Bryant’s 50-years of building Blue Ridge beauties
09/15/22 – Visiting a community built for car enthusiasts
09/01/22 – Reaching the heights of her dreams on the wings of a deHavilland Beaver
08/18/22 – 35 Below, 16 Dogs, 13 Days. Angie tackles Alaska’s Iditarod.
08/04/22 – Let’s create a Concours d’Elegance. OK…How?
06/23/22 – Does original matter anymore?
06/09/22 – Judged the 32 most historically significant cars in America. Do you agree?
05/26/22 – Hagerty automotive heritage dream conference. Gone for good?
05/12/22 – A Devin’s 47-year journey from scrap heap to Pebble Beach
04/28/22 – Hot Road Missionary and his monster machines
04/14/22 – The monster truck that nearly crushed Volvo
03/31/22 – Drank with Arlo. Dated Alice. Tuned Evel’s motorcycle. They call him Pinto.
03/17/22 – Mr. Thomas’s forest of old Porsches, VW buses and more
03/03/22 – Taking the Skyline Drive to explore the dusty attic of Virginia car culture
02/17/22 – Return of the Zipper King
02/03/22 – Karaoke, Elon Musk’s new weapon to fight driving doldrums
01/20/22 – When blue highways turn white
01/06/22 – Blue highways, back roads – If not now when?
12/09/21 – Hot rod love, family style
11/25/21 – Cars & Caffe’s Tony Boniello is always looking to brew up something new
11/11/21 – Randy the Rodfather and his Green “T” hot rod
10/28/21 – Provenance – Uncovering your car’s backstory
10/14/21 – Comparing classic car sales platforms
09/30/21 – Evolution of the new car brochure (Part II)
09/16/21 – A hot rod life defined by abundance not lack
09/02/21 – The man they trust to rebuild history
08/19/21 – Bring what you love
08/05/21 – Exploring our power within
07/15/21 – Evolution of the new car brochure (Part 1)
07/01/21 – The sputtering Mosquito and the Virgin Loretto
06/17/21 – Raymond Loewy’s 1970s Soviet world car adventure
06/03/21 – 90 GTOs, 30 Corvettes and counting
05/20/21 – An inspired venture to preserve American craftsmanship and vintage Airstream trailers
05/06/20 – When the find is the barn
04/22/21 – Man Cave Garage Sale unmasks Covid boredom
04/08/21 – The odd couple in Vinny Plotino’s garage
03/25/21 – Lemans 1978 – A young man’s memories
03/11/21 – A Sherman tank’s incredible journey from Nyack, NY to the final episode of M.A.S.H.
02/25/21 – Jaguar Archive – Preserving the soul of the brand
02/18/21 – Carried away by Bring a Trailer
02/11/21 – Hollywood dentist Dr. George Schweiger’s fantastic stable of future classic car rentals
01/28/21 – And then, Nuccio Bertone signaled for his personal Miura
01/21/21 – Behind the wheel of a time machine
01/14/21 – Wurst Kase Motorsports
01/07/21 – Singing the CarGurus no title blues
12/24/20 – Rebuild it and they will come – The life of Carburetor Steve
12/10/20 – A Volvo Christmas Classic – “It’s a Vunderful Life”
12/03/20 – Carnucopia II – Classic Car Food Drive
11/26/20 – Vintage Cord binds father and son
11/19/20 – NY Route 9D – A sure cure for Covid boredom
11/12/20 – Confessions of a demolition derby survivor
11/05/20 – Sons of Danger – Mad Men on wheels
10/29/20 – VW Bug restoration is no joke. Ask Jerry Seinfeld
10/22/20 – Guatemala and back in a Karmann Ghia
10/08/20 – A classic Corvette and a soldier’s old letters connect to a kid brother’s memories
10/01/20 – American Pickers meets Hunger Games on a country road
09/24/20 – Crash course for an underage driver
09/17/20 – Playboy Bunnies in the rearview mirror
09/10/20 – The journey is the reward
09/03/20 – More than the next chapter, it’s the next book – Life 2.0
08/27/20 – Old School Larry
08/20/20 – In celebration of a life off the leash
08/13/20 – Asleep at the wheel – Rest Stop Recovery
08/06/20 – Rt. 17A – A sweet ride to Sugarloaf
07/30/20 – What’s a”Vineyard truck?”
07/16/20 – The woman picks up where the girl left off
07/09/20 – When time and other things stand still
07/02/20 – Drive-In movies, Back to the future
06/25/20 – Mystery of the vanishing Indian Motorcycle sign
06/18/20 – Dagavar’s Jaguar, the truth at last
06/11/20 – TAKE-OUT, Lifeline to the future
06/04/20 – Henry Hudson Drive
05/28/20 – CARnucopia Food Drive Results
05/21/20 – CARnucopia
05/14/20 – Collectible Car Culture in a Pandemic
05/07/20 – Austin Healey? Nope, It’s Austin’s Crosley!
04/30/20 – Storm King Highway
04/23/20 – Children We Love
04/16/20 – Mustang Madness Revisited
