Classic Cars
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The 2011 Amelia Island vehicle auction in Florida has come and gone and this year’s event has proven to be a record breaker, with more than $24.3 million going under the hammer for an assortment of classic performance and luxury cars. A sizeable chunk of that $24.3 million total was courtesy of a single car, this 1952 Ferrari 340 Mexico Vignale Coupe, which fetched $4.3 million. Boasting chassis number 0224 AT, the classic Ferrari was one of only three ever built and has a number of race wins under its belt. The car belonged to Ferrari enthusiast and FCA co-founder Larry Nicklin and...
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Rolls-Royce Celebrates 100th Anniversary Of Spirit Of EcstasyYou know that gorgeous winged woman pinned to the hood of every Rolls-Royce? She's turning 100 this year, and her company threw her a 100-car birthday bash in London this weekend. The first Spirit of Ecstasy, as the ornament is known, was introduced in 1911, but as grand a mascot as it is, the...
Nelson Ireson -
Jaguar Celebrating 50 Years Of Iconic E-TypeThis year marks the 50th anniversary of one of the most famous and desirable cars in automotive history--the Jaguar E-Type. For many, Jaguar's E-Type epitomized the perfect sports car--powerful performance, stunning good looks and Jaguar build quality--so it’s not surprising to hear that...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
VIDEO: Car And Track Reviews The 1968 Shelby GT500KRRemember Car And Track? If you don't, don't worry about it. The show ran from 1967 to 1975, so it may not be fresh in many minds. Nevertheless, video has surfaced online of a televised car and Track road test of the 1968 Shelby GT500KR. Watching this video reminds us of how cool these Mustangs were...
Tim Healey -
Neil Young Loses $800,000 Car, Musical Collection In FireA fire in a San Carlos, California warehouse started at 2:55 a.m. local time this morning, and by the time the conflagration was under control at 3:45 a.m., Neil Young had lost $800,000 in classic cars and musical equipment. At least that's the early conclusion--the local news report from Mercury...
Nelson Ireson -
James Bond Aston Martin DB5 sells for $4.1MClassic sports cars regularly sell for millions on the auction block--particularly when they have a racing or celebrity heritage. It’s not surprising then that the 1964 Aston Martin DB5 piloted by Sean Connery's James Bond in the movies Goldfinger and Thunderball has sold for £2.6...
Nelson Ireson -
Porsche is celebrating its 60th anniversary, and as part of the festivities the company set out to find the oldest surviving U.S. import. The result? A fantastically restored Strawberry Red 1952 356 Cabriolet. It's not, strictly speaking, the oldest Porsche in the U.S., but it is the oldest car sold at retail as an import. An even older Porsche 356, built in Stuttgart in 1950, was also found, but because it was imported later and restored form a variety of source vehicles, it wasn't deemed the oldest U.S. Porsche. The 356, despite its modest performance by modern standards, was the car that...
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Nicolas Zapata, vintage Ferrari racer, dies in Porsche 356 accidentRacing is a dangerous and occasionally deadly game, but the risk is part of what makes it so exciting. But it's sometimes the open road, not the track, that takes the lives of skilled racing drivers. The death of Nicolas Zapata is one of those cases. Zapata, a native of Mexico, vintage racer, and...
Nelson Ireson -
Photos: Classic Restorations Shelby GT500CRMustangs Daily has a nice photo gallery featuring pictures of the Classic Restorations Shelby GT500CR with a custom paint job. This continuation version of a 1967 Shelby GT500 is powered by a 427 cubic-inch (6.9-liter) V-8 that makes 545 horsepower and mates to a 5-speed manual transmission, a...
Tim Healey -
Pebble 2010: Jaguar XKSS by the dozenIt's been a special year for Jaguar, which introduced a new 2011 XJ sedan earlier this year to widespread acclaim. A highlight of its corporate summer must have been today's showing of a dozen XKSS sports cars at the 2010 Pebble Beach Concours. The XKSS has a compelling history. Sixteen cars in all...
Martin Padgett -
Pebble 2010: 1933 Delage D8S De Villars Roadster wins Best Of ShowThere can be few higher honors for the world's elite car collectors than Best of Show at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. This year, the award goes to a 1933 Delage D8S De Villars Roadster, selected from among the hundreds of cars and tens of contenders vying for supremacy on this highly...
Nelson Ireson -
Quail 2010: A Pair of PackardsBefore World War II, Packard was synonymous with Cadillac or Rolls-Royce, a standard bearer for luxury vehicles from any continent. This year at The Quail, a pair of Packards flaunted the elegant, opulent details that gave the brand its stellar reputation--fleeting though it was. We've captured two...
Martin Padgett -
It's called a "motorsports gathering," but to the observers sipping crisp local wines and sampling the world of classic cars one continent at a time, The Quail is more than a gathering. For us here at MotorAuthority, it's an epiphany of rarely seen machines driving under their own power, an assembly that's equal parts car-history primer and hobnob utopia. This year it was also the best place on earth to see an amazing collection of Bugattis, ranging from the perfectly restored to the (mostly) unretouched. We spent most of the afternoon ogling this historic grouping of the French-made...
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Porsche 356 at Goodwood Festival of SpeedThis video, just uploaded to Porsche's Facebook page last night, gives us a quick primer on the 356 and its history in La Carrera Panamericana, one of the most famous of the classic endurance races. This particular car is one of the five actual cars that raced the 1953 Carrera Panamericana, making...
Nelson Ireson -
1980 BMW M1 Supercar: Yours For $250,000BMW, a brand that prides itself on building the ultimate driving machine, doesn’t have a genuine supercar in its lineup. But this was not always the case because back in 1978 BMW launched its very own supercar. It was the mid-engined M1 homologation special, a car that made its debut more...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
1966 Aston Martin DB6 coming to Monterey Mecum auctionAston Martin. Just the name can set a gearhead's pulse racing. But there's more to the marque than just its latest and greatest cars like the Rapide, V12 Vantage, and DBS. It has history--serious history. Like the 1966 DB6 going up for auction in Monterey via Mecum. This particular 1966 Aston DB6...
Nelson Ireson -
Honey, I Shrunk The 'Vette: The Opel GT StoryIf I say "Opel," what comes to mind? That’s right, a German manufacturer of mainstream cars for the Average Joe. You might know them as Saturns, Buicks and Cadillacs in the United States, but sometimes they also build surprising machines like the Manta, Calibra and, in cooperation with a...
Herman Pelgrom -
Anna Nicole Smith's Mercedes 300SL Skids Onto The Auction BlockWe'd planned to write a story about Cameron Diaz being shuttled home in a black Cadillac Escalade after a late-night cuddle session with Alex Rodriguez. But as usual, C-Di and A-Rod put us to sleep, and when we woke up, our colleagues at Jalopnik had dug up something far more invigorating: news...
Richard Read -
Normally, we write in the Royal We around here, but today I'm breaking that rule because I'm going to say something kind of scandalous, and I don't want to bring any of my upstanding colleagues down with me. Not that many of 'em are standing up at this point in the day, but you know: figure of speech. Anyway, here goes: I hate Mad Men. I don't just dislike it. If I happen to flip through AMC while it's on, I don't just keep going. I stop. I rant. I scream at the set. It makes me very, very mad. (See what I did there?) My problem isn't with the cast, who are very, very talented. Nor do I mind...
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Porsche Type 64, 550 Le Mans on display in AtlantaThe first car that Porsche ever built, before it was even Porsche, was the Type 64, also known as the VW Aerocoupe. The car is a highly streamlined racer developed out of a desire to dominate the Berlin-Rome long-distance race, and the only pre-war Porsche. And it's on display right now in...
Nelson Ireson -
BMW Goes Retro: Classic Motorsports Division, Concorso d'EleganzaThe BMW Group is digging deep into its heritage for the Concorso d'Eleganza and a new Classic Motorsports division.
Nelson Ireson -
Preview: 2010 Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'EsteThe 2010 Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este sees some of the world's most incredible cars.
Nelson Ireson -
1965 Shelby Daytona Coupe Sells For Record $7.25 MillionHand-made in Modena, Italy, by Carozzeria Grand Sport, the Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe is still undeniably an all-American car. Built to dominate the FIA's GT class, the Shelby and its team were the first Americans to take on and beat Ferrari on the world stage–clinching the championship on...
Kenneth Hall -
Shelby Distribution launches CSX 9000 series Cobra Daytona Coupe MKIIThe original Daytona Coupe was a race car based loosely on the AC Cobra roadster that was produced in an extremely limited run of just six cars during the 1960s. The cars were created in collaboration with a number of racing legends including Carroll Shelby, Peter Brock and Bob Negstad, and with a...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran