“La Macchina del tempo – Museo Storico Alfa Romeo” is the
heart of a genuine “brand center”, with a bookshop, café,
Documentation Center, test drive track, events venues and a
show-room with a customer delivery area: it is the perfect bond
between past, present and future. In Arese, next to Milan city
center and the Expo area. |
Hans Herrmann, one of the most successful and popular racing
drivers to join the Porsche AG works team, will be celebrating his
90th birthday this year on February 23. The endurance and
Monoposto specialist, born in Stuttgart in 1928, is regarded as
one of the most reliable and consistent race drivers of all time. In
the course of his motor sport career, Hans Herrmann won more
than 80 overall and best of class victories, most of them for
Porsche. |
The Museo Lamborghini is situated to the right of the main
entrance of the factory in Sant’Agata Bolognese, which is a
historic small town in the countryside, approximately mid way
between Bologna and Modena. A bonus of its location right on
the factory premises is that one will see cars being taken out on
test, and maybe even spot the odd prototype. The factory is on
the main SP 255, Via Modena, on the outskirts of the town, but
within walking distance of the historic centre, and is still the site
on which Ferruccio Lamborghini established the original factory in
1963. |
Ferrari 1970 Ferrari 512 M s/n 1002 sold for €12,0mio in August |
Already more then 1.000.000+ images from the barchetta /
anamera image archive were published, the images contain
chassis numbers, |
This time of the year, at the end of the season with the next one
just around the corner it is time to look back over the year and
the events one did attend. It is also the time to see what did not
make it online in time due to a packed schedule but could well
serve to get over the cold days until the classic cars are back on
the road for new adventures. |
Ferrari opens its first Tailor Made Center in the United States
today in New York City. The only space of its kind in the
Americas, this new Center continues the long-standing tradition
of car customization and personalization that began at the factory
in Maranello in the 1950s and later grew into the inception of the
Tailor Made Center in 2011, followed by the Shanghai Tailor Made
Center in 2014. |
The latest edition of the Classic Car Auction Yearbook,
sponsored by Credit Suisse for the eleventh successive year,
covering the period 01 September 2018 to 31 August 2019, as in
recent years was unveiled at the Auto e Moto d’Epoca Show in
Padova by the authors Adolfo Orsi and Raffaele Gazzi. As with
the previous four editions, the end of August cut-off date means
that the results from all the major auctions in Monterey,
California, during that month, can be incorporated as they are the
most up to date indication of the way the market is moving and
prices being achieved. |
Sixty years ago, the 5000 GT, a 2+2 coupé, was presented at
the Turin Motor Show and was the undisputed star of the event. |
The main current themed exhibition running at the Museo Ferrari
in Maranello is titled Hypercars (L’Evoluzione Dell’Unicita/The
Evolution of Uniqueness), the name being self explanatory. It
shows the journey of Ferraris limited production, ultimate
performance through from the GTO (288) of 1984, through the
F40, F50 and Enzo, to the current LaFerrari and its track-only
evolution, the FXX-K Evo. Also included in the line-up is a styling
mannequin of the unique P80/C, constructed as part of the
company’s special projects operation. |
I have often seen cars from the Museo Nicolis at classic car
shows, and have also been recommended to visit the museum,
but time constraints when travelling in Italy have always kept it on
the “to do” list. However, during a recent visit, whilst returning to
Verona airport I found the time to make a visit, and thus at long
last put a tick in the box. |
The car as a work of art exceeding the original purpose of
transportation dates back a long time. What started with the
numerous Concours of Elegance showing the beauty of the
Automobile Design in the 1930s during the high of the coachbuilt
luxury car became a common approach by some to the theme of
classic cars today. Many cars share their home in collections of
connoisseurs who also have a major interest in art and design.
The design of a motor car in the world of art is not only accepted
since cars like the Cisitalia 202 made their way into the
permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in
New York but already since the early 1950s when the MOMA
started the first exhibition of cars with “Eight Automobiles” paying
tribute to the influence of car design to the modern society. |
An annual appointment, that of Enzo Ferrari’s birthday on 18
February, becomes yet again the occasion for a new exhibition at
the Enzo Ferrari Museum in Modena. “Ferrari Grand Tour, a
journey through beauty and passion” celebrates the international
vocation and boundless fame of a marque that has dominated the
world scene with unparalleled styling of its cars from the very
early days. |
It has been a while since we last reported on an international
event, more precisely it was March with the Amelia Island
Concours. Since then a lot of events had to be cancelled or
postponed to next year due to the current situation. Many
organizers took the decision early on, others tried to get through
until the last possible moment in order to make all the efforts
worth spent over the last 12 months. Daily new cancellations
were reported making planning not only for the entrants and
organizers, but also for the visitors very difficult. And even if an
event happens these days travel restrictions might lead to a late
change in plans. |
The 2020 edition of the Salon Privé Concours d’Elegance
presented by AXA, was probably the largest and lengthiest
motoring gathering in the United Kingdom since the introduction
of the various, and constantly changing, social distancing
regulations due to the Covid-19 pandemic. As with many events,
travel restrictions from a number of countries resulted in some
cancellation of entries, but despite this the organisers still put
together a broad ranging field of cars and motorcycles. |
93 years ago the first of the original thousand miles through Italy
was held and within the 30 years of existence the endurance race
on open roads became an institution in the sports car
championship contrasting circuit racing as the Nuerburgring or
Spa 1000 km. Maybe the older Targa Florio had a similar
character with its 148 km lap but it was the MM that created
legends like Nuvolari, Caracciola or Stirling Moss, the last of
the winners that left us earlier this year. |
|
Aston Martin, Ferrari and Lagonda are just three ‘grandes
marques du monde’ which will be offered by Bonhams when
the auction house returns to Paris for an exclusive ‘boutique’
motor car sale on 4 February 2021. Early consignments to the
sale, which will open the Bonhams 2021 European motoring
calendar, are led by a 1960 Aston Martin DB4 Series II,
estimate €450,000 – 600,000. Known as the ‘Gentleman’s
Express’, the DB4 was the fastest and most powerful British
production car of its day. |
From a spectacular barn find to a collector’s item with patina that
is as good as new: the first Porsche 911 S Targa delivered in
Germany is back on the road again after comprehensive factory
restoration that took more than three years. Its owner, a
long-time collector and Porsche enthusiast, discovered the car in
the USA. “The Targa stood there for almost 40 years in a
doorless garage, covered by a plastic tarpaulin. The owner at the
time had seemingly just forgotten about the car,” says Uwe
Makrutzki, Head of Porsche Classic Factory Restoration at
Porsche AG. |
Ferrari presents the new 488 GT Modificata, a limited edition car
that incorporates the technology developed for the 488 GT3 and
488 GTE, transcending the limits imposed by technical and
sporting regulations to exploit its full potential. The 488 GT
Modificata is exclusively for use during track days and at Ferrari
Club Competizioni GT events. |
On Friday, 22 January, RM Sotheby’s kicked off its 2021
auction calendar with the company’s 22nd annual Arizona
auction, held this year at the OTTO Car Club in Scottsdale with
limited, by appointment only in-person attendance, achieving
$35,065,900 in total sales with 90 percent of all lots finding new
homes. The one-day auction saw bidders from 35 countries
around the world bidding in the room and via phone and
internet. |
For years, old race cars were just that. Forgotten machines
relegated to museums, private collections, left covered in dusty
garages and even tucked away in barns. There wasn’t a calling to
keep them running nor was there a suitable venue to safely
exercise them. |
For years, old race cars were just that. Forgotten machines
relegated to museums, private collections, left covered in dusty
garages and even tucked away in barns. There wasn’t a calling to
keep them running nor was there a suitable venue to safely
exercise them. |
RM Sotheby’s is delighted to present four outstanding sports
cars from Maranello’s illustrious history at its upcoming Paris
auction. The consignments join a growing selection of
automotive exotica already set to be sold at RM Sotheby’s
annual season-opening European auction, which will take the
form of a livestreamed sale with no in-person attendance on 13
February. Remote bidding options for the auction include via
telephone, internet, or absentee bids. |
Gooding & Company, the internationally acclaimed auction house
known for selling many of the world’s most significant and
valuable collector cars, realized £8,453,500 at its Geared Online
UK sale. Gooding & Company achieved a 100% sell-through rate
with two cars selling above the £1 million mark and an average
price per car of £939,277. |
Gooding & Company, the internationally acclaimed auction house
known for selling many of the world’s most significant and
valuable collector cars, realized £8,453,500 at its Geared Online
UK sale. Gooding & Company achieved a 100% sell-through rate
with two cars selling above the £1 million mark and an average
price per car of £939,277. |
On Friday 5 February, at the Hôtel Dassault, across Paris and
throughout the collectors’ car world, the focus was firmly on
competition at Artcurial Motorcars’ Parisienne 2021 sale. The
prestigious line-up of automobiles on offer included some of the
out-and-out stars in motorsport history. Following a tense and
prolonged battle between bidders in the room and on the
telephone, the undisputed star of the sale, the Matra MS 670,
winner of the 1972 Le Mans 24 Hour Race, opened the
record-breaking results, selling for €6,907,200. It became the
most expensive Matra sold at auction to loud applause in the
room. |
On Friday 5 February, at the Hôtel Dassault, across Paris and
throughout the collectors’ car world, the focus was firmly on
competition at Artcurial Motorcars’ Parisienne 2021 sale. The
prestigious line-up of automobiles on offer included some of the
out-and-out stars in motorsport history. Following a tense and
prolonged battle between bidders in the room and on the
telephone, the undisputed star of the sale, the Matra MS 670,
winner of the 1972 Le Mans 24 Hour Race, opened the
record-breaking results, selling for €6,907,200. It became the
most expensive Matra sold at auction to loud applause in the
room. |
