Jamie Kitman

New York

Contributing Writer at Freelance

Columnist at Hagerty Classic Cars Magazine

Columnist/blogger, rock band manager gourmand, old car fan.

Articles

Picture Car Confidential #17: The French Connection

1 week ago | hagerty.com | Jamie Kitman

At Octane Film Cars, the cars we rent to clients in the TV and film industry are typically a combination of those we own and those we don’t—i.e,. other peoples’ machinery. Much as we might wish otherwise, turns out we can’t own everything. So, we are always happy to enlist outside help. It’s a big, beautiful world out there and somewhere, hopefully not too far away from set, someone’s got what we need. Our motto: “If we don’t own it, we can usually find it. Sometimes.”That elusive car can be far away.
Dacora Motors, a Luxury E.V. Start-Up, Aims to be the Rolls-Royce of America

3 weeks ago | airmail.news | Jamie Kitman

It’s not every day one gets invited to inspect a prototype of a $650,000 Pininfarina-designed battery-powered limousine, much less a retro-pastiche land yacht with a wooden hood that’s still being fleshed out on Long Island but is slated to go into serial production from a factory with an adjacent hotel and hospitality center in Hudson, New York, in 2028.
The Case for Credit: Jamie Kitman Explains the Benefits of Borrowing

3 weeks ago | hagerty.com | Jamie Kitman

Say you’re an ordinary Giuseppe or Giuseppina like me. You love old cars and desire to own them. But you are, alas, rich only in spirit. Not to despair, friend. You have choices. Some of them are bad—ask me how I know. What follows, then, is some real-life advice on how to pay for the old cars of your dreams. Borrowing money to buy a car is hardly a novel concept: More than 80% of new-car purchases are financed. In the old-car world, however, it remains something of a niche.
Picture Car Confidential #16: What the Tiguan Tells Us About VW

3 weeks ago | hagerty.com | Jamie Kitman

Volkswagen has a new, third-generation Tiguan. All new it’s not, but improved it is, as we found out over two days behind the wheel in Bozeman, Montana, at the automaker’s invitation. With more horsepower, fresh lines, and classier trim, the Tiguan should mark welcome news for Volkswagen, as the model has become its worldwide best-seller, racking up almost twice as many sales last year as the company’s long-time volume king, the Golf.
Picture Car Confidential #15: Slate of the Union

1 month ago | hagerty.com | Jamie Kitman

April’s surprise automotive story of the month was the arrival of Slate Auto. Previously under the radar, the new brand hosted a jam-packed coming out party staged in a Long Beach, California, airplane hangar. It marked the formal introduction of a new, all-electric small pickup that suddenly everyone was talking about. Millions of mouse-clicks later, it’s easy to see why it struck a chord. Americans used to gobble up small trucks like potato chips.
Picture Car Confidential #14: What Led Me to Lancia

1 month ago | hagerty.com | Jamie Kitman

It helps to know this about me: I was the sort of kid who loved all the world’s cars. Beyond the amazing American machines of the mid-1960s, which I followed closely and with a fair bit of enthusiasm, I was particularly jazzed on the imported models of the day.
The Billionaire Who Ate Off Land Rover's Plate

2 months ago | airmail.news | Jamie Kitman

With all the opprobrium getting deposited onto Elon Musk’s doorstep, it’s easy to forget that he’s hardly the first car-maker with objectionable views. Looking for shared values or any sort of moral clarity from an auto tycoon is and has always been a fruitless endeavor.
Picture Car Confidential #13: White Cars Are Not the Right Cars

2 months ago | hagerty.com | Jamie Kitman

My mother always liked white cars, though we only had one growing up, a white Saab 99LE, circa 1974. As the unsuccessful naysayers in the familial buying delegation (that constituency would be my father and a non-voting but voluble and highly opinionated, self-proclaimed 16-year-old automotive expert—me) predicted to her, white cars got dirty too easily. I doubt this is why I never liked them, though. I just preferred other colors more.
Picture Car Confidential #12: 2500 Miles Overland in an Ineos Grenadier

Mar 27, 2025 | hagerty.com | Jamie Kitman

Ever on the lookout for interesting new machinery, I couldn’t help but notice recently when three unrelated Ineos Grenadiers began trundling around my small, leafy suburb, north by northwest from New York City. They looked good.
Picture Car Confidential: Two’s Company, Three’s a Crowd. What’s That Make Five?

Mar 12, 2025 | hagerty.com | Jamie Kitman

It happens like this: Production calls and tells us they’re looking for a “star” or “hero” car for an upcoming movie or TV show. Said car will play frequently as the wheels of a or the lead character (the hero). Sometimes production knows what vehicle they want. Sometimes they don’t. Either way, once they decide on a vehicle, they’ll ask, often unexpectedly, if we can double it for them. That is, find another identical car (color, inside and out, same transmission, wheels, etc.) We never complain.