Show the photo of this car to 10 people out on the streets and ask them to guess what band it is. Chances are nobody’s going to get the answer right. If somebody did, he probably made a lucky guess.
This is a 1986 Lamborghini LM002 – hardly looks like a vehicle Lamborghini would make, right? And we must advise you not to bet your house on the premise that this is just some run-of-the-mill vehicle the folks from Lambo built because they were bored. Arguably one the rarest Lamborghinis you can find anywhere in the world, this particular LM002 was originally built for the Sultan of Brunei – yes the same man who reportedly has over 6,000 cars in his garage – and while Sultan Bolkiah doesn’t own it anymore, the man who does is, apparently, selling it.
The car, by all accounts, has been remodelled and modified a number of times with the end product boasting of a number of different features including an upgraded interior with electric front sears, a couple of roof-mounted CD and DVD players, LCD monitors, an electric sunroof, and so much more.
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It has been a week since the Champagne poured and the confetti flew over the 18th green at the world’s greatest car show, Pebble Beach, and the event’s official auction house, Gooding & Company, has just finished tallying their sales receipts to find out that they moved over $50 Million worth of classic cars selling 129 lots, two of which sold over $4 Million each and setting three world records over the Monterey weekend.
The star of the show happened to be Lot 135, a silver 1962 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider that sold for a record $5,115,000 on Sunday followed by a beautiful 1933 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Drop Head Coupe which went home with a new owner for $4,180,000. Guests at the auction on Sunday night were also privy to the sale of the very first Bentley Mulsanne which sold for half a million dollars.
Bentley’s newest luxury sedan, which is proclaimed to be the “pinnacle” of high end automobiles, made its debut at the 2009 Pebble Beach Concours. The car is named after the infamous 200+ MPH straight at the Circuit de la Serthe at Le Mans. The Mulsanne is set to replace the dearly departed Arnage and is being billed as the up-and-coming challenger to the Rolls-Royce Phantom for luxury car supremacy. It looks like we will have to wait until the world’s greatest car show rolls around again next year to see if any more of these records can be broken.
Press release after the jump.
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The lovely Miss Daniela Grimm was honored with the privilege of being the exclusive model featured in the 2009 Miss Tuning Calendar. The almanac is sure to become a best seller as Daniela shows off her finer points dress up as everything from Cat Woman ready to pounce in front of the classic Batmobile to showing off her behind along with the back of an Impala.
The calendar has something for everyone from fans of high revving imports clad with carbon fiber like the tuned G37 that is about to run down the 1320 against a very fast gold Supra to the classic American automobiles like a bodacious bubblegum pink Cadillac as well as giving a good look at the interior of a first generation Corvette. Don’t despair high-end fans, because Miss Tuning 2008 found a sweet silver S Class with a pair of suicide doors in the back. There will only be 150 examples of this fine piece of automotive art, so not only does the calendar have Ms. Grim going for it but it is also a very limited edition. We thought it would be a good idea to share a few more of the photos with you.
Miss Tuning 2009 Calendar
There are a lot of things you can buy for $3 million dollars. Heck, you can buy an all-new Bugatti Veyron and still have a little under a million tucked under your pillow. Paying $3 million for a car is understandable, given of course, if the car in question warrants such a lavish price tag. A 1970 Plymouth Superbird is not one of them.
Apparently, Brian Chaffee, a resident of Middlefield, Connecticut, disagrees with our sentiment given that he hopes to sell his ’70 Superbird for a cool $3 mil. According to Chaffee, he spent part of three years restoring this car back to its glory days in the ‘70’s when it was racing not just with cars, but with jets taking off.
Granted, the car looks good and it’s got some history attached to it, but $3 million may just be a tad overboard, especially when you discover that this particular Superbird does not come with a Hemi engine – a pretty big deal for a car to have to justify a $3 Million price tag.
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The Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races is one of the best events that takes place during the Concours weekend on the Monterey Peninsula. Sure the Tour D’Elegance allows the classics to putter around the country side and stop for lunch in Carmel and the Concorso Italiano allows you to look cool standing next to your Lamborghini with a drink that matches the paint scheme, but only the Historic Races allows these classic cars the ability to stretch their legs and do what they were made to do. On the third weekend in August, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca fills with the smells of burnt rubber and spent gasses while the surrounding hills are filled with a symphony from bygone eras of racing history. The sponsor, Rolex, ensures that fans come back time and time again for their Moment in Time dispay, which honors six different historic racing cars and highlights their most significant achievements.
While last year’s star of the show was the infamous black and gold John Player’s Special, Mario Andretti’s Lotus built Formula 1 Championship winning race car that introduced ground effects and revolutionized racing forever. This year the museum quality exhibit will be displaying some of the greatest endurance racing sports cars from the 1960s and 1970s. Like the 1977 Le Mans winning 1976 Porsche 936/81, which also took a second place in 1978 and 12th in 1981 at the race twice around the clock at Le Sarthe. This very rare racecar is only noe of three Porsche 936 cars that were built and is the only one to compete in five of the famous 24 Hour races by notable Porsche racing driver Hurley Haywood amongst many others.
Celebrating the legendary Porsche 917’s 40th anniversary, the exhibit featured a 550+ HP example from 1970 wearing the fashionable Gulf livery that was made popular by the actor Steve McQueen. The Porsche is lined up alongside the Ferrari 512S that challenged it that season. This particular blue and orange 917K was driven by Mexican driver Pedro Rodriguez in the 1970 1000 km race at Spa, Belgium, and is the sister car to Brian Redman and Jo Siffert’s race winning Gulf. The Ferrari 512S was once piloted by Jacky Ickx during the opening round of the World Championship season at Daytona and then went on to race at Monza and in the Targa Florio where it finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively.
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The auction house Gooding & Company did alright for themselves this past Saturday the evening before the highly anticipated Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, selling an impressive 83% of all their lots earning more than $21 Million. The star of the block was a red 1958 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider that sold for $2,750,000. There were also a few records set that evening, with the 1953 Aston Martin DB 2/4 Drop Head Coupe that went for $1,650,000, and the 1953 Jaguar XK120 SE Roadster that sold for $192,500. On a more technical note, the 1938 Buick Limited Series 80 Opera Brougham only set a record for pre-war Buicks at $506,000.
Aside from the record breaking Aston Martin and Ferrari’s, the crowd in attendance was eager to catch a glimpse of Lot 31, Ettore Bugatti’s own 1938 Bugatti Type 57C Special Coupe. Originally assembled as a birthday present for Le Patron, founder of the ultra exotic car company, this particular Type 57C has been deemed as one of the automaker’s most cherished creations. The factory’s workers even went to great lengths to protect the Bugatti during World War II, the fighting between that Allied Forces and the Axis Powers ended up destroying the factory in Molsheim, France.
Even after Ettore’s death in 1947, the 57C was meticulously maintained and continued to receive updates as they were developed. The car is said to be extremely unique, with a distinct engine and transmission package, upgrades to the interior and one-off coachwork that is believed to be based on the last design ever created by Ettore’s son, Jean Bugatti who died at the age of 30 in an unfortunate incident, test driving a Le Mans winning Type 57 tank-bodied race car. Making for one very interesting conversation piece.
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It is only fitting that during the German automaker Audi’s centennial anniversary that a car wearing four rings on its grill got the Champaign and confetti treatment atop the podium Sunday afternoon on the 18th hole at the Pebble Beach Golf Links on California’s Monterey Peninsula. That is because one of those four rings represents the automaker from the turn of the century, August Horch.
This year it was the 1937 Horch 853 Voll & Ruhrbeck Sport Cabriolet of Neveda resident Robert M. Lee of Sparks that was chosen over all other entrants competing for the honor of being named “Best of Show” at the 59th Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. It is clear to see why in field of award winning show cars, this Horsch was chosen with its dramatic styling from an era when cars had hood ornaments and wire wheels. The wide front fenders continue back into the body complimented but the polished trim that swoops back along the body continuing the theme of the large shiny grille, over the louvers in the hood across the suicide door and then makes a dramatic turn upwards accentuating the bold rear fenders.
The two time Concours winner Robert Lee, the pre war Horch’s owner, had this to say: “The Horch has wonderful lines, a great proven chassis and all the beauty that make it the whole package… Pebble Beach is the greatest car show in the world and winning here is indescribable. It’s been a wonderful day for us here and I have the best team to thank for making it happen.” The win was confirmed by Concours Chairman Sandra Button who said: “This Horch is an incredibly beautiful open car with stunning styling…It’s very Teutonic, but also almost French. It’s fantastic. Bob certainly knows how to prepare cars for competition.”
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Classic sports cars can be tremendous fun to drive, but hell to own. To begin with storage, insurance and maintenance could bankrupt the average person and the old cars don’t drive as well as a modern day vehicle. The engines take a while to come up to operating temperature, the old leaf spring based suspension takes a beating every time you venture onto a less than perfect streets. The car’s just aren’t as reliable as a 21st century automobile, one Jaguar E-Type has statd that he has to leave his car idling in the parking lot when he goes in to get his morning coffee, if he shuts it off, because of the fumes in the carburetors there’s no telling as to when it may start back up again.
Well not every classic English sports car experience has to be that troublesome. The U.K. based craftsman at Eagle have created this modern day feline based on a 1966 Jaguar E-type. The car is the proof that classic cars can be cool, fast and worry free when the new E-Type made its world debut at the Salon Privé prestige motor show in London.
The Eagle E-Type features an aluminum bodyshell, stiffer suspension, upgraded brakes and modern low profile radial tires. Under the hood the car features a 4.7 Liter straight six engine that delivers 300 HP and 340 lb-ft of torque, a 50% power increase over the standard E-type engine from the 1960’s. Weighing in at only 1100 kg, the modern day E-Type will sprint from 0 to 60 MPH in less than 5 seconds and can hit a top speed of 175 MPH.
A classic Aston Martin is most certainly an automobile worth dreaming about. So it should come as no surprise that people are trying to bring the shapely English sports car back from the grave. One such group of people are the crew at Rizk Automobile, who decided to bring back a 1957 Aston Martin DBR2 LeMans racer.
The car was made from a carbon fiber monocoque chassis chosen for it light weight uncompromised characteristics despite the enormous cost. The retro Aston is powered by either a Jaguar straight-six or V12 engine and even an LS3 borrowed from a Corvette can find its way under the hood. The engines are then mated to a 5 speed manual gearbox or if you choose the American muscle a choice of 6 speed manual or automatic can be had.
The price for this astounding piece of modern Le Mans racing history, $180,000. A fair price to pay.
Press release after the jump.
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Facel may be a brand that not a lot of today’s generation can recognize, but back in the 50’s and 60’s, it was one of the most successful enterprises in the world, responsible for making almost anything that’s under the sun. From scooters, office furniture, military vehicle bodies and combustion chambers for deHavilland and Rolls-Royce jet engines, it seemed like Facel had a hand in building everything his ingeniously creative mind could think of.
One of Jean Daninos’ biggest goals, however, was to build a car that would re-establish his native country of France’s foothold as one forefront GT markets in Europe. With an unyielding vision to succeed, not to mention a few breaks and good fortunes here and there, Daninos was able to use his company to make his goal a reality.
As with any other starting venture, Daninos initially had to weather a number of storms before getting his project off the ground and as soon as the clouds had dissipated, Daninos immediately went to work.
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