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Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider tops Gooding's Saturday auction at $15.18 million

During the weekend's automotive smorgasbord in Pebble Beach, Ferrari has played a huge roll. Twenty examples of the ultra-rare 250 TR, better known as the Testa Rossa, were prominently on display at the Concours d'Elegance, and the Prancing Horses have been top sellers at many of the auctions. You can chalk up one more on that list with a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider with a scarce, optional hardtop included going for $15.18 million at Gooding & Company's sale on Saturday night. Ferris Bueller would find it so choice.
In all, the auction house brought in about $60.4 million during the night, and 17 of the cars on the block sold for over $1 million. None of the other cars on Saturday managed quite the stratospheric highs of the California, though. A 1955 Aston Martin DB3S was the second-highest seller at $5.5 million. The next four top vehicles were all Ferraris with final prices ranging between $2.09 million and $2.365 million. Clearly, investors are in love with the Prancing Horse these days.
Check out our gallery, and scroll down to read the auction house's announcement of its top Saturday results.

Ferrari spills more details on the new Roma

The Ferrari Roma saw its grand release just over a month ago in Italy. At the time, Ferrari was rather stingy with details. We were given a few key facts and figures, but there was even more that we were left wondering about. That’s now changed, as Ferrari has provided much more info about its newest two-door GT car. We knew the 3.9-liter twin-turbo V8 made more power than the Portofino — 611 horsepower and 561 pound-feet of torque — but now we know what Ferrari did to get there. The Roma features new cam profiles and a new speed sensor, which allowed Ferrari engineers to increase the maximum rpm. To make it emissions-compliant in Europe, Ferrari also had to add a gasoline particulate filter. Ferrari says it worked hard to optimize it, so that the filter doesnÂ’t negatively affect driving enjoyment, and with the amount of power the car makes, it appears to have done a bang-up job. Paired to the engine is a new eight-speed dual-clutch transmission. ItÂ’s derived from the unit in the SF90 Stradale, but Ferrari made a few modifications to it for Roma use. New for the front-mid-engine coupe is the addition of a reverse gear and longer gear ratios. The SF90 didnÂ’t need a reverse gear, because it uses the electric motor to travel backwards. Ferrari also designed a new clutch module for this transmission and a more powerful ECU thatÂ’s said to make shifts quicker, smoother and more consistent. Ferrari designed a totally new exhaust system for the Roma to give it a unique soundtrack. The geometry is different from the Portofino, and the two real silencers were eliminated. Ferrari says this drastically reduces back-pressure. The bypass valves were also redesigned in an oval shape. A strange detail to share, but Ferrari says this move improves the sound quality, and thatÂ’s of utmost importance for a car with the prancing horse on the front of it. Perhaps you were thinking that this car was just a Portofino with a hardtop. Ferrari says, not so fast. Within the chassis and bodyshell, Ferrari says 70 percent of the components are completely new. ItÂ’s all been redesigned in an effort to reduce weight and use the latest production technologies. Handling should be superb and fun, as Ferrari incorporated its next-gen Side Slip Control 6.0 tech in the Roma. It also has the five-position manettino mode switcher on the steering wheel and the Ferrari Dynamic Enhancer (can adjust brake pressure on one or more wheels depending on the situation).

Conquest and controversy conclude the 2014 Rolex 24 at Daytona [spoilers]

If you don't wish to know who won the 2014 Rolex 24 at Daytona, you should avert your eyes right now. We'll even give you a double-space to skedaddle...
For those of you still with us, the first race in the United SportsCar Championship (USCC) is done, but the discussions about it certainly won't end for a while. Daytona Prototypes claimed the first four overall places, the top spot taken by the No. 5 Action Express Coyote-Chevrolet Corvette DP driven by Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi, Sebastien Bourdain and Burt Friselle. The 16th and final caution of the race bunched the field up for an eight-minute sprint to the flag, so the first place getter finished just 1.4 seconds ahead of the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Dallara-Chevrolet Corvette DP driven by Max Angelelli. Third place went to Brian Friselle in the No. 9 Action Express Chevrolet Corvette DP, 20 seconds down. Chevrolet power hasn't taken the overall win since 2003, eleven years later it scores a one-two-three-four. The No. 6 Muscle Milk/Pickett Racing ORECA-Nissan 03 scored fifth place, the top LMP2 finisher.
The Prototype Challenge class win went to the No. 54 CORE Autosport team of Colin Braun, Jon Bennett, Mark Wilkins and James Gue.