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Bonhams to auction Carroll Shelby's prototypes and personal cars

Fans of Carroll Shelby will want to make their way to Greenwich, Conn., this June, because Bonhams will be selling a great many cars from the man's personal collection. And many of them are the first of their kind, marking important milestones in Shelby's career. One of those important cars is a 1982 Dodge Charger prototype, which might not look as impressive as a Cobra, but it was important in that it was the first car on which Shelby collaborated with Chrysler. That car led to the first Shelby Charger, as well as other special small Chryslers including the GLH Omnis and Chargers (GLH standing for "Goes Like Hell"). In fact, the first Charger GLH-S (Goes Like Hell S'more) is also part of this collection. There are even some prototypes up for auction that never resulted in a production car, such as a Shelby modified Dodge Ram. That one is probably our favorite: the gold ram hood ornament, the huge pentastar in the grille, the double-barrel truck horn on the roof. It's wonderful nonsense. Of course it isn't just Chryslers going up for sale. There are a couple of GT500 and GT350 Mustangs in the mix from a variety of years. Perhaps most interesting is the very first Shelby Series I, Shelby's ill-fated roadster designed from the ground-up by the Texan's company. Unlike the other early Series I models, Shelby's had a supercharger, which led to a supercharger option being offered later. You can check out the full list of cars below, and pictures of each one in the gallery at the top. The auction will happen on June 3, and every vehicle offered has no reserve, so they'll all be sold for whatever price is shown at the drop of the gavel. 1927 Ford Model T 1931 Ford Model A 1935 Chrysler Airflow Sedan 1955 DeSoto Hard Top 1966 Shelby GT350 Convertible 1967 Lincoln Continental Convertible 1968 Shelby GT350 1969 Shelby GT 500 previously owned by Jackie Cooper Jr. 1969 Shelby GT 500 1982 Shelby Charger Prototype 1983 De Tomaso Pantera 1983 Dodge/Shelby Pickup Concept 1987 DeTomaso GT5-S 1987 Dodge CSX Serial #1 1987 Shelby Charger GLH-S Serial #1 1987 Dodge Shelby Lancer Serial #1 1988 Dodge Shelby Dakota Prototype 1989 Dodge CSX VNT Serial #1 1965 Shelby Cobra 427 Continuation 1999 Shelby Series 1 Serial #1 2008 Shelby GT 500 KR 2011 Shelby GT 500 Super Snake Aurora Race Car Related Video: Featured Gallery Shelby Collection View 72 Photos Image Credit: Bonhams Chrysler Dodge Ford Auctions Performance Classics shelby

Trump wants a trade deal, but South Korea doesn't want US cars

SEOUL - US auto imports from the likes of General Motors and Ford must become more chic, affordable or fuel-efficient to reap the rewards of President Donald Trump's attempts to renegotiate a trade deal with key ally South Korea, officials and industry experts in Seoul say. Meeting South Korean President Moon Jae-in last week in Washington, Trump said the United States would do more to address trade imbalances with South Korea and create "a fair shake" to sell more cars there, the world's 11th largest auto market. "What we really want to say to the United States is: Make good cars, make cars that Korean consumers like." While imports from automakers including Ford, Chrysler and GM more than doubled last year largely thanks to free trade deal which took effect in 2012, sales account for just 1 percent of a market dominated by more affordable models from local giants Hyundai and affiliate Kia. Imports make up just 15 percent of the overall Korean auto market, and are mainly more luxurious models from German automakers BMW and Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz, which also benefit from a trade deal with the European Union. "Addressing non-tariff barriers would not fundamentally raise the competitiveness of US cars," a senior Korean government official told Reuters, declining to be identified because of the sensitivity of the subject. "What we really want to say to the United States is: Make good cars, make cars that Korean consumers like." TASTE BARRIER In Korea, US imports are seen as lagging German brands in brand image, sophistication and fuel economy, industry experts say. US imports do have a competitive advantage in electric cars: Tesla Motors' electric vehicles are seen as both environmentally friendly and trendy, while GM has launched a long-range Bolt EV. US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross had cited a quota in the current trade deal as an obstacle to boosting imports. The quota allows US automakers to bring in each year 25,000 vehicles that meet US, not necessarily Korean, safety standards. Should GM, for example, decide to bring in more than its quota of one model - the Impala sedans - it would cost up to $75 million to modify the cars to meet Korean safety standards, the company told its local labor union. Asked about non-tariff barriers, a spokesman at GM's Korean unit said removing them could expand the range of models the company can bring in from the United States. No US company, however, has yet to make full use of the quota, industry data shows.

Brand new cars are being sold with defective Takata airbags

If you just bought a 2016 Audi TT, 2017 Audi R8, 2016–17 Mitsubishi i-MiEV, or 2016 Volkswagen CC, we have some unsettling news for you. A report provided to a US Senate committee that oversees the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and reported on by Automotive News claims these vehicles were sold with defective Takata airbags. And it gets worse. Toyota and FCA are called out in the report for continuing to build vehicles that will need to be recalled down the line for the same issue. That's not all. The report also states that of the airbags that have been replaced already in the Takata recall campaign, 2.1 million will need to eventually be replaced again. They don't have the drying agent that prevents the degradation of the ammonium nitrate, which can lead to explosions that can destroy the airbag housing and propel metal fragments at occupants. So these airbags are out there already. We're not done yet. There's also a stockpile of about 580,000 airbags waiting to be installed in cars coming in to have their defective airbags replaced. These 580k airbags also don't have the drying agent. They'll need to be replaced down the road, too. A new vehicle with a defective Takata airbag should be safe to drive, but that margin of safety decreases with time. If all this has you spinning around in a frustrated, agitated mess, there's a silver lining that is better than it sounds. So take a breath, run your fingers through your hair, and read on. Our best evidence right now demonstrates that defective Takata airbags – those without the drying agent that prevents humidity from degrading the ammonium nitrate propellant – aren't dangerous yet. It takes a long period of time combined with high humidity for them to reach the point where they can rupture their housing and cause serious injury. It's a matter of years, not days. So a new vehicle with a defective Takata airbag should be safe to drive, but that margin of safety decreases with time – and six years seems to be about as early as the degradation happens in the worst possible scenario. All this is small comfort for the millions of people who just realized their brand-new car has a time bomb installed in the wheel or dashboard, or the owners who waited patiently to have their airbags replaced only to discover that the new airbag is probably defective in the same way (although newer and safer!) as the old one.