Creators: Cars, Coins, Sports Cards & Art

Attic Capital
  • 5.0 (4)
  • Society & Culture
  • Updated Weekly

Rare coins & the great merchants, sports cards and legendary athletes, collector cars and speed engineers, art and creative genius. Searching for the world's greatest collectibles, and exploring the journey of legendary creators and cultural icons.

  1. 18h ago

    Porsche 917: The Ultimate Beast on the Track

    The true Porsche 917 origin story using Ferdinand Piëch’s autobiography, where he called his 917 creation the "ultimate beast" on the racetrack. I also read a great book by auto expert Peter Morgan, 'Porsche 917, The Winning Formula."  How teamwork and iteration turned the ultimate beast into a Le Mans winning legend.  We track the risky decisions, the internal rivalries, and the trackside aerodynamic breakthrough that transforms an undrivable brute into the 917K icon.  • Piëch’s decision to bet roughly two-thirds of Porsche’s budget on a Le Mans focused car  • Ordering 25 cars with an unproven V12 concept and almost no prototype runway  • Why the early 917 feels unstable at speed and scares even factory drivers  • The harsh 1969 Le Mans reality check with mechanical failures and tragedy  • Piëch’s aggressive leadership style and his drive to control credit and outcomes  • Hiring John Wyer, the Gulf partnership, and why Porsche’s rulebook play matters  • The shock of Porsche fielding a secret second team to challenge Wyer head to head  • The Zeltweg test session and the improvised tail change that creates real downforce  • How the 917K goes from breakthrough to dominance and finally Le Mans wins  • The VW contract funding and the Porsche family tension behind the scenes  Go to, atticcapital.com, enter your email if you want to stay updated on volume two, the next edition of the Attic print magazine. https://atticcapital.com/

    Porsche 917: The Ultimate Beast on the Track

  2. 3d ago

    Honus Wagner, the T-206, and the Original American Baseball Hero

    Honus Wagner’s refusal to appear on a cigarette-pack card accidentally creates the rarest baseball card in history.  Along the way, we connect the T206 legend to Wagner’s personality, his negotiating tactics, and why cigarettes were viewed as a different kind of vice in 1909.  • How the American Tobacco Company ends up mid-production on the Wagner card  • The John Gruber story and the $10 check that becomes a display piece  • Why Wagner’s scarcity becomes the engine of the “holy grail” sports card  • The bigger theme of dealmaking without agents in early baseball  • Wagner’s contract leverage, retirement bluff, and eventual pay raise  • The Louisville Slugger signature bat deal and the birth of athlete endorsements  • Forbes Field, the 1909 World Series, and Wagner versus Ty Cobb  • The two-part motive debate: protecting kids from cigarette marketing and knowing his value  • Why cigarettes carried a unique stigma before World War I  Check out atticcapital.com. Enter your email if you want to stay updated on the next edition of the Attic print magazine.  https://atticcapital.com/

    Honus Wagner, the T-206, and the Original American Baseball Hero

  3. Sep 30

    Gold, The Great Banking Panic, and the Creation of the 1933 Double Eagle Coin

    How the 1933 Saint Gaudens Double Eagle collides with the darkest stretch of the Great Depression and becomes a coin that is both illegal and legendary.  We follow the paper trail from Mint production to gold recall to melting orders.  Then end on the uneasy fact that a few coins still slipped into collector hands.  • Why rare coins get interesting through the history around them  • John Garrett’s 1934 letter chasing the last 1933 gold pieces  • David Tripp’s Illegal Tender and why it frames the best narrative on the coin  • The 1933 banking crisis timeline around FDR’s inauguration  • How the gold standard and gold withdrawals intensified the panic  • The bank holiday, the ban on gold exports, and the threat of penalties  • Executive Order 6102 and the definition of hoarding  • The collector exemption for rare and unusual gold coins  • How Mint vaults, ledgers, and melting orders “closed the books”  • Fort Knox, revalued gold, and the mass conversion of coins into bars  • The moment rumors surface that a few 1933 Double Eagles survived  Check out the website, atticcapital.com. Subscribe to stay updated on volume two, the fall edition of Attic print magazine. https://atticcapital.com/

    Gold, The Great Banking Panic, and the Creation of the 1933 Double Eagle Coin

  4. Sep 15

    Gordon Murray and the McLaren F1: Creating the Ultimate Road Car

    We start with a McLaren F1 service visit that exposes a jaw-dropping truth in the car’s electronics. Then use it to ask what “usable performance” really means.  We walk through the notes, sketches, and quotes that show how Gordon Murray and McLaren set out to build the world’s best road car and actually pulled it off.  • The 200 mph engine log story and what it implies about modern data access  • Why Driving Ambition by Doug Nye is such a valuable McLaren F1 history source  • The Milan airport delay that turns into a real plan for McLaren’s first road car  • Gordon Murray’s memo and the non-negotiable goal of building the world’s best car  • Why road car regulations feel freeing compared to Formula One constraints  • The center-seat three-person layout and how packaging drives everything else  • The “exorcism” method of testing rivals by listing what’s wrong  • How the Honda NSX becomes the benchmark for ride quality and handling  • Early design notes on quality, comfort, and avoiding details that date quickly  • The engine uncertainty, the Honda idea, and the eventual BMW V12 direction  • Why the F1 can be joyful even when driven slowly  Check out, atticcapital.com. This is my home on the internet, everything I’m working on. So I just gave the website a refresh. Check it out and enter your email in if you want to stay updated on volume two, the fall edition of the Attic print magazine. https://atticcapital.com/

    Gordon Murray and the McLaren F1: Creating the Ultimate Road Car

  5. Aug 11

    Horacio Pagani, Charismatically Creating the Zonda Hypercar

    A hypercar doesn’t start with a wind tunnel. Sometimes it starts with a kid in rural Argentina reading a Leonardo da Vinci line that flips a switch: art and science can go hand in hand.  We follow Horacio Pagani from early sketches and homebuilt projects to the moment he realizes he has to stop being a supplier and create something that’s fully his, even when the money, time, and odds all say no. The story runs through Italy’s Motor Valley and the blunt reality of getting established: a pulled job offer, survival work, and then the audacious autoclave move that lets Pagani master carbon fiber composites before most people even understand what that means for a road car.  From there, the Zonda becomes a nights-and-weekends obsession, built piece by piece while he keeps the lights on. The biggest hurdle is the one every boutique manufacturer fears: the engine.  That problem only gets solved because of trust, reputation, and the unlikely intervention of Juan Manuel Fangio. We also dig into what makes Pagani different beyond the hardware: the Mercedes AMG V12 partnership, the decision to name the car Zonda, and the mindset behind “hypercar” as more than speed.  Pagani’s philosophy is humility plus relentless improvement, especially for customers spending millions who will find every flaw. If you love supercar history, automotive engineering, carbon fiber design, and founder stories that feel impossible but true, this one delivers. We trace Horacio Pagani’s improbable path from a small town in Argentina to the creator of the Pagani Zonda, driven by a Da Vinci-inspired belief that art and science belong together. We follow the high-stakes moments that shape him, from Fangio’s backing to the autoclave gamble and the Mercedes AMG V12 partnership that helps define the modern hypercar.  • Chris Harris’s take on why Pagani feels like a character you couldn’t invent  • The “buggy” story and why Pagani wants to restore it for the museum  • The jobless turning point that forces the decision to create his own car  • Da Vinci’s “art and science” as the core design philosophy  • Early Argentina years building race cars and earning credibility  • Fangio’s letters of recommendation and the leap to Italy’s Motor Valley  • The Lamborghini setback, survival jobs, and taking the lowest role  • Buying an autoclave with a bank loan and launching Modena Design  • Recession pressure, designing the Zonda at night, and the missing-engine problem  • Landing the Mercedes AMG V12 and why weight and center of gravity matter  • Naming the Zonda, defining hypercar benchmarks, and earning instant attention  • Staying humble, serving the customer, and refusing to “fall in love” with the cars  https://atticcapital.com/

    Horacio Pagani, Charismatically Creating the Zonda Hypercar

  6. Aug 5

    Ted Williams, A Special Blend of Baseball Intensity

    Ted Williams doesn’t wait for permission to be great. He announces the goal, builds the habits, and dares the world to argue with the results.  We dig into the stories that explain why an 800-page biography can’t even hold the whole myth: the brash honesty, the refusal to play nice for reporters, and the rare kind of confidence that feels offensive until it starts looking inevitable. We talk about the hitting philosophy that still matters for modern baseball and performance psychology: why Williams hated being called a “natural,” how positive thinking becomes a competitive weapon, and how he turns preparation into a quiet advantage.  From weighing bats to obsessing over sleep and routine, he treats excellence like a craft.  We also get into the strange but revealing truth that he often performed best when he was angry, and how he used the media feud as fuel without wasting energy where it didn’t help. Then the story widens beyond Fenway. The 1941 chase for .400 becomes a character test, not a math trick, and his military service during World War II and the Korean War adds a different kind of pressure.  The crash landing after enemy fire is one of those scenes you can’t make up, and it helps explain why Ted’s legend lives somewhere past statistics and highlights.  If you’re obsessed with baseball history, Red Sox lore, or the mindset behind elite achievement, this one hits hard. • Declaring he will be the greatest hitter and backing it up  • Rejecting the “natural talent” myth and insisting on work  • Using positive thinking and a top target mindset  • Turning hitting into a science with obsessive preparation  • Baiting the press and feeding off anger to sharpen performance  • Childhood wounds, a lifelong mentor, and the chip on his shoulder  • The 1941 decision to play for .400 the hard way  • World War II and Korean War service and the cost to his career  • The crash landing story that cements legend status beyond stats  0:00 Why Ted Williams Stands Alone 2:03 Call Your Shot And Deliver 4:55 Confidence Over Talent Myths 6:56 Hitting As A Science 10:52 War With Reporters And Fans 15:54 A Childhood That Fueled Fire 23:31 The .406 Season Choice 30:53 World War II Service And Return 33:40 Korea And The Crash Landing 40:34 Legend Status Beyond The Stats https://atticcapital.com/ted-williams-legend/ With notes, after reading, 'The Kid, The Immortal Life of Ted Williams,' by author Ben Bradlee Jr, published in 2013 https://atticcapital.com/

    Ted Williams, A Special Blend of Baseball Intensity

  7. Jul 28

    Wassily Kandinsky, The Beginning of Abstract Art

    We wrestle with Kandinsky’s toughest claims about abstract art and come out with a simple standard: form only matters when it expresses inner meaning. We also connect his ideas to creativity at large, from training your spirit like a muscle to using art as a force that can lift a whole culture. • Kandinsky’s view of the artist’s work as duty not pleasure • Why 'Concerning the Spiritual in Art' reads like dense theory • Rejecting art as decoration in favor of spirit-led creation • Defining abstract art as idea-first rather than object-first • Inner necessity as the source of beauty • Spotting “dead” work and avoiding empty forms • Exercising the spirit through daily practice and attention • The spiritual triangle as a model of cultural progress • Color and music as direct routes to emotion • Monet’s haystacks as the spark for non-objective art • Impressions, improvisations, compositions as creative modes • The artist’s responsibility for the spiritual atmosphere 0:00 Kandinsky’s Harsh View Of Art 2:20 Why This Book Feels Like Quicksand 6:00 Art From The Spirit Not Decor 8:45 Inner Necessity Versus Dead Paintings 13:30 Training The Spirit Like A Muscle 17:40 Color And Music As Soul Language 22:00 Monet’s Haystacks Spark Abstract Breakthrough 26:15 Artist Duty And The Return Of Beauty https://atticcapital.com/wassily-kandinsky/ https://atticcapital.com/

    Wassily Kandinsky, The Beginning of Abstract Art

  8. Jul 23

    Marcel Dassault, Aviation and the Extraordinary Life of Perseverance

    How Marcel Bloch, became Marcel Dassault. From an early obsession with flight to building a global aviation company fueled by silence, focus, and an uncompromising drive to achieve what seems possible.  This story runs through war, imprisonment, reinvention, and a tiny four leaf clover that ends up shaping the meaning of a brand.  • Why aviation keeps showing up in the stories of great car and racing creators  • The opening manifesto on imagination, willpower, and achievement  • What makes The Talisman feel like an engineer wrote it  • “The music of silence” as a work environment and a discipline  • The first airplane sighting over Paris and a teenager’s decision to pursue flight  • World War I lessons from designing the Eclair propeller  • The SEA-4, sudden peace, and the forced pivot into real estate and construction  • Interwar prototypes, contracts, and the frustration of being late to rearm  • Refusing to build for the Germans, arrest, and survival at Buchenwald  • Returning home unable to walk, then designing a new plane from bed  • The Dassault name change and the Resistance meaning behind it  • Building an employee-first company culture with vacations, bonuses, and monthly pay  • Charles Lindbergh’s “I’ve found our bird” and the birth of the Falcon jet line  • The real talisman and why it appears in the Dassault logo  You can go to the Dassault website right now and look for yourself.  https://atticcapital.com/

    Marcel Dassault, Aviation and the Extraordinary Life of Perseverance
See All (54)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

Rare coins & the great merchants, sports cards and legendary athletes, collector cars and speed engineers, art and creative genius. Searching for the world's greatest collectibles, and exploring the journey of legendary creators and cultural icons.

Information