Time Warp auto news

Official: Ferrari marks 60th anniversary of 250 GT

Surely the most important of the classic Ferraris is the 250 series. Over its decade of production, the 250 series gave us some of the most recognizable models of the marque's history, including the GTO, the Testa Rossa, the Lusso and the original California Spyder.

This year Ferrari is celebrating the 60th anniversary of the series that was built around Giachino Colombo's enduring 3.0-liter V12. To mark the occasion, the Ferrari Museum in Maranello is displaying two unique and important 250s from its historical archives. One is the 250 GT SWB Berlinetta that Stirling Moss drove to victory at four races in 1961. The second is the so-called Breadvan, which was commissioned by Count Volpi di Musurata and developed by Piero Drogo and Giotto Bizzarrini. It was one of the original shooting brakes and provided the inspiration for the new FF.

The two are already on display in the museum for any visitor to see, but if your travel plans aren't sending you to Maranello anytime soon, you can still check them out in the photo gallery above and the press release below.

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Motorsports: Record number of Shelby Cobras to take part in Monterey Motorsports Reunion

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.

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Report: Martin Scorcese to produce Silver Ghost film about Rolls-Royce

This could be interesting: Oscar-winners Martin Scorsese and Richard Attenborogh are teaming up to make a film called Silver Ghost, based, in part, on the lives of Charles Rolls and Henry Royce. The screenplay was written by Jeffrey Caine (Goldeneye) and playwright Sharman Macdonald, who also happens to be actress Kiera Knightley's mom.

According to Top Gear, the biopic will be set at the dawn of the 20th Century, during the seminal days of the auto industry. But the report says the real hero of the story will be one Lord John Douglas-Scott Montagu, the Second Baron Montagu of Beaulieu and a member of British Parliament who used his position in British society to champion motoring.

While we're not quite sure what all that Barons and Lords stuff is about, reading that in 1899 Montagu drove the first car to enter the yard of the House of Commons made us think he must have been a decent enough chap. According to the report, he even launched a monthly car magazine. And like any good period-film protagonist, he was romantically linked to another key figure in the story, Eleanor Thornton, the woman who inspired the Rolls-Royce Spirit of Ecstasy mascot that became a defining feature of the marque.

The film is still a long way from the screen, although Scorcese's involvement can't hurt its chances of getting made. Neither would casting Knightley as Thornton, if you ask us.

Auctions: Elegant classic Ferrari and Talbot-Lago to headline at Pebble Beach

RM Auctions only just finished pulling in record numbers at its event in Monaco, but it's already gearing up for the next event set to take place during Pebble Beach weekend in Monterey, California.

Headlining the Canadian specialist auctioneer's catalog for the August event are the rare 1955 Ferrari 410 Sport Berlinetta and the timelessly elegant 1938 Talbot-Lago Teardrop Coupe pictured together above.

Considered by some to be one of the world's most desirable Ferrari classic road car, this particular 410 Sport Berlinetta is the second of just four built and the only fixed-roof coupe. Chassis 0594 CM features bodywork by Scaglietti in ivory with blue leather. It will be making its first appearance both in North America and at auction, having only traded hands a few times between private European collectors until now.

The Talbot, meanwhile, is one of only five of its kind built (of four remaining) and the only such coupe built upon a four-seat chassis. The winner of several concours, this particular example of French art deco in motion is expected to fetch $2.5 to $3.2 million. Scroll down for the full press release and peruse the high-resolution images of the two cars together in Monaco for a sneak preview.

Continue reading Elegant classic Ferrari and Talbot-Lago to headline at Pebble Beach

Pics Aplenty: BMW celebrates 40 years of M

When we think of the BMW M division, the 1978 M1 comes instantly to mind, followed by the E30 M3 and then the 2001-2002 M Coupe. But the company's in-house hot rod shop actually dates back to 1972, when it was formed as a subsidiary to manage the company's racing operations, dubbed BMW Motorsport.

It was this month 40 years ago that what is known today as BMW M GmbH was launched. So to celebrate its anniversary, BMW has offloaded some 50 lustworthy images celebrating that performance history. See them all in our gallery.

Auctions: 1957 Ferrari Testa Rossa sells for $6.4M in Monaco

Few marques get auto collectors riled up quite like Ferrari, and of classic Ferraris, few are as highly sought-after as the legendary Testa Rossa. We're talking, of course, about the 50s-era roadster (as opposed to the 80s-era cheesegrater supercar), and the originals continue to fetch top dollar (or euro) whenever and wherever their fortunate owners are willing to part with them.

That when and where came this past weekend in Monte Carlo during the Historical Grand Prix of Monaco where RM Auctions sold some highly desirable classic metal. Topping the list was the rare 1957 Ferrari 625 TRC Spider you see here, one of only two built, which sold for a whopping €5,040,000 - equivalent to over $6.4 million at today's exchange rates. That's considerably more than the $4m four-cylinder 500 TRC that RM auctioned last year, but substantially less than the record $12m it garnered for a 250 TR in 2009.

Of course the Testa Rossa wasn't the only car sold at the event, which brought in an astonishing €33.5 million (~$43m) in sales on 87 percent of all lots sold. In fact it wasn't even the only Ferrari represented there, though it was the most expensive by a wide margin. A 1966 Ferrari 206 S Dino Spyder and a 1952 Ferrari 225 Sport Spyder 'Tuboscocca' (one of only 12 Vignale Spyders produced) each fetched €2.5 million ($3.2m), a rare factory Daytona Spyder brought in over €1 million ($1.3m), the car which Michael Schumacher drove to the 2000 Formula One World Championship and that Ferrari hydroplane each brought in over €800k (about a million greenbacks).

Other notable racing machinery sold at the auction included a Peugeot 908 LMP (which won several Le Mans Series races), a Lamborghini Gallardo LP600 GT3 (raced by Blancpain CEO Mark Hayek in the Super Trofeo series), a Ferrari FXX Evoluzione and a pair of Ducati Desmosedici MotoGP racing bikes. Follow the jump for all the juicy details and scope out the headline Testa Rossa in the high-res image gallery above.

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Video: Is this 1972 Chevrolet Nova the world's greatest sleeper?

Those of you foolish enough to follow the Autoblog Podcast know I have a soft spot for sleepers. There's just something amazing about a beaten old car secreting flawless mechanicals down below. The guys at Big Muscle have managed to track down what may very well be the queen of all sleeperdom in Dru Diesner's 1972 Chevrolet Nova The machine wears its original faded green paint, plenty of dents and dings and a very dated interior, but there's something special under the aged skin. Built with a twin-supercharged LS2, the Bowtie dumps 1,160 horsepower on its ultra-wide rear tires.

That's my kind of magical. Mike Musto takes the machine out for a quick sprint around the back streets of Chicago and eventually talks Diesner into using the car to do what it does best: vaporizing its rear tires. Scroll below to check out the clip for yourself. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have Chevrolet Novas to salivate over.

Continue reading Is this 1972 Chevrolet Nova the world's greatest sleeper?

Official: Aston Martin opens new Works shop at old Newport Pagnell site

It's been five years since Aston Martin shifted production to its new facility in Gaydon, Warwickshire, but after years of operating at Newport Pagnell, it could never shake the legacy of its historic home. So while the current model line is produced an hour away (probably less if you're actually driving an Aston), the company has inaugurated a new facility at its spiritual home.

Actually, truth be told, the old factory at Newport Pagnell was kept as-is under historic preservation laws, so the new facility is actually situated across the street. Its showpiece is a 10-car showroom that will serve as Aston Martin's flagship dealership. If you're thinking that Aston doesn't offer ten different models, well... it actually offers nine, between the DBS, DB9, Virage, V8 Vantage, V12 Vantage, V12 Zagato, Rapide, Cygnet and the One-77 (although we hear they've sold out of the latter). And even more if you take the V8 Vantage S variant and five convertible versions into account. But the showroom will also be displaying a variety of hand-picked and pristine classic Astons for sale, too.

That's because the space is attached to Aston Martin Works, which has spruced up its operations as well. The division is charged with restoring and servicing Astons old and new with its staff of over 60 employees, handling some 2,500 cars every year for everything from an oil change to a full restoration. It also handles the company's own fleet of historic vehicles and the catalog of new Q by Aston Martin accessories. Scroll down for the full press release and a breakdown of Aston Martin Works' activities.

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Official: McLaren celebrates 40th anniversary of Indy win

When McLaren was bringing its new MP4-12C to the United States, there were fears that Americans wouldn't recognize the name. After all, the team from Woking is known principally for competing in Formula One, which has had a spotty presence in the U.S. at best. Those fears proved to be misplaced, as customers in the States have been snatching up all the McLaren supercars they can get their hands on. And part of that might come down to the days when McLaren didn't only race in America, it dominated.

The bulk of McLaren's victories on this side of the Atlantic were notched up in the Canadian-American Challenge Cup, a radical form of sports-prototype racing campaigned in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, which Bruce and company won five times in a row. But Can-Am wasn't the extent of McLaren's success in America.

In 1970, the team entered into the Indianapolis 500 with its own car design. The following year, McLaren came back with a radically different design that scored pole position and finished the race in second place. And the year after that, the legendary Mark Donohue piloted his McLaren M16B fielded by the Sonoco-Penske team - complete with its Offenhauser four-cylinder turbo engine producing upwards of 700 horsepower - to the checkered flag.

Not only did McLaren win at Indy that year, but it also won races in Formula 1, Formula 2 and Can-Am, entering the history books as a force to be reckoned with. It would go on to win at Indy twice more in 1974 and 1976, and became the first car to exceed 200 miles per hour on the famed oval in 1977.

Now forty years later, McLaren is celebrating the first of its Indy by showcasing the #66 Sunoco-Penske car at the second annual Celebration of Automobiles in the speedway's infield. There it will be displayed alongside the current MP4-12C to showcase just how far the company has come since then. You can check out the historic high-resolution images in the gallery and the details in the press release below for more info.

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Video: Depth of Speed does track time in a classic Skyline with JDM Legends

Depth of Speed is Josh Clason's video series that cosses the country looking for cool automotive stories to tell. He found another one in Utah at JDM Legends. They let Clason take one of their vintage Skyline GT-R projects out on track for some sunset lens time, and the result is nothing less than you'd expect from Clason.

On a side note, while the current Nissan GT-R is totally awesome, we wish it had a bit more of this car's cool vibe. Follow the jump for the video.

Continue reading Depth of Speed does track time in a classic Skyline with JDM Legends