Archives for the Tag: Expensive cars

Shelby RTR loosely based on an old classic

Posted by admin on November 26th, 2014 in Category Cool Cars (no responses)

Shelby Mustangs are rare to begin with,  the Galpin-Fisker Rocket proves that you can take something and completely change it to something even better. It’s easy to see that Beau Boeckmann would want to add some interesting new upgrades to the Shelby RTR. He also said that he wasn’t joking when his inspiration for the new Galpin-Fisker Rocket came from some of the blue prints from a 1968 Shelby Mustang GT 500, or at least some parts did.

A joint project for Galpin Auto Sports owner Boeckmann and automotive designer Henrik Fisker (previously of Aston Martin DB9 and BMW Z8 fame before his ill-fated Fisker Karma venture), the Galpin-Fisker Rocket’s superfluous panels apparently hide a Ford V-8 that’s been souped-up to the tune of 725 hp.

Based on the 2015 Ford Mustang, Boeckmann and Fisker have re-interpreted the pony car, mostly in ways that affect air flow and dissipate heat. The front splitter is claimed to aid in engine cooling, while the dual air intakes on the hood draw cool air in for the engine to gulp down. Every body panel on the Mustang is carbon fiber, minus the doors and roof, and the rear bodywork is slightly wider than stock.

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How Much Would You Pay for a 1962 Ferrari?

Posted by admin on August 25th, 2014 in Category Car News (no responses)

Apparently someone thought the price tag of 40 million dollars seemed about right.  A red 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO Berlinetta, which was once involved in a fatal accident, has set the world record for a car sold at auction, going for $38.1 million at a sale in California, auction house Bonhams said.

The price offered on Thursday by a bidder whose identity was not disclosed surpassed the $30 million (all figures U.S.) paid last year for a 1954 Mercedes Benz W196 race car, also sold by Bonhams, the auctioneers said in a press release.

“We’ve always maintained that we would exceed the current world record and that the car would bring between $30-$40-million and today the GTO did just that,” Robert Brooks, chairman of Bonhams, said in a statement.

Some reports prior to the auction had said the car might fetch as much as $70 million, but a Bonhams spokeswoman said these were based purely on speculation.

The Ferrari was the jewel in the crown for Bonhams’ annual Quail Lodge event on the Monterey Peninsula in California.

The auction house said that it was the world’s longest single-ownership for a Ferrari 250 GTO Berlinetta, effectively held by one family for 49 years from 1965 to 2014.

The car sold from the Maranello Rosso Collection and stamped with chassis number ‘3851 GT’ was the 19th 250 GTO Berlinetta made by Ferrari and completed on Sept. 11, 1962, Bonhams said.

It was delivered to the leading French racing driver Jo Schlesser, to be co-driven by himself and French ski Champion Henri Oreiller in the 1962 Tour de France Automobile.

Oreiller later crashed the car during a race at Montlhery Autodrome, south of Paris, and died of his injuries in hospital. A newspaper report at the time said the Ferrari careered off the track and flipped twice after a tyre burst.

The car was repaired by Ferrari in Italy and was sold to Italian gentleman driver Paolo Colombo in time for the start of the 1963 competition season.

In 1965 young Fabrizio Violati, the scion of a wealthy Italian family, bought the car. “I saved the car from scrap and hid it from my parents. I only drove it at night so nobody would see me”, Bonhams quoted him as saying.  This car is a collectors item but it will be hard to feel it for any more than what this man purchased it for.

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