It’s a car collector’s wet dream: two legendary 1950s Aston Martins, both finished in iconic British racing green, are being offered for sale this season. The first is the ultra-rare 1954 DB3S (above) which played a starring role in Checkpoint, one of the most famous motor racing films of the Fifties, centered on the Mille Miglia. Today it’s arguably the most original surviving production DB3S and a world-class four-wheeled work of art. In ’53, the first year of works competition, the DB3S won every race it entered except the Le Mans 24 Hours.
London’s Post Vintage has not quoted a price for the car but if you have to ask…. Meanwhile at Bonhams’ Aston Martin auction in Newport Pagnell on May 22 the starring lot is sure to be the famed VMF 65 – the ex-Works 1950 Aston Martin DB2 Team Car raced by such legendary drivers as Stirling Moss, Peter Collins and Roy Salvadori. Built to race in that year’s Le Mans, it never made it to the track having suffered an accident en route, but went on to claim many more victories. It carries an estimate of £380,000 - £440,000, or topping out at almost $700,000 for those keeping score at home.
London-based TMB Artmetal, makers of “provenance” items fashioned from actual bits of automotive, aeronautic, locomotive and maritime icons whose Spitfire sculpture we wrote about a few months back, has come out with limited edition cufflinks made from the Prince of Wales’ prized 1970 Aston Martin DB6 Volante. TMB has created 200 pairs of the links in two designs, formed from the original aluminum engine pistons which were removed when the Prince recently converted the car, a 21st birthday present from the Queen, to run on biofuel.
Each design finished with 18ct gold comes in a limited edition of 100 pairs. One edition is an exact, miniature sculpture of the DB6 Volante, whilst the other replicates the car’s iconic wheel spinners – the quick-release fixing that secures the Aston’s wheels. Each pair comes accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and is priced at £995 or about $1,600, with all profits going to the royal’s youth charity, The Prince’s Trust. Charles has been on an eco-kick of late, and has also converted his Jaguars, Audi and Range Rovers to run on 100 per cent biodiesel.
The legendary Ferrari 250 GTO, of which only 39 were made between 1962 – 1964, is one of the most beautiful cars in the world. No doubt that’s why a British businessman is said to have shelled out $28 million for one in 2008, making it the world’s most expensive car as well. Certainly longtime owners like Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, Ralph Lauren, Anthony Bamford and of course Ferrari’s own museum will never part with theirs at any price. Small wonder then that Ferrari plans to revive it in the form of a GTO version of the 599XX, which insiders believe will be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show this spring.
An earlier effort to revive the revered classification (which stands for Gran Turismo Omologato), the 288 GTO produced from 1984 – 1986, has of course not quite lived up to the legend, so the 599 will no doubt be greeted with a certain degree of skepticism. Rumor has it the new model will kick out 700 hp and be capable of 0 - 62 mph in 3.2 seconds with a hypothetical top speed of 215 mph. In all likelihood fewer than 500 will be made at a price of about $465,000. Of course you could trade your 250 GTO for 62 of the new ones…
© Copyright 2010 Duncan Quinn. All Rights Reserved.
Pawel Litwinski / Gooding & Co.
Time to kick your car collection into high gear for the New Year – on January 23 Gooding & Company is offering some exceptionally pedigreed European motors at its annual Scottsdale Auction. Aesthetics-wise our pick of the lot is the 1959 Ferrari 250 GT Series 1 Cabriolet (above), expected to fetch over $2.2 Million, one of only 40 Series 1 Pininfarina Cabriolets ever built. Upon its completion, the car was immediately shipped to the United States to be proudly displayed on Ferrari’s New York Auto Show stand, and the sale marks the first time one of these babies has crossed the auction block in many a year.
Considered by connoisseurs to be among the most beautiful Ferraris ever made, it’s sure to make a strong showing. Equally alluring is a highly coveted 1956 Jaguar D-Type Sports Racer, painted cream with blue racing stripes, expected to fetch above $3.5 million. This particular model is known for a victory at the Pomona Six-Hour Enduro race in 1959, the D-Type’s last big win in the USA. There’s also a stunning 1959 Costin Lister Jaguar Sports Racer on offer if your budget’s more in the $1.5 million range.
© Copyright 2010 Duncan Quinn. All Rights Reserved.
Can it beat the SSC Ultimate Aero? That’s what everyone’s wondering about Porsche tuners 9ff’s new GT9-R, based on the 911 Turbo. With 1120 horsepower in a lightweight custom body it boasts a top speed in excess of 257 mph; the SSC Ultimate Aero is the current holder of the “World’s Fastest Production Car” title, having clocked an average top speed of 256.18 mph, beating the Koenigsegg CCR’s previous official record by 11.83 mph and demolishing the Bugatti Veyron’s unofficial record by 3.63 mph
Only 20 GT9-R’s will be made at an undisclosed price, and not all of them will be as powerful as the pretender to the speed record, which the SSC captured back in 2007 – a 750 hp and 987 hp version are also on offer - though of course that’s the one garnering all the attention. Torque clocks in at 1050 Nm which translates to a 0 - 62 mph time of 2.9 seconds. Aerodynamic features will be customizable as well as upgradable. You know, should you wish to try and break that record after all.
DQ’s new Miami digs were rockin’ on Friday night when Birmingham’s The Twang, who opened Glastonbury in front of 500,000 people, played a one-off show for the DQ faithful in the amazing space dedicated to gentlemanly pursuits. The glamorous gig put the finishing touch on the limited edition pop-up pad which features a killer collection of vintage Ducatis, including a 450 Desmo from the 70’s, a 350 Desmo, built in 1969 and a 1985 F1 prototype. Select models are for sale, should you wish to pick up a bike as stylish as your DQ suit.
Also on hand are a 1962 Maserati, full-size croquet pitch, bespoke lounge with Dormeuil fabrics, Ruby motorcycle helmet installation, Hendrick’s Gin cocktails and more. Things got off to an auspicious start when world-famous shoe designer Christian Louboutin, who has his own op-up shop down the block, was our first customer, coming in to buy an outfit for his own opening before we’d even officially cut the ribbon. The Miami shop will be open until Dec. 12th, then once a month for dinners and tastings and otherwise by appointment. Check out some of the great press we’ve gotten here and here.
4040 NE 2nd Ave., The Moore Building, #102, Miami FL 33137. Email miami@duncanquinn.com to be added to the mailing list for updates and event details.
Things are really taking shape at DQ’s 6,000-sq.-ft. Limited Edition pop-up store in Miami’s Design District in preparation for the big opening this week. We just installed a stunning 1962 Maserati 3500GT, one of only 359 made, specially ordered and owned by famed Formula One driver Peter Revson, from the private collection of Russell Glace. The dashing Revson, heir to the Revlon cosmetics fortune, lived fast, died young, and had great taste in cars and women - his main squeeze was 1973 Miss World Marjorie Wallace. He teamed up with Steve McQueen for the 12 Hours of Sebring race in 1970 and was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. Here’s some pix of his prize ride being carefully loaded into DQ’s damned stylish monument to gentlemanly pursuits, the store windows having been removed to pave the way. Stay tuned for more, including an incredible installation of classic Ducatis.
4040 NE 2nd Ave., The Moore Building, #102, Miami FL 33137. Email miami@duncanquinn.com to be added to the mailing list for updates and event details.
Courtesy Bonhams & Butterfields
“Racing is life,” Steve McQueen once said. “Anything that happens before or after is just waiting.” He raced cars of course, but motorcycles were his first love. Now the King of Cool’s vintage 1940 Indian Chief (above) is among the lots on offer at Bonhams & Butterfields Classic California sale at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles on Nov. 14. He was pictured with the beloved bike on the cover of the book Steve McQueen: The Last Mile. The actor, who owned several Indians over the years, had the 1940 model, with its signature wide tires and deeply valanced fenders, meticulously restored by Southern California’s Starklite Motors in the ‘70s and used it to zoom around the Hollywood Hills. It’s estimated at an extremely reasonable $55,000 - $65,000 given the provenance.
Also featured in the sale is McQueen’s original condition 1949 Chevy pickup, being offered for the first time by his widow Barbara Minty McQueen. The actor used it to travel incognito around Beverly Hills, wearing sunglasses and a big cowboy hat to dodge the paparazzi; the estimate is $20,000 - $30,000. And Frank Sinatra’s 1958 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham, which we wrote about earlier this year, is also crossing the block with an estimate of $100,000 - $125,000. The car features a set of custom shot glasses and a cigarette case in the glove box for those all important Rat Pack pit stops.
At the recent Frankfurt Motor Show, Aston Martin and storied Swiss watchmaker Jaeger-LeCoultre unveiled their latest collaboration, the AMVOX2 Transponder Rapide, a timepiece that doubles as a remote control of sorts for the famed UK marque’s first four-door sportscar. Available as an option for Rapide purchasers, the watch locks and unlocks the car and turns on the headlights via pressure applied to various parts of the crystal. Unfortunately that’s all it does; personally we feel the Transponder ought to not only fire up the Rapide’s V12 as well but perform some 007-style tricks like firing smoke bombs and making martinis - especially since the damn thing costs over 30 grand.
Perhaps if you’re buying a $250,000 car it’s worth being able to unlock it by pressing on your wrist clock, but this isn’t exactly Q Branch worthy. The Rapide is perfectly satisfying in and of itself as Aston’s engineers have retained their trademark killer looks as well as performance; it can do 0 - 62 mph in 5.3 seconds. The watch qua watch isn’t too bad either (though we’ve seen better) – satin-brushed 18-carat rose gold base, lugs and crown with a pivoting brushed titanium case, black grille motif dial and rhodium-plated, luminescent black metallic numerals, with the Aston Martin wing emblem at 6 o’clock – just about when you’ll be ready to kill for that martini.
At the Frankfurt Motor Show Bentley just unveiled its new flagship sedan, the Mulsanne, named for the legendary straightaway at Le Mans. Echoing the Bentley S -Type of the 1950s, the car features a bold frontal design dominated by the traditional Bentley matrix grille and highly prominent, classic round inner headlamps with chrome surrounds, flanked by two, smaller outboard lamp clusters. While paying homage to past Bentley greats, the brief for the new Mulsanne’s design and engineering teams was to create a Bentley that represents the pinnacle of British luxury motoring.
The new Mulsanne is meant to be a thoroughly modern flagship that captures the essence of the Bentley marque - elegant yet distinctly sporting in character, delivering effortless performance while within its sumptuous cabin, advanced technology discretely has sex with handcrafted luxury, so to speak. Very, very expensive sex. The Mulsanne, however, was designed and engineered at Crewe from the ground-up, and it comes in 114 different paint colours in a range that includes everything from unusual heritage hues to special satin and pearlescent finishes and duo-tone combinations. Worth every ha’penny, in other words.
