2011 Ferrari Approved 599 Alonso, Special Edition, 1 Owner, Low Miles on 2040-cars

Auto blog

The pre-race and first in-race report from Le Mans

The 2013, 90th anniversary edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans has begun, tragedy marking the opening laps with the death of Allan Simonsen. We're at the track now as a guest of Audi and plan to stay through the evening, and even we haven't been able to find out what caused the accident - the only video is from just after the incident, and beyond the statement from ACO there's been no more news. The Aston Martin in the LM GTE Am class and its all-Danish drivers had taken pole in its class and was one of the favorites to win.
The pre-race report will come first, and even thought we can't spoil the race because we're only five hours into it at the time of writing, we'll put all of the news at the end in case you don't even want the updates.
Or you can go straight to the high-res galleries above.

Nissan GT-R and Ferrari 458 Speciale in track battle by Evo

Supercar slayer. That's what they call the Nissan GT-R. And in many ways it is, even though its price and performance over the years have risen to put it squarely in supercar territory of its own right.
In fact, as Evo magazine has been compiling a list of its fastest cars - using the Anglesey Circuit in Wales as its common ground - the GT-R has came out on top... that is, until Evo tested the Ferrari 458 Speciale. The two are about as different as you can get within the supercar segment: one has a turbo six up front driving all four wheels in a 2+2 configuration, the other a mid-engined, rear-drive V8 two-seater. In fact the only common ground you're likely to find between them comes down to their two doors and dual-clutch transmissions. Though they serve it up in different ways, both are class-leading performers.
We're looking forward to watching Evo populate its leaderboard with more entries like the McLaren 650S and more potent Nismo GT-R, but in the meantime the British enthusiast magazine, by popular demand, has released side-by-side in-car footage of both supercars putting their best lap forward around the seaside circuit.

John Lennon's first car being sold at auction

This is what you get as your first car after you've just passed your driver's test at the age of 25: a 1965 Ferrari 330GT 2+2 Coupe. Of course, that's assuming your name also happens to be John Lennon and you've just helped record Ticket to Ride with the rest of your Beatles cronies.
When news of Lennon getting a driver's license made the newspapers in England, luxury car makers parked outside his mansion with offerings and this is the one he chose, painted Azzuro Blue with a blue interior. He paid 6,500 pounds, said to be equivalent to 110,000 pounds today ($170K US).
Bonhams will be auctioning the blue Italian at this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed on July 12. It was just one of 500 built, has been restored to its original condition, has matching numbers and its original license plate number. The pre-auction estimate is between 180,000 and 220,000 pounds ($278K - $340K US).