Tour Auto 2013 – Day 1 ... Paris - Orléans

The town of Maranello is Mecca for Ferrari enthusiasts world-wide, you may not easily gain access to the Ferrari factory, but there is a wide variety of choice for the aficionado to appreciate during a visit. You can see and hear F1 cars testing at the Fiorano track, visit the factory run Galleria Ferrari, enjoy a meal at the Cavallino restaurant, shop for memorabilia and ... more >>>

Tour Auto 2013 – Day 1 ... Paris - Orléans
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Tour Auto 2013 – Day 1 ... Paris - Orléans
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Tour Auto 2013 – Day 1 ... Paris - Orléans
Tour Auto 2013 – Day 1 ... Paris - Orléans
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Over the last 20 years the Cavallino Classic extended from the Concours to a six day event. Starting with two private Track Days on Tuesday, Wednesday is the first day of the registration at the Breakers with a small welcome reception in the evening.
The first interesting day for visitors is Thursday with the official Track Days at the Palm Beach International Raceway and the Grand Driving Tour that ends in the late afternoon at the Jet Aviation at the PB International Airport  ... more
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More than 20 years ago the publisher of the American Ferrari Magazine established the annual Cavallino Classic at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida. What started with the Concours became a complete week with track days, evening receptions and the multi-marque concours at the nearby Mar-a-Lago Club but the Concours stayed the heart of the event. Before the first edition on the climax of the Ferrari market the hotel staff was surprised to hear the estimated overall value of the exhibits so they quickly   ... more >>>

RM Auctions kicked off its 2012 calendar on a positive note in Arizona last week, posting over $25.5 million* in sales with a strong 89 percent sell-through at its annual Arizona Biltmore sale in Phoenix. ... more >>>

The 82nd running of the annual Geneva Salon took place at its regular venue in the Palexpo exhibition complex, adjacent to Geneva airport. This location must provide the easiest access for visitors of all shows, as apart from being within easy walking distance of the airport, there is a railway station, plus bus services into town. The show ... more >>>

RM Auctions, the official auction house of the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, continued its strong track record in Northern Florida this weekend, generating more than $23 million in sales before a packed house at its well-established sale at the Ritz-Carlton. The 88 percent sell through rate saw 92 of the 106 pre- and post-war motor cars changing hands, with six automobiles achieving million-dollar-plus results and spirited bidding leading to the establishment of numerous new auction records. ... more >>>

Artcurial Motorcars made history last night, 3 February, with a sale at Retromobile realising 14.5-million euros. This is the highest figure ever for a collectors' car sale in France.  ... more >>>

The 21st edition of the annual Cavallino Classic came to an end with the final concours at the Mar-a-Lago Club. Contrary to the concours the day before this meeting is not just open to Ferrari but to all classic and sports cars of particular interest.. ... more >>>

Gooding & Company, the acclaimed auction house celebrated for selling the world’s most significant and valuable collector cars, is pleased to announce $39.8 million in sales for 116 out of 118 lots sold, its most successful Scottsdale Auction results to date. The Gooding & Company team soared through its Friday and Saturday auctions, selling lot after lot as guests cheered 13 world record-breaking cars, the immense bidding excitement in the room and Auctioneer Charlie Ross’ joyful entertainment.  ... more >>>

A 1961 Aston Martin DB4GT Coupé sold for €1,012,000 last night (2 February 2012) at Bonhams’ flagship sale in Paris, which was held at the fashionable venue, La Halle Freyssinet. Over 100 cars and 35 motorcycles, including several high quality French built cars and three private collections, went under the hammer during the ‘drive through’ auction, which realised €7,198,038 in total. ... more >>>

Following the Collectors’ Motor Cars and Automobilia sale that took place in Oxford on March 3rd, Bonhams is delighted to announce that 100% of the Motor Cars sold, realising a total £1.29 million. Selling for £101,180 against a presale estimate of £40,000 – 60,000, the top lot of the sale was a 1961 Ferrari 250GTE 2+2 ‘Series 1’ Coupé barn find that belonged to the Oscar winning producer Agostino De Laurentiis, who produced over 150 films including Barbarella, King Kong and Manhunter.  ... more >>>

Traditionally held on the second weekend of March, the 17th edition of the Concours in the north of Florida was held on the 11th of March. Sixteen years ago Bill Warner and his enthusiastic team founded this event on the east-coast as a counterpart to the famous Pebble Beach Concours on the other side of the country. Over the following years the Concours became a premium event of similar prestige as Pebble and its winner is amongst the selection for the Louis Vuitton Classic Award that chooses the best of the show winners at the end of the year. ... more >>>

Gooding & Company, the acclaimed auction house celebrated for selling the world’s most significant and valuable collector cars, is thrilled to announce more than $36 million in sales from 70 out of 77 lots sold at its Amelia Island Auction yesterday, more than doubling its results from 2010 and establishing a new auction record for Amelia Island. Led by many extraordinary Porsche racing cars that were part of the Drendel Family Collection, 11 world records were achieved. The top-selling lot of the weekend in Amelia Island, the 1973 Porsche 917/30 Can-Am Spyder sold for $4.4 million and is now the most valuable Porsche ever sold at auction in the world.
... more
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As part of the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the 12 Hours of Sebring, the organisers arranged an exhibition of significant cars in the race’s history in the Gallery of Legends building at the rear of the pits complex. Entry was free to race ticket holders, and according to the organisers there was a record crowd in attendance, which explains why trying to find a parking spot, was like looking for a needle in a haystack.  ... more >>>

The 60th anniversary of the legendary 12 Hours of Sebring was celebrated in fine style at the central Florida circuit, with a packed grid of 63 cars (from the 64 who practiced) for the running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fuelled by Fresh from Florida, on Saturday 17 March. The activity started on the Wednesday preceding the race, with  ... more >>>

Tour Auto 2013 – Day 1 ... Paris - Orléans

Belgium’s largest classic car event was being held in the Antwerp Expo for the 35th time. The Antwerp Classic Salon is organized by SIHA, organizer of Techno Classica Essen. ... more >>>

The 37th edition of the Classic Car Show took place on the first February week at the exhibition center at the Porte de Versailles. Traditionally one of the season openers the format of the trade fair was changed last year from the former 10 to a reduced 5 days show and just in its second year it proofed that this was the right decision. ... more >>>

The second leg of this year's Tour Auto led from Beaune to Aix-les-Bains. The weather was quit cloudy in the morning with some drizzle on the first kilometers before the sun finally came out. The first stop in the morning was the race track in Bresse that was already part of the Tour Auto in recent years. This is a small winding track with no infield so the cars are driving on a huge grass field criss-cross.
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The third leg of this years Tour Auto leading from yesterdays finish in Aix-les-Bains to Clermont-Ferrand. At 6:30 am the first competition class was waved off to lead the field on its way through France. This was a long day with one special stage before the lunch and the visit to Charade in the afternoon.  ... more >>>

Today´s leg led from Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne to Nimes in the departement Gard. Early in the morning the weather forecast of the last days looked finally to become true as heavy clouds made one to expect a rainy day but this years Tour Auto seems to be very blessed as these clouds  ... more >>> ... Stage 1 >>> ... Stage 2 >>>  ... Stage 3 >>> ... Stage 4 >>>

C´est fini !!! The 21st edition of the annual Tour Auto is history. After 5 days, several special stages, visit to 5 different race tracks and more than 2000 km on the road the remaining of the 230 starting crews reached their final destination Nice late Saturday afternoon.   ... more >>> ... Stage 1 >>> ... Stage 2 >>>  ... Stage 3 >>> ... Stage 4 >>>  ... Stage 5 >>>

The annual gathering of Italian vehicles took place on Saturday 28 April in its regular location of the Corn Street district of Bristol, close to the city centre. Despite rain during the early part of the morning, and a distinctly chill wind that made it feel more like Winter than Spring, there was a very good turnout of a wide variety of cars, motorcycles and motor scooters lining the narrow streets of the area. In fact the sky was so grey and miserable, that it was a wonder that anybody made the effort to get out of bed, so all credit to the hardy souls who brought their machinery for the public’s enjoyment. ... more >>>

The organisers of Salon Prive held a media preview day on Friday 27 April, to present the themes and highlights of the 2012 edition, the seventh running, of the now well established Luxury Supercar Event and Concours d’Elegance. This will be the second year that it has been held at Syon House and Park in West London, and features a change of date from its previous June date to early September. The main reason for the change is that Syon House is currently undergoing a major external refurbishment, due for completion in August, and would not look its best shrouded in scaffolding.  ... more >>>

Après cette première journée passée au sec, les concurrents affrontaient des conditions climatiques plus délicates les jours suivants. Tout d'abord la neige se montrait en haut du mont Revard, puis la pluie en Auvergne provoquait un grand nombre de sorties de routes les troisième et quatrième jours. Pour le dernier jour le soleil faisait son retour.   ... more >>>

Ten days ago this year's Tour Auto arrived at the final stop in Nice at the Cote d´Azur in south France. After five days with over 2000 km on the road, numerous special stages and no less than five different race tracks visited the 220 crews arrived at home with a lot of impressions, the winners with their trophies and the further placed with the best purposes for the next year. During our hounding through France we tried to keep you up to date with small daily reports showing the impressions along the road  ... more >>>

Cernobbio on Lake Como once again became a magnet for car and motorcycle fans from far and wide. On display at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este were a range of classic automobiles and cutting-edge concept cars that thrilled the crowds who had flocked there. Visitors were already making a beeline for the grounds of Villa Erba on Saturday to  ... more >>>

May 17th until May 20th saw this years edition of the Mille Miglia, presumably the most famous classic car event in the world. Already in its 30th edition since the start of the regularity rallye back in 1977 it was easy to see how things changed in the last 35 years. What started as an ambitious project of enthusiasts became a big commercial event over the years that attracts more visitors than any other event of its kind in the world. Especially in Germany the Mille Miglia was hyped over the years and with a holiday  ... more >>>

GTO's the flavour of the "month" ... recently several GTO's changed homes .. and anamera even knows more prospective buyers are actively in the market.
Classic Car brokers predicting more records as billionaires look for alternatives to risky financial investments.    ... more
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After yesterday´s scrutineering the Tour Auto started officially this morning at the Chateau in Vaux le Vicomte. Early in the morning (6:30 am) the cars left the Grand Palais on a neutralized stage to Vaux le Vicomte to have their start in the chateau as Parisian traffic is to unpredictable to include this in a timed stage.    ... more >>>

Bjoern Schmidt submitted a list with Ferraris entered in the 2012 Mille Miglia ...
the list contains links to the images and history of each car ... more
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Ferrari’s clients and enthusiasts across the world have once again demonstrated their extraordinary generosity. Over the last two weeks, the online auction organised by www.ferrari.com raised over 1.8 million euro. That significant sum will now be donated to help the families of the victims of the earthquakes that struck Emilia- Romagna on May 20th and 29th, many of whom died at their workplace.
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This years Retro Classics was already the 12th edition of the classic car trade fair in the hometown of Mercedes-Benz and Porsche and the fifth time at the all new exhibition center near the airport. Within these years the Retro Classics established itself as the most important show in the south of Germany and as the second biggest behind the ... more >>>

Barkaways may not be a name familiar to many in the Ferrari world, but if passion, quality of work, and customer service are the ingredients for a successful business, then it is a name that we will hear much more of in the future. The business is very family orientated, led by Ian Barkaway, who has many years experience in the Ferrari field, working for a variety of specialists in the UK, followed by a spell on his own, working within the premises of another organisation.  ... more >>>

The Tour Auto 2012 is just around the corner. About 230 cars with their crews came together at the Grand Palais at the Champs-Elysee for the scrutineering of the tour that starts tomorrow. After several years in the Parc de Tuileries the prelude of the Tour Auto is back in the Grand Palais. Although its is more constricted than in the parc it is less dusty and   ... more >>>

The eyes of the world were on Bonhams on Friday 29 June as its Goodwood Festival of Speed sale broke several world records on its way to £22 million in the festival’s 20th anniversary year. Leading the pack was the ex-Sir Henry ‘Tim’ Birkin 1929 4 ½- litre supercharged ‘Blower’ Bentley  ... more >>>

One of the great Italian gentleman racing drivers of the fifties, Count Giannino Marzotto, passed away on Saturday 14 July at 84 years of age. He was the third of five sons of Count Gaetano Marzotto, four of whom, Vittorio, Umberto, Giannino and Paolo, were proficient gentleman racing drivers, only the youngest, Pietro, didn’t follow his brothers down that road.  ... more >>>

20 years ago, in the fall of 1992 Michael Glöckner (then Tourism Chef of Gröbming) and F1 presenter Helmut Zwickl came up with the idea of a classic car rally in Austria. Thanks to the connections of Zwickl in the race and rally scene they managed to get Walter Röhrl as figurehead for the first edition held with 35 entrants in 1993 and the sportsman  ... more >>>

The first Grand Prix in the principality was held in 1929 organized by the Automobile Club of Monaco (ACM) but not all top drivers and teams of these days saw the upcoming importance of the race as not all of them followed the invitation. Rudolf Caracciola on his huge Mercedes-Benz SSK had the challenge to fight an armada of Bugatti in the narrow   ... more >>>

This year's edition of the biannual Le Mans Classic was held on the second weekend of July. The classic variant of the legendary 24 hours race was celebrating its 10th anniversary with the sixth edition since its premiere in 2002. As in previous editions almost 400 cars were entered in six grids sorted  ... more >>>

Back in the 1950s and 60s the World Sportscar Championship was far more prestigious than it is these days, with most of the interest today focused on Formula 1. That was the time when Ferrari, Jaguar, Aston Martin, Porsche and Maserati fought in long distance races on the Nürburgring, in Spa, Daytona, Sebring, Le Mans, the Targa Florio or Goodwood for points to crown a Champion at the end of the year. The 1950s were dominated by Ferrari with two exceptions, the 1955 season with the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR ... more >>>

Last weekend in June saw the 20th edition of the Festival of Speed. Beside the Goodwood Revival in September on the nearby Race Track the Hill Climb at the end of June is one of the seasons highlights. During the last 19 years the event became a must see both for classic car lovers and fans of the latest Supercars that became an own ... more >>>

The Concours of America was very sporty this year with two further race car classes for the Trans-Am cars over and under 2 litre displacement. Whereas the first one was dominated by American V8-Power the later included some Alfa Romeo GTA and Porsche 911.
... more
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The Monterey Classic Car week was officially stated with the Quail Rally and the Concours on the Avenue in the nearby Carmel-by-the-Sea. At 8 am about 30 classic cars and a few new sponsor cars lined up in front of the club house at the Quail Lodge. Sir Michael Kadoorie invited a few friends to start the busy week with a relaxed drive to finally arrive ... more >>>

Last we reported on this year´s Motorsport Gathering at the Quail but this was not the only event held on Friday the 17th of August. Even with more tradition and earlier in its life located at the same venue before it moved the Concorso Italiano shares the same date. During lunch time we made our way from the Carmel Valley to Laguna Seca to visit the ... more >>>

Just before the start of the European outdoor season Essen featured the world biggest classic car fair in its 24thedition. This years Techno Classica was expected with some attention as it was held on the same weekend as the second biggest German show in Stuttgart, the Retro Classics. Although there were different opinions what let to this  ... more >>>

RM Auctions, the world’s largest collector car auction house for investment-quality automobiles, continued its strong track record for historic Ferraris in Monterey, California on August 18 with a 1962 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder
achieving a remarkable $8,580,000 and a 1956 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Berlinetta ‘Tour de France’ realizing a strong $6,710,000 before a packed house. ... more
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The Monterey Classic Car Week found its final with the Concours d´Elegance at the Pebble Beach Golf Course. Traditionally held on the third Sunday in August this was already the 62th edition of the most prestigious Concours in the world. 225 cars in not less than 28 classes were presented at the 18th hole of the famous Golf Course at the Monterey  ... more >>>

For enthusiasts of modern GT racing, the place to be over the weekend of 21 – 23 September was Germany’s Nurburgring for the Blancpain Race Weekend. The event provided races for the FIA GT1 World Championship and the FIA GT3 European Championship, The Blancpain Endurance Series, plus the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo one make series.    ... more >>>

This year's Goodwood Revival is history. After three fantastic days the revival came to an end with the final of the 16 races, the Sussex Trophy for sports car from 1955 to 1960. This is always one of the highlight with a superb line-up of Aston Martin DBR1, Jaguar D Type, Maserati 300S and Lister-Jaguar and keeps the spectators track side to the last minute of the Revival Meeting. As reported earlier this was again sold out well in advance giving Lord March and his organization team another successful event in    ... more >>>

Continuing a six-year track record of achieving fantastic results, RM Auctions’ annual Battersea sale generated an incredible £14,266,030* ($23,039,638 USD)** in sales with an impressive 84 percent of total lots sold before a packed house in central London this week (31 October). The top performer of the evening sale was the simply beautiful and extraordinarily rare 1959 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Berlinetta ‘Tour de France’, which attracted spirited bidding from eager collectors, selling for a strong £1,960,000.  ... more >>>

Last weekend in September saw this year's edition of the Uniques Special Ones Concours d´Elegance in Florence, Italy. Held in the Giardino della Gherardesca, this garden of the Florence Four Seasons Hotel is an oasis of rest in the busy touristic capitol of Tuscany as the city of the Medici attracts millions of visitors every year to the Uffizi  ... more >>>

Le tour auto 2012 se termine cette année par une 13ème et dernière épreuve spéciale sur le circuit du Castelet dans le Sud Est de la France où le soleil mais aussi le mistral étaient au rendez-vous. ... more >>>

The Schloss Bensberg Classics was a great final of a concours weekend and the small but selected display in the castle yard was of a high quality. Hopefully the next years date will again be separate from the Goodwood Revival making it possible to visit this one again. Although the event has not a long history like the Villa d´Este or Pebble it became ... more >>>

Beside all the concours, meetings, auctions and shows the Rolex Monterey Motorsport Reunion is the sportive part of the week. Traditionally the weekend before has some track days for all those who arrive earlier or want to enjoy their cars on the tracks more than just one weekend. In 17 race groups ranging from the pre-war cars to the IMSA cars of    ... more >>>

The 45th Essen Motor Show has really stepped on the accelerator right at the beginning: Approx. 112,000 enthusiastic visitors bestowed a full-speed start on the largest and most attractive fair in 2012 for everything to do with sporty vehicles and automobile individuality. On the first three days of the fair, they already dived into the uniquely diverse world of automobile experiences. Up to and including the coming Sunday, the Essen Motor Show will continue to entice the automobile and motorsport fans to Messe Essen.  ... more >>>

The second weekend in May saw the 8th edition of the biannual Monaco Historic Grand Prix to start a very busy month in the classic car scene. Within three weeks classic car enthusiasts from all over the world can visit the best of racing, rally and concours with the Monaco HGP, the Mille Miglia and the Concorso d´Eleganza in south Europe. The beginning was the very prestigious city Grand Prix that uses the closed off Monaco race track for the regular Grand Prix in 2 weeks time. 7 classes with single seaters ... more >>>

Ten years ago a small but selected group of automotive enthusiasts came together in Sir Michael Kadoories garage to discuss a new event in the Monterey Classic Car Week. Proposed by Gordon McCall, host of the annual McCall Jet Center Party on Wednesday, the new event was intended to be a less competitive element of the week between all the concours and racing activities, more like a garden party with cars at the driving range of the Quail Lodge Golf Club.  ... more >>>

The original Bahamas Speed Week was the brainchild of an American, Sherman “Red” Crise, who had organised speed events in his homeland, and thought that the wide open space at the old Windsor Airport on New Providence Island would be a great venue for a race circuit. He sold his idea to the Bahamian authorities as a way of increasing foreign visitors who would attend the meetings, thus in December 1954 the first Speed Week took place. It was held at the Windsor Field circuit until 1956, then moved to the larger Oakes Field site in 1957, where it continued to be held until its demise after the 1966 event.   ... more >>>

The Friday of the Monterey Classic Car week is reserved to the two meetings at the Quail in the Carmel Valley and the Concorso Italiano near the race track of Laguna Seca. Although both car shows they are very different in appearance. First in the morning we entered the field at the Quail Lodge, maybe the most exclusive event of the whole ... more >>>

The history of the Six Hours race at the famous circuit in the Ardennes is already 20 years old and within this time the long distance race became a fixed date in autumn. The idea of founders Alain Defalle and Vincent Collard was to show pre-1965 GT and Touring cars to run into the nightfall over a full 6 hours, a concept that has not changed over all the years  ... more >>>

The Ferrari FXX track use only derivation of the Enzo model is the ultimate mid engine Ferrari supercar to date, and this new book by Philip Bachman provides an insider view of this limited production series of cars. Philip has been in the fortunate ...  more  >>>

Just after the Salon Privé in London´s Syon Park we headed 15 miles west to Windsor Castle to visit one of the best events in recent years. 60 years ago Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain was crowned in February 1952 and this year sees many celebrations of the diamond jubilee including the concours in the royal country residence of Windsor. According to the motto “60 years, 60 cars and 60 collectors” the organizers sent out 60 invitations to the most important collectors on both sides of the Atlantic   ... more >>>

This week saw the annual edition of the prestigious Salon Privé in London. For the second time the event was held in the Syon Park after previous years at the Hurlington Club, the most exclusive private club in London. Whereas the last edition was in June the organizers moved to a later date in September and together with this weekend's Windsor Castle Concours this is well worth a visit the British Capitol after the Olympics and just one week before this year's Goodwood Revival meeting.  ... more >>>

“Modena is a land of revolutionaries and of restless people, the blood and the brain combine well here, creating men who are obstinate, capable and intrepid, the qualities you need in a racing car… the factory worker from this land, the worker who uses his arms and his intellect, is an extremely intelligent and active worker” Enzo Ferrari. Why did such a strong and particular specialisation in the construction of racing cars, which later evolved into the construction of high performance GT cars too, develop in Modena of all places?  ... more >>>

This year's Goodwood Revival is history. After three fantastic days the revival came to an end with the final of the 16 races, the Sussex Trophy for sports car from 1955 to 1960. This is always one of the highlight with a superb line-up of Aston Martin DBR1, Jaguar D Type, Maserati 300S and Lister-Jaguar and keeps the spectators track side to the last minute of the Revival Meeting. As reported earlier this was again sold out well in advance giving Lord March and his organization team another successful event in    ... more >>>

The National Motor Museum was founded over half a century ago, in 1956, by Lord Montagu as a tribute to his father, who one of the pioneers of motorised transport in Great Britain. The museum has grown in size and stature from those early days, and in 1970 Lord Montagu founded a charitable trust to ensure the longevity of the collection as a national heritage. In 1972 a new purpose made building was constructed to house the collection of vehicles, and this was officially opened that year by HRH The Duke of Kent ... more >>>

Last weekend saw the 20th edition of the Festival of Speed. Beside the Goodwood Revival in September on the nearby Race Track the Hill Climb at the end of June is one of the seasons highlights. During the last 19 years the event became a must see both for classic car lovers and fans of the latest Supercars that became an own additional day on Thursday. With the loss of an British Motor Show this is also the compensation for the large manufacturer and a good place to present their new cars to a highly interested audience. As you might have seen on various press releases in the last weeks several cars made their debut in Goodwood. ... more >>>

The Monterey Classic Car Week found its final with the Concours d´Elegance at the Pebble Beach Golf Course. The most important event of its kind in the world is the highlight of the week and this year's edition was not an exception. 225 cars in not less than 28 classes were presented at the 18th hole of the famous Golf Course at the Monterey Peninsula ... more >>>

After the Concours on the Avenue yesterday and before the Pebble Beach Tour tomorrow today was the day to visit all the auction previews. In the next 4 days no less than 5 different auction companies will have their major auction with hundreds of cars going over the block. With a very active market and high prices many high quality cars are coming on the market and with all the major collectors being present there are more cars in the million dollar range than ever before. Especially Gooding & Company ... more >>>

An exhibition commemorating 60 years of collaboration between the late Sergio Pininfarina and Ferrari, was inaugurated at the Museo Ferrari in Maranello during the morning of Friday 26 October 2012. The opening ceremony was attended by Ferrari Chairman, Luca di Montezemolo, Piero Ferrari, Paolo Pininfarina, current President of the  ... more >>>

Today we take a look back to our visit of one of the most famous race car collections in the world, the Simeone Foundation Museum in Philadelphia. When arriving from the airport the journey leads to the nearby business park that is home of the rental car parking lots and numerous car dealerships, unimpressive signposts guiding to a brown industrial building. Just a blue sign and the name over the entrance indicate that this building might be more than an ordinary factory building, a banner “Museum of the Year” is making curious. This award was given to the Museum in 2011 by a well known international jury of automotive experts in London in this category as part of “The International Historic Motoring Awards”. ... more >>>

Gooding & Company, the official auction house of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and acclaimed for selling the world’s most significant and valuable collector cars, realized more than $113.7 million at its Pebble Beach Auctions over the weekend. The auction total is an outstanding achievement and a world record sales total for an automotive auction. The impressive results exceed Gooding & Company’s 2011 Pebble Beach total by more than $35 million.  ... more >>>

Just before the official kick-off of this year's Monterey Classic Car week with the Concours on the Avenue in Carmel on Tuesday the pre-reunion at the racetrack in Laguna Seca was the prelude.
Beside all the concours, meetings, auctions and shows the Rolex Monterey Motorsport Reunion is the sportive part of the week.  ... more
>>>

October 15th was the the opening at the MEF of the new exhibition “The Great Challenges Ferrari – Maserati”, dedicated to the competition between the two great names in Italian car racing, famous all over the world, which will remain open to the public until March 20, 2013. The exhibition, realised with the important support of the “Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Modena”, has been curated by Giovanni Perfetti with the contribution of Aldo Zana and Luca Dal Monte for the narrative storyboard.
... more
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For the 3rd time the Belgian coastal town Knokke-Heist near Bruges hosted the “Zoute Grand Prix”. Named after “Het Zoute”, the most exclusive part of the town, it is organized by the Zoute Automobile Club as the brainchild of local Bentley dealer Filip Bourgoo. His aim and that of the 100 members of the club was to create a 5-star automotive event with the emphasis on style and luxury, something Knokke has been associated with for a long time. A crucial role is played by the town’s charismatic mayor and Zoute Automobile Club president, Count Leopold Lippens, who is a bona fide car enthusiast.   ... more >>>

This week saw the annual edition of the prestigious Salon Privé in London. For the second time the event was held in the Syon Park after previous years at the Hurlington Club, the most exclusive private club in London. Whereas the last edition was in June the organizers moved to a later date in September and together with this weekend's Windsor Castle Concours this is well worth a visit the British Capitol after the Olympics and just one week before this year's Goodwood Revival meeting.  ... more >>>

After the major international classic car events in May and with Goodwood FoS and Le Mans Classic just around the corner last weekend gave the opportunity to visit one of the smaller and less known events, the Vernasca Silver Flag in the Emilia- Romagna in Italy. When talking to owners and enthusiasts on the various events one could quit often hear them relate on this hill climb as one of their favourite events and so we headed to Castell´Arquato about 30 km south of Piacenza to get an idea of what they are  ... more >>>

The 3rd annual Chelsea AutoLegends show, under the patronage of Derek Bell MBE, took place in the grounds of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea bordering The Embankment alongside the River Thames in London, on Sunday 02 September 2012. Previous main sponsors EFG International and H.R. Owen provided continued support, along with Castrol ... more >>>

Le Mitiche Sport a Bassano was founded in 1995 by the brothers Danilo and Renato Calmonte as a regularity trial for open sports cars built before 1960. As it is an annual event the “Sports Myth of Bassano” was already in its 18th edition in 2012 but for the first time it had to get along without its mastermind as Danilo Calmonte unfortunately passed away earlier this year. Now the next generation had to proof that they can take over the organisation for the years to come and consolidate the success for the following   ... more >>>

The iconic 1968 Ford GT40 Gulf/Mirage Lightweight Racing Car, chassis P/1074, used extensively as a camera car in the legendary Hollywood film, Le Mans, sold for a remarkable $11,000,000 before a packed house at RM’s Monterey, California sale last night (August 17), setting a new world record for an American automobile sold at auction.  ... more >>>

Once again the Concorso d´Eleganza at the Villa D´Este featured a spectacular line- up of cars with many highlights and a deserved winner of all major prizes. With the pure Ferrari and the Le Mans class this years Concours was a very sportive one compared to the recent editions. As Urs Ramseier left the concours as a consultant this part was taken over by Simon Kidston but after one edition it is to early to say whether this was an exception or a trend. Certainly we are all looking forward to the next edition in 2013 when RM Auctions will be back as well after this years Monaco Auction.  ... more >>>

Thursday is the day during the Monterey Classic Car week when spectators have the first opportunity to see some of the cars that will be at the lawn on Sunday for the big final. The Pebble Beach Tour was introduced some years ago to show that the participating cars are not just good looking trailer queens but that they have the ability to take at least a few miles ... more >>>

Billed as the world’s biggest classic motor racing festival, the Silverstone Classic powered by the AA with its ‘Rocking and Racing’ theme, took place over the weekend of 20- 22 July, with a 24 race programme spread over the Saturday and Sunday, and a plethora of peripheral activities catering for all members of the family. ... more >>>

This years Cavallino Classic started with its official program today at the Palm Beach International Raceway with the first of two track days. Traditionally the first two days of the 4-day meeting are held on the race track where the brave owners of race cars are able to play with their toys.  ... more >>>

The second day of the 22nd edition of the Cavallino Classic saw another track day at the nearby Palm Beach International Raceway. Formerly known as Moroso the track has changed a lot since these days, new safety features included a new fence almost all around the track set up since the last CC in 2012 closing off the track very much from the ... more >>>

Today was the great day of this year's Cavallino Classic, the 22nd edition of the Ferrari meeting of the leading Ferrari magazine. After two rather quiet days on the Palm Beach International Raceway the Concours at the Breakers featured some highlight from the rich Ferrari history. Both competition and GT road cars were presented in superb  ... more >>>

The 2013 Cavallino Classic is history, the 22nd edition of this annual Ferrari meeting came to an end today with the multi-marque concours at the exclusive Mar-a-Lago club of real estate tycoon Donald Trump. Although officially a concours with judges and awards this is more a relaxed meeting in the gardens of the club where the cars could be admired  ... more >>>

Gipsy Moth bi-plane from seven-time Oscar-winning motion picture sold for a world auction record €201,250 to an anonymous telephone bidder in Kenya.
A 1929 Bentley 6½-Litre Speed Six tourer was the top-selling lot, realising €828,000, while a 1963 Aston Martin DB4 Vantage cabriolet more than doubled its pre-sale estimate at €805,000. ... more
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This year's Retromobile was held on the second weekend of February at the exhibition centre in the south-west periphery of Paris. Already in its 38. edition the oldest classic car trade fair in Europe gained a reputation that attracts visitors and collectors from all over the world to the French capitol, but still after all those years it retained a familiar ambience compared to some of its competitors.  ... more >>>

This year’s Cavallino Classic was held over the last weekend in January, the “main event” with the concours at the 5 star grand hotel on Saturday. More than 20 years ago the first meeting was organized by the American Ferrari magazine “Cavallino” during the sunny winter months in Florida, over the coming years it became established as one of the   ... more >>>

This year’s Cavallino Classic was held over the last weekend in January, the “main event” with the concours at the 5 star grand hotel on Saturday. More than 20 years ago the first meeting was organized by the American Ferrari magazine “Cavallino” during the sunny winter months in Florida, over the coming years it became established as one of the   ... more >>>

With a lot of different activities on the 4 days in January the Cavallino Classic attracts a diverse audience to the various locations. Starting with the track days most of the visitors are very interested in the old race cars and take the rare opportunity to hear them running at speed. The Concours at Mar-a-Lago on the other side is mainly for the owners of classic cars and their guests who like spending their Sunday in an exclusive private club, the concours at the Breakers is a meeting point for all Ferraristi, historian, restorers and collectors.   ... more >>>

The 83rd Salon International De l’Auto & Accessoires, to give the exhibition it’s full title, took place between the 07 - 17 March, occupying seven halls of the Palexpo exhibition centre adjacent to Geneva Airport. Each year the show is the focal point for new models for most of the major manufacturers, along with a wide variety of niche market specialists, who ... more >>>

The 18th Concours d´Elegance of Amelia Island was held on its traditional date, the second full weekend in March at the golf course of the Ritz-Carlton. Being one of the top events of its kind it attracted again more than 250 collector cars from all over the world to the 18th fairway in no less than 35 classes to be judged by the international jury. Although it is a typical American big show the Amelia Island has its very own character, whereas Pebble Beach has a clear focus in Elegance and special coachwork the Concours ... more >>>

RM Auctions, the official auction house of the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, continued its run of fantastic 2013 results this past weekend with a highly successful Amelia Island, Florida sale which saw records tumble and more than $26.8 million* grossed with over 92 percent of all lots sold.   ... more >>>

Gooding & Company posted more than $28 million worth of sales, with a 97% sell through rate, with 69 out of 71 lots sold at its annual Amelia Island Auction on Friday, March 8. The vehicles on offer included celebrity-owned classics, like the 1935 Duesenberg Model JN Long Wheelbase Berline owned new by dancer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson,  ... more >>>

When people talking about American cars they usually think of Detroit being the centre of the American car industry and home of the big names. But this is just a development of the time when mass production and cost efficiency reduced the variety of car manufacturers spread out all over the country to a few remaining names. In the beginning of ... more >>>

Die 13. Stuttgarter Automobilmesse Retro Classics, die zum sechsten Mal im Messegelände beim Flughafen stattgefunden hat, ist mit einem Rekordergebnis zu Ende gegangen. Mit rund 77.000 Besuchern wurde das ausgezeichnete Ergebnis des Vorjahres um fast 20 Prozent übertroffen. Bereits auf Ausstellerseite hatte die Messe mit 1308 Teilnehmern und rund 3000 ausgestellten Fahrzeugen eine höhere Beteiligung als 2012 verzeichnet. ... more >>>

The TECHNO-CLASSICA celebrates anniversary: The greatest fair of the world for collector automobiles takes place for the 25th time. In 1989 the TECHNO-CLASSICA in Essen started as the first great ambitious classic fair. Since then it sets the trends of the vintage scene yearly and has become to the leading meeting point and trading centre of the international classic scene. At the moment the anniversary edition comes into the hot preparatory phase until the opening on 10th April 2013 with the preview- press ... more >>>

Kamui Kobayashi celebrated his debut race in the N°71 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 with a podium finish in association with Toni Vilander (FIN). The pair came second in the GTE Pro category of the 6 Hours of Silverstone, round one of the 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship, and they immediately felt at ease with the car and their technical staff.  ... more >>>

Barkaways held their second annual Open Day on Saturday 13 April, and despite predominantly overcast skies and the imminent threat of rain, a large number of clients brought their Ferraris out for an airing in the Kent countryside. The family business has certainly made its mark amongst UK Ferrari owners, as since its inception in September in 2011, it has ... more >>>

This year's Tour Auto Optic 2000 is just around the corner, today no less than 250 cars entered the Grand Palais in central Paris for the scrutineering of the five days event. In its 22nd edition the Tour Auto (based on the history of the Tour de France Automobile) again attracted a good field both in the regularity classes and the competition classes.  ... more >>>

After the first leg yesterday from Paris to Orléans the second and longest of the 5 days led today from Orléans south to Vichy. The day was dominated by 3 castle visits in the morning and the race at the French Grand Prix Circuit in Magny Cours, representative folly on one side and modern functionality on the other. ... more >>>

Between 08 March and 30 September 2013, the Museo Ferrari in Maranello is hosting an exhibition titled “Ferrari Supercar Tecnica, Design, Mito” The exhibition focuses on the Ferrari limited production supercars spanning nearly 30 years, which started with the GTO (288) in 1984, continued with the F40 in 1987, then came the F50 in 1995, the Enzo in 2002 and the LaFerrari presented at the Geneva Salon this year. The exhibition also features a number of the limited production models that were the forerunners to the evolution of the supercar series, including the legendary 250 GTO and the 250 LM. ... more >>>

Today's leg led west into the direction of Le Mans to have the first race meeting on the small Bugatti Circuit after a first special stage at Beaufay. The races at Le Mans saw the usual suspects running in front of their grids, the first competition class was again dominated by a couple of Alfa Romeo GTA with von ... more >>>

With the third of five days driving though the French countryside the Tour Auto is already more than halfway through. Early at 7:00 am the competition classes sorted by age left the parc fermé in Vichy for a 459 km tour south to Albi, the capitol of the département Tarn in the Midi-Pyrenees. Unlike the previous two days the landscape became more and more interesting during the day with small hillside roads running through the forest, smaller mountain passes and passing through narrow villages. ... more >>>

Today the second to last day of this year´s Tour Auto Optic 2000 led from Albi to Limoges, the capitol of the departement Haute-Vienne. As intended in yesterday´s reports the race sequence changed with the regularity group 1 starting early and the competition group 5 being last on the road, so after a short night the first regularities took the road at 7:00 am, the usual starting time of the TA.  ... more >>>

C´est fini, this year's Tour Auto Optic 2000 is history. Five days after leaving Paris the remaining of the 250 started teams reached the finish line on the quay of La Rochelle at the Atlantic coast. On their blast through France they covered 2187 kilometre, mastered 12 special stages on small country roads and through the mountains plus 4 appearances at the Circuit du Mans, Magny Cours, Albi and Val de Vienne. There is no other event in the classic car diary that combines the fun of a road rally on the countryside  ... more >>>

An overcast chilly start, with blustery winds, didn’t deter a great selection of Italian cars and motorcycles, along with thousands of visitors, from attending the annual Auto Italia magazine Italian Car Day, in the grounds of the Brooklands Museum near Weybridge in Surrey. Maybe the lack of any real spring weather this year, gave people an attitude of let’s make the most of it come hell or high water! Certainly, in all the years that I have attended, I have never seen the public car parks so full ... more >>>

The organisers of the Silverstone Classic (Powered by the AA) held a Media and Competitors Test Day at the Silverstone Circuit on Wednesday 08 May, to provide an appetiser of what to expect at the track over the weekend of 26 - 28 July. The gathering will feature 24 races over the weekend, spanning eight decades of motor sport, together with a host of off track attractions. ... more >>>

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Two weeks ago we reported on a daily basis from this year's Tour Auto with all the stages from the French capitol to the Atlantic seaside town La Rochelle. Now with a distance of time we want to look back on all the participating cars on the 2000km through the French countryside, the 4 race tracks and the various special stages.
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