Future Classics for £275,000

I was recently approached by a contact of mine who had a predicament for me. He is a fairly wealthy man who I have come to know via the car showroom industry and he asked me the question, "What is the best classic car to buy for around £275,000 which will increase in value over the next five years". Now, this intrigued me because he was essentially asking me to find an investment car for him to buy. That is a fairly big decision so I had to think very carefully about my options, whether to go for established classics, future classics or modern classics. After 48 hours of scrolling through Autotrader, Car and Classic and various other sites I came up with this list of what I believe to be the best investment cars currently on the market.

1987 Aston Martin V8 Volante - £195,000

The first car that made the list was a listing I spotted in Classic and Sports Car magazine but it brought me immediately to attention, despite it being surrounded by a Bentley Blower and Bugatti Veyron. That car is the 1987 Aston Martin V8 Volante which upon first glance does not seem like a £195,000 car but this car is a lot more than meets the eye. It was supplied new to Monaco and is therefore left hand drive but also features that have become more desirable as time has gone by such as the European spec chromed bumpers. This specific example was delivered new to the Hotel de Paris in Monte-Carlo to Mouna Ayoub, a French socialite associated with the principality's Royal Family. As a Euro specced car, it is one of only 22 Series II V8 Volantes to be built, meaning this car has rarity on its side to increase its value. At £195,000 it is significantly below the budget specified but has the potential as current auction prices hold them at £250,000. 

2009 Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione - £239,990

The next contender does swing significantly towards the modern classics division but for a car this glamorous, it is worth making an exception. This is a 2009 Alfa Romeo 8C and it is one of the prettiest Alfa Romeos ever built. It is based on the platform of the original Maserati Granturismo, sharing the same body layout and engine, with the 4.7 litre V8 and 456bhp. What is really unique about the 8C is the rarity of them, similarly to the rarity of the previous Vantage Volante. Being a one of only 500 car, it is limited series which holds the value of the car fairly high, as well as the low mileage at only 9,500 miles from new. But it is the beauty in which most of the price becomes worthwhile as the 8C has always been applauded for the styling and Italian charm laying within the body panels. This particular car does sit near the top of the price budget at just shy of £240,000, but monitoring recent auction prices could prove this car is a bargain. The last 8C to sell at auction went for just over £340,000 which is already an increase of at least £100,000 upon the original investment and that in itself says something as a future classic and future desirable car. 

1956 Alfa Romeo 1900 CSS Touring Superleggera - £189,000

Sticking with the Alfa Romeo theme, the next car is a lot more vintage but provides a lot more of an interesting history. The 1900 CSS is a beautiful looking car, much like the previous 8C, with typical 50s Italian styling and coachbuilt by the legendary Touring Superleggera who also designed such cars as the original Alfa Romeo Disco Volante (around the same time as this) as well as the Aston Martin DB5 and the Lamborghini 350 GT. This car though used to belong to Jean Rondeau who's self titled team won the 1980 24 Hours of Le Mans before Mr Rondeau was sadly killed in a road traffic accident in his other Alfa Romeo. This car was passed through different ownerships where it competed multiple times in the legendary Mille Miglia road rally, in which it recorded four finishes. It is also likely that this car was used in some light competition racing, as it had £15,000 worth of race conversion done to it. It is a bit hard to mark the pricing of this car as there have not been many examples come to auction or come to sale, but the similar era Alfa Romeo's, especially the coachbuilt cars, are looking to be around $220,000 at the moment but that price will increase as time goes on. 

1995 RUF BTR2 - £249,995

In terms of unique cars that I found during this job, I don't think there is a more unique car on the list than this RUF BTR2. When the Porsche 993 Carrera launched in 1994, RUF were quick to create their adaptation of it, featuring RUF branded front and rear bumpers, the larger rear spoiler similar to the later 993 Turbo and the predecessor 964 Turbo and a K27 turbocharger which gave the car close to 420bhp at 5000rpm. The original BTR was designed to be like a road legal Group B Porsche and so the BTR2 does not share the same racing beauty as the original but is significantly rarer. It it believed that only 19 of these were made and only 3 were built with right hand drive, like this example. With a top speed of 191mph in 1995, it was one of the fastest cars in the world at the time. The value of RUF cars have often been overlooked besides the Carrera GT based CTR3 but in recent years, as more RUF cars have come up for sale, the prices have slowly been increasing. In the past only two BTR2s have been offered at auction, one of which sold for £600,000 as it was the prototype and the other, a left hand drive BTR2 which sold for £220,000. Given that this car is the rarer right hand drive specification, it is fairly easy to see the price will rise maybe even above the £275,000 already. 

1990 BMW E30 M3 Sport Evolution - £189,995

A future classic to finish off the list accumulated, a homologation special. In the last few years, homologation limited series cars have significantly increased in value and has even led to cars such as the Audi S1 Quattro reaching prices over £1,000,000. Though this car will not be anywhere near that price anytime soon, the M3 Sport Evolution, in most people's eyes, remains as the ultimate BMW M3 even surpassing the E46 M3 GTR. This particular M3 is one of the 50 UK delivered M3 Sport Evolutions, finished in either red or black and one of the 600 produced to homologate this generation of M3 for the Touring Car championship and DTM. This is also the fastest E30 M3 with a top speed of 154mph and a 0-60 time in just under 6 seconds, quicker than a lot of modern cars. After recording close to 154,000 miles, the car went through a full nut and bolt restoration but still retains its original parts as well as documentation from when this car was initially sold. At nearly £190,000 this is by far the most expensive M3 Sport Evo currently on the market but as a UK supplied car, that makes it exceptionally rare. As the much more common left hand drive variations of the M3 Sport Evo is getting close to £220,000 at auction plus the rising value of homologation cars, it can be predicted that this car will be a future investment for sure. 

2020 Bentley Continental GT Speed Review

It has been four years since the Bentley Continental GT received its facelift from the previous 12 year old design and, still it remains one of the top GT cars on the market. In 2022, the market for GT cars is fairly saturated at the moment with Aston Martin having the DB11 and DBS, Ferrari with the Roma, Rolls-Royce have the Wraith Black Badge, and even BMW with the M8 Competition are in with a shout in the grand touring market. 

The new Bentley Continental GT Speed has recently re-entered this market as a fast, executive version of the standard Conti GT and it is a very special car. The Continental GT Speed is over 50kg lighter than the standard Continental, and though the car still weighs just over two tonnes, the weight deficit makes a huge impact in the performance factor of the car. With a raised top speed up to 208 mph up from 199 in the standard car, makes it one of the fastest road going Bentley's ever made. Power is up too from 542bhp in the standard Continental up to 650bhp in the Speed. This is due to the Continental GT Speed having the 6.0 W12 engine rather than the older 4.0 twin turbocharged V8. This uprated engine also has an impact on the torque figures with 900 newton metres of torque compared to 770 in the V8 Continental. The final performance statistic is the 0-60mph time which, once again, is faster on the GT Speed with 60mph achieved in 3.6 seconds which is extremely impressive considering it weighs 2.2 tonnes. Performance wise, the new GT Speed rivals even some supercars which is amazing considering Bentley is a luxury performance brand. 

The design of the Continental GT Speed is still debated on the exterior as it follows the modern trend of cars to have quite large grills. Personally I don't mind the grills but they have been compared by other people to cheese graters which could be a negative but in my opinion the new Bentley shape is stunning. The GT Speed has slightly arched rear fenders which accentuate the wide but sleek Bentley shape as well as the striking 22" rims which show the cars sporty history within its luxury body. It also features Speed exclusive details such as special trims on the interior and badging as well as the Bentley logo lit up under the door as it opens which as a little luxury element is very fun to see. The interior is immaculate as a Bentley is expected to be. The leather and stitch work on the seats is nothing but perfection as it is fitted with the Mulliner Driving Specification as standard, which was only an option on the standard Continental GT. This allows the car to feel like a proper luxurious Bentley as well as having all the performance elements of a sports car. Every single minimalist element of the interior was also stunning, from the chrome on the centre console, to the carbon fibre weave fitted into the dashboard rather than using wood to save weight. When sat inside the car, I felt special as a person, like I had made it in life to be sat in a car of such luxury, luxury I have only seen before on a car such as the Rolls-Royce Ghost. And when price is brought into the debate, the fact it shares a similar interior quality as a Rolls-Royce is a significant factor.

At the beginning of this article, I listed a few cars that would rival the GT Speed in terms of performance, luxury and overall in the GT car market. Price is the final key factor for a car like this as the customer would want to get the most they can with the money they spend. Beginning on the cheaper end of the scale with the BMW M8 Competition. This car does not have the same luxury or performance as the Bentley and has a price of £153,220 for a top spec car. Aston Martin come next with the DB11 and DBS which pride performance over luxury in this debate and the price of a DBS (best rival to the Bentley) is £225,000. Ferrari's Roma is pretty much fully performance based as the interior shares a lot of features with the 488 and F8 supercars and the cost of a new Roma is £170,000. Finally is the Rolls-Royce Wraith Black Badge, a car 100% focused on luxury but including some performance as well, which costs £286,000. The Bentley, with its perfect blend of performance and luxury costs £170,000 for a base car but with options, an average car would be sitting around the £220,000 price bracket. Comparing it to its rivals on price, it can be seen as a no brainer because it is 'cheaper' than the rival cars as well as providing a lot of kick for that price.  

I believe that this car, is the turning point for Bentley in terms of their target market. Bentley has always been the 'Gentleman's Racer' car, even since the Blowers of the 1920s, through the HJ Mulliner Park Ward cars of the 60s and 70s, to the current VW ownership. However Bentley know that they need to expand their market away from the older generation to appeal to the younger target market to turn their attention away from Bentley's rivals such as BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz. To do this they seem to have modernised the current line up, especially in the GT Speed to make it more desirable and, despite the high price of the car, make it more like a dream car for younger people. With the Continental GT Speed it certainly has the appeal of a dream car to younger audiences, as having a real in depth look at this car, it made me fall in love. Despite not having a Ferrari badge or the Spirit of Ecstasy adorning the front end, the Bentley Continental GT Speed is a fantastic car and one of, if not the best, grand touring cars currently on the market. 

Artcurial Automobiles sur les Champes - Auction Preview

 Artcurial is not an auction business that I cover very often as they are fairly niche compared to some of the more mainstream auction houses such as RM Sotheby's, Bonhams and Gooding and Co. This is their Car of Champions auction which is one of their flagship sales of the year alongside their Paris sale in February. In previous years they have sold cars such as Mercedes-Benz 300SLs and Ferrari F40s but this year their sale features a lot of very special cars plus some that I believe could exceed their estimate prices and potentially become a future classic. The estimate prices listed will be the top estimate to show the highest price the seller expects the car to be at, just for clarity. 

Starting with the top cars in the auction beginning with a motorsport legend. The first car in the auction is a 1993 Subaru Impreza Prodrive which is nothing but one of the most important rally cars of all time, being an ex-McRae and Burns car. It is restored to full group A specification having had a full racing history and being the first Impreza to score points in the World Rally Championship with another legend at the wheel, Ari Vatanen. In the 1993 season, Subaru began by entering Legacy RS rally cars which won the Lake Como 1000 with Colin McRae at the wheel, but Prodrive had entered an Impreza Turbo into the race and this exact car came an incredible second place. After this achievement, becoming the first Prodrive Impreza to score points, Prodrive dressed this car in the famous blue and yellow 555 livery and was given the infamous plate of L555 BAT for the 1994 season. The estimate on this car is £650,000 which for a rally car of this significance, I believe is entirely possible to reach that estimate, if not exceed it, as Audi Quattro S1s and Peugeot 205 Evos are nearly £1,000,000 now. Sticking with the theme of rally cars, another highly anticipated car to cross the auction block is a Group B car not many people would know about. The car in question is the 1986 Citroen BX 4TC Evolution which has an interesting history. This is before Citroen took off with stage rallying, with their peak coming in the mid 2000s in the Sebastien Loeb era. It was built by Citroen with limited resources because of a limited budget. With the 380hp four-cylinder turbocharged engine from the Peugeot 505 Turbo as well as transmission from a Citroen SM. Due to these elements, the BX did not race many rallies with no success but it is still a very unique car. The estimate for this car is £350,000 which in my opinion is a bit high as it had no success but maybe the uniqueness of it will add to the value. The other cars expected to sell for a high price include a 2018 Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Coupe with a top estimate of £600,000, a 1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Spider Conversion also with an estimate of £600,000 and a 1960 Aston Martin DB4 with an estimate of £450,000.

The next category of cars to be detailed are cars that interest me personally be it that they are special in my eyes or just unique and to be looked out for. The first of these is the 2017 Aston Martin Vantage GT8. This car is the V8 version of the stripped out track focused Aston Martin GT series which consisted of the V12 powererd GT12 and this, the V8 GT8. One of only 150 produced, the GT8 is the most powerful and lightest Aston Martin Vantage ever made with a baritone roar of an engine note to go with it. Initially the series were inspired by Aston Martin's racing cars with the GT12 being a version of their GT3 winning Vantage, but the GT8 was inspired by the lower class of Aston racing car being the GT2/GTE series. This example is finished in Ferrari Rosso Corsa and has the desirable manual transmission option with six speeds and this car is practically brand new with only 25km from new. This car is number 67 of the 150 produced and is offered at no reserve but the estimate predicts it should sell for £240,000 which is certainly achievable. The next car that caught my interest was the 1969 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow 'Travel Estate' which certainly falls under the category of unique. This car was ordered new to New York in 1969 but the owner wanted it to be more exclusive than the standard Rolls Royce and so commissioned it to be transformed into a Shooting Brake estate model of the Silver Shadow by a coachbuilder. It was later sold on and auctioned off in 2006 by its second owner. The third owner wanted to take the Silver Shadow to the next level and so added a folding picnic box to the car as well as a mini fridge powered by the car, a 25 litre water tank with a shower head and even a gas stove with a bottle hidden in the boot. This incredibly custom Rolls Royce has an estimate price of £150,000 mainly due to the customisations fitted to the car so hopefully it sells. The final car that caught my attention is an overlooked supercar from Lamborghini's history that sadly many people seem to forget about. The glamorous styling of the Lamborghini 400 GT Espada Series III especially finished in such a glorious shade of green is always a sight to behold. Inspired by the Marzal concept, the Espada is designed as a 2+2 GT to rival the more successful Ferrari 365 GTC but powered by the V12 of the legendary Miura SV. With much fewer numbers than the 365 GTC, the Espada is a rare car especially the Series III of which there were just over 1000 produced but at the time it was the highest selling Lamborghini car between 1968 and 1978. This car has travelled just 1300km from new and has an estimate of £130,000 which again is reachable but Espada's do not have a great record at auction so this could be a no sell. 

The final group of cars are examples I think will exceed their estimates due to them being potential future classics. The first is a odd car among the car world as some love it and some hate it based on its fairly outlandish design and that is the 1972 Alfa Romeo Monteal. Originally conceived as a concept only to show the best car that Alfa Romeo could make, and so they made it. It was planned to have the same 1.6 litre engine as the Giulia Ti from the time but by production it received an upgrade to a big V8 from the T33 prototype racing car. Regarding the styling some regard it as a bit of a pig much like how the later Alfa Romeo SZ was classed as a marmite car among aficionados but I believe the Montreal is a staple of 1970s styling especially with the Lancia Fulvia inspired rear end. This car has an estimate of £65,000 which is a good value but classic Alfa Romeo's such as this one have been steadily rising in price the last few years and given the condition of this car, it could probably exceed the estimate. The next car has a lot of history and accolades backing up why I believe it will exceed it's estimate price and the car itself is special as is, as it is a 1991 Alpine A610. The A610 is one of the rarest cars that Alpine ever made and it is connected to a legend in Alpine's history. Jean de Alexandris was an Alpine test driver and former pilot for the team, having raced the original A110 as well as later Alpine cars such as the A310. The fact he owned it from new to the date of this auction should add a significant amount to the value of the car, and with a £50,000 estimate, I believe the car should exceed that margin. The final car is one of the most interesting cars I would suggest was ever made being the 1973 Studebaker Avanti II. The Studebaker story has always been strange due to financial burdens but it is on record that since it's inception in 1962, the car has never ceased production but has instead had updates to constantly improve on the car. However so few have been produced and sold that people struggle to notice. This is the second generation built between 1966 and 1983 based on a fibreglass body shell which made it fairly unreliable plus the massive 6.5 litre V8 from the Corvette at the time, but the fibreglass body did make it light compared to other muscle cars with a kerbweight of only 1450kg. Visually it's a true American barge with a three spoke steering wheel, wood on the interior but not a massive length which you'd see on cars such as the Buick Riviera or Cadillac Eldorado, this has the styling similarly to British sports cars such as, surprisingly, the Triumph GT6. The price on this car is said to be £24,000 which quite honestly should be easily exceeded.

The Artcurial Automobiles sur les Champs auction will take place on October 24 2021 in Paris and is sure to provide a really entertaining auction. To see the other cars at the auction, follow the link to https://www.artcurial.com/en/sale-4164-automobiles-sur-les-champs .

Bonhams Zoute Sale - Review of Sale

 As we reach the back end of the year, the auction calendar is thinning out as many of the main events such as Monterrey and the Goodwood events have concluded but despite the weather getting colder and car events becoming more sparse, there are still a few auctions that can blow any petrolhead away. Bonhams recently held a sale in Belgium at Knockke-Heist which had a couple of heavy hitting sales as well as some more interesting cars that don't often cross auction blocks, plus some cars that have truly hit future classic status with some of the prices they are reaching. This piece will go through each of these categories of sales cars, giving some in depth detail into some of the lots. 

Beginning this article we have to start with the two top sellers which are two iconic supercars from the 1990s. The first of these cars is the 1994 Bugatti EB110 Super Sport which was for a brief period of time, the fastest car in the world with a top speed achieved of 218mph. The EB110 came at a funny time for Bugatti as they had recently resurfaced thanks to the endeavours of Romano Artioli of bringing back the Bugatti brand. It was launched in 1992 as a fresh start into the supercar market and the Super Sport was the third model in the EB110 line up following the standard car and the GT. The EB110 Super Sport launched in 1993, a mere six months after the initial models with over 600hp thanks to new fuel injectors attached to the ECU. The horsepower figure of this car was 611hp and with weight being decreased by 202kg due to carbon fibre bodywork and magnesium BBS wheels. Speed wise, the EB110 SS could get from 0-60mph in 3.14 seconds and up to a top speed of 220mph. This specific EB110 is finished in Grigio Chiaro and had just under 30,000km on the odometer before the sale. When taking into context that the new price of an EB110 SS was £380,000, a price which would later lead to Bugatti going bankrupt until VW saved them in 1998, the sale price of this car was £1,900,630. EB110 prices have been increasing a lot over the last five years and soon I would predict these cars reach the same price status as 90s rivals such as the Ferrari F50 or the Jaguar XJR-15. The second top seller is a car that always stars at auctions and seems to be a staple of every top auction, being the 1989 Ferrari F40. The car that is regarded as the prettiest supercar of all time, the most complete supercar of all time. Built to celebrate 40 years of Ferrari manufacturing sports cars and was the final Ferrari car to be approved personally by Enzo Ferrari before his death. It is therefore seen to be the ultimate Ferrari supercar, the first car to breach the 200mph barrier, albeit only by one mile per hour, all finished in Rosso Corsa and in left hand drive. The 3.0 quad cam V8 is seen to be one of the best engines that Ferrari ever made and due to that engine's success, they even took the F40 racing in the BPR World Series where they would often challenge top spec McLaren F1 GTRs and sometimes even the Porsche 911 GT1s. The final sale price of this F40 was £1,559,492 which is a high price for an F40 but due to the fact it was initially sold to Garage Francorchamps, the legendary racing team which ran 512BB/LMs and significantly a 250 GTO at Le Mans. It also had only 1,790km from new which would have helped with the value. 

The next category of cars featured in the Zoute sale are the cars that did not sell via not meeting their reserve prices. There are a few big cars that did not sell to the surprise of many people especially some of the classic cars and a few modern classics. The first of these cars is the 2018 Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Speedster. This is the rarest version of the Vanquish Zagato series made up of the Coupe, Volante, Speedster and Shooting Brake, with all versions having 99 examples except the Speedster with only 28. It is believed that 99 of the Speedster variants were planned but only 28 of these 99 were completed. This example is finished in Solar Bronze Satin and is number 25 of the 28 built. With a new list price of just over £1,000,000, plus this version being a collaboration with German bicycle manufacturer Storck to create the Vintage Edition of the Zagato Vanquish series with only three being made, it was thought that this car would reach its estimate of £720,000 to £1,100,000. However this car did not hit this reserve as the Zagato Vanquish series are still to live up to their high list price at auctions. The main manufacturer that did not sell too well at the Zoute sale was Lancia, with four of their cars not selling at reserve price. Two of these cars were estimated at over £700,000 being the 1955 Lancia Aurelia B24S Spider America at a top estimate of £1,000,000 and the 1959 Lancia Flaminia Sport Zagato with a top estimate of £700,000. Both of these cars are usually desirable classic cars that often sell but with the luck of the auctions they both did not unfortunately sell. There were two other Lancias that failed to sell, being another Aurelia, the smaller and more pedestrian B20 model which failed to sell with the top estimate of £300,000. The final Lancia that failed to sell was a very early Lancia being the 1949 Lancia Aprilia which failed to sell at a top estimate of £120,000. Other cars which failed to sell in the Zoute sale were the 1957 Alfa Romeo 1900C Super Sprint, two Facel Vegas being an FV1 Cabriolet and an FV2 Coupe, a 1954 Jaguar XK120 SE Roadster and the 1937 Lagonda LG45 Rapide Tourer Replica.

There was another car that failed to sell at the Zoute sale but I did not include as it would feature in the future classic and interesting car section. That car is the 1990 Alfa Romeo 75 Turbo Evoluzione IMSA racing car, which was the first Alfa Romeo works team to race in the Italian Superturismo Championship. This championship would race under Group A rules and so would host the likes of BMW M3s, Audi A4 Quattros and the occassional BMW 320i. This particular car was raced by a host of Italian drivers such as Gianni Morbidelli and Nicola Larini who was racing for Ligier in F1 in the 1990s. This car had good results winning five races in the 20 race campaign in 1990 and managed to finish third overall in the standings. Unfortunately this car did not sell especially finished in an incredible Martini livery, but that's the way of the auctions but it had a fairly high reserve of £160,000. The next interesting car to cross the block was a 1991 BMW Z1. The Z1 is most memorable for it's doors, as some cars are, but the Z1's doors don't go up or go out, they go down. The BMW Z1's party piece is that the doors move down into the chassis and disappear into the body of the car. An incredibly unique car which is also fairly rare, with only 8000 examples made. This particular car is finished in Magic Violette metallic and only shows 16 kilometres on the odometer making it one of the lowest, if not the lowest mileage BMW Z1's on the market. Low mileage aside, the price this car sold for is utterly ridiculous price of £89,321 which is close to Ferrari F430 money. This car may be a future classic but with prices such as that, it is unimaginable where the prices will go. The final interesting car is a very very special car as it's a barn find. There's nothing more incredible than finding an amazing classic car in a vegetative state especially a car as special as this one. The car in question is the 1956 Paris Motor Show Jaguar XK140 by Ghia. This is the exact car shown by Jaguar at the 1956 Paris Motor Show and is one of only four Ghia bodied XK140 Coupes produced making it even more special. The state of the car is fairly poor but also very beautiful with rust affecting all of the exterior body elements, but compared to images in period it looks sad. Jaguar in the 1950s sent many coachbuilders XK140 bodies to redesign their car and Ghia and Bertone are possibly the most famous of these coachbuilt cars. The sale price for a rusted XK140 by Ghia was £242,000, which is a decent price considering the restored cars can go for £450,000.

January Auction Previews

 2020 was a tough year for auctions given the coronavirus outbreak affecting the standard auction layout. However, auction houses managed to flourish with their online platforms, making the online auction an entertaining way to sell cars. Now as 2021 begins, and with auction houses continuing an online sales variant, there are some incredible auctions taking place which have caught the attention of many car fans. These sales range from Mecum Auctions, RM Sotheby's, Gooding and Company and Bonhams and each house features incredible highlights which will be shown below.

Mecum Auctions are based in the US and typically feature American muscle cars and very few else but for their Kissimmee auction this month, there are some interesting highlights. The first two highlights that caught my eye were close to delivery mileage Ford GTs. One of which is a '67 Heritage Edition finished in the red and white livery based on the Mk4 Ford GT40, the other in a yellow and black livery and a standard 2017 GT. Both cars are set to sell for around £1 million. The next few highlights come from a few boutique manufacturers of which I am a fan. The first manufacturer is De Tomaso who have four cars in the sale, the first being the Mangusta Shelby Prototype as well as a standard Mangusta sports car. The Mangusta raced in period against the legendary Shelby Cobra, and the De Tomaso Mangusta was named somewhat after the Cobra because in nature, the Mongoose eats the Cobra, and hence they tried to replicate that with the cars. In 1969, Carroll Shelby commissioned a De Tomaso Mangusta to be modified by Shelby to potentially race against the Ford GT40. This car is estimated for around £350,000 and the standard Mangusta has a price upon request. The other De Tomaso's are can-am sports racers which were adapted by Shelby to once again take the fight to the Ford GT40 at Le Mans. Both are estimated for around £2 million. The second manufacturer is Iso, who are responsible for the beautiful Grifo sports car. This example is one of only 20 AC/3 sports cars modified by Bizzarrini to race against the Ferrari 250LM and it is also a 2013 Concours D'Elegance winner. This should sell above its £1 million estimate. The final highlight lots come from Ferrari and many of these are beautiful classics. Starting with a 1952 Ferrari 340 America finished in the French Racing Blue livery which was used for racing in the 1950s and ended up finishing in 5th place at the 1952 Le Mans. It has no estimate at the moment but based on previous results it should reach at least £5 million. Other featured lots include a Ferrari 275 GTS, two Ferrari 330 GTCs, a 300SL Gullwing and Roadster, a Mercedes-Benz 6x6, two Shelby GT350s and a Shelby GT350 R. The Mecum auction features over 2800 lots which should be an incredibly good showing. 

Gooding and Company don't have auctions as big as they used to given the new platforms, so this section will cover the few cars in the Scottsdale auction as well as the European Sporting and Historic Collection. The first car from the Scottsdale auction is a 1926 Bugatti Type 37 Grand Prix bought initially by Peter Larkin of Broadway and kept in his ownership for six decades until this auction.This car replaced the legendary Type 35 in Bugatti's racing models, featuring the same 1.5 litre four cylinder engine which is good for 90mph. It is thought this is the longest private ownership of a classic Bugatti and the last example of a Type 37 to sell at auction sold for £640,000 but given the significance of this car, this could reach up to £800,000. Next is a 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB Long Nose styled by Scaglietti and recalling earlier styling cues from earlier cars such as the 250 Tour De France and GTO. This example holds 40,000 miles from new and is unique in that it has never been restored, displayed or offered for sale since new Finished in Rosso Chiaro with a red leather interior, it is a very desirable spec and should sell for its estimate of around £2.4 million. The next cars will come from the European Sporting and Historic Collection which will sell a few weeks after the Scottsdale cars. The first highlight is a 1961 Aston Martin DB4 GT which is one of only 30 left hand drive examples presented in black pearl over dark blue. It also features matching engine and chassis numbers. Due to the auction being a way off, there isn't much information on each car so each car will only have small information snippets. The next car is a 1963 Aston Martin DB5 Convertible, one of only 123 convertible DB5 Convertibles made with initial Scottish ownership. This also features matching numbers which means its entirely original. Other standout lots include a blue Ferrari 275 GTB/4, a Bentley 4 1/2 Litre Sports Tourer and a yellow Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster. 

Much like Gooding, Bonhams features a smaller lot list than usual for its first auction of the year at Scottsdale. However this does not mean that the quality of the cars for sale is anything less than expected. The first lot is always a big seller at auctions being the 1939 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special, a 1973 Pebble Beach Best in Show winner and known for being one of the most sophisticated automobiles to exist. One of the most beautiful cars ever built, the 540K features a 5.4 litre Inline 8 engine to give it a rowdy 180bhp. 540Ks much like 500Ks always do well at auction, so much so the last example sold for £4.5 million. The next lot is a 1959 BMW 507 Series 2 Roadster which is one of the most collectable BMWs of all time with only 253 examples being made. It can also be considered as one of the initial grand touring supercar, as the 3.2 litre V8 gave it 150bhp with a low slung and beautiful body. When the 507 launched it was £9000 which was more than a Mercedes 300SL and twice the price of a Jaguar XK120s or two Chevrolet Corvettes in the US market. Though the high cost, the 507 became a celebrity favourite with Fred Astaire, John Surtees and Elvis Presley being notable owners. Currently 507s are topping the £2 million mark but the estimate for this example reaches up to £2.3 million which could be a stretch. The final notable lot for this sale is one of the most modern cars of the auction being a 2018 Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Volante. With this car being a collaboration between Zagato and Aston Martin, much like the previous collaborations, the car is very special. The Vanquish Zagato collection is made up of four model variants, the coupe, volante, speedster and shooting brake with 99 examples of each except the speedster which has 28 examples. This Volante has to be one of the most elegantly specced examples with BMW Orient Blue over Centennial Tan leather interior with plenty of optional extras such as the steering wheel from the Aston Martin One-77 and over £40,000 more in options. When this car was initially sold, it had a retail value of over £900,000, though second hand prices are falling below initial value. After only 1400 miles, this car is valued to sell for £700,000 as a top estimate. This would be a high price for Zagato Vanquishes but with all these extras I can see it selling for that price. Additional cars in the auction that are interesting include a Lamborghini Islero 400 GT, a Porsche 911 GT3 Touring, a Lancia Delta Evo 1 Martini 6 and a Mercedes-Benz 300Sc Roadster.

RM Sotheby's once again is the king of auctions and their Arizona auction is no different. There are so many interesting and unique lots which will cross the block, so much so I won't be able to cover them all in one section. With a combination of the best modern hypercars, 90s forgotten classics and vintage legends, this auction has it all. Beginning with the most expensive lot to sell, being a 1955 Jaguar D-Type, chassis XKD 518 finished in red with matching interior trim. The D-Type is one of Jaguar's most legendary racing cars with Le Mans success, and this one is rumoured to have been painted red to break into the Italian racing privateer market ahead of Ferrari. Bought new by Peter Blond and later sold to Bernie Ecclestone for £3,500 but was later owned by Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant. Being a well documented example, it has an estimate to sell for around £7.5 million. The next car is the first of its kind to sell at auction being a 2020 McLaren Speedtail. A reimagined legacy of the McLaren F1 in the 21st century and the new fastest McLaren model with a 250mph top speed, the Speedtail is finished in dark blue over tan and is a three seated masterpiece. With only 106 examples created as a tribute to the F1, this example is highly modified by MSO and features only 30 miles from new. This car will most likely sell for £4.5 million which is the top estimate. Next is another new car to cross the block being a Koenigsegg Regera. The replacement for the long lived Agera model, the Regera is one of only 80 produced in four years of production finished in crystal white over clear carbon. Powered by a 5.0 twin turbocharged V8 which produces an insane 1500bhp, taking the car to 255mph and holding the world record for 0-250-0mph which takes just over 31 seconds which is incredible. The interior is gorgeous with full carbon fibre trim accented by 24k gold leaf details built into the carbon and the car features £217,000 worth of optional extras, and with that many extras it has a top estimate of £2.9 million. The next car is the extraordinarily rare Cizeta V16T from 1993, one of only nine examples produced and had an interesting history as it was owned by the Sultan of Brunei and the Brunei Royal Family. The Sultan of Brunei has one of the greatest hidden car collections in the world, with very few cars escaping the collection but this Cizeta being an example of an escapee. The Brunei Royal Family ordered three of the nine Cizeta's via Hong Seh Motors in Singapore. Powered by a 6.0 V16 engine, the Cizeta has 533bhp and got to 60mph in 4.5 seconds which for 1993 was incredible. Due to the exclusivity of the car, the top estimate is £750,000 and I think it will achieve the estimate. The auction is so incredible that it is easier to list the other cars rather than explain them. Other cars to cross the block include a Bugatti Type 57SC Tourer, Ferrari 375 America Coupe, Ferrari Enzo, Aston Martin Short Chassis Volante, Ferrari 250 GT Alloy Coupe by Boano, McLaren Senna, Ford GT Lightweight, Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster, Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 Touring, Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe Continuation, RUF Turbo R, Shelby GT350, Ferrari 550 Barchetta, the Homologation Collection, Shelby GT40 85th Commemorative Edition and a Porsche 911 Carrera RS N/GT.

The follow up piece to this will cover the results of all the cars that have been mentioned here, whether they sell or not, and for what price they sell for if they do.

Ferrari - A History of Cease and Desist

 There has been a news story dominate my car related Instagram feed this morning of news that Ferrari has sent a Cease and Desist letter to a small modification company about their design based upon a Ferrari car. This is not the first time that Ferrari have sent legal warnings to 'clients' for defacing the brand or creating a case of libel against the manufacturer. This article will cover some of the past cases of Cease and Desist as well as some of the arguments against the letters.

The first known case of the cease and desist letters that Ferrari sent to clients was aimed at American rapper DeadMau5 and his 'Purrari'. The Ferrari in question was a 2014 458 Spider which he had customised with a sky blue wrap with a pixel art image of the internet character Nyan Cat, which was a video of a pixel art cat with the body of a pop tart and a rainbow trail coming from its tail. Although this wrap was distasteful and ruined the car, in my opinion, this is not what Ferrari were angry about, especially considering this wrap was used to take part in the Gumball 3000 rally, where all cars have to have stickers and wraps on them. The real issue came when pictures were shown of the floor mats and custom Ferrari logos on the car. This removed the traditional Ferrari logos and replaced them with an image of a jumping cat, rather than a prancing horse on the standard car. In the cease and desist letter, Ferrari stated that the changed logo defaced the company and designated legal action would be taken unless he removed the wrap and the custom logos. After a rant on his Twitter, DeadMau5 agreed and removed the wrap to reveal the all white 458. He later sold the car and bought a Lamborghini Huracan and Nissan GTR and did the same thing to those two. The second significant case came just last year involving German fashion designer Phillipp Plein and his green Ferrari 812 Superfast and a photo the designer put on his Instagram account. The image in question showed a pair of his trainers placed upon the rear quarter of his car. The picture seems to suggest that the shoes being placed just above the 'ferrari' logo on the car, that the Ferrari is being used for marketing purposes. This is the reason Ferrari sent the cease and desist letter as a quote from Ferrari: "tarnishes the reputation of Ferrari's brands and causes Ferrari further material damage". The latest case features 7X Design and their GTO Vision, a car I have seen and absolutely love. The basic principles are that it is a body kit based on the 488 GTB platform that culminates design elements from Ferrari's past, as a sort of homage to the best models of Ferrari's past. Featuring louvres that look similar to that of the F40, a glass engine cover similar to the F40/F50 and rims similar to the 288 GTO. However this is too much for Ferrari as they stated "coachbuilding its cars challenges their business and constitutes a trademark infringement" even if the design of the 7X Design is also trademarked. Since that, 7X Design have had to remove all images of the GTO on their social media as well as removing the actual body kit from the car. Since this, 7X Design has put out a statement attempting to revert the decision and save the GTO Vision from "being bullied out of existence by Ferrari". 

The thing is about these cease and desist letters is they do have a point to them. But there in the case of 7X, there are lots of problems with it. Ferrari are complaining that this body kit is offensive to the brand and the coach built car is worthy of a cease and desist, yet they're not the first manufacturer to coach build a Ferrari. When looking at the list of Ferrari body kits, there are many of them, and some look better than others. To list a few of these body kit manufacturers there are: Novitec, Mansory, DMC, Liberty Walk, Hennessey, Ares Design, Misha Designs, Nimrod, Fabspeed and many many more, all featuring uniquely designed body kits and body modifications to many Ferrari models, yet only 7X Design are being targeted by this letter. This provides the first problem in that Ferrari cannot target one manufacturer of custom body kits without taking on all of them which Ferrari don't have the full blown power to do. One counter argument that could be present in this is that some of these body kit manufacturers (certainly Novitec and Mansory), remove the Ferrari logos and use their own logos instead. But if they do that, the DeadMau5 argument is brought up in that the logos used on a Ferrari do not belong there as it tarnishes the reputation of Ferrari. It is evident then that there are some problems with these letters. 

Some people may be asking, why do people make body kits to put on a Ferrari because surely if people want a good looking car, they buy a Ferrari and if they don't like the way it looks, they can always sell it and buy a different supercar as there are plenty of other options. The main reason would be that they want to personalise it to their tastes and add their own personal touches to the car through body modification to make it truly theirs. People may also wonder why Ferrari can't do this for them, which does beg the question as to why? The answer to this is simple. The only cars that Ferrari make custom for their clients are made because the client is either rich enough to buy their way into the brand, or they have bought every single previous model and is a friend of Ferrari themselves. Here are just a few examples of Ferrari's Special Projects programme, created for one off designs for clients. The first one created was called the SP1 and was made for a client in Japan who wanted a Ferrari F430 but wanted it a little differently. So Ferrari brought in an independent coachbuilder who designed the car to the clients specification and was sold to the client for much higher than list price. Another significant one was the SP275 RW Competitzione which in essence was a Ferrari F12 Berlinetta with a few visual changes and a large price for the client. But this example is interesting as the name and the design itself is a homage to a previous car, being the 275 Competitzione, which is similar to what 7X Design are doing by creating a homage body kit. The most recent addition to the Special Projects gallery is called the Omologata and is based on the 812 Superfast, with a very similar body besides the sills on the rear window and a livery. But this car looks incredibly similar to the Touring Superleggera Aero 3 that was unveiled the same weekend. Based on a Ferrari F12, this car is a tribute to old 1930s Italian racing cars but Ferrari haven't sent them a cease and desist for what they're doing. So why have they sent one to 7X Design. 

In conclusion, have Ferrari done wrong by sending out these letters? No they have not. They are protecting their integrity and their brand from being attacked or misused and they have their right to do that. Are they, however, taking it a little bit too far by threatening legal action upon a small body kit manufacturer? Yes I believe so because even back at the dawn of Ferrari, there were manufacturers taking their cars, making them a bit different and selling them as their own. These manufacturers include Pininfarina, Vignale, Touring, Zagato, Bertone and Frua, which to car enthusiasts such as myself, are known as some of the biggest names in the business for car design, each worth millions upon millions. So what if 7X are like those? What if Ferrari are stopping them from becoming the next Pininfarina or the next Bertone? The truth is, they may not become the new coachbuilder to go to, but Ferrari should not shut them down for trying.  

Salon Prive Concours D'Elegance Review - Part 3

 This is the third part of the Salon Prive Concours D'Elegance review, which has now become longer than originally planned because the Salon Prive entrants list has expanded to include cars that were entered but weren't shown previously. This means that the number of cars in these four classes has near enough doubled, but the more cars, the more fun in explaining them, so to begin is Class L being the Milestones of Endurance Racing. 

The first car in this class is the 1972 Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 TT/3 which can only be described as an open top monster. Built to take part in the World Sports Car Championship, the Tipo 33 follows a long line of Alfa Romeos built to win championships and though this one wasn't as successful it is still an absolute beast. Powered by a 3.0 V8, the car produced 440bhp which was inspired by the lightweight and powerful Porsche 908, the top speed is unknown as each car was handbuilt and there are only 12 units that exist. This would have been an extremely successful racing car but Ferrari had just begun to race their 312P and so Alfa Romeo couldn't keep up. Only one example has been sold through auction and it managed to raise £392,000. The next car is the class winner being the 1988 Porsche 962. Anyone who knows endurance racing cars knows how dominant Porsche were in the 1980s with the 956/962 and this particular car, the Kenwood car, is no exception. Powered by the same 3.0 Flat 6 as the Porsche 935, the 962 was mid-engined and twin turbocharged meaning the power produced was 790bhp, which is around the same as a modern day Formula One car. This example was chassis CK6-88 which was built to compete in the 1988 24 Hours of Le Mans where it finished a commendable 9th in class, and was later fitted with the Kremer high downforce kit until it finished racing in 1989. It's been restored to original specification and was driven by Derek Bell at the 2012 Le Mans support race. At auction, there have been a few 962s to cross the block, the most recent selling for £1.5million. Moving a few years on, next is the 2000 Audi R8 LMP900 which was Audi's first venture into endurance racing after massive success in rallying and touring cars. Two versions were created, the R8C which was built for Le Mans and this version, the R8R, which was built for LMP900 and was open topped much like the Alfa Romeo previously. Powered by a twin turbocharged 3.6 litre V8, it produced around 600bhp, the R8 R took the LMP 900 route because of the new American Le Mans series (ALMS) so much so that at the opener at the 12 hours of Sebring, the R8s recorded a 1-2 win. They later took all three podium spots at Le Mans starting the era of domination for Audi in endurance racing. Only one has sold at auction in 2012 and the final price was £1,034,000. Next is the 2010 Ford GT1, which was a car released in the final few years of the GT1 category of racing being active. Having returned to GT3 racing in 2007, the Ford GT was making waves in the motorsport world and so Matech decided to take a Ford GT GT3 and modify it for GT1 usage. Powered by a 5.0 V8, it produced 600bhp putting it in line with other cars in its class such as the Maserati MC12 GT1 and the Lamborghini Murcielago R-SV. Not particularly successful in GT1 in the few years it was active before the FIA pulled the plug, but one of the best sounding V8s ever fitted to a racing car. One was sold in Monterey in 2014 for £1,200,000 which is much more than expected for this car. Next is the 2012 Peugeot 90X which was the best car a Peugeot could be although there was a slight issue with it. It was built to replace the 908 which had won top honours at Le Mans in 2009 and was built as a hybrid version as the previous generations had been diesel powered. It was taken out for pre-season testing at the Sebring circuit but it would never race again as in 2011, Peugeot cancelled their sport division and therefore the 90X never raced. The only example of Peugeot's endurance machine to sell at auction was a 908 HDI for £1.5million. The final three cars can be clumped together as they are very similar to each other, all entered by Aston Martin. The first is their 2020 Vantage GTE which is still based on the old Vantage body so is presumed to be the last one made. The GTE is their top car when it comes to endurance racing with multiple class wins at the World Endurance Championship including a few Le Mans class victories. The second car is the 2020 Vantage GT3, which is from a lower class than the GTE but is still featured in the World Endurance Championship. Again based on the previous generation, the GT3 focuses on the British GT Championship as well as the WEC, with a few class wins in each. The final car entered by Aston Martin is the Vantage GT4 which was an updated version of the Vantage N24 car which raced in the FIA GT4 Championship. All three of these cars are special as they have very few miles on as if they're factory prototypes or owned by the Aston Martin heritage centre. The only record of any of these cars selling at auction was a Vantage GT4 which sold last year for only £81,200. 

The next class is fairly similar to the previous, being endurance racers, though this class is exclusive for the V12 powered cars. The first car in this class is the 1974 Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 TT/12 which is the V12 version of the Alfa Romeo in the previous class. In hindsight, this car was used as a developmental car for the later 33SC12 model. However as far as development cars go, it was incredibly successful with seven out of eight race wins against some of the more competitive 1970s racing cars such as the Renault Alpine A442-B and the Porsche 908/3. Powered by a 500bhp V12 and with the car weighing only 670kg, this car is incredibly close to achieving a 1:1 power to weight ratio, which for 1974 is insane. There has never been one of these cars to sell at auction but Girardo & Co. have sold this exact example before and this car ended up winning the Best in Class award. Next is a 1978 Ferrari 512 BB LM which was a racing version of the road going Ferrari 512 Berlinetta Boxer and this example is a second generation example after the first iteration was not very successful. The body was designed by Pininfarina and certainly makes an impact on first view, carrying over very few elements of the original design as it features built in lights rather than pop-up and the tail was extended to the maximum according to regulations. 25 were built in total and the racing success of the cars did not improve as much as Ferrari believed it would. A win in class at the 1981 24 Hours of Le Mans is the standout performance by the 512 as it was almost always in the rear view mirrors of the much more powerful Porsche 935 K3s. Only one has been recorded to have sold at auction which was in 2014 when a 1981 example sold for £990,000 which can only increase in the future. Next is a British brute being the incredible 1988 Jaguar XJR9 which is a Le Mans legend. Built by Jaguar alongside Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) it used a 7.0 V8 as well as a unique design package which had the rear wheels covered by the bodywork to increase aerodynamics and top speed on the Mulsanne Straight at Le Mans. While racing in the 1988 World Sportscar Championship, the XJR9 won the Le Mans 24 hour race and later won the team and drivers championship, with Formula One driver Martin Brundle being the winning driver. It is believed that the XJR9 had around 750bhp which led to an extreme 245mph top speed though it never achieved this speed during any races. This car is also famous for having two iconic racing liveries, the first being the one this example is displayed in being the purple Silk Cut livery and the second being a green Castrol livery, the latter example selling at auction for £2.1million in 2015. Sticking with Jaguar, the next car is a 1991 Jaguar XJR-15 which is known as the car that the world forgot about even though it is a majesty of design. Built based on the XJR9 as a road going racing car made for a one make series that Jaguar planned to run and did so for one year in 1991. Made entirely of carbon fibre, it was built after the XJ220 concept was released to the public and TWR decided to develop a road legal XJR9 as an alternative. The initial plan was to produce 50 examples but in the end 53 chassis were built with a price tag of £500,000 each which was, and still is, extremely expensive. They are much more accepted now as a quality super car than at the time though it has racing heritage in that an XJR-15 chassis was used to develop Nissan's R390 prototype car. The interesting thing is that since the XJR-15s have been appearing in the last few years, the auction value has not skyrocketed and in fact has gone in the opposite way, with the last example selling just three years ago for £270,000 which is half the value of the car new. The next car is extremely unique and one people may only know from the Gran Turismo racing games being the 1999 Lister Storm. It was built as a homologated version of the racing car and broke the record on its launch of the largest engine in a road car since WW2 with a 7.0 V12, used by the XJR9 racing car. It participated in the British GT Championship where in the first season it raced against Chrysler-Oreca Dodge Vipers, Marcos LM600s, Porsche 911 GT2s and the very rare Venturi 400LM and it came out on top during its first season. Later it became the only factory team in the championship as Chrysler pulled out of the championship, which led to a plethora of wins. The most interesting part about this car, however is that it was owned by Newcastle United. In the late 1990s, Newcastle United bought two Lister Storm cars to race in the GT Championship and finished them with interesting liveries featuring many Newcastle badges, leading to variable successes in racing but no improvement to the football team. This exact Lister Storm was sold at the 2019 Goodwood Festival of Speed for £465,000 which is over £300,000 more than a road car that sold a year earlier. The final car in this class is the 2001 Ferrari 550 Maranello GT1 which is a car from the last fine years of the GT1 championship. The Ferrari 550 was never made eligible for racing by Ferrari and so privateers took 550 chassis and developed them into racing cars, the most significant being the projects made by Prodrive. 12 were built by Prodrive to race in the GT1 series and was the final V12 Ferrari to win a race at the GT1 championship. This car has a good record at auctions especially recently as RM Sotheby's sold a 2001 550 GT1 by Prodrive during their Monterrey online auction this summer for £4.29million which is the most expensive car ever sold during an online auction, even beating a Ferrari Enzo and a Ferrari 275 GTB. 

This next class is a very small one with only two cars in the whole class but it is a special class as it celebrates the road going McLaren F1. The first car is one that has appeared at both the 2018 and 2019 Goodwood Festival of Speed being McLaren F1 chassis 028 which has a remarkable story behind it. Firstly it is believed to be the only example finished in Grand Prix Red and that paired with a cream interior looks absolutely stunning and this car was owned by a very famous racing driver. In 1993, Michael Andretti was gifted this car by McLaren as a contractual obligation for his stint with the F1 team for that season, though he kept the car in the UK for storage. It was later displayed as the promo car for McLaren at the 1995 Goodwood Festival of Speed before changing hands to Tokyo before going to the US. It then was sold as part of a multi car sale deal so the owner could buy a Ferrari 250 Testarossa before being delivered to DK Engineering and now resides in the UK with its new owner. The second and final car of the class is the McLaren F1 chassis 037 which has a lot less known about it. What is known is that it resides in the UK and is finished in Special Silver over grey alcantara which is a fairly common McLaren F1 spec. The car has made its way around the world with its various owners as it has been spotted in Newport Beach as well as Johannesberg before being spotted at Donington Park for the recent SupercarDriver Super Secret Meet where it featured alongside many other hypercars for one of the best gatherings of cars ever. Auction prices of McLaren F1s have always been high and the last road car to sell at auction was sold for £15,650,000 which is now seen as cheap for a McLaren F1. 

The final class of this section of the review focuses on the racing versions of the McLaren F1 and there are four beautiful examples to gawp at. The first example is the McLaren F1 GTR #13R which is finished in the black and red Lark livery. The GTR was the first racing version of the F1 and this example was sold by McLaren originally to Japan and Team Goh Racing (which would become Team Lark McLaren) alongside a second F1 GTR. It was displayed at an auto museum in Japan for a long time alongside a McLaren F1 road car and the extremely rare F1 GT. In terms of race history, it won the All Japan Grand Touring Championship in 1996 with Ralf Schumacher as the lead driver with three wins in total. Since its racing days, the current owner took the car to McLaren to get the car road legalised at a cost of around £200,000 and since then has been seen at many UK events including the Goodwood Breakfast meets and the Festival of Speed. The next car has quite an interesting story to it because it was not a purpose built GTR but a converted road car, built to GTR specification in 1994. It did enter the legendary 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans, but was the one F1 that failed to finish in the same race the F1s dominated with 1st, 3rd, 4th and 6th. However the following year it managed to finish 6th at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Due to this car originally being a road car, it did not need to undergo the road legality conversion and therefore it has been seen a few times on the road. The car is finished in the red and white UenoClinic livery. The next car is the first of the Longtail variations of the F1 which was built for the FIA GT1 championship and the 1997 Le Mans regulations and is one of only ten built. This one has been finished in many liveries originally being a Lark livery as this was sold to Team Goh in Japan same as 13R, failing to finish the 1997 Le Mans race. It later traded through different teams featuring a yellow Parabolica livery (which the car is finished in now) as well as a full Papaya Orange spray. The final car in class is 28R which is finished in the most famous Longtail livery, the Gulf Warsteiner livery. This car is actually a rebuild of chassis 27R after it was damaged during transport but was later rebuilt as chassis 28R as a spare car for the FIA GT Championship. This car does not have much racing history as by the time it came to be raced it was used as a spare car and never actually raced. When it comes to auction records of F1 GTRs and GTR Longtails, there have actually been a few to come to auction. The only F1 Longtail to sell at auction was in 2014 with the FINA liveried BMW F1 GTR Longtail which sold for £5.2 million, and there's only been F1 LMs to sell at auction rather than GTRs and the most recent sold for £19.8 million a few years ago. 

The final two classes will be in the final review of the Salon Prive Concours D'Elegance and those classes include some 90s supercars and some future classics which has around 10 cars in it which should be incredible. 

Salon Prive Concours D'Elegance Review - Part 2

This is part two of the review of the Salon Prive Concours D'Elegance event for 2020. This piece will cover the next four classes of the event from Classes H to K, with each section detailing the cars entered as well as announcing the best in class winners.

The first class of this section is the Post War Touring (Open) class which is for convertible cars or roofless cars from the post war era and there were some gems in this class. The first car is a 1948 Delahaye 135 M by Pennock. This French luxury sports car was completely bespoke and generally have coachbuilt bodies meaning no two Delahaye 135 Ms are the same. Fitted with a cast iron 3.6l Inline-Six, it produced 115hp which gave it a top speed of only 100mph but 0-60mph could be achieved in under 10 seconds which for 1948 is truly, incredibly fast. It had to be fast too, as it has history in Grand Prix, rally and endurance racing making it a true sports car of the time. Auction records show that the prices have hovered over £150,000 consistently, making it affordable for all that class. Next up is the 1949 MG YT, fully restored by Bridge Classic Cars, which is one of only 877 produced and was not a commercial success. Launched at Geneva in 1948, this was available in right and left hand drive as an open topped version of the YA, known as the Y Tourer. This was at a time when many British manufacturers were failing to sell open topped variants of their cars and unfortunately this car was axed two years after its launch. At auction, they tend to top around £25,000 as they're not too desirable in today's market. Next up is a 1961 Fiat-OSCA 1500-S Pininfarina which is mostly famous for preceding the legendary Fiat 124 Spider. Built by Fiat in the classic style of two doors, two seats, front engined and rear drive, which they would continue with sports cars they made up until this day. As this example is the OSCA version, it had a peppier 1.5 litre twin-cam engine which gave it 71bhp but in a car that weighed less than a tonne that was more than enough. Pricing at auction is generally around £80,000 which seems like a good investment for a car like that. The next car is the 1966 Aston Martin DB6 Short Chassis Volante by Touring. This car is a masterpiece. Built to replace the legendary DB5, the DB6 was a bit slow off the starting blocks with the design being passed from Touring to Aston Martin and then back again meaning the car looked dated even when it first launched, with resemblances to the old DB5 and was therefore not popular with the standard Aston Martin fanbase at the time. Overtime though, like many cars, people came to love and appreciate the DB6 and especially the Volante as shown in the auction results as, in the last few years especially, the prices are around £500,000 increasing to £600,000 quickly. The final car is a 1973 Ferrari Dino 246 GTS by Scaglietti which won this class with flying colours, those colours being dark blue with a tan interior which is one of the best specs for any Ferrari. This example had just undergone a full nut and bolt by DK Engineering making it absolutely spotless. This restoration took three years to complete and has to be one of the most pristine Ferrari Dino 246 GTSs in the world. Known as one of the best V6 cars that Ferrari ever made, the 246 Dino GTS shared the same engine as the legendary Lancia Stratos rally car and gave the road going Ferrari a top speed of 148mph which was ridiculous for 1973. Auction results show this particular model is on the rise much like the other cars featured in the concours, with prices rising above the £250,000 barrier.

The next class is the Post War Touring (Closed, Two-Seater) and features a lot of valuable machinery beginning with a one off 1958 Jaguar XK150. This one is bodied by Bertone and is thought to be the only remaining Bertone XK150. Jaguar had previously sent three XK120s and XK140s to be converted by Bertone into a fixed-head coupe, drophead coupe and a roadster and the XK150 was no exception. It is alleged that they were sent to Bertone to try to come up with a concept to replace the XK150. This is the only one believed to remain as the other two haven't been seen for decades. Next up is the winner of the class being a 1961 Aston Martin DB4 Series II. The Series I DB4 has an issue with overheating in the oil cooler and therefore the Series II fixes this issue. Based on the same body as the Series I, the Series II features Touring design and only around 350 examples were built between 1960 and 1961. In terms of auctions, the DB4 has always been a high seller, especially in Zagato form, and can range between £450,000 and £550,000. This car also won the best in class for this category. Next is a 1966 Ford GT40 Mk1, a car famous for beating Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans but this is the road legal version. Built at the same time as the race cars, there were 30 out of 87 cars built for the road making them a rarity among rarities. The road car was obviously downgraded from the racing version but with 335bhp from the Ford Fairline V8 fitted by Shelby American is still no slouch. When it comes to auctioning these, there is hardly a car that dips under £2 million. The last Ford GT40 Mk1 to sell at auction came in 2016 where one sold for £2.9 million. The penultimate car in this class was the 1970 Lamborghini Miura P400S, which to many is regarded as the first supercar. Some believe the Mercedes 300SL was a supercar before the Miura but it focused more on luxury than speed. The Miura is one of the true great cars, featured in the opening of The Italian Job, a 0-60mph time of under 6 seconds and with only 140 produced, rare as anything. In terms of auction history, Miuras of any variation always do well and the P400S is currently hovering around the £1 million price tag but as time goes on, the price will only go up. Finally for this class is the 1974 Dino 246 GT, not badged as a Ferrari Dino which is unique. This is because the 206 Dino was not a true Ferrari with heavy steering and pig-looks, so much so that people called them Dinos and not Ferraris. This example of the 246 GT is unique as it is finished with a green exterior and green leather interior, making it a true one off. The last Dino 246 GT to sell at auction sold for a respectable £440,000 as it is the mid range car, but even so the prices keep on rising. 

The penultimate class of this list is the Post War Touring (Closed, 4-Seater) and the first car in this class is actually the class winner, being the 1960 Citroen DS19 Le Paris. This was a small production, custom build by the French coachbuilder, Henri Chapron and he was the person to create the Citroen DS Decapotable, the convertible DS as Citroen did not agree with it being a model in their range. The Le Paris was a coupe hard-top version of the DS convertible conversion and was produced in a tiny run of nine cars, as Chapron had run out of money to buy the DS Coupes in 1959. Due to the rarity of this car, the auction records are very slim but one sold for £148,560. Next is a 1962 Maserati 3500 GTI, which is believed to be the first car to wear the famous GTI badge. Bodied by Touring, this car cost over £10,000 new which was the same sort of price as the top range Ferraris at the time, with 235bhp and a top speed of 144mph it was truly a brilliant sports car even though it looks more like a GT car. This car also preceded the legendary 5000 GT and the most recent to sell at auction sold for just over £126,000. Next is an extremely famous car being a 1963 Aston Martin DB5 by Superleggera. Known mostly for being the James Bond Aston Martin, the DB5 is possibly the most famous Aston Martin car ever produced and to some extent one of the rarest with just 886 produced in the three years it was in production. Even though this example doesn't have machine guns in the front headlamps, spikes in the bumper or an ejector seat but it is still a brilliantly beautiful car. Auction prices of DB5s have always been high and recently have gotten over the £500,000 mark. The final car in the class is another Aston Martin being the 1966 DB6 Vantage Sports Series, which was a performance version of the DB6 that was produced at the same sort of time as the DB5 which is strange considering the DB6 is the successor to the DB5. The Vantage specification had 325bhp which for 1966 was unheard of and had a top speed of around 150mph, it is not known because as each car was coachbuilt so many figures were different. At auctions, the DB6 is still undervalued compared to the 4 and the 5 but the average price of a DB6 is still around £300,000. 

The final class to be covered in this section is the Passione Ferrari class which, quite obviously, is a showcase of the best Ferraris the world has ever seen. The first of these masterpieces is the 1949 166 Inter Coupe which was the first road car Ferrari made, derived from the technology used in their racing cars at the time. Rumoured to be one of only 20 produced, the car produced 110bhp which is a similar figure to many small cars today and had a top speed of just 105mph which, by today's standards, is extraordinarily slow. However the sheer beauty of this car is something else and its production led to one of the greatest manufacturers of all time, which is reflected in auction results with the most recent sale recorded just shy of £1million. Next is the 1952 Ferrari 212 Inter Vignale Coupe which followed the 166 in the evolution of Ferrari and came at a time when Enzo Ferrari was selling detuned racing cars (the 212 being an example). The interesting thing about the 212 is that no two are the same, as many coachbuilders were responsible for the design elements. The Vignale bodied cars are famous due to the fact Ferrari sent two to be a part of the Carrera Panamericana, a rally in the US, which it won with flying colours to the surprise of the runners of Ford and other American muscle cars. The last example to sell at auction went for £1.6million and much like many of these cars, that value continues to rise. Next is the class winner, the 1964 Ferrari 250 GT Lusso, one of the more famous in class. The 250 nameplate in the automotive world is renowned for style and expense especially the GT models such as this one. The 250 Lusso was known as the luxury version of the standard 250 GT sports car but inherited racing DNA from its bigger brother, the legendary 250 GTO, and therefore many of their owners took the GT/L racing. This led to the later models of the Short Wheelbase and the Competitzione coming to sale. This car is the first big seller at auction for this class with prices averaging at £1.5million but some examples increase to over two million. Next is the beautiful 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB/6C built originally because the previous generation of racing car, the 250LM, could not meet homologation standards and therefore Ferrari had to race the 275 instead. It's beautiful curves make it one of the prettiest cars of all time, some would say even rivalling the likes of the Lamborghini Miura or the Mercedes 300SL. The body while similar to that of the 250 GTO, several elements were changed thanks to the Pininfarina design and Scaglietti construction. This example is also finished in blue with a cream interior which is an insane specification. Auction prices are on the rise like many classic Ferraris with the last one to cross the block selling for £3,010,000. Next is a car already covered in a previous class being a 1972 Ferrari Dino 246 GT and due to the fact it's already been covered, there's no need to repeat it. Next then is a 1973 Ferrari Daytona which to some is the greatest looking car ever made. The last classic-era front engined V12, the Daytona features a long stretching bonnet and took over where the 275 left off. The Daytona had a very big rival in the form of the Lamborghini Miura and there are still debates to this day about which is the better car and which is the prettier car, but in terms of being a supercar, the Daytona wins with a top speed of 170mph if the owner was brave enough to use fifth gear, making it the world's fastest car at the time. Auction records show Daytonas selling for a wide variety of prices but they currently sell for around £700,000. Finally in this class is the 1975 Ferrari 365 GT4 Berlinetta Boxer which is the rarest car of the Ferrari BB series and ended up being a pinnacle for Ferrari as it featured an F1 derived V12 engine and was the first mid engined Ferrari sports car. While Lamborghini had introduced the Espada and Silhoette which was wowing the world, Ferrari and their mid engined layout kept the 365 a capable sports car. With only 387 examples created before being replaced by the 512 Berlinetta Boxer, it remains to be exceptionally rare with the last auction sale recording just over £420,000.

This concludes the second part of the Salon Prive Concours D'Elegance review which is proving to be a challenge but it has started so it will be finished. The next section will include Classes L to O which are Milestones of Endurance Racing, Milestones of Endurance Racing (V12s), Celebrating the McLaren F1 (Road) and Celebrating the McLaren F1 (Race) which should be really interesting as endurance racing cars are incredibly interesting and the McLaren F1 is an outright legend. 

The SSC Debacle

Over the last week and a half, there has been one motoring story that has grabbed more headlines than any other event. This being the SSC Tuatara's land speed record attempt for a production car. Whenever a road legal car sets a new fastest speed, the motoring world usually stands still in awe at the speeds modern cars can reach and then move onto whatever can break that record. However, more than ever, this record attempt has come under fire from some of the biggest names of the motoring journalism industry, and therefore I felt it's only right to give my opinion on the scenario.

Beginning with some background information, SSC is an American car manufacturer famous mostly for their land speed record back in 2007 with their car, the Ultimate Aero. It was built by Jerod Shelby as a "drivers car" as he said that he wanted to make the car a real drivers car, hence why it had no traction control, no anti lock brakes and no electronic driver aids. It was the first American car to hold the crown of fastest production car as it reached a top speed of 254mph in a single run, meaning it was not an official record as official records require a run both ways to get an average speed. Nevertheless, this was a ridiculously quick car, only beaten by the Bugatti Veyron SuperSport in 2010 with a top speed of 268mph. At the time it was also the most powerful production car with 1,180bhp from the engine used by Corvette in their C5-R endurance car, meaning it was always on the radar with car enthusiasts. But after this, they seemingly disappeared to work on the successor known as the Tuatara. The concept for this car was released in 2011 at Pebble Beach but after the concept nothing was heard from SSC until late 2019 when they announced a production version of the Tuatara was to be made, after 8 years of design. The first customer car was shown at the Philadelphia Motor Show in early 2020 where it was rumoured they would carry out a top speed run to attempt to defeat the Koenigsegg Agera RS at 278mph. Since this claim, the Bugatti Chiron Supersport clocked an insane speed of over 300mph meaning the Tuatara had a tall mountain to climb. On October 10, 2020, the SSC allegedly recorded a top speed of 331mph and an average over two runs of 316mph. This is where the problems begin.

Since the record run was published, many sources have claimed that a video published by SSC does not mathematically equate the speed at which they claimed the car managed to do. Popular YouTube personality and automotive journalist Shmee150 (real name Tim Burton) brought out a video a few days ago critiquing the video and the run itself in that it cannot have reached the speed that was claimed. Using a comparison between the Koenigsegg Agera RS top speed run and the SSCs run (as they used the same stretch of road), Tim discovered that given the speed at which the cars were travelling, it was an impossibility for the SSC to be doing the speed it was. The video showed an angle where a junction is visible out of the window, and Tim measured the length of time it took each car to reach the next junction, a distance of 1.13 miles. The Koenigsegg and SSC were put together and he measured the time it took each car to cover that 1.13 miles and at what speed. The videos showed that the Koenigsegg covered the distance the quickest, yet the SSC was allegedly moving at a faster speed. This is quite obviously a mathematical impossibility which has raised questions into the legitimacy of the run. 

BBC Top Gear recently got into contact with Jerod Shelby who is not the CEO of SSC, to ask questions regarding the run. So far they have confirmed that the footage used does not coincide with the telemetry footage which shows why the timings did not correlate as Tim pointed out. They also came under fire for blurring the dashboard meaning no one could read the speed on the speedometer. The speedometer of the Tuatara can also only reach 300mph meaning any speed recorded above that is just shown as 300, which has led to some enquiry also. At this stage SSC have accepted the speed as it was done and stand by that their car achieved the speed it did, but an investigation is currently taking place to find out whether the speed was legitimate and whether it can stand or not. At the moment, I do not take any stance on this but as the Ultimate Aero is one of my favourite cars from the late 2000s, I really wish they are able to do it. 

Sources

https://www.topgear.com/car-news/ssc-responds-331mph-video-accusations

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3daTG4_JS_4&feature=emb_logo 

Salon Prive Concours D'Elegance Review - Part 1

 The time of year has come around of the Salon Prive automotive show held at Blenheim Palace and with that, another Concours D'Elegance for classics to be judged and best in class awards to be handed out. In lieu of Covid-19, there has only been one other Concours event so far this year at Hampton Court Palace with the 1970 Porsche 917K coming out on top. This article will go through each of the first four car classes of this year's Concours, giving a brief description of each of the entrants and releasing the winning cars. 

The first class of cars was Veterans at the Palace which is a class for pre-1920 cars and had four entrants this year. The first entrant was a 1904 Napier L49, known as the best car in the world before Rolls-Royce adopted the catchphrase in the post-war era, and press at the time of its release labelled it as the 'King of Cars'. This particular example was owned by the ruler of the Hyderabad State in India and who was, at the time, the richest man in the world. The car was later discovered in an Argentinean barn alongside two Bugattis, and last year won the best of show at Hampton Court Palace. The next entrant, the MMC 9hp from 1904, has very little information about it. It was produced by Motoring Manufacturing Company of Coventry, a very short lived manufacturer that produced less than five examples of the 9hp. It is documented that this example had its wheels turned for the first time in over a century when it took part in the 2018 London to Brighton rally. The penultimate entrant of this class was the 1911 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Open Tourer. The Silver Ghost nameplate was not standard on this car as it was known as the 40/50 but this car struck an accord with its owner so much that the nickname became the standard nameplate. Since its conception, this car has been rallied through most of its life and even, in 1977, took part in the Queen's Jubilee Parade through Windsor Castle to the Ascot Racecourse. It even came up for sale at Brooklands Motor Museum at a Historics auction where it failed to sell at an estimate of £350,000 to £450,000. The winner of the class was a 1919 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost which had the higher closed top body rather than the open top version mentioned previously. This example was sold in a era of five years (1917-1922) where Rolls-Royce sales were declining due to other manufacturers entering the market, and therefore is one of only 430 sold in that era. It also featured limousine bodywork making it a very desirable, which could be a reason it won Best in Class for Veterans at the Palace. 

The next class was Pre War Touring and the first car in this class was the 1924 Bentley 3 Litre Sports which was produced between 1921 and 1929. The Sports variant was the second most common of the variants with 513 examples produced and was known as the Red Label model which was the second fastest example and didn't feature a large roofline like the standard 3 Litre. It is mainly known for being the predecessor to the legendary 4 1/2 Litre Bentley which, when supercharged, became one of the greatest racing cars of the 20th Century, as well as the Blower Bentley. The next entrant was a 1936 Lancia Astura Pininfarina 'Bocca' Cabriolet which is one of only six produced between 1933 and 1936. Built to replace the Lamba, the Astura used a 2.6l V8 which produced 72bhp, paired to a four speed manual gearbox which sent the power to the rear wheels. There are some versions which can have up to 82bhp because it was a coachbuilt car so not all examples were the same. Next was a 1933 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Continental, which sounds strange as the name 'Continental' is usually associated with either Lincoln or modern Bentleys. This car however started as a coachbuilt one off short wheelbase Phantom which received no interest from the marketing department of Rolls until it won best in show at Biarritz Concours in 1930, when the sales department named the car the 'Continental Saloon', wrote a brochure and priced it. 281 examples were later produced. Next is a really interesting car being the Hispano Suiza J12, the ultimate combination of Swiss styling, Spanish money and French engineering. This car was built to rival Rolls-Royce and Dusenberg in the extraordinarily high end of the luxury car market, aiming at luxurious custom built models for high end clients. The J12 is no exception with only 120 being built, each in either saloon, coupe, cabriolet or roadster forms. This example is a roadster which makes it an even rarer car and the last example to sell at auction was just over £2million which should all indicate a best in class award but there was one other car which stopped the Hispano Suiza from winning the class. That car was the SS Jaguar 100 2.5, which surprisingly is not an actual Jaguar car. Built by SS Cars, its predecessor the SS90 had a top speed of 90mph and had the shape of the MGs at the time making it a brilliant little British sports car. The SS 100 however could top the legendary 100mph mark making it a very fast car for the time and most were built as factory-bodied roadsters with only one coupe ever made. During the Second World War, production of the SS100 ceased and in 1945, Jaguar bought SS Cars but due to the nazi connotations, the SS 100 was stopped but engineering elements of it was used in the next Jaguar car, the legendary XK120. Being one of 198 and the unique history led to this being the Best in Class for Pre-War Touring.

The next class was to celebrate the 110th anniversary of one of the most beautiful car manufacturers of all time, Alfa Romeo. The first car is very significant because not only did it win Best in Class but it was crowned Best in Show meaning it joins the Porsche 917K in the Peninsula Classics Best of the Best Concours and that car was the 1931 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Monza Spider by Zagato. This is an extremely important car in Alfa Romeo's history as it remains in its Monza set up, meaning its racing set up as many were converted after they were raced. It was raced in period by Tazio Nuvolari, meaning this exact car won both the 1931 and 1932 Targa Florio races in Sicily as well as the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in 1931, which gave the car its name. There were 188 of these built but very few remain in racing format which gives this car a unique edge which was a factor leading to the Best in Show. Also in this class was an 8C 2300 Cabriolet which is the road legal and non racing version of the 8C Monza but it also took some styling cues from the 8C 2300 LM which was the Le Mans version of that car, which won the 24 hours of Le Mans a few times. The final three cars are fairly similar as they are all the same model, the Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Cabriolet. Being the final model in the 6C timeline, it preceded the brilliant Alfa Romeo 1900 also known as the Alfa Junior so it has some brilliant features to it. The 6C was one of the most expensive cars on sale when it first launched and due to that it had some very high class owners such as the former King of Monaco, Rita Hayworth and Tyrone Power and it even featured in The Godfather, driven by Al Pacino on screen as Micheal Corleone. All three trims were present at the event being the standard, the S and the SS, with the only difference being that in the SS it features a double carburetor rather than a single one on the S and standard cars.

The next class was the Post-War Sports Racers which in a nutshell is racing cars or road going versions of racing cars from the 1940s and 1950s, which is the start of what has become my favourite class of cars, vintage and classic Le Mans cars. The first car is the Ferrari 166 MM from 1949 which was the third Ferrari model to be built after the 125S and 159S. Originally this car was labelled the 166S but only 12 of them were produced before the 166 MM arrived which is named after the Mille Miglia race in Italy. 47 of these were produced and were highly successful in road racing and was known for being the first Ferrari to be highly successful competitively which solidified their reputation as a serious competitor. This car won its class and came second best in show for the whole concours.  The next stunner entered was the 1951 Ferrari 212 Export Vignale Barchetta which replaced the successor to the 166, the 195, and was the first Ferrari to have coachbuilt elements from an external design house, being Vignale. This example is one of only eight Barchetta bodied cars, as the others were either a coupe or spyder format. A famous example of the 212 is the Uovo, 'the egg', due to the strange shape of the grill. This car was previously for sale at DK Engineering where it states it has the upgraded 2.5l Colombo V12 from the later 225 model, and a good example of one of these can sell for up to £8million. Next is a 1953 Ferrari 166 MM/53 Pininfarina Berlinetta which is a later version of the previous 166 MM spoken about on here. This was built to race in the two litre class at Mille Miglia and with 154bhp it was more powerful than the predecessor and a lot rarer as well with only 13 of these built for Ferrari clients, only one bodied by Pininfarina. With a five-speed manual and only weighing 650kg, it was a rapid sports car. Auction history for these is sparse due to its rarity but one did fail to sell in 2009 for £1.1million at RM Monterrey. The penultimate car in this class was the 1955 Jaguar D-Type, one of the most important cars in Jaguar's history. It is their most successful racing car of all time having won the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times in a row from 1955 to 1957 only failing to win the 1954 race out of the ones it entered. Built as a development of the C-Type and XK120C racers, Jaguar knew they needed a new car to keep up with Ferrari, even though they won in 1953 with the Jaguar C-Type. When the prototype was being tested, it apparently hit 178mph, which was over 30mph faster than the C-Type could achieve and with a magnesium alloy body rather than the traditionally aluminium, it was much lighter, though much more expensive. It was such an iconic car for Jaguar that their classic department are creating a limited run of 25 continuation D-Types, following their success with recreating the E Type Lightweight and the XKSS. In terms of auction history, a non race winning D-Type can reach £3million but when RM Sotheby's sold the 1955 Le Mans winning D-Type, it sold for £21.78million which at the time was a record for a British car. The final car is a 1957 Ferrari 500 TRC by Scaglietti which was originally built to keep the 500 Testarossa up to date with the 1957 racing regulations and to continue their successes. It used an inline-four engine unlike the standard Ferrari V12 that they usually use for racing with but this allowed them to excel in the 2 litre class with 220bhp and a curb weight of only 726kg. It is also exceptionally rare much like the other cars in this class with only 19 examples built and auction prices surprisingly have never surpassed £5million given this knowledge. 

The next post will cover the next four classes of cars being the Post War Touring (Open), Post War Touring (Closed, Two-Seater), Post War Touring (Closed, Four-Seater) and the Passione Ferrari class. As an overview the winners of class for these categories were the 1919 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost, 1936 SS Jaguar 100 2.5, 1931 Alfa Romeo 8C Monza Zagato Spider and the 1949 Ferrari 166 MM.