Every auction usually has one feature to help bering attention to the entire event, but when the auction is nothing but Ferraris, there’s probably more than one “special” car. So at the Ferrari Leggenda e Passione this may, if the 1957 250 TR doesn’t set a record, this 1967 330 P4 just may.
This prototype racer is one of three ever built. The 330 P4’s V12 engine made 480 hp. It was part of Ferrari’s mid-engine V12 race car renaissance that happened throughout the 60s to help the prancing get back on top of the racing world (the 330 P4 took second place behind the Ford GT40 at the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans).
The Ferrari 250 GT Coupé Pinin Farina was revealed at the 39th Brussels Motor Show in January 1956. It was delivered to Ecurie Francorchamps team that same year, going on to compete in numerous races.
The car is currently owned by Kenneth and Dayle Roach from California (USA). The car was currently restored - both running gear and bodywork and displayed during this week-end at the Concorso d’Eleganza where it was awarded with the special prize for Best Restoration.
Press release after the jump.
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Thought the yesterday’s $4.45 million paid for a classic Bugatti was impressive? Then keep your eyes on this classic Ferrari. This 1957 Ferrari 250 TR will go to auction this spring in Italy, and it’s expected to top the $10,756,000 record set last May by a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder.
Only 22 total 250 TRs were made over a two year period. Although this one spent its racing career in the Americas at tracks in Brazil, Cuba, and Portugal, this is the model that led Olivier Gendebien and Phil Hill to a victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1958. So its desirability is understandable.
“This legendary 250 TR is one of the most exciting motor cars ever to be presented in auction history,” said Max Girardo, Managing Director of RM Europe. The event will take place in Maranello, Italy on May 17, 2009.
Press release after the jump.
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General Motors was always great about sneaking cars out the back door. Pontiac was especially good at it with cars like the 1963 Pontiac Lemans Super Duty and the 1964 GTO. But when Chevrolet sold a secret racecar with the help of the father of the Corvette, that’s something really special.
1963 was already a special year for the Corvette. It was the first year for the Sting Ray, which meant it was the only year for the split rear window. 1963 was also when the Automobile Manufacturers Association ban on factory-backed racing was still in full effect. But Zora Arkus-Duntov knew that he needed to make something special to make sure that the Ford powered Shelby Cobras would not show up his Corvettes.
From this need came the Z06 program (forerunner of the Grand Sport program). It was an unadvertised optional package that raised the price of a Corvette by nearly 50 percent. What the owner got in return was a factory-fresh racecar. Only nine were built in 1963, and one is up for auction at the Mecum Kissimmee Auction on January 24th.
This Z06 is known as “Gulf One” and was originally owned by Dr. Dick Thompson AKA "Flying Dentist". The car features a 360-bhp V-8, four-speed transmission, Positraction rear axle, heavy-duty shocks and springs, and cast-aluminum finned wheels.
Is this going to be a record setter? We’ll be at the auction later this month in Florida to find out.
Possibly considered the last great “barn find”, a 1937 Bugatti Type 57S Atalante is going up for auction. The ultra-rare Bugatti was released from its fifty-year old cocoon last year, and now will sell for multiple millions of dollars at Bonhams’ "Retromobile" auction the February in Paris. This Type 57S Atalante is one of seventeen made, and a less rare Type 57C Atalante sold for $7.92 million back in August.
British noble and racer Earl Howe originally purchased this Type 57S Atalante. He kept the car for about eight years, and then it spent the next decade floating through multiple owners. In 1955 Harold Carr, an English surgeon, purchased the car.
Carr did not own the Bugatti long before parking it in his garage and never driving it again. Although Bugattis were rare in 1955, they would not reach superstar status for many more decades. Even in 1965 $85,000 bought a collection of thirty Bugattis, but that was considered an exceptional deal.
Sometimes this car was referred to as lost during its over fifty-year absence from daylight, but the reality is that any car of this caliber always has enthusiasts tracking it. "I have known of this Bugatti for a number of years and, like a select group of others, hadn’t dared divulge its whereabouts to anyone,” said James Knight, international head of Bonhams’ motoring department.
Carr passed away in 2007, leaving the Bugatti to his family. Until this point, his family had no idea of the value of the now dusty but only mildly decayed car. "We just can’t believe it. It’s worth so much because he hasn’t used it for fifty years,” said Carr’s nephew.
The E-Type was the defining car for Jaguar. The sexy sports car kept Jaguar on the kid’s bedroom walls for fourteen years. But when production ended in 1975, that wasn’t the last chapter in the story. There were still spare parts at the Jaguar factory in England. They were sold off to a man who had plans for the spares. Unfortunately time caught up with the man, and the parts remained in storage.
In steps Ray Parrot, a self-taught restorer and Jaguar fanatic. He bought the remaining parts, which included a new roadster body, new drivetrain and even original tires. By Parrot’s tally, he had 95 percent of the parts needed to build a Series III E-Type that was brand new and usually still in its original wrapping.
Unlike a restoration job, Parrot had very little trouble installing parts because they were straight from the assembly line. The final car was a black roadster with tan interior. Much of this was dictated by the color already on the original parts.
Before Parrot stated his build of his new from 1975 E-Type, he was in contact with Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (the British agency in charge of vehicles) to make sure that his car would be given a period registration number and chassis number to insure this would be a true 1975 car. So once he gets the official registration, Parrot will be responsible for raising the production number of the E-Typer from 72,529 to an even 72,530.
The car was completed in 2005, truly making it the last Jaguar E-Type.
Plenty of car collectors dream that the car fertilizing their backyard looks a little different from the rest because it is something special. While usually they’re wrong, there is an occasional jackpot disguised as a rust pile. Such is the case for one eBay seller of a 1963 Pontiac LeMans, who originally thought this was not much more than a used-up racer with plexiglass windows and an odd rear-end suspension. What he soon discovered was that this was one of only six LeMans factory racers.
Pontiac in 1963 made six Tempest wagons and six LeMans Tempest sedans specially designed to go racing. Although the cars carried a 326 badge, the engine was a Super Duty version of the 421 cubic inch V8. The official factory rating was 405 hp, and that was considered to be well underestimated. General Motors put a ban on all factory racecars in 1963, so these were the last Super Duty cars to squeak out the door.
The whereabouts of only four of the twelve racers, including this one, are currently known. Many are feared destroyed at the hands of hard racing or unknowing owners. All were considered a dominant racing force, so all are prized by collectors today. The end price for this Super Duty, even without engine or transmission, was $226,521.
What would you get when you mix an old hag known for fast moves and a younger, but proper, British gent? It’s not Madonna and Guy Ritchie, but rather the custom built "Mentley Insanne". In 2002, Andy Saunders purchased a 1983 Bentley Mulsanne Turbo with light front end damage and transformed into what is now known as “Mentley Insanne”. Every panel, except for the hood, was modified and in addition to the handmade custom work, parts of nine different cars were employed. The current generation Range Rover being the most obvious.
Custom work includes the roof was lowered 76 millimetres, and ends in a glass landau top from the panoramic roof of a Mercedes-Benz 280SL. Range Rover front and rear lights are incorporated as well as side air vents. Although the grille seems to be untouched, it actually has been lowered and widened. Thankfully, what hasn’t been changed is the Bentley’s the 6.75-liter 328 hp turbocharged V8 engine.
The car is set for bidding at the RM Auction next Thursday (October 29). If this Frankenbentley seems like something you’re interested in, then have about 20,000 to 25,000 pounds ready (about $31,000 to $39,000). But before bidding we suggest you get your eyes checked.
Jay Leno is one of the ultimate car guys. If it’s fast, unique or just beautiful, he wants it (if he doesn’t have it already). He is proud of his large collection of Duesenbergs (an ultra-rare classic for the ultra-rich, like a supercar of today.) Unfortunately he may have one less in his collection if a lawsuit does not end in his favor. Leno is being sued over his rare 1931 Duesenberg Model J by the estate of its former owner.
The car was previously owned by former Macy’s executive John Straus, who passed away this May. His estate alleged that in 2005, after Straus rejected Leno’s offer to purchase the Duesenberg, the comedian entered into a “sham” transaction with the garage where the car was stored. According to reports, the Duesenberg and a 1930 Rolls-Royce were auctioned to recover $29,000 in unpaid parking fees. Leno reportedly paid $180,000 for the Model J sedan and someone else purchased the Rolls-Royce.
Straus’ estate believes that the fees were made up so that the garage could sell the cars. The suit now values those cars at $1.7 million. Under conflicting reports, the estate is searching for monetary damages, return of the cars or both.
To complicate this story further, Leno described how he came to own this Duesenberg in the 2007 book The Hemi in the Barn. In this account, Leno finds the car lying dormant in the garage for seventy years. It reads as if Leno bought the car directly from Straus to help pay for the delinquent parking fees.
So what’s the real story? Did Leno conspire with the garage for the rare car? Is it Leno’s car fair and square? That’s up for the courts to decide. But any way you look at it, this story is a real Duesy.
The picture above is Leno with his Model X Duesenberg
A Ferrari 250 GTO just took the honors of being the world’s most expensive car after it was sold for $28.5 million. The car is now in England with its new owner, and you can imagine he wants the exact location of his new treasure to remain secret.
There were only 39 GTOs ever produced (most cars in its class have over 100 examples produced at the time,) and most experts agree that the 250 GTO is one of the most most desirable Ferraris ever.
The 250 GTO is powered by a 3 liter (180 cubic inches) engine, a version of the Gioacchino Colombo short-block designed V12. All engines were tested on a dynomometer and found to achieve between 290 to just over 300 horsepower, peaking at around 7500 rpm. The car is capable of a top speed of 174 mph and makes the 0 to 60 mph sprint in 5.4 seconds.
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