March Supercars
Hennessey Venom GT
Including the Geneva Motor Show, March was an impressive month for supercar launches. Today we catch up with Hennessey's Venom GT which was announced this morning. The car is scheduled for production and will now use the LS9 V8 in a modified Lotus platform. Price is expected to be around $600,000 USD.
Many new racing cars have been unveiled for the upcoming season. Audi have set their hopes on an updated R15 TDI for LeMans. It was just recently tested at Sebring with many new aerodynamic updates including a split nose. We also have two new new GT3 contenders: the BMW Z4 GT3 and Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3. With almost every manufacturer competing in GT3, these upcoming races should be very entertaining to watch.
Today Lexus also unveiled a special edition of the LFA supercar to coincide with their Nurburgring trials. Limited to 50 examples this model has slightly increased downforce and bhp. For more luxury, Cadillac's CTS-V Sport Wagon is a new option and will be first seen at the upcoming New York Motor Show.
RM's Amelia Island Auction
Packed House @ RM
The official auction that runs in conjunction with the Amelia Island Concours is staged by RM. This year they offered 112 cars before Sunday's main show, selling 88% of them to a total sum of $19 million.
Two Ferraris really stood out to us. The first was a golden 275 GTB/4 from ex-Ferrari mechanic Wayne Sparling which sold for $1,265,000 USD. As you can imagine, it was in complete running order plus it looked original in detail. The second was a rare 348 GT Competizione that got $82,500. Currently, these 348s are rarely seen or talked about and we suspect they might go up in value in coming years.
Two of the top lots at RM were Duesenbergs, but they also had some more affordable performance. We found Dean Martin's Dual-Ghia, Carol Shelby bought a GT500 Convertible and a Firebird Station Wagon came from the late O'Quinn Collection. These can be found in our feature gallery by Richard Owen and Alex Marks. We should also mention this weekend RM is staging another Florida auction in Ft Lauderdale and this unique Bill Mitchell Corvette will cross the block.
Gooding & Company @ Amelia
1931 Voisin C20 Mylord Demi-Berline
On March 12th, Gooding & Company held an inaugural auction to coincide with the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance. Preferring quality over quantity, they offered 71 exquisite cars including last year's 'Best of Show', a 1931 Voisin. This imposing car fetched a record price of $2,750,000 USD and it contributed to a total of $16.1 million in sales.
Legendary driver Stirling Moss was a winner at the event. He purchased a very rare Porsche RS61 Spyder for $1,705,000. That's not a lot of car for this kind of money, but the RS61 was the ultimate Porsche spyder of its era. Sir Stirling said “I have long sought after a Porsche RS and had my eye on that Porsche RS 61 for several weeks.”
Some very original cars were also offered by Gooding & Company including an unrestored AC-Brisol Ace which sold for $280,000. Also included was a Jaguar E-Type with only 15,000 original miles and a Ferrari 500 Superfast that was once part of Mas du Clos. All these cars are currently featured in great detail within our feature gallery. It's a good indication of what to expect in future years from Gooding & Company.
Peugeot win Sebring
Alexander Wurz crossing the finish line
Peugeot became the first French manufacturer to win the 12 Hours of Sebring this weekend. Alexander Wurz, Marc Gene and Anthony Davidson piloted their 908 HDI FAP to victory giving Peugeot a historic 1-2. They were largely unchallenged during the race and used Sebring as a warm up for Le Mans.
Things were a little more exciting in GT2. Last year's winners, Risi Competizione won again, but only one lap ahead of two charging BMW M3s fielded by Rahal-Letterman Racing. It was still a great success for BMW who beat the Porsches and Corvettes with a double-podium class finish.
Porsche won the remaining two classes and the environmental classification. American customer team Cytosport won the P2 class, beating the well-funded Highcroft-Patron team and the new GTC class went to Alex Job Racing with their 2010 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. We have all these winners and more in our feature gallery of the 58th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
Amelia Island Concours 2
Best of Show Mercedes 540 K Spezial Roadster
Held in Florida last weekend, the 15th annual Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance was a welcome winter retreat with a wide variety of cars. This year Bill Warner chose Porsche's 917 and Richard Petty for the main themes with packed seminars for both. Along with two auctions, a tour, art exhibit and test drives, Amelia Island had something for everyone.
Mercedes-Benz was a main sponsor and really stole the show. They brought out the 1952 Le Mans winner and the 540 K Spezial Roadster owned by Sam & Emily Mann won Best of Show. The story doesn't end there however, since another Best of Show reserved for competition cars went to a striking Maserati Tipo 61 in its classic Cuban GP livery.
Other classes which added variety to the show included the small Italian jewels that are Etceterini, a section for Forgotten Fiberglass cars and the weird cover cars of Motor Trend's past. MT also intentionally re-launched their new classic magazine with the Timbs Streamliner as a main feature.
Our feature of the Amelia Concours is not a light affair. We are assembling a definitive gallery with over 1000 organized images. In the coming days we plan to also present the the RM and Gooding auctions which were held concurrently.
SCX 2
SCX Impression by Blake Simon
Now called the Supercar Experience or SCX, Palm Beach's supercar weekend is gaining momentum with each year. The most recent was recently held with much success in West Palm Beach Florida and is the subject of our newest gallery.
The poster child for the weekend was a rare Schuppan 962CR. For good reason too, since this car has never really been seen before and is one of about six road-going 962s made by legendary driver Vern Schuppan. Aside from a cramped cabin, its Porsche 962 roots and carbon-fibre body make it virtually unrivaled.
Other highlights included two Murcielago LP670-4 SuperVeloces with matte paint, a yellow F50 with twenty inch Speedline wheels and even a few muscle cars. As expected, almost every version of the F430 and Gallardo were present.
Desert Classic Concours 2
Bugatti Type 57
One of the emerging Concours in California is the Desert Classic held in La Quinta. The 3rd edition of the show was recently held so we decided to include it on Supercars.net for the first time. Today we have a gallery of highlights from local photographer Rex Gray.
Among the 150 cars presented were some world class cars mostly drawn from California collections. One of our favorites is the 'Copper Kettle,' a Rolls-Royce Phantom adorned with copper accents and hardware. In the same class is a brilliant blue and red Bugatti Type 57 that has been in the same family for nearly 50 years.
This upcoming Friday, Gooding & Company will offer several concours quality cars that would be at home in events like the Desert Classic. Included is a very rare Peugeot 402 Darl'mat that is expected to sell for over $650,000 USD. A link to the online catalog is here and you can watch the event live on Friday night from that page.
2010 Geneva Motor Show
Alfa Romeo Pandion
With the first day now complete, Geneva has an impressive list of debuts for the world. Therefore we can focus on only the best cars for our feature gallery by Dirk de Jager. Included are all the releases that led up to the show and several surprises from the smaller, more independent companies.
We are particularly interested in some of the old coachbuilding companies like Touring, Zagato, Bertone and Pininfarina which represent the 'haute couture' of the auto world. Each has a new car in Geneva, the most outrageous being Bertone's Alfa Romeo Pandion which pushes the boundaries of drivable automotive design.
During a preview night, VW and many premier brands had a fashion show of sorts which gave many insiders their first look at the cars. Even with the newest Bugatti and Lamborghini models present, Porsche really stole the show with their 918 Spyder.
Geneva's new Porsche and Lamborghini
Gallardo 570-4 Superleggera
Just before the Geneva Auto show opens tomorrow, both Porsche and Lamborghini have released new cars. The first is Lamborghini's updated Gallardo Superleggera which brings the model up to date with the SuperVeloce bodykit. It is also the lightest road-going model in Lamborghini's range.
Porsche spent the evening releasing a new concept car that is Porsche's first plug-in hybrid. Called the 918, it looks like a Boxster with an updated body, plexi wheels and a Carrera GT-inspired interior. With a power output of 500 bhp and 218 bhp of electric motors, Porsche claim around 78 mpg is possible. The name reminds us of the 1960 Porsche 718 RS 60/61 Spyder.
Geneva Preview #2
Koenigsegg Agera
With the Geneva Motor Show opening in just a few days, more impresive cars are being announced. The first of these is Koenigsegg's Agera. It appears to be a model replacement for the CCX with more power and an updated body. Some impressive numbers have been posted, but will have to be verified later on.
Geneva usually has a strong representation of tuners. Among these TechArt will bring along their Concept One which is another interpretation of the Porsche Panemera. They will also have a fantastic GTstreet R showcar painted black on black with red accents.
On the smaller side, Abarth will launch both the Punto Evo and 500C at Geneva. Almost as a direct response, Citroen will have their DS3 Racing hatch.
