SCOTTSDALE, Arizona — Russo and Steele’s 10th annual auction in January will have a true novelty on the block: The only Tucker convertible, known as the experimental Tucker and never owned or driven, will be up for sale.
Preston Tucker’s star-crossed enterprise is generally agreed to have resulted in 51 completed sedans, which generally sell for high prices to collectors. RM Auctions sold one for $1,017,500 in 2008 in Monterey. The convertible to be sold by Russo and Steele was an uncompleted prototype that is numbered as experimental car number 57. The restorer, Benchmark Classics of Wisconsin, has responded to questions about its authenticity with a Web site that details the history of the car and its restoration and proffers a video showing the convertible top in operation.
Benchmark Classics says the convertible “started life as a Tucker 48 sedan in the Tucker factory and is stamped 57 in multiple places.” Referring to it as the “top-secret two-door convertible project,” the firm says Tucker’s engineering team took off the sedan’s top, decided the body needed strengthening, then “disassembled the car and devised a plan to strengthen the convertible’s chassis.” They re-engineered the frame and next lengthened the doors and installed a shortened windshield frame. Then they modified a late-’40s GM convertible top frame by adding a Tucker Corporation header. At that point, the company went out of business, and the car remained uncompleted, Benchmark said.
Russo and Steele say the convertible has “less than two original test miles, zero owners, never titled” and that it has the authentic rear-mounted Franklin-Tucker flat-6 engine and Cord “Invisible Hand” semi-automatic transmission. The car has been authenticated by a classic-car expert, Al Prueitt of Prueitt and Sons Restorations.
The auction takes place January 20-24.
source / insideline.com
A collection of 21 Ferraris has changed hands, and it’s headed for the United States.
Car collector Tom Price, owner of Price Family Dealerships in Marin County, Calif., bought 21 classic Ferraris. The collection hit the market last year as Dutch vehicle-distributor Kroymans entered into bankruptcy.
Broker Thomas Hamann, owner of Hamann Classic Cars in Riverside, Conn., said he had been working to sell the collection of Ferraris since last May. The deal closed on Feb. 2, he said.
Hamann said this was one of the largest lots of Ferraris to be sold in recent years. A larger sale happened in 1992, Hamann said, when Swiss businessman Albert Obrist sold his collection of factory racing Ferraris to Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone.
Hamann would not comment on the sale price of the Ferrari collection to Price. Speculation in collector-car circles puts the sale price at about $30 million. Hamann said Price intends to sell some of the Ferraris in the lot he bought.
The list of Ferraris bought by Price includes:
– 250 Europa GT
– 375 America
– 250 Boano
– 250 GT Berlinetta SWB
– 250 Testa Rossa
– 250 GTO
– 275 GTB/4 driven by three-time Le Mans winner Luigi Chinetti
– 330 GTC
– 365 GTS
– 365 GTB/4 Daytona Coupe
– 365 GTB/4 Daytona Spyder
– 246 GTS Dino Spyder
– 365 GT4/BB
– 512 BB
– 550 Barchetta
source / autoweek.com
Holger Schubert’s Ferrari 512 BBi “Boxer” is parked in the living room of his Brentwood home. Last year the garage won Architectural Digest magazine’s Design Driven contest.
His pristine Ferrari 512 BBi “Boxer” sits in the middle of Holger Schubert’s living room in Brentwood, right next to stylish furniture, a built-in bookcase and a flat-screen TV that slides on tracks past walls of glass that frame an ocean view.
But Los Angeles officials are about to slam shut forever the garage door that leads to the city’s most extravagant parking space
City planners have withdrawn permission for Schubert to use a bridge to connect his Ferrari’s third-floor resting spot with North Tigertail Road.
The ruling by the West Los Angeles Area Planning Commission tosses a mechanic’s wrench into Schubert’s hopes of using the showpiece garage that last year won Architectural Digest magazine’s Design Driven contest.
Neighbors complained about the bridge, alleging that the city erroneously approved its construction to create both a safety hazard and a development precedent that could degrade hillside neighborhoods throughout the city.
Schubert, a 43-year-old product designer, contends that neighbors turned against the bridge in retaliation for his home-remodeling project taking so long — about five years, so far.
The ruling sets the stage for the city to issue an enforcement order that will force Schubert to tear down the 10-foot-long, 15-foot-high bridge if he does not obtain a zoning variance for it or win a court reprieve that preserves it.
That would mean that his prized gray 1984 Ferrari would have to give up its unique living-room parking spot.
Schubert blames the lengthy structural engineering design work needed for the garage for slowing down the remodeling project that he and wife, Yuriko, have undertaken at their two-acre property in the Brentwood hills.
Along with its ocean view, its crisp skylight-accented ceiling and modernist furniture, the garage features a hydraulic ramp that lifts the front end of the Ferrari up to allow Schubert to coast his gleaming car back out onto his bridge without starting the engine. No Ferrari fumes in this house.
“I wanted to create a backdrop for the car as a piece of art,” Schubert said last year after winning the architectural magazine’s contest. “This is a space whose only purpose is to enjoy the car.”
Neighbors say that Schubert first tried to get permission to build a pedestrian bridge to connect the living room area with the street. They say they balked at that on grounds that such a walkway did not comply with the city’s building rules.
Critics contend that Schubert then sought permission to build an even wider driveway bridge.
At Wednesday evening’s commission session, they argued that the city approved the bridge only after being told that the top-floor garage was necessary for Schubert to comply with city off-street parking rules.
In reality, Schubert had ample parking space near a three-car garage that he demolished in order to make room for the remodel, said Victor de la Cruz, a lawyer for neighbor William Burnside.
De la Cruz said Schubert was warned as he began building the driveway bridge that there was opposition to the bridge and that he was constructing it at his own risk.
Burnside, 58, a senior vice president of a Los Angeles consulting group who has lived on Tigertail Road for 22 years, said neighbors and the Brentwood Homeowners Assn. oppose the bridge for a variety of reasons — not because Schubert’s remodeling project has dragged on seemingly forever.
“I think the major issue here is the precedent it would set in the city” he said.
Residents are also worried about the safety of Schubert backing his Ferrari over the narrow bridge and onto the curving hillside street.
“That, plus he has a two-acre property that has perfectly good access from elsewhere,” Burnside said.
Schubert said he has spent about $1.5 million on the remodel and doesn’t relish the thought of losing his Ferrari garage or ripping out the bridge. He only drives the rare, vintage sports car when Westside traffic is light, he said. He hunted for 11 years before he found the car and purchased it.
“This is how people with money and power can make white seem black,” Schubert said after the commission vote.
His attorney, Jerold B. Neuman, complained to planners that after Schubert received the permit to build the bridge 18 separate city inspections occurred “and no one raised an issue” signaling any problem with its legality.
“They’ve set the stage for the city to say, ‘Tear down the bridge,’ ” Neuman said.
That means the next rumbling sound heard from Tigertail Road will probably be lawyers’ copy machines churning out court briefs, not the throaty full-throttle of a Ferrari 512 BBi.
surce / LATIMES.com
2010 Course: the sand asset
The triptyque designed for the 2010 Dakar on the territories of Argentina and Chile promises to each kind of driver a sequence adapted to their qualities. The long stay in the Atacama Desert will be the climax of a 9000 kilometres loop through the continent. But the global balance of the course with varied difficulties force all to be consistent and careful to the end.
source / dakar.com
A LEGENDARY car that lay at the bottom of a lake for 73 years is set to fetch more than £80,000 at auction — the same as a brand new luxury motor.
Rare ... the Bugatti will be sold at auction
The rare Bugatti was dumped in the water in 1936 by a frustrated Swiss official because the owner had abandoned it without paying the import tax.
The value of the car was less than the money owed and the customs officer was compelled to destroy it.
He drove it over the Italian border to nearby Lake Maggiore — and pushed it into the deep waters.
Lifting gear ... legendary car sees daylight after seven decades
Legend ... the car was at the bottom of a lake for 73 years
In all its glory ... in this shape, a Bugatti can be worth up to £200,000
Folklore
The story became part of folklore in the nearby town of Ascona as locals debated whether the car actually existed.
Thirty years on the truth emerged when a keen diver rediscovered the Bugatti lying on its side 160 feet down at the bottom of the lake.
From then on members of the local diving club regularly visited it and last year decided to raise it and sell it for a local charity.
Incredibly there was still air in the tyres and traces of the original Bugatti blue paint on the bodywork.
It is believed that 20 per cent of the vehicle is salvageable and collectors and museums are likely to be keen to buy it.
James Knight, of auctioneers Bonhams, said: “We’ve offered a few things in our time in the motoring department, but nothing like this.
“Sometimes we get cars that have been hidden in barns for years, but never have we had one that’s spent 70 years at the bottom of a lake.
“The story as we know it is that in the late 1920s or early 1930s the car was taken to Switzerland by its French owner.
“The import duties and taxes were not paid and the owner just left it. The car was ten or 11-years-old by then and not worth as much as the money owed.
“Eventually the customs official got fed up and pushed it into the lake. He was legally obliged to destroy it and rolling it into the lake seemed the best way.
“The story entered local folklore and in the 1960s a diver called Ugo Pillon decided to try and find it, and in 1967 he located it on its side about 50 metres down.
“From then on divers from the local club dived on it just as a curiosity.
“But recently one of the diver club’s members was attacked and died and a foundation was set up in his memory to help combat juvenile violence.
“The club decided to raise the car to sell it and donate the money to the Damiano Tamagni Foundation.”
The Type 22 Bugatti, built in 1925, had four cylinders, a 1.5 litre engine and reach almost 100mph. It was a touring two-seater with no roof and was very lightweight.
Later versions of the car were made in France, but this was known as a Brescia Bugatti, after the Italian town where it was manufactured.
The sale is on January 23 at the Bonhams Retromobile sale in France.
source / times
Steve McQueen’s magnificent 1940 Indian Chief motorcycle, one of the most prized among his collection, is being auction off on Nov. 14 during Bonhams & Butterfields‘ Classic California sale at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. The King of Cool was pictured with the beloved bike on the cover of the book Steve McQueen: The Last Mile. The actor had the classic moto meticulously restored by Southern California’s Starklite Motors in the ’70s and used it to zoom around the Hollywood Hills. It’s estimated at an extremely reasonable $55,000 – $65,000. Also on offer is McQueen’s original condition 1949 Chevy pickup which he used to travel incognito around Beverly Hills, wearing sunglasses and a big cowboy hat to dodge the paparazzi; it’s estimated at $20,000 – $30,000.
source / duncanquinn.com
A limited edition Koenigsegg CCXR Trevita diamond-weave carbon fiber supercar (above), the first of only three being built for collectors worldwide, is for sale in South Africa with a whopping pricetag of $5 million, making it the world’s most expensive supercar – easily beating out the Bugatti Pur Sang. The Swedish supercar is a special version of the marque’s already exotic carbon fiber CCXR model, which goes for about $2 million. Both cars feature a 5.0 liter twin supercharged V8 engine producing 1,018 hp, and can do 0-62 mph in 2.9 seconds with a top speed of over 250 mph. The Trevita’s unique diamond weave finish means that when exposed to sunlight it “sparkles like millions of silvery white diamonds infused inside the visible carbon fiber weave bodywork.”
source / koenigsegg.com
Any performance automaker worth its logo has got to have a wristwatch to match. And while a carmaker’s choice of wristwatch – think Panerai and Ferrari, Breitling and Bentley, Parmigiani and Bugatti – is meant to reflect the company’s image, in some cases (like this PVD titanium one) it’s more a reflection of the brand’s aspirations. Because Abarth has always been about punching above its weight and taking on vehicles twice its size and ten times its price. So it should stand to reason that, even though its performance hatchbacks sell for relatively modest sums, the Abarth chronograph goes for more than €4,900, or the equivalent of some $7,300.
The timepiece is crafted by none other than Bernard Richards Manufacturer, a watchmaking atelier already known in motor racing circles for their inspiration from automobiles. To top the racing-themed design of the stock V12-T-44 chronograph, BRM has further differentiated the Abarth special edition with such custom touches as chrome hands and red stitching on the Nomex wrist-strap. Only 49 examples will be made available exclusively from BRM’s website, making this timepiece considerably more exclusive than the cars its made to accompany.
source / brm-manufacture.com
See that polo-sporting playboy climbing out of the Ferrari convertible? Look at his shoes. They’re probably made by Tod’s. The Italian shoemaker has become synonymous with the exotic automaker, and not just because the chairman of the latter sits on the board of the former. Now the two kindred spirits have come together for a special line of driving mocs made by one for the other.
The Tod’s for Ferrari line consists of three models – the Leccetto (with laces), the Laccetto Tubi GT (with tassels) and the Mascherina Griglia (with a special emblem styled after the grille of the iconic 250 GTO). The latter two are available in black and brown suede, with the former also available in red and blue (in true Elvis style). Each feature insoles ribbed like the seats of a Ferrari sportscar, and are made in the same time-honored tradition that makes any pair of Tod’s loafers indispensable for the playboy lifestyle. They sell for 290 to 320 euros, and are available directly from Ferrari’s online store.
source / store.ferrari.com
