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.