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Ferrari Modulo catches fire driving through Monaco

Accidents happen when you drive a car. The one-off Ferrari Modulo concept is not immune to such a fate, as the spaceship of a car recently caught on fire while out driving. In fact, it's certainly far more likely for an untested concept car to experience more issues than any kind of a production car that's gone through years of testing and development. This particular incident was documented on Twitter by Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus. Jim Glickenhaus and his team recently bought the Modulo concept with the intention of making it road-worthy. The car was originally shown at the 1970 Turin Motor Show. We've since seen videos of it driving around, but this last drive went all sorts of wrong. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. As Glickenhaus details in his tweets, the muffler was responsible for the blaze that damaged the rear of the vehicle. He says that an unnamed firm they're no longer involved with designed the muffler that caught fire. Glickenhaus was prepared for such an occurrence (it does have a Ferrari engine in there after all). Jokes aside, the onboard fire suppression system did its job and extinguished the fire shortly after it began, saving the rest of the car. Unfortunately, it didn't act fast enough to save it from some pretty nasty damage to the rear of the body. Glickenhaus was driving the car through downtown Monaco when the fire began, so we can assume there was an excessive amount of heat building up in there. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Surprisingly, Glickenhaus is continuing to drive about even after the fire. He tweeted a photo just an hour after the blaze showing the scarred Modulo charging up the mountains around Monaco. It's tough to trust a car right after a faulty design just caused it to catch fire, but who are we to doubt Glickenhaus? No plans for restoration were detailed yet, but we imagine the Glickenhaus team will have it looking like new as soon as it can. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. View 19 Photos

UK collector pays $800k for license plate '25 O'

You can't get a vanity license plate in the UK, but Brits have proven their willingness time and time again to part with huge amounts of cash in order to get a particularly desirable number to put on the front and back of their high-priced machinery. This time, a Ferrari collector paid over $800,000 for the license plate "25 O." The princely sum of GBP518,000 – equivalent to over $814k at today's rates – was paid by John Collins, owner of classic car broker Talacrest. Collins reportedly intends to put it on his Ferrari 250 GT SWB. What's more is that he had just paid another GBP130,320 ($205k) for the license plate "250 L" that he plans to put on his 1964 Ferrari 250 GT Lusso, the long-wheelbase touring version of the same vehicle. The winning bids were placed at an auction held by the UK's Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency – the 150th such auction held by the government office, marking its 25th anniversary. The "25 O" plate broke the event's previous record of GBP357,000 ($560k), paid in March 2009 for plate number "1 D." In 2008 noted tuner Afzal Kahn bought the license plate "F1" for GBP440,000, which is less than what Collins paid for "25 O" but different exchange rates worked that out to $870k at the time. Kahn was said to have turned down a $9 million offer for that plate last year. DVLA PERSONALISED REGISTRATIONS SETS A NEW BRITISH RECORD AS 25 O SELLS FOR GBP500,000 DVLA Personalised Registrations has set a new British record for a personalised registration sold by the Agency after 25 O was bought for more than GBP500,000. Incredibly, John Collins, who, as owner of Talacrest, is regarded as one of the world's leading collectors and dealers of classic Ferraris, bought 25 O for GBP518,000 less than three hours after successfully buying 250 L for a staggering GBP130,320. Both sums include fees and take the total amount paid by the businessman to GBP648,320. Both are among the 1,600 registrations being auctioned by the Agency as part of its 25th Anniversary three-day auction – and also 150th live sale – currently being held at The Vale Resort near Cardiff. Both registrations will be placed on two of the world's most exclusive cars; 250 L will head onto a rare 1964 Ferrari Lusso, while 25 O will sit on the Ferrari 250 SWB once owned by the rock singer Eric Clapton.

What I learned after 5,600 miles in a Ferrari F355 Spider

I'm paraphrasing, but Autoblog reader Paul Dyer asked me one day, "Want to drive my 1998 Ferrari F355 Spider from San Jose, California, to me in Newfoundland?" I'm also paraphrasing and leaving out some colorful but unpublishable language, but essentially I said, "Yes." That's how I ended up on a two-week, 5,600-mile road trip, getting an extensive and intimate look at one of the most spectacular cars of our generation. Here's what I discovered. To paraphrase, you don't even know how badly you want an F355. The F355 Spider is the last beautiful Ferrari. Subsequent stallions are modern and dramatic, the F355 is eternally gorgeous, like Brunelleschi's doors and sunsets in Viareggio. The Iliad would still make sense if you said the Greeks took to ship after a Trojan keyed Menelaus' F355. You cannot say the same about the 348, or even the 458 (though we do love it so). This car began the era in which mid-engined Ferraris sell out for years in advance. That said, F355 upkeep is the equivalent of giving your bank account a flesh-eating disease. This car's most recent engine-out service was $28,000: $12,000 in labor, $16,000 in parts. Dropping the Propulsore Completo is recommended every three years for routine service and runs $7,000 or more if no other work is required. Gooey valve guides, melting exhaust manifolds, and cranky seat sensors are among the fickle components that will guarantee the bill will exceed that amount. A single bolt is $45. One F355 owner, asked if he'd recommend the model, replied without hesitation "Absolutely not." But the F355 began a whole new game for The Prancing Horse. One of Luca de Montezemolo's first marks on the company as president, the F355 was intended to rectify the sins of the 348 and deal with the Acura NSX. The F355's design resulted from 1,800 wind tunnel hours. It introduced Ferrari's five-valve V8 engine – at 107.3-horsepower-per-liter, the highest specific output of any naturally aspirated car at the time. It had an 8,500-rpm redline. The engine was so important that Ferrari changed its naming convention to highlight it. The F355 introduced a six-speed manual transmission to the V8 range. It introduced the paddle-shifted sequential gearboxes to consumers, previously the purview of top-tier race cars. This Spider was the brand's first semi-automatic droptop. This car began the era in which mid-engined Ferraris sell out for years in advance. Some of the trademark features take getting used to.