Tag Archives: Bonhams

The Prettiest Ferrari ? – Ferrari 250 Europa Vignale Coupé #0313EU

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A couple of weeks ago today’s featured Ferrari 250 Europa Vignale Coupé chassis #0313EU sold for US$ 2.8 million / 1.8 million pounds.

Ferrari 250 Europa Vignale, Bonhams, The Quail

The car was built in 1953 with a unique body designed by Giovanni Michelotti and built by Vignale.

Ferrari 250 Europa Vignale, Bonhams, The Quail

When US Ferrari distributor Luigi Chinetti took delivery of it he had no hesitation in sending to the 1954 New York Auto Show where it was at the center of the Ferrari stand.

Ferrari 250 Europa Vignale, Bonhams, The Quail

The #0313EU remained in the USA for most of it’s life being painted red with a black roof, from the original colours seen here, in 1954, in 1960 it was painted purple (!) and later that year it was fitted with a supercharged Chevrolet V8.

Ferrari 250 Europa Vignale, Bonhams, The Quail

In 2001 the correct type motor #0331 was installed in the car and by last year the paintwork was restored back to it’s original colours.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing his photo’s taken at Bonhams, The Quail.

Thanks for joining me on this “The Prettiest Ferrari ?” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a look at a one off Aston Martin. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Get Smart – Ferrari 250 GT Cabriolet Series 2 #2943GT

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It’s been a couple of years since I looked at a Pininfarina bodied Ferrari 250 GT Cabriolet Series 2 in any detail, since then I have found out one such car was used by Maxwell Smart in the pilot episode of the Get Smart television comedy.

Ferrari 250 GT PF S2 Cabriolet, VSCC, Prescott

Chassis #2943GT was built in October 1961 the 148th of 204, painted red with a black interior. After spending it’s first couple of years in Italy #2943 was acquired by Prince Joackim Zu Furstenberg who kept it at Schloss Donaueschingen in Southern Germany until 1972.

Ferrari 250 GT PF S2 Cabriolet, VSCC, Prescott

The current Norwegian owner bought the car from Germany’s preeminent Ferrari dealer Auto Becker in 1972 and exported it to Norway where it remained, until it was offered for sale at the upcoming Bonhams auction at the Goodwood Revival next week.

Ferrari 250 GT PF S2 Cabriolet, VSCC, Prescott

The car, seen here at last month’s Prescott’s VSCC meeting, is said to have approximately 38,500 miles on the clock, an average of just 745 miles a year over it’s entire life and is estimated to fetch up to £500,000.

Ferrari 250 GT PF S2 Cabriolet, VSCC, Prescott

The downside is that the 3 litre / 183 cui Colombo Tipo 125 V12 motor has not been started for 4 or 5 years and is said to have a problem with the fuel pump, so some expense will be incurred to recommission the car.

Thanks for joining me on this “Get Smart” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psychoontyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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A Motorsports Gathering – The Quail

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On Friday I had a look at some of the Great Ferrari’s at The Quail Concours d’Elegance, some of the other vehicles present are featured today.

Wales, La Bestioni Beast, The Quail

Towards the end of last year I looked at one of a matching pair of matching Rolls Royce Boattail Speedsters by Gary L Wales, Gary is seen above right standing next to one of his latest Retro Design creations La Bestioni Beast a 1919 LaFrance Speedster.

Bugatti Type 57G, The Quail

Going straight to the top 3 museums to visit in the USA is the Simeone Automotive Museum in Philadelphia who own this Bugatti T57G the car driven by Jean-Pierre Wimille and Robert Benoist to victory by 7 laps at Le Mans in 1937.

Lincoln Continental Cabriolet, The Quail

The 1948 Lincoln Continental like the Cabriolet above was the last US production model ever built with a V12 motor.

Jaguar XK 120, The Quail

On the May 30th 1949 the bubble top on this prototype Jaguar XK 120 was bolted over the head of Norman Dewis who proceeded to record a two way timed average run of 132.6 mph on an empty stretch of motorway twixt Ostend and Jabbeke in Belgium.

Aston Martin DB2 Coupe, The Quail

The Aston Martin DB2 Coupé above was originally sold as a right hand drive vehicle to a Swedish customer Sölve Relve in 1951, it has also belonged to Swedish racing driver Sture Nottorp. In 1960 Yngve Eriksson bought the car and had the body work face lifted with a larger grill, fared headlights larger rear window and had the steering moved from the right to the left.

Bosley GT, The Quail

Of all the cars featured today the story of the 1953 Bosley GT is perhaps the most remarkable of all, aged just 21 Robert Bosley a horticultural farmer from Mentor Ohio, was dissatisfied with his XK 120 and Oldsmobile Rocket 88 and so he set out to build a dream machine in 1952. Robert had no design experience and taught himself self how to build the car including the fibre glass body as he went along using auto parts that dated back to the 1930’s. The motor he chose was a six carb Chrysler Hemi which gave the striking unique car a claimed top speed of 160 mph !

Alfa Romeo 1900C SS Ghia, The Quail

So far as I have been able to discern the Alfa Romeo above is ‘the’ unique 1953 1900C SS Coupé with coachwork by GHIA, if you know different please do not hesitate to chime in below or on the GALPOT FB page.

Jaguar XK 140, The Quail

GALPOT contributor Geoffrey Horton’s immaculate 1955 Jaguar XK 140 FHC SE/MC is seen above keeping some exotic company.

Chevron B16, The Quail

The Chevron B16 above appears to have been built in 1970, no other information is available on the car which appears to have been withdrawn from the Bonham’s Auction, if you know why please do not hesitate to chime in below.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for taking and sharing today’s photographs.

Thanks for joining me on this “A Motorsports Gathering” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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20th Anniversary – Goodwood Festival Of Speed

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Last weekend saw the 20th Anniversary celebrations of the Goodwood Festival of Speed. According to tea total journalist Doug Nye the event only got off the ground because he was present at a rather drunken evening at which Lord March and some friends were fantasising about an event which might attract a few thousand motor enthusiasts. Next morning when Doug reminded the Lord of what had been said they decided to act and so was born the Goodwood Festival Of Speed which has become one of the highlights of the British Motoring Season.

Goodwood, Festival Of Speed

The event has become so big that it sells out on both the Saturday and Sunday and an extra day has been added on the Thursday, called the “Moving Motor Show” on which the hill climb track is turned over to corporate sponsors who entertain their guests with rides up the hill. It was on the Thursday that I went with my parents after my Dad found a free ticket offer in the “Daily Telegraph“. Many anniversaries besides Goodwood’s 20th were being celebrated, the three Porsche’s above formed the tip of a sculpture by Gerry Judah celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Porsche 911 featuring a 1963 911 on the left, a ’73 Carrera RS in the middle and a 2013 Carrera 4 on the right.

Mercedes W196, Goodwood, Festival Of Speed

On the Friday a 1954 Mercedes Benz W196 similar to the one pictured here was sold at the Bonham’s Festival of Speed Auction for US$ 29.6 million to become the most expensive car ever sold at auction. John Lennon’s Blue ’64 Ferrari 330GT fetched US$ 543,750 setting a new record for the 330 GT 2+2 model.

Honda RA300, Goodwood, Festival Of Speed

In the autumn of 1967 my folks purchased their first television, a black and white model, one of my earliest memories of it was a news cast featuring the 1967 Italian Grand Prix which was won by John Surtees driving this very V12 Honda RA300, a car that was very easy to distinguish from the rest of the field because it was white and all the others were various shades of grey.

McLaren M23, Goodwood, Festival Of Speed

Emerson Fittipaldi moved from Lotus to join the McLaren team which had relieved BRM of Marlboro sponsorship and Lotus of Texaco sponsorship for the 1974 season. Emerson driving a Marlboro Team Texaco McLaren M23 ended up winning a very open World Drivers Championship by just 3 points from Clay Regazzoni driving a Ferrari 312 B3.

Renault RS01, Goodwood, Festival Of Speed

Having won Le Mans in 1978 Renault put all of it’s effort into winning the Formula One Drivers and Constructors championships with the first turbocharged Formula One car. Above is the 1978 RS01 which proved fast on occasion, particularly at altitude, but fragile.

Audi R18 E-tron Quattro, Goodwood, Festival Of Speed

Fresh from victory lane, and looking several thousand miles the worse for wear, in the 90th Anniversary edition of the Le Mans 24 hours was the Audi R18 E-tron Quattro driven by Tom Kristensen, Alan McNish and Loic Duval.

Campbell-Railton Blue Bird, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

Sir Malcom Campbell became the first man on four wheels to exceed 300 mph when he set a new Land Speed Record at Bonneville of 301mph on September 3rd 1935 when driving the 2300 hp supercharged Rolls Royce V12 powered Campbell-Railton Blue Bird. The piece of land on which Blue Bird was displayed normally serves as Lord Marches cricket pitch.

Lotus Ford 29, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

Regular readers will remember that the #92 Lotus Ford 29 driven by Jim Clark at Indianapolis in 1963 was destroyed in a fatal accident with Bobby Marshman at the wheel during a gruesome testing accident at Phoenix at the end of 1964. The car seen above is chassis #29/1 actually driven with a white and blue paint job by Dan Gurney to a seventh place finish at Indy in 1963. The car has been seen at the Indy Museum for many years (decades ?) bearing Jim Clark’s livery. The spare ’63 Lotus 29 chassis #29/2 currently carries the #91 white and blue livery used by Gurney.

Ford Galaxie 500, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

“According to the programme” the Ford Galaxie 500 above was driven to victory in the 1965 Daytona 500 by Fred Lorenzen and then given a ’66 body for testing at Daytona the following year, however a search on the internet show’s that this might not be the only car sharing the story.

Peugeot 208 T16, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

Another car to arrive at Goodwood from victory lane was the 875 hp twin turbo V6 Peugeot 208 T16 with which Alsatian 9 (nine) time World Rally Champion Sebastian Loeb won this years Pikes Peak race to the clouds hill climb in a mind bending 8m 13.8 seconds an astonishing 95 seconds faster than Rhys Millens 2012 full 12.42 mile course record of 9m 46.1s. Tighten your reality belts to see how Mr Loeb set the record in the film linked here.

Mercedes 60hp, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

Any one who was reading GALPOT back in January might remember I spent a night and a day on the Exeter Trial being chased by a 4×4 Panda and following this 1903 Mercedes 60 hp Simplex crewed by Ben and Roger Collings, my appreciation of what these vehicles can do rose sharply as a result of the experience.

Porsche 911SC, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

Car of the show for me was this 1978 Porsche 911 SC driven by Kenyan Vic Preston Jnr with co driver John Lyall to second place in the 1978 Safari Rally. I always thought if I was going to have a 911 for the road I may as well have one that could survive the rigours of Africa where I learned to drive and this one has a particularly cool paint job.

Over the coming months some of these vehicles will be featured in more depth.

Thanks for joining me on this “20th Anniversary Festival Of Speed” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Check out the latest from the Formula One silly season at Motorsports Unplugged on this link.

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Successful Perversion & Corruption – 4 1/2 Litre Supercharged “Blower” Bentley #HB 3402

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Bentley Boy Tim Birkin was described by W.O. Bentley to be “the greatest Briton of his time”, despite the fact that W.O Bentley adhered to a dogma of “there is no substitute for cubic inches” while the latter thought that supercharging, as was the norm for Mercedes Benz and many others was the way to go.

4 1/2 litre S/C Bentley, Brooklands Double Twelve

With W.O. Bentley’s disapproval but with the approval majority Bentley share holder Woolf Boranto, Tim Birkin and Mike Couper formed Birkin & Couper Ltd in Welwyn to supercharge the 55 4 1/2 litre Bentley’s required to meet the regulations to enter a team of three such cars at Le Mans for the 24 hour classic in 1930.

4 1/2 litre S/C Bentley, Brooklands Double Twelve

The whole Birkin & Couper enterprise including the three entries at Le Mans was funded by successful horse race breeder and owner Dorothy Paget. W.O. Bentley said of the operation “They would lack in their preparation all the experience we had built up in (our own) racing department over 10 years. I feared the worst and looked forward to their first appearance with anxiety…”.

4 1/2 litre S/C Bentley, Brooklands Double Twelve

W.O. Bentley’s anxiety proved to be correct as the “Blower” Bentley’s proved to be unreliable with a best 2nd place overall and first in class being recorded in the 1929 Tourist Trophy in Ulster with Birkin at the wheel and W.O. Bentley in the passenger seat, the result of a bet which W.O. had accepted.

4 1/2 litre S/C Bentley, Brooklands Double Twelve

The team of three 4 1/2 litre Blower Bentley’s all retired at Le Mans in 1930, the win being secured by a normally aspirated 6 1/2 litre Bentley, as it had been, in 1929 which vindicated W.O. Bentley’s assertion regarding cubic inches and led W.O. to claim “The supercharged 4½ never won a race, suffered a never-ending series of mechanical failures, brought the marque Bentley disrepute and incidentally cost Dorothy Paget a large sum before she decided to withdraw her support in October 1930…”.

4 1/2 litre S/C Bentley, Brooklands Double Twelve

However W.O. spoke too soon because in 1929 “Tiger” Tim Birkin had also persuaded supercharging experts Amehust Villers, Baranto, Paget and Captain Clive Gallop to develop a special track racing car for competition at Brooklands. Chassis #HB 3402 was fitted with a methanol burning four cylinder engine, #SM 3901, was given a special fabric skin body, originally painted blue in 1929.

4 1/2 litre S/C Bentley, Brooklands Double Twelve

The cars one outing at Brooklands 1929 included several mishaps, a loose fuel tank, an oil leak, exhaust pipe disintegration and a subsequent fire. For 1930 this 1 1/2 seater was producing 240 hp, 65 more than a standard Blower, that burnt 1 imperial gallon of fuel every 74 seconds !

4 1/2 litre S/C Bentley, Brooklands Double Twelve

With a new, fire proof, body designed by Reid A. Railton and built by A.P. Compton & Co of Merton, Tim drove #HB 3402 to victory in the Kent Long Handicap run over just four laps of 2.75 mile circuit. Tim had little good to say about the Brooklands Outer Circuit, thanks to the poor condition of the track which frequently saw cars going airborne with all four wheels well clear of the ground.

4 1/2 litre S/C Bentley, Brooklands Double Twelve

Birkin won two further races driving HB 3402 at Brooklands in 1931 and 1932 and held the outright track record on several occasions, leaving it at 137.58 mph in the 1932 August Brooklands Meeting winning 100 Sovereigns as the car won it’s third race a 3 lapper. By now the car had been painted red as seen here. By comparison pole at Indy that year was won by Lou Moore in the Boyle Valve Special Miller at 117.363 mph.

4 1/2 litre S/C Bentley, Brooklands Double Twelve

W.O. Bentley said of forced induction “to supercharge a Bentley engine was to pervert its design and corrupt its performance”, a comment that was not reflected in # HB 3402’s price earlier this year when the 1 1/2 seater with a blower set another record at Bonham’s fetching UK £ £5,042,000 to become the most expensive Bentley ever bought at auction.

Thanks for joining me on this “Successful Perversion & Corruption” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Lennon’s on sale again, Lot No: 363 – Ferrari, 330 GT, #06781, 1964.

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I’d like to thank Steve Arnaudin for sending me a link to the subjects of today’s Ferrari Friday.

Lot No: 363 is billed as the greatest “collision of universes” on one website, and it’s not hard to disagree, it is well known that John Lennon had a couple of Rolls-Royce Phantom V Limousine‘s one of which was famously painted by J.P. Fallon Limited to become known as the ‘psychedelic Rolls‘ though the design is actually based on traditional designs of gypsy caravans one of which John had purchased for his garden.

John said of his Rolls that it was for ‘relaxing’.

Less well known was that John also had a Mini for ‘pottering about in’, and by all accounts had a crash involving his Austin Maxi.

News to me thirty years after his death is that John also bought this Ferrari, his biography ‘John Lennon – A Life’ by Philip Norman tells us “In February 1965, John passed his driving test, an event that made headline news across the nation. Within hours, every luxury car dealership in the Weybridge area, hoping for business, jammed the road outside Kenwood’s security gates with Maseratis, Aston Martins, and Jaguar XK-E’. John strolled out to inspect this gleaming smorgasbord, eventually selecting a £2,000 light blue Ferrari.’ “

This is the car sold on 20th April 1965 registered with these DUL 4 C plates to John who was officially recorded as living in central London at the time.

The 330 engine featured 12 cylinders of 330 cc / 20 cui each, from which the 330 name stems, giving the Colombo V12 a total capacity of 3,960 cc / 241 cui capable of producing 300 hp. This engine would form the basis of several racing motors including that used by the Ferrari P4.

John’s Right Hand Drive US bodied 330 GT was fitted with electric windows, a Webasto Sunroof and is one of 508 equipped with the original 4 speed gearbox with overdrive.

Unfortunately John’s car is no longer it’s original Azzuro Light Blue VM 3015 colour, the current darker colour was applied during a restoration in the 1990’s after the car had been found ten years earlier painted red.

The 330 GT came with shiny Borrani wheels adjustable Koni shock absorbers, rear leaf springs assisted by coils, unusually the dual circuit servo assisted braking had one servo operating exclusively on the front and the other exclusively on the rear brakes.

John said of his Ferrari he bought it ‘for zoom’ on 12th of November 1965 six months later DUL 4 C was advertised for sale with 3,000 miles on the clock.

The car is for up for auction at Bonhams Grand Palais event in Paris tomorrow it will be interesting to see if it fetches the maximum estimated € 170,000 in these times of economic uncertainty, my guess is that this is an extremely conservative estimate designed to draw the punters in.

Hope you have enjoyed todays Ferrari Friday ‘zoom’ edition of Gettin’ a little psycho on tyres’ and that you’ll join me again tomorrow for a look at a Piccoli Ferrari. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Smoke & Mirrors – Ferrari 250 GT/E 2+2 #2835

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One of the 954 Ferrari 250 GT/E 2+2s was Enzo Ferrari’s daily driver of choice while it was in production from 1960 to 1963.

In the mid 1990’s Tom Zat commissioned Mark Gerisch and M & L Auto Specialists, of Wisconsin to convert his 250 GT/E 2+2 #2835, into a replica 250 GT SWB Competizione of which just 73 original models were made.

As the Bonhams catalogue said when this vehicle came under the auctioneers hammer in May 2008,
“exciting and fully road legal, this highly desirable and versatile Ferrari represents a wonderful opportunity to acquire an attractive facsimile of the much sought after and legendary 250GT SWB Competizione at a fraction of the price. “

Hope you have enjoyed Ferrari Friday, back again tomorrow with a unbelievably cool Lister Bristol at Thompson CT in 1958, don’t forget to come back now !

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