2009 Used 4.3l V8 32v Automatic Convertible Premium on 2040-cars

Auto blog

RM Sotheby's 2015 Monterey auction sets records

RM Sotheby's wrapped up three days of beautiful cars crossing the block during Monterey Car Week with a company record of $172.7 million in vehicles sold. The first day's Pinnacle Portfolio collection alone brought in $75.4 million, a new high for a one-day, single-vendor auction. While nothing ever topped the $17.6 million 1964 Ferrari 250 LM, the hammer continued to fall on some very expensive vehicles each day. Expected to clear over $11 million, the sale of a 1956 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Competizione 'Tour de France' easily managed that with a final price of $13.2 million. Multiple bidders on the phone and in the room desperately wanted this famous racer, and it drove the price up. To make this thoroughbred worth the lavish amount, the coupe won the 1956 Tour de France series of events and was among seven with this body by Scaglietti. Many of the top sellers came from the first night's Pinnacle Portfolio, but records continued to be broken over the weekend. Notably, a 1953 Jaguar C-Type Works Lightweight brought $13.2 million to make it the most expensive Jag ever at auction. Also among RM Sotheby's top sellers were a 1950 Ferrari 275S/340 America Barchetta at $7.975 million and a 1952 Jaguar XK120 Supersonic for $2,062,500. Take a look at a few of these special vehicles in the gallery above. HISTORIC FERRARI 250 GT 'TOUR DE FRANCE' LEADS THIRD NIGHT OF RECORD SALES AT RM SOTHEBY'S MONTEREY World's largest collector car auction house concludes three day event with more than $172.7 million in auction and post-auction sales MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA (August 15, 2015) - A historic 1956 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Competizione 'Tour de France' set a new auction record for the model tonight, selling for an outstanding $13.2 million before another packed house at RM Sotheby's Monterey event. Spurring a lively bidding contest between multiple collectors in the room and on the telephones, the influential Ferrari is the actual car that instituted the 'Tour de France' nomenclature following its overall victory at that legendary race in 1956. The fifth of only seven Scaglietti-bodied first-series competition berlinettas, it was sold new to the Marquis Alfonso de Portago, the flamboyant and daring Spanish driver, who, joined by his close friend Ed Nelson, piloted to car to first place overall at the 1956 Tour de France Auto.

Meet the man that discovered and restored the oldest existing Porsche

Luciano Rupolo is an absolutely fascinating gentleman. He was born in France but spent nearly his entire life in Italy as an auto mechanic running his own shop. His grandfather and father instilled a love of sports cars in him that he carried on by historic racing in Italy for decades. He saw his life-long automotive passion repaid when he found and restored the car that might have been the first Porsche registered for the road.
You can spot in his garage a split-window Corvette, Ferrari 250 GTE and other exotics, but Rupolo's most interesting automotive story concerns his Iso Grifo Competizione (pictured above). The sports coupe was found in the Canary Islands as little more than a shell, but Rupolo got help from a prestigious source for its restoration. The result is a motoring masterpiece.
Rupolo is a fantastic storyteller with a captivating, tale to tell. Settle in, scroll down and watch the bittersweet documentary about his life with one of the first Porsches.

Colani's land speed record Ferrari for sale

Everyone knows that Ferraris are designed to go fast, but their performance is measured by a number of different metrics. This particular example, however, was designed with one goal in mind, and that was top speed. And now it's up for sale. The one-of-a-kind creation was the work of Professor Luigi Colani. The car started life as a Testarossa, but was extensively modified and entirely rebodied in order to pursue a high-speed run at the Bonneville Salt Flats. That meant an aerodynamically optimized body designed by Colani to dramatic and wind-cheating effect, and substantially reworked mechanicals as well. The flat-twelve engine was fitted by German firm Lotec with a pair of turbochargers to drive output beyond 750 horsepower. The 1989 Ferrari Testa D'Oro Colani - so named, we gather, for its gold cam cover - was clocked at 218 miles per hour back in 1991, winning its class at Bonneville and far outstripping the 201-mph top speed quoted by Ferrari for the F40 that was all the rage at the time. The vehicle has now been put up for sale by Purosangue Maranello, where (as you can see from the images in the gallery above) it sits alongside another one-off Ferrari: the four-door Pinin concept of 1980 (to say nothing of the Minardi F1 racer in the other corner). If it's a completely unique Prancing Horse you're after, Purosangue (Italian for "pure blood" or "thoroughbred") seems to be the place to look. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.