Last year, the Monterey Motorsports Reunion announced that the Shelby Cobra would be the featured marque for 2012 in honor of the company’s 50th anniversary. It’s shaping up to be quite the celebration. Earlier this month it was announced that no fewer than 45 competition Cobras will be racing on the track come August, with owners from across the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Canada in attendance. In fact, demand to participate was so high that several entrants actually had to be turned away.
Shelby Cobras won’t just be on the track, though. The event expects at least 200 Cobras, real and replica, to gather in the infield car corral. Shelby and Ford Motor Company will also bring a collection of historic Cobras to display in the paddock. In other words, if you’re a Shelby Cobra fan then start making plans to attend right away.
You can read the official announcement from the Monterey Motorsports Reunion below.
How much is a Pebble Beach ‘Best in Show’ car worth? We’re about to find out. A 1938 Horch 853A Erdmann & Rossi Sport Cabriolet (that’s quite a mouthful) is looking for a new home and is headed to auction at RM’s Monterey sale in August. The car underwent an extensive restoration in 2001 and debuted at the 2004 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance where it took home first prize. Since then, the Horch has gone on to win many other accolades including the Best in Show at the New York City Concours (2005), the Meadow Brook Concours d’Elegance (2006), the Glenmoor Gathering (2008), and the Ault Park Concours (2009).
So what makes this particular car so special? Horch, one of the original four German automakers of the Auto Union that lives on today as Audi, produced some of the most luxurious vehicles in the early part of the century. The 853A Cabriolet, one of the company’s last efforts, is widely considered one of the most beautiful cars of its era and came with many modern features including vacuum-boosted hydraulic brakes, overdrive in all four gears, and a unique hydraulic jacking system. This particular example features unique coachwork by Erdmann & Rossi and is one of just three known to currently exist.
You can read more about the 1938 Horch 853A Erdmann & Rossi Sport Cabriolet and the auction in RM’s press release after the break, and you can see our photos of the car at the 2004 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in the gallery above.
We’ve had the good fortune of getting up close and personal with quite a few of Icon 4×4′s creations, from their off-road wares like the CJ3B and FJ line to one-off restomod hot rods like their Derelict ’52 Chevy. While few people may be able to afford the company’s offerings, the creativity and thought that goes into each of their vehicles is something everyone can appreciate.
We have a particular affection for Icon and its latest project, the Ford Bronco. We went for a brief drive in the very first example just before it made its debut at SEMA last year and fell in love with every detail of the modernized off-roader. Every trim piece on the car has been laser cut or machined from stainless steel. The unique gauge cluster is inspired by Bell & Ross watches. The interior aluminum is the same found on the inside of luxury skyscraper elevator doors. The Icon Bronco is capable of proving its worth both on and off-road too, thanks to an Art Morrison chassis, custom-built Dana 60 and 44 solid axle assemblies, and a Ford Mustang 5.0-liter V8 under the hood.
Jonathan Ward, creator of Icon, recently invited a documentary filmmaker inside his facility to take a closer look at the Bronco. The resulting film will give you a better idea of what went into developing the Bronco as well what makes Ward tick as both a designer and a builder. If you’ve like any of Icon’s creations, it’s definitely worth a watch. Just scroll down and hit play.
The most recent celebration happened this past weekend at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum in Pomona, California, where dozens of Shelby Cobra owners gathered for a 50th anniversary reunion put on by the Team Shelby Pacific Coast Division. All kinds of Cobras crowded into the parking lot in front of the museum, from 289-powered slab-sided Cobras to original 427 side-oiler models to the modern continuation Cobras.
The Amelia Island Concours may not be as old or have quite the prestige of Pebble Beach, but it still marks an important place on the automotive calendar every spring. For 2012, an incredible selection of cars gathered in the northeast end of Florida for the 17th annual show, with the event celebrating 50 years of the Shelby Cobra, the legendary Ferrari 250 GTO, custom coachwork Cadillacs, experimental Corvettes as well as cars that won the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring.
As with Pebble Beach, the Amelia Island Concours gives out awards to the most outstanding vehicles, but unlike the West Coast show there are two main trophies up for grabs instead of just one. This year a 1938 Bugatti Type 57, one of just three like it in the world, was awarded the Concours d’Elegance award, while a 1962 Ferrari 330 LM, essentially a 4.0-liter version of the 250 GTO, claimed the Concours de Sport award.
You can read more about this year’s Amelia Island Concours and the two best of show winners in the press release below.
When we initially reported on the incredible Drendel Family Porsche collection that would be up for sale at Gooding & Company’s Amelia Island auction, we figured that many of the cars would command impressive sums. Now that it’s over, we doubt that even the auction house could have guessed just how successful the sale could be.
Held in conjunction with the Amelia Island Concours in the beginning of March, the auction smashed eleven world records for Porsches. A 1973 Porsche 917/30 Can-Am Spyder broke the record for both the most expensive Porsche and a 917 at $4.4 million, a 1955 Porsche 550 dropped the hammer at a record $3.685 million, and a 1974 Porsche 911 Carrera RSR Turbo sold for $3.245 million. Other records broken include top prices for a Porsche 935, 962, 911 GT1, 906, 934, 924, 968 and 944. In total, ten cars sold for more than a million dollars, and all sales combined for a final sum of $36 million.
See below for more details on Gooding & Company’s 2012 Amelia Island auction as well as a full list of the most expensive cars sold.
Classic car aficionados are currently making arrangements to be in Northeast Florida for the second week of March for the Amelia Island Concours, but not everyone will be headed to Florida just to see cars. Plenty of collectors come to the annual event with cash burning in their pockets, and the various auction houses are happy to oblige with a selection of special cars on offer.
One of the highlights of the weekend’s auction action will surely be this incredible Porsche collection slated to cross the block at Gooding & Company. Owned by the late Matthew Drendel, the collection consists of 18 classic Porsches from a rare 1973 917/30 Can-Am Spyder with an estimated value of up to $3.25-$4 million to a very attainable 1991 944 S2 Cabriolet worth around $30,000. Also of note are a two-time Daytona 24 winning 1984 Porsche 962, the very first Porsche 935 built and a 1997 Porsche 911 GT1 Evolution that is one of just four factory team cars.
Follow the jump for more details on the auction and the Drendel Porsche collection, or take a closer look at the drool-worthy cars in the gallery above.
Classic car aficionados are currently making arrangements to be in Northeast Florida for the second week of March for the Amelia Island Concours, but not everyone will be headed to Florida just to see cars. Plenty of collectors come to the annual event with cash burning in their pockets, and the various auction houses are happy to oblige with a selection of special cars on offer.
One of the highlights of the weekend’s auction action will surely be this incredible Porsche collection slated to cross the block at Gooding & Company. Owned by the late Matthew Drendel, the collection consists of 18 classic Porsches from a rare 1973 917/30 Can-Am Spyder with an estimated value of up to $3.25-$4 million to a very attainable 1991 944 S2 Cabriolet worth around $30,000. Also of note are a two-time Daytona 24 winning 1984 Porsche 962, the very first Porsche 935 built and a 1997 Porsche 911 GT1 Evolution that is one of just four factory team cars.
Follow the jump for more details on the auction and the Drendel Porsche collection, or take a closer look at the drool-worthy cars in the gallery above.
We’ve been busy covering Barrett-Jackson this week, but there are plenty of other auctions going on in Scottsdale as well. One of those is Gooding & Company, which has been selling some pretty incredible cars. Perhaps the most significant is this 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing, which is just one of 29 built with an aluminum alloy body.
Standard 300SL Gullwing prices can exceed a million dollars, but this particular example was expected to sell for anywhere between $2,500,000 and $3,000,000. These alloy 300SL Gullwings come up for sale infrequently, though, which is perhaps why the final bid of $4.2 million was so high. With auction fees, the final selling price of the 300SL was an incredible $4.62 million, a new record for this car.
You can read more about this particular 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Alloy after the jump, and check out photos of the car in the gallery above.
In the sea of muscle cars and hot rods here at Barrett-Jackson, this streamlined chrome roadster really stood out as being truly unique. Constructed from the wing tip tank of a Lockheed Super Constellation airplane, the “Lockheed Lakester” is built to resemble a vintage salt flat racer and features a variety of aviation-sourced parts including gunner seats in the cockpit, a vintage airplane steering wheel and an air speed indicator instead of a speedometer. Powering the roadster is a 1.8-liter 4-cylinder mated to a 5-speed manual.
We had no idea what this type of car is worth given that there’s nothing really to compare it with, but there was plenty of interest in the vehicle and bidding quickly rose past the six figure mark, eventually resting at $170,000. With auction fees included, the final selling price was $187,000.
You can see the Lockheed Lakester in detail in our gallery of live photos above.
