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1962 Ferrari 250 GTO for sale in Germany at $64 million

Prices keep climbing for the Ferrari 250 GTO with virtually no end in sight. In 1969 one sold for just $2,500, but by the 1980s they were trading for hundreds of thousands, then millions, then tens of millions to the point that the last last year, one was reported to have changed hands at $52 million. But now there's a GTO for sale in Germany that could eclipse even that gargantuan price tag.
Ferrari made 39 examples of the 250 GTO between 1962 and 1962, and the item listing on mobile.de doesn't give much in the way of specifics as to which exactly we're looking at. But last we checked, there were only two GTOs in Germany, and the other one was silver. That leaves chassis number 3809GT, which was delivered new in '62 to Switzerland and participated in numerous endurance races and hillclimb events throughout the early 60s. 3809GT has been owned until now by one Hartmut Ibing, who bought it in 1976 when values were in the tens of thousands, not tens of millions. Given how his asset has appreciated so dramatically, and with less than 10,000 miles on the odometers over 52 years, we could understand how Ibing would want to cash out.
Of course we could be mistaken and we could be looking at an entirely different example - the vast majority were, after all, painted red and fitted with blue upholstery just like this one - but either way, we're looking at a price tag of 47.6 million euros. That's nearly $64 million at today's rates, inclusive of Germany's 19 percent VAT rate that adds a staggering $10 million in taxes to the pre-tax price of 40 million euros, which comes in under $54 million but would still be the most ever paid for a GTO (or really, just about any car ever made).

Stellantis will enter joint venture with Samsung SDI for EV batteries

SEOUL — South Korean battery maker Samsung SDI Co Ltd and global automaker Stellantis NV have agreed to jointly produce electric vehicle (EV) batteries for the North American market, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. Samsung SDI, an affiliate of South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics, already has EV battery plants in South Korea, China and Hungary, which supply customers such as BMW and Ford. "The two companies (Samsung SDI and Stellantis) have struck a MOU (memorandum of understanding) to produce EV batteries for North America," the person with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The source spoke of condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. The person said the location of the battery joint venture is under review and will be announced later. In July, Reuters reported that Samsung SDI may build a battery plant in the United States, citing a company source. South Korea's Yonhap news agency earlier reported the two companies plan to build a factory in the United States, citing industry sources. Samsung SDI and Stellantis did not have immediate comment when reached by Reuters. Stellantis on Monday struck a preliminary deal with battery maker South Korea's LG Energy Solution (LGES) to produce battery cells and modules for North America. Shares of Samsung SDI were up 2.6% as of 0300 GMT, versus a 0.6% rise in the KOSPI benchmark index. Related video: Green Alfa Romeo Chrysler Dodge Ferrari Fiat Jeep Maserati RAM Citroen Lancia Opel Peugeot Vauxhall

Race Recap: 2014 Austrian Grand Prix is old-school front row, new-school racing

The last time Formula One raced in Spielberg, Austria the track was called the A1 Ring, Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher were the pilots for Williams, the field contained other not-so-venerable names like Ralph Firman and Justin Wilson and V10 engines were bolted to the bulkheads - the only Mercedes units being in the backs of the two McLarens, one of which was driven by Kimi Räikkönen, who finished second behind Michael Schumacher.
The return to an old-school Formula One track - now called the Red Bull Ring - after 11 years away put an old-school team on the front row, Felipe Massa in a Williams getting his first pole position since 2008, followed by teammate Valtteri Bottas. Behind them came Nico Rosberg in the first Mercedes AMG Petronas, Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari, Daniel Ricciardo for Infiniti Red Bull Racing, Kevin Magnussen for McLaren, Danil Kvyat in his Toro Rosso, Räikkönen in the second Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton in the second Mercedes way back in ninth - he'd spun on his final timed lap after having his previous effort disqualified for going wide at Turn 8 - Nico Hülkenberg in the Force India in tenth after opting not to set a time at all in Q3.
It's a shame the well of nostalgia wasn't deep enough to give us some proper old-school racing.