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Seven-figure cars highlight day one of RM's Monterey auction

RM Auctions is one of several houses holding auctions during the Monterey weekend, and Friday night's festivities got quite pricey. Seven-figure vehicles were not at all uncommon during the first day of the two-day event, with the 1953 Ferrari 375 MM Spider, seen above, crossing the block for $9,075,000.
Other big earners included a pair of rare Ferraris, a 1950 166 MM Barchetta and a 1955 750 Monza Spider, which took $3,080,000 and $4,070,000, respectively. Outside of the red Italians, a 1939 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special captured $7,480,000 while a stunning, color-appropriate 1955 Jaguar D-Type took $3,850,000. We've got images of these vehicles, and a few other stunning examples of last night's auction, in the gallery above.
Thought it seems impossible, tonight's auction is expected to see even more high-dollar action. The winner of the 2012 Pebble Beach Concours, a 1928 Mercedes-Benz 680S Torpedo Roadster is expected to command over $10 million. Also crossing the block will be a car we reported on a few weeks back - a supremely rare 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 NART Spyder. One of only 10 in the world, it's expected to take anywhere from $14 to $17 million when it hits the stage tonight.

Race Recap: 2014 Singapore Grand Prix is back-to-front

To paraphrase Guy Fawkes, 'Remember, remember the twenty-first of September.' That's the day the 2014 Formula One Championship took another big turn - and at one of the year's least interesting races, traditionally - putting Lewis Hamilton back at the top of the standings. Not only that, it did so by borrowing the template from the British Grand Prix this year: put Hamilton in front, retire Nico Rosberg.
It was close until then, though, Hamilton lining up on pole for Mercedes AMG Petronas just seven thousandths of a second ahead of Rosberg. Daniel Ricciardo, the year's greatest opportunist, took third ahead of his teammate Sebastian Vettel in the Infiniti Red Bull Racing, followed by Fernando Alonso in fifth for Ferrari. The Williams' looked like they'd be in trouble on Friday, but as usual they dredged up some pace on Saturday, Felipe Massa taking sixth ahead of Kimi Räikkönen in the second Ferrari, the second Williams of Valtteri Bottas in eighth. Kevin Magnussen saved a little bit of face for McLaren in ninth, and Daniil Kvyat did another solid job to line up tenth in his Toro Rosso.
Before it even started, the race wouldn't look the same.

1955 Belgian GP movie tells the story of Spa

With the Belgian Formula One Grand Prix happening this weekend, Shell reminded a few guests what the Spa-Francorchamps track and Belgian countryside were like in 1955. That year the petroleum company made a 30-minute movie about the grand prix - this is back when the track was called the Francorchamps National Circuit, near the town of Spa, and a list of its important corners didn't include a mention of Eau Rouge - where it was doing the same thing it still does today: working on fuels and lubricants via its technical partnership with Ferrari.
To create the mood, journalists were invited to a vintage cinema where they mingled with Ferrari F1 drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa and other extras in period fifties gear, and watched a screening of 1955 Belgian Grand Prix. You can scroll down for a screening of your own, as well as the press release, minus the petits-fours and pinups.