James Schembari

Porsche and BMW are not the only automakers that offer United States buyers of their vehicles a chance to drive on a course and receive professional instruction at no charge. Buying a Fiat 124 Spider Abarth and a Fiat 500 Abarth gets owners one day at the Abarth Track Experience at the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving in Phoenix. There is also a program there for buyers of the Dodge SRT.

ATLANTA — BUYING a new car is special. Buying a new sports car is very, very special. Buying a new sports car together with your adult son and then driving on a racetrack is an experience that lacks enough adjectives. My son Sam and I recently traveled to this city, home of the American headquarters of our love object: Porsche.

Margaret Dunning and her 1930 Packard 740 roadster were the darlings of car shows. The Packard was over 80 years old, noteworthy enough, but it was Ms. Dunning who, at over 100, charmed fellow car collectors and judges as the pair traveled across the country, making appearances and winning awards, including one at Pebble Beach in 2012 when she was 102. Ms. Dunning died on May 17 in Santa Barbara, Calif., at 104.