The collector car journalStories worth keeping. Cars worth knowing.
A collector’s workbench, surrounded by carded Hot Wheels cars and the kind of display that turns a few toy cars into a serious automotive collection.
The opening story
Collecting

Hot Wheels Collectors Are Driving a Real Car Market of Their Own

For years, Hot Wheels collecting looked like a harmless aisle-side habit: a kid asking for one more $1.25 car while Dad quietly slipped a ’69 Camaro into the cart for “the boy.” Sure, Dad. We’ve all seen this movie. I still have the very first Hot Wheels car I ever owned: a 1967 Camaro my best friend gave me when I was five. At some point, I set it on a furnace and melted the wheels. All four had flat spots afterward, which would later turn out to be useful proof of ownership.

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The latest reads

Cars, people and stories.
A closer look at the collector world.

A collector’s workbench, surrounded by carded Hot Wheels cars and the kind of display that turns a few toy cars into a serious automotive collection.01
Collecting4 min read

Hot Wheels Collectors Are Driving a Real Car Market of Their Own

For years, Hot Wheels collecting looked like a harmless aisle-side habit: a kid asking for one more $1.25 car while Dad quietly slipped a ’69 Camaro into the cart for “the boy.” Sure, Dad. We’ve all seen this movie. I still have the very first Hot Wheels car I ever owned: a 1967 Camaro my best friend gave me when I was five. At some point, I set it on a furnace and melted the wheels. All four had flat spots afterward, which would later turn out to be useful proof of ownership.

Dean Kirkland - Editor
A 1960s V12 Ferrari faces a modern hybrid supercar under the auction lights—the collector market’s old money versus its newest gamble.04
Collecting3 min read

The Collector-Car Market Has a Fever—But It’s Not Contagious

If you want the current temperature of the collector-car market, here it is: the room is warm, the bar is open, and the serious buyers are still spending money like a government contractor with a deadline. But they are no longer buying every shiny object that rolls across the stage. The market has gotten smarter. Or at least more selective, which is about as close as the collector-car world gets to therapy.

Dean Kirkland - Editor
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Classic cars and enthusiasts at a sunrise coffee stop.
The Roadbook

WHAT’S HAPPENING
near your garage.

Cars & Coffee, concours, auctions, track days, shows and the occasional good excuse to take the long way home.

Today through the next two months · within 100 miles.
Reader’s Car

Cars from the people
who drive them.

One owner, one car, and the details that make it worth knowing. Browse the archive →

A Reader’s Car feature starring a well-used GT350
Reader Feature

Fifty Years With a 1965 Shelby GT350

In 1976, the used-car lot was crowded with ordinary family sedans, tired pickup trucks, and a few aging muscle cars that nobody considered collectible. Sitting near the back was a Wimbledon White 1965 Shelby GT350 with Guardsman Blue stripes.

Dean Kirkland · Editor
Read the story →

From Barnaby’s
files.

The finds, the collections, the conversations. Films and features from the original Motorcar Society.

The Scarab F1 story — original Motorcar Society archive image

Motor sport / archive

The Scarab F1 story

Inside the collections — original Motorcar Society archive image

People & collections

Inside the collections

Building a Bugatti — original Motorcar Society archive image

In the workshop

Building a Bugatti

The Barnaby Chronicles — original Motorcar Society archive image

Discoveries & stories

The Barnaby Chronicles

Archive images and films preserved in the Motorcar Society collection.Browse the archive →
The Dean’s List
Dean Kirkland on PowerTube TV

From the screen.
Into the story.

Dean’s take on the cars, colors and characters that shaped automotive history.

The Apollo GT
Latest Dean’s List story

The Apollo GT: Hollywood’s Forgotten Italian-American

There was a time when Hollywood understood cars. During the 1960s, a great movie car didn’t need a committee-approved backstory, computer-generated tire smoke, or an actor explaining why the machine mattered. The car rolled into frame, the engine fired, and you understood everything you needed to know.

Enter The Dean’s List →

From the archive

01The Apollo GT: Hollywood’s Forgotten Italian-AmericanRead →02British Racing Green Was Never Just One GreenRead →
Meet the Motorcar Society

A lifetime
around cars.
Plenty to tell.

Barnaby Brokaw knows the cars. He knows the people. And he knows that the best part of a collection is often the story that comes with it.

Motorcar Society brings those stories together with films, photographs and a closer look at the collector car world. From a long-stored find to a car that gets driven every weekend, there’s a place for it here.

Spend some time with Barnaby →

The film & story archive

Nine selections from the collection.

01 · videoA Porsche 356 comes back into view02 · videoAaron Weiss Collection03 · videoAmelia Island04 · videoArt Center College05 · videoBarn Find Cobra's06 · videoBarn Find F Bird07 · videoBella Italia — San Diego08 · videoBentley Find of a Lifetime09 · videoBreakers and Cavallino
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