What Happens at an Annual Inspection
The bill that defines general aviation ownership, what it covers, and how an owner-assisted annual changes both the cost and what you learn.
The Aircraft Pre-Buy Inspection Checklist
On an airplane the logbooks are worth as much as the airframe. Here is what a pre-buy covers and what to check before you spend money on one.
Reviving a Barn-Find Motorcycle
Do not put fuel in it and hit the starter. Here is the order that saves the engine, and you, from a twenty-year layup.
The Sea Trial Checklist
A survey tells you what the boat is. The sea trial tells you what it does. Here is what to make it do while you are still allowed to walk away.
Buying a Classic Car at Auction Without Getting Burned
You cannot test drive it, you cannot sleep on it, and the hammer is final. Here is how to do the work before the lot crosses the block.
The Classic Car Inspection Checklist
What to check, in what order, when you go look at an old car, from the walk-up to the paperwork.
The Paperwork Checklist for Buying a Classic
The title, the numbers and the file folder decide what the car is worth. Check them before you check the paint.
Laying Up and Waking Up a Classic Car
Most of the damage to an old car happens while it is parked. Here is how to put one away properly and bring it back without hurting it.
The First 100 Miles in a New-to-You Classic
The car you just bought has been sitting, and the previous owner's idea of sorted is not yours. Work through this before you trust it.
Putting a Motorcycle Away for Winter, Properly
Every spring, a shop somewhere makes its month cleaning varnished carburetors. Here is how not to be that customer.
What a Marine Surveyor Actually Checks
A walkthrough of a pre-purchase survey, so you know what you are paying for and what to look at yourself before you ever book one.
Shipping a Classic Car, Without Losing It in Transit
Open or enclosed, broker or carrier, and the condition report that decides who pays if it arrives damaged.
Spring Commissioning, In the Right Order
Launch day is the worst possible time to discover a dry-rotted hose. Here is the sequence that gets a boat back in the water without a tow.
The Used Motorcycle Inspection Checklist
A bike hides less than a car and punishes mistakes faster. Here is what to check before you hand over the money.
What a Boat Actually Costs to Own
The purchase price is a deposit on the real number. Here is where the rest of it goes, line by line.
What a Classic Car Actually Costs to Own
The purchase price is the part everyone budgets for and the smallest part of the bill. Here is the rest of it.
What a Motorcycle Actually Costs to Own
Cheap to buy is not the same as cheap to run. Tires, chains, valve checks and gear add up faster than most new owners expect.
What an Aircraft Actually Costs to Own
Fixed costs arrive whether you fly or not, variable costs punish you for flying too little, and the engine reserve is the line nobody wants to fund.
Where Classic Cars Rust, In the Order You Should Look
Rust follows water, and water follows the same paths on almost every old car. Here is the route it takes and where to put the flashlight.
The Enduring Appeal of Air-Cooled Classic Cars
No radiator, no coolant, no water pump: why a fan and a set of cooling fins still win hearts decades later.
The Best Adventure Motorcycles for Going Anywhere
From the boxer that invented the class to the middleweights that made it accessible, here are the adventure bikes worth building a trip around.
The Best Aerobatic Aircraft
The monoplanes that fly clean at the top of the box, and what it really takes to own one.
The Best Aircraft of the 1940s: The Golden Age
How wartime engineering became the postwar classics that still fill private hangars today.
The Best General Aviation Aircraft of the 1970s
The decade the light-plane factories ran flat out, and the airframes that still fill our hangars.
The Best Bluewater Sailboats for Offshore Cruising
Seven proven hulls that earn the trust of sailors who point the bow at the horizon and keep going.
The Best Classic British Sports Cars
A driver's tour of the featherweight roadsters and grand tourers that made Britain the spiritual home of the sports car.
The Best Classic Cars of the 1960s
The decade that turned raw horsepower and clean lines into legends you can still buy, drive, and own.
The Best Cars of the 1970s
A decade caught between the muscle it was losing and the future it was inventing.
The Best Cars of the 1980s
The decade of turbos, wedges, and the moment the dashboard went digital.
The Best Cars of the 1990s
The last great analog decade, when a golden wave of JDM sports cars met the finest sport sedans Europe ever built.
The Best Cruiser Motorcycles
Low seats, long torque, and easy miles: the cruisers worth owning, and what every buyer should know first.
The Best First Sailboats for New Cruisers
Ten forgiving, affordable, well-supported boats that make a smart first cruiser, and exactly what to check before you buy.
The Best German Sports Cars for Drivers
Ten machines from Stuttgart, Munich, and beyond that reward the person actually behind the wheel.
The Best JDM Sports Cars Worth Owning
A buyer's guide to the Japanese sports cars that actually reward the people who own them.
The Best Kit Aircraft You Can Build at Home
Nine amateur-built airplanes worth the years, the money, and the rivets.
The Best Light-Sport Aircraft for New Pilots
Nine approachable two-seaters that put real aircraft ownership within reach, and the honest tradeoffs behind each one.
The Best Motorcycles of the 1970s
The decade the Japanese superbike arrived and the whole world had to answer.
The Best Motorcycles of the 1990s
The decade the modern sportbike grew up and the legends we still chase were born.
The Best Naked Bikes for Real-World Riding
Upright, honest, and built for the roads you actually ride, these are the naked bikes worth owning.
The Best Roadsters for Pure Driving Fun
Two seats, an open sky, and a chassis that talks back: the roadsters that make a short drive feel like an event.
The Best Sailplanes and Gliders for Soaring
Ten proven glass and metal ships, from an affordable first single-seater to a 20-meter two-seat cross-country machine.
Two-Stroke Motorcycles Worth Owning
The screaming, oil-burning icons that still reward the riders willing to keep them running.
BMW M3 vs Mercedes 190E: The 1980s Sport Sedan Showdown
Two German homologation specials, one legendary touring car war, and a hard choice for the driveway.
Cessna 172 vs Piper Cherokee: Which First Airplane?
High wing or low wing, the two airplanes that have taught more pilots to fly than any others.
Cessna 182 vs Cirrus SR20: Classic Certainty vs Modern Comfort
One is a 230-hp aluminum workhorse with seventy years of type support; the other is a composite glass-panel cruiser with a parachute in the tail.
Choosing a Trawler: A Buyer's Guide to Liveaboard Cruisers
What a trawler gives you that a sailboat cannot, and ten boats worth knowing before you buy.
Classic Motorcycles Worth Restoring
Ten old motorcycles that reward the wrench time, from accessible British twins to blue-chip American vintage.
The Best Classic Trucks and 4x4s
Ten trucks and four-wheel-drives that still earn their keep, and what every owner should know before buying one.
Ducati 1098 vs Yamaha YZF-R1: Twin vs Four
Two liter-class superbikes, two completely different ways of getting to the corner.
Ford Mustang vs Chevrolet Camaro: The Pony Car Rivalry
One car invented the class, the other was built to beat it, and both still reward the owner who knows what they signed up for.
The Greatest American Muscle Cars Ever Made
The Detroit and Kenosha icons that put a big engine in a mid-size body and never looked back.
The Greatest Superbikes Ever Built
Nine production sportbikes that set the benchmark, from the desmo twins that started it all to the electronics-laden fours that ended the argument.
Honda CBR1000RR vs Suzuki GSX-R1000: Liter-Bike Showdown
Two mid-2000s Japanese liter-bikes that defined the era, one built around MotoGP tech and one around near-perfect balance.
Italian Exotic Cars Worth the Dream
Ten Italian exotics that deliver the fantasy without the fairy tale, and what it actually costs to own one.
Mazda MX-5 Miata vs Honda S2000: Which Roadster Should You Buy?
Two Japanese roadster legends, two very different ways of chasing the same feeling.
Nissan GT-R vs Acura NSX: Japan's Supercar Duel
One is a computer-guided giant-killer, the other a hand-fettled everyday exotic, and they answer the same question in opposite ways.
Warbirds and Taildraggers You Can Actually Own and Fly
The old iron you can afford is not the P-51 you dream about, and that is good news.