Who is Tom Sebastian , a regular contributor to Femmefan?
A bit about myself and my interest in classic cars
Tom Sebastian has been buying and selling (racing and showing) collector cars for some 30 years. His specialty is in the 'hidden value' cars that can often be overlooked and are, therefore, at the cheaper/beginning end of the collector game. Some do, indeed, go up in value; some seem to hover forever in the same price range. And, of course, depending on the economy, some can plummet. No surprises here.
But the vintage 'culture' is different in the U. S. than it is in UK or in Europe -- and even on opposite coasts. So readers should note that when trying to 'cross borders' on such subjective issue: One man's treasure may well be another man's, 'Huh? What'd ya' buy that thing for!?'
Over the course of these articles a certain philosophy of car collecting may come out - a stranger than average theory, perhaps, of what is valuable and what is not. And that's probably because ego enhancement is also part of the game - in this case, my own: I know what I like.
Case in point. I once had a choice between a Maserati GT 3000 and a Jaguar XK-E. Now, right away, my inner accountant said, 'What, are you kidding!? Take the Maser!!'
But, being in my 30's, and those sensuous lines of the Jag were luring me.
Well, you get the gist. The Italian Job just didn't do it for me at the time. I was just too young for so much. understatement! And yes, I did lose money. The Maser is now twice the value of that Jag.
But hey! How many times will you be young and with the cash to get exactly what you want in life!? So, screw the accountant!
I was also a race car driver -- and even had my shot at Formula One. I could never get over those wild machines and even wrote a rather wild novel about it (" Miracle at Monaco ").
Check it out!
http://www2.xlibris.com/bookstore/bookdisplay.asp?bookid=15360
«back to writers |