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Ferrari completes two-year restoration of fire-damaged 225E

See this classic Ferrari? It looks pretty good, right? Well it didn't a couple of years ago, having been all but destroyed in a fire. But the Ferrari Classiche department completed a comprehensive two-year restoration process that's left it looking as good as (if not better than) new. The vehicle in question is a 1952 Ferrari 225E, one of the earliest sports cars the Prancing Horse made, just five years after its founding. It was delivered new to Count Antonio Sterzi, who campaigned it first in the Mille Miglia. The car went on to win events like the Bolzano-Mendola hillclimb and the Coppa InterEuropa at Monza, but after changing hands a couple of times, it was ravaged by a fire. View 7 Photos Several attempts were made in the decades since to bring it back to proper working condition. But it wasn't until its current Argentinian owner commissioned the factory's own restoration department to completely overhaul the burnt-out shell that it regained its luster. Over the course of two years, the Classiche studio has comprehensively reconditioned the 225E inside, out, and under the hood, sourcing original documentation from the factory archives to match the interior as close as possible to how it would have originally been outfitted, and giving it a beautiful two-tone blue and white paintjob. A FERRARI RISES FROM THE ASHES A fire-damaged 225E makes a triumphant return Maranello, 15 March 2016 – After almost two years of work, restoration of the 225E chassis no. 0178 is finally complete and the car is back in its owner's hands. The project was a huge challenge for the Ferrari Classiche department as the car, which belongs to an Argentinean collector, arrived in Maranello in a terrible state of repair, having been partly-destroyed in a fire. Racing past. The 225E left the factory in May 1952 and was first owned by Count Antonio Sterzi. It quickly made its competitive debut in none other than the Mille Miglia in the hands of that gentleman and his co-driver Nino Rovelli. In June the same year, the 225E won the Coppa della Toscana with Bruno Sterzi who also raced it to victory in the Bolzano-Mendola hillclimb and the Coppa InterEuropa at Monza for which both front and rear bumpers were removed. The car changed hands a couple of times but was then involved in a fire in which it sustained severe damage. The engine, however, was almost entirely salvageable and an attempt was made during the 1980s to restore the bodywork.

Race Recap: For the 2013 Monaco Grand Prix, NASCAR comes to the principality

Lots of contact, debris cautions, trips into the wall, full-course yellows and a red flag - these are the kinds of racing terms you unbox when you want to have a conversation about NASCAR... or the Formula One grand prix of Monaco. In this case we're not talking about the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, we're talking about 78 laps in the South of France that even featured a fallen camera cable just like that stock-car race.
This year, Mercedes-AMG Petronas drivers treated their chassis' like busses instead of F1 cars, Romain Grosjean treated his Lotus like a battering ram, Sergio Perez kept sticking his McLaren's nose in places and eventually got it smacked, and maybe the size of the drivers' mirrors should be changed instead of the tires as there were almost as many firsts as there were crashes. Plenty of F1 fans wish Monaco were removed from the calendar, yet even though it doesn't specialize in traditional thrills, that doesn't mean nothing happens during the parade through - and into - the barriers.

$1.3B worth of classic cars were auctioned in 2014

The collector auto market in the US just continues to expand with the values of vehicles seemingly only growing in the past years, especially if they have a prancing horse on the hood. This year was no different. According to data compiled by classic car insurance agency Hagerty, there were about $1.3 billion worth of vintage rides auctioned in North America in 2014, up just slightly from $1.2 billion crossing the block in 2013. If you want an idea of just how big a role the Monterey Car Week plays in the North American collector hobby, Hagerty's stats illustrate it perfectly. The company recorded $430 million in auction sales during the week – about a third of the entire market for the year. The event also hosted the biggest seller of 2014 when the hammer fell on a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO (pictured above) for $38.115 million at Bonhams. In fact, vintage Ferraris in general were among the top buys in the classic auto world in 2014. Eight of the ten most expensive vehicles sold at auction were Prancing Horses (the other two were Ford GT40s). Also, the insurance company's price index for these Italian stallions showed a 43-percent gain in value for the year. The market for another Italian supercar is exploding, as well. The Lamborghini Countach showed a staggering 175-percent growth in auction value in 2014. According to Hagerty, the average price when they crossed the block was $736,599. Judging by Hagerty's numbers, there were still some places to look for those hoping to spend a bit less money. The Aston Martin Lagonda showed a strong gain in value with a 32-percent increase in auction price, but they still averaged $47,078. In addition, the company's index for '50s American cars showed only one-percent growth for these classics. These huge leaps in collector car value might be winding down, according to Hagerty. It predicts growth in the market to slow to an estimated five percent gain in 2015. Maybe a few of these classics might actually become a bit more affordable to fans without such deep pockets sometime in the future. Featured Gallery Bonhams Maranello Rosso Collection: Monterey 2014 View 21 Photos News Source: HagertyImage Credit: Copyright 2014 Drew Phillips / AOL Aston Martin Ferrari Lamborghini Auctions Car Buying Performance Classics aston martin lagonda ferrari 250 gto Lamborghini Countach collector cars 1962 ferrari 250 gto auto auction