A new star: Mercedes-AMG GT
Today Mercedes unveiled their much anticipated Mercedes-AMG GT which is a smaller than the SLS which it does not replace.
The new car is a direct response to the Jaguar F-Type, Porsche 911 and Nissan 370. This leaves the Mercedes-Benz S 65 AMG Coupé at the top of the range.
AMG GT uses a 4.0-litre V8 with a curious turbocharging setup to produce 583 bhp @ 6800 rpm. The Turbos are nestled on top of the engine which we assume improves response to the intake chambers.
The first deliveries in the US are scheduled for Spring of 2015.
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Salon Privé 2014
Salon Privé is well underway for 2014 including a fantastic Supercar Show and Concours d’Elégance.
Ferrari stole the show with their stunning 2014 Ferrari F12 TRS among the boutique British brands like Noble, Lotus and Caterham.
The Chubb Insurance Concours d’Elégance had several great classes this year including a Fifty Years of the Ferrari 275 class that included two Ferrari GTB/Cs, two Ferrari 275 GTS and Jay Kay's fabulous Ferrari 275 GTB/4.
Other great classes included The Jaguar D-Type and 100 years of Maserati.
All the highlights can be found in our feature gallery of Salon Privé.
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2014 Pebble Beach Auctions
This year Gooding & Company upped the blue chip market by setting 16 world records at their Pebble Beach Auctions and achieving $106 million in total sales which includes their 10% buyer's premium.
At $15,180,000 for the 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider, Gooding set a new benchmark price. In earlier years BBC presenter Chris Evans was high criticized for buying a similar car in 2008 for €7,040,000, but now he looks all the wiser.
Gooding also sold one of the world's best Countach LP400s for $1,870,000. That's about a million more than any previous Countach.
The Ferrari 250GT in all varieties benefited at Gooding. Two Lussos sold for over 2-million each which is double the prices from last year. The 275 GTB is also nearly a 4 million dollar car in today's market.
The title 1966 Ferrari 365 P Berlinetta Speciale, a fabled race car turned into a 3-seat road car, failed to meet it's 25 million dollar reserve and when back home to the Chinetti family who have owned it almost continually since new.
All the great car from Gooding can be found in our feature gallery with prices and descriptions.
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2014 Monterey by RM Auctions
RM Auctions had an astonishing $143.4 million sale in Monterey this year which they describe as highest grossing collector car auction of all time.
This was in part aided by many impressive cars from the Bob Pond collection and a sole 1964 Ferrari 275 GTB/C Speciale that sold for $26.4 million.
Among Pond's cars we thoroughly investigated the untouched Vector W8 for aficionado Vectorfiles.
Some best-of-breed cars sold for world records including the $1,012,000 Coutach LP400S, $231,000 Sunbeam Tiger and $473,000 1981 Ferrari 512 BB.
All these great cars and more can be found in our RM gallery complete with prices realized and breif descriptions.
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Bonhams 2014 Quail Auction
This year the biggest Monterey buzz, stories and misinformation came from the lead up to Bonham's sale of the 250 GTO chassis 3851GT including nine other cars from the Italian Collezione Maranello Rosso.
And $38,115,000 USD was the price for the GTO including Bonham's 10% buyer's premium. The figure was spot on and proof that big money has little to do with a media blitz. It shows signs of a healthy collector car market, one that can remain consistent for years to come. This result was also completely contrary to those punters behind cameras, cellphones and wordpress that wanted the 50-100 million 'story of century', even if it made no sense at all.
But there's another side to this story and that is Fabrizio Violati, the man who purchased this GTO from Enzo Ferrari 49 years ago. He loved and cherished 3851GT alongside his stable of Italian cars in the Collezione Maranello Rosso museum. Leading up to his last years, in his early seventies, Violati car drove only this car from the collection with his dog sitting shotgun.
For Bonhams, the rest of Quail sale can only be described as a resounding success. They bested their total amount thanks to Violati's great Ferraris and set some production car records including $3,850,000 for a steel-bodied Ferrari 275 GTB, $385,000 for a Maserati Ghibli coupe and $2,640,000 for a 1973 Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Daytona Spider.
Our gallery from Bonham's sale has all the cars with descriptions and prices realized.
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2014 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance
The 64th running of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance has culminated with the first Ferrari to win Best of Show, but that's just the most obvious of the many great stories from this event.
At the end of the 18th fairway, Pebble Beach assembled the world's best collection of 250 Testa Rossas. 20 were in attendance including all the works competition cars, many of which now live at arms length on the West Coast.
Among the Testa Rossas was the spectacular restoration debut of 0724TR which returned back to its Ecurie Nationale Belge colors by the specialists at Paul Russel. The rumored $1,300,000 job was only eclpised in numbers by the $40,000,000 Testa Rossa which was sold and presented by dealer Tom Hartley Jnr as the only unrestored Testa Rossa in the world.
With great anticipation we thoroughly visited the Streamlined Tatra class. The winning 'Typa 77A' came all the way from Czech Republic with correct details such as proper hides and dyes for the upholstery.
Almost all the world's surviving Ruxtons were present at Pebble. Evelyn & Jim Fasnacht brought out six exemplary examples which joined 10 more cars in the class. Four cars were presented in Joseph Urban’s multiband paint scheme and each is an unforgettable sight.
Mercedes was celebrated for their 1914 French Grand Prix victory and Pebble brought out three fantastic 115HP cars alongside their Peugeot and Opel rivals. It's the best open-wheeled display we have seen at Pebble, even if it meant stranding a fabulous 1910 Fiat S61 to the Antique class.
Runner up for Best in Show had to be the 1934 Hispano-Suiza J12 Fernandez et Darrin Coupé de Ville. Restoration perfection is what Robert Lee and his capable team in Sparks, Nevada aim for and they spent four years on their match set of Fernandez et Darrin cars.
Maserati's 100th anniversary allowed Pebble to line up some of the very best racing examples along the coast including rare variants such as 350S, 250S, 150s and 151.
This year almost every modern manufacturer independently revealed their showcars and later placed them on the Concept Car Lawn for Sunday's event. The green leaves no room for an international unveiling so we have included photos from the private events that happened earlier in the week. Maybe the new cars could deserve a spot on the 18th fairway in the future.
The very thorough selection committee from Pebble Beach does such a good job we have split up our gallery into the 26 classes listed below:
Concept Car Lawn and Manufacturer Displays
Class A : Antique
Class B : Early Steam Cars
Class C-1 : American Classic Open Early
Class C-2 : American Classic Open Late
Class C-3 : American Classic Closed
Class D : Ruxton
Class F : Fernandez et Darrin Coachwork
Class G : Duesenberg
Class H-1 : Rolls-Royce
Class H-2 : Rolls-Royce Phantom Postwar
Class I - Mercedes-Benz Prewar
Class J-1 : European Classic Early
Class J-2 : European Classic Late Open
Class J-3 : European Classic Late Closed
Class J-4 : Prewar Sports Racing
Class K : Streamlined Tatra
Class L-1: Prewar Preservation
Class L-2: Postwar Preservation
Class M-1: Ferrari Grand Touring
Class M-2 : Ferrari Competition
Class M-3: Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa
Class N-1: Maserati Centennial Racing
Class N-2 : Maserati Centennial Coachwork
Class O-1 : Postwar Touring
Class O-2 : Postwar Sports Racing
Class V : 1914 French Grand Prix
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2014 Pebble Beach Class Winners
Monterey's car week ended with a post-war car winning the 2014 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance's Best of Show, that being the 1954 Ferrari 375 MM Coup™ Scaglietti owned by Jon Shirley.
To do so the Ferrari won the Ferrari Grand Touring class and was then selected by the Honorary Judges among the 26 other class winners.
To see what Jon's car was up against we have assembled a gallery page with all 26 first class winners which were judged to be the best of their breed by chief class judges and their teams.
This Ferrari, chassis 0402AM, was specially-built for Italian film director Roberto Rossellini on a repurposed 375 MM race car chassis. It is one of only a few Scaglietti-styled road cars that was restored most recently by Dennison International Motorsports.
Other Ferraris also dominated the Monterey car week. Bonhams broke the record for a motor car at auction with the $38,000,000 Ferrari 250 GTO and RM fetched $26 for a Ferrari 275 GTB/C Speciale.
Later in the week we will have a more comprehensive gallery including all the cars from Pebble Beach.
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2014 Fuel Run Monterey
In a somewhat hurried fashion we have uploaded shots from the 2014 Fuel Run Monterey.
Organized by the goldRush Rally Team they travelled 90 miles included a nice lunch at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion.
Our gallery includes all the highlight cars including a wrapped DMC Aventador Molto Veloce, Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse, Aventador LP 720-4 50` Anniversario, Gemballa Mirage GT, Hennessey Venom GT and more.
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New Race Cars in Pebble Beach
This week McLaren and Lamborghini revealed new cars in Monterey but neither used Laguna Seca which would have been an approriate venue.
For instance Lamborghini revealed their stunning Hurac‘n LP 620-2 Super Trofeo on the grass of the exclusive Quail garden party. This new Super Trofeo departs from the 4WD cars of Trofeo's past but likely shortens development time for a real FIA GT contender.
McLaren pitched a tent at Pebble Beach for their new P1 GTR and didn't bring along the Le Mans-winning F1 GTR which was included in the press images. This track-day only concept car likely has a very limited market if it does not conform to any sporting regulations. McLaren describe this as the world's most exclusive drivers club.
Lastly, Jaguar brought out an impressive continuation Lightweight E-Type that will be produced in just six limited editions and brought it out to Laguna Seca. Where a race car belongs!
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Testa Rossas on the Tour d'Elegance
When Pebble Beach puts together a specialized class of cars the results are usually impressive and this especially holds true for the 250 Testa Rossas.
This year Pebble Beach will have over 20 on the field including almost every factory version. For those in the know this means all the TR58s, all the TR59s, all the TR59/60s and all the TRI/61s.
This morning many brave owners endured the wet weather to take the opportunity to join Pebble's Tour d'Elegance down the Pacific Coast Highway.
We endured the wet and cold to bring you our version of the Testa Rossas at the Tour d'Elegance.
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Gordon McCall's Motorworks Revival 2014
Earlier today Gordon McCall wrapped up his excellent Motorworks Revival at the Monterey Jet Center and we have assembled a photo gallery of this event which seemingly goes from strength to strength every year.
Among the impressive display of aircraft and motorcars was the LA-bound Gemballa Mirage GT belonging to 8bc8 in a splendid Metalic blue and with custom carbon fiber touches.
Hennessey also had two of his potent Venoms and not far away was Bruce Canepa's 1970 Porsche 917 Kurzheck which won Best of Show in Carmel just yesterday.
Celebrating Maserati's 100th was a sole 2006 Maserati MC12 Corse chassis 0002 which is one of the most potent cars to carry the trident badge.
Lamborghini was present in an official vein to show off their new Ad Personam touches on the Aventador and Mercedes used the occasion to showcase the Mercedes-Benz AMG Vision Gran Turismo.
All these great cars and more can be found in our feature gallery from Gordon McCall's event.
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2014 Monterey Motorsports Reunion Preview
Today is the official start to the Pebble Beach week with the tech inspections happening at the Monterey Motorsports Prereunion.
We were onhand earlier to capture many of the great cars coming out of the transporters and also spotted some platinum-level Maseratis that are celebrating the company's 100th anniversary.
Before the races start we have assembled a gallery page with a few of the highlight cars.
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Les Légendes de Bugatti
At Monterey, Bugatti will show the six and final Les Légendes de Bugatti Veyron twice during the Monterey car week.
The new car pays homage to the Type 41 Royale Coupé De Ville Napoleon which was envisioned by Ettore Bugatti himself.
Ettore Bugatti's Veyron will first appear at the Quail Motorsports Gathering, followed by the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.
Listed are all the Les Légendes de Bugatti cars:
2014 Bugatti 16/4 Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse ‘Ettore Bugatti’
2014 Bugatti 16/4 Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse ‘Black Bess’
2014 Bugatti 16/4 Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse ‘Rembrandt Bugatti’
2013 Bugatti 16/4 Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse ‘Meo Costantini’
2013 Bugatti 16/4 Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse ‘Jean Bugatti’
2013 Bugatti 16/4 Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse ‘Jean-Pierre Wimille’
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2014 Concours of America
Today we have assembled our gallery of the 2014 Concours d'Elegance of America at St. John's.
Once known as the Meadow Brook Concours, this event attracts some of the best Central and Eastern American cars and joins both Amelia and Pebble Beach as a top American concours.
This year the event was won outright by the 1932 Duesenberg Model J Convertible Victoria owned by William and Barbara Parfet and the 1939 Bugatti Type 57C Cabriolet Voll & Ruhrbeck which has been a winner at just about every other show.
Our gallery of the concours is by photographer Steven Hauptman and it has all the highlights from this year's show.
We have also included a gallery of the Motor City Auction by RM who sold $7.4 million in collector cars.
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2014 Le Mans Classic
Our Gallery of the 2014 Le Mans Classic is now online.
This year was notable for rain during many of the races, but the organisers are still reporting 110,000 for the seventh Le Mans Classic.
As with years previous the event was split into 6 groups that divided 56 years of Le Mans history. Each group featured around 80 cars which is larger than any other grids in historic racing.
Our galleries feature the work of photographer Luc Ghys with a special feature on the 250 Tornano a Casa display by Thomas / www.fast-auto.fr and Ferrari S.p.A.
Plateau 6 (1972-1979)
Plateau 5 (1966-1971)
Plateau 4 (1962-1965)
Plateau 3 (1957-1961)
Plateau 2 (1949-1956)
Plateau 1 (1923-1939)
le 250 tornano a casa
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