Car Club Blog

Bloody hell. What have they done to the Mini?

This was the reaction of CAR Online when they first viewed the pic.  The Clubman will look like nothing else on sale when it’s launched on 10 November.  I think it’s cute like a teacup poodle or yorkie.  Does it come with it’s own shoulder bag for carrying?

I do like the idea of the two door rear. This 6′ft lady does not like to bend down and around to get things in the back like with the hatchback.

What do you think?

I am intrigued by how the skills learned in one profession can serve someone in one that seems so unrelated to the first.

I also love stories about people who can find a way to get paid to do what they love to do.

Jeb Gottlieb of the Boston Herald has a fun story about a former music executive who has made the transition from music mogul to classic car salesperson extraordinaire.

Don Rose opened one of the first CD only record stores (that’s a funny phrase) in Boston in the 1980s and parlayed his expertise into a very successful venture as a music producer. He reissued such classic music as Bowie, Elvis Costello, and Frank Zappa on CD.

Nurturing a special affection for Aston Martins, Rose started buying and selling classic cars around 2000.

I’ll bet he wouldn’t mind a jaunt in Ron Sturgeon’s newest Dallas Aston Martin rental, a 2007 Aston V-8 Vantage Convertible…

Anyway, Rose is now the consignment specialist for RM Auctions for the East Coast.

http://theedge.bostonherald.com/lifeNews/view.bg?articleid=1013427

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=rm+auctions

As the night draws to a close I decided to cruise the internet for auctions and what is selling in the automotive department. Look a what I found. Rust has a high price tag when Christie’s handling the sale.

I think and the tidbit of information offered on this sale means that this rusty old piece of metal is one of the most expensive pieces known. If the purchase price could almost equal that of a new Bugatti I’m wondering what it will cost to restore it to the beauty it once was. Wow, this will be a project.

Christie’s sells rusty old 1938 Bugatti Type 57C for $850000
By Peter

No here we go on a record setting sale.

1962 Le Mans-winning 330 TRI/LM Testa Rossa sold for $9,277,126 with commission

Read on to see what sale record needs to be beat.

Auction Forum; Records Tremble
Car Collector Magazine - Titusville,FL,USA

This article posted by ClassicDriver mentioned the 1st five Drophead’s left last week to their new owners.

http://www.classicdriver.com/uk/magazine/3300.asp?id=13462

I’m digging the white one in the middle.  Sharp looking!

This post is to remind people there is money in old posters and photographs.  Look at the following being up for auction in Monterey during Pebble Beach Concours.  Get the pricing to.

Antique Trade Mark with Mark Moran - http://mark.antiquetrader.com/

MONTEREY, Calif. – The David Lawrence collection of rare and original automotive posters, photography and artworks – covering more than 100 years of motoring history.

“a rare French edition of Steve McQueen’s 1971 film, The 24 Hours of Le Mans (seen here), estimate $4,500-$5,000″       >
“a collection of original car-racing photography from 1906-1907 featuring the world’s first Formula 1 car and early European race history,  estimate $10,000-$15,000″

Wow! the title says it all. This jewel is a beauty and the pitchfork looking crown emblem denotes the sinfulness of it’s beauty. Kuddos, Maserati for a long over beauty like this.
The author wrote the best article describing this new beauty. He took the facts of the Maseratis past ability to snail around the country side and compared it to the performance of this gem. Catch the story of seduction and see if you don’t get hooked on this sinful bandwagon. Thanks Peter Hall for the story.
Maserati Gran Turismo’s art of seduction
Telegraph.co.uk - United Kingdom

On the website Corvette: Sales, News & Lifestyle-http://www.corvetteblogger.com/index.cfm

I caught this little post it’s a bit entertaining.  Could be a new form of sculpture.

Carl Sprague was backing out his Riverside Red 1963 Corvette Coupe out of the garage when suddenly he was taken for a ride he will never forget. The brakes failed, sending the split-window coupe down the sloping driveway and onto a front yard retaining wall.

Luckily a friend with McGuyver-like skills suggested jacking up the back of the suspended Corvette and setting the chassis on planks, using a 4-wheel drive with a winch to slide the Corvette off the wall.

According to the Fullerton, California resident, the plan worked and the only damage appears to be a minor scratch on the left panel.

I found a great website site for Corvette lovers and buyers. Check it out vetter’s.
Corvette: Sales, News & Lifestyle - http://www.corvetteblogger.com/index.cfmThe title was a blip of the comment that caught my eye to read the article and blog site for this vette.  I’m a sucker for older corvettes. Look what will be available for sale. Wow! she a beauty with fame. And she is just the right color to go with a bronze tan.
1957 Corvette Convertible
It was 1975 when the Boss broke through to the top of the music charts and the musicians who made up the E-Street Band rode that wave with him. Drummer Max Weinberg recalls growing up in the Beach Boys era when songs like Shutdown romanticized the Corvette Sting Ray. And when car enthusiasts become successful as Max Weinberg has, having a large garage full of classic and antique cars is the norm. At the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in Monterey, California, Max Weinberg will be offering several classics including a 1957 Chevrolet Corvette. Max describes the Corvette as a trailer queen, totally disassembled and restored back to new…better than new as Weinberg states in this Forbes Auto interview:

“The Corvette is absolutely a trailer queen show car. It’s like a brand new car. It was completely and totally disassembled, and Dominick (Salvemini), who I think is one of the premier restorers in the country, because of our personal relationship took even greater care than he normally would. And normally he’s A-plus, plus - this is beyond. He is very precise, let’s just say that. So this car is stunning, the color is stunning and it’s essentially a new car - it’s a new ‘57 Corvette. And it was one of the editions with the radio delete and heater delete, which was a very specific function. This was a car that was meant to be driven fast. One thing we did do is we lowered the engine compression a bit to accept regular gas, because if you kept it with the original compression, the higher compression, you’d need jet fuel.”Max’s 1957 Corvette will be offered by Christie’s Auctions on August 16th at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in Monterey, California.

Thanks Forbes Auto for the lead to the Corvette website and a nice article from Max Weinberg.

A neat article in the Robb Report discusses the long association between Hong Kong’s Peninsula Hotel and elite luxury carmaker Rolls-Royce.

The relationship between Rolls Royce and the hotel even made it into a Bond film. The Rolls-Royces replaced Ford Fairlanes that the hotel was originally going to retire in favor of Lincoln sedans.

However, two things closed the deal for the formerly British elite car maker: some sneaky tax breaks for buying British products and the cost of converting the left hand drive Lincolns.

The Rolls Royces were only slightly more expensive than their American competitors from Ford once these factors were considered. The hotel decided that getting the prestige of Rolls-Royce was worth an extra 20%.

Although they described by the hotel as courtesy cars, the Rolls Royces are actually a service that the hotel charges guests for. Hong Kong Hotel guests can rent a Rolls-Royce in Hong Kong for about what the same Rolls Royce rental in Dallas costs. Rental of the hotels green Phantoms is $150 an hour, but they must be obliging to travelers who want daily Rolls Royce rental. In Dallas, fine hotels such as the W have great amenities but nothing like a fleet of Rolls Royces.

Check out some great writing by Gregory Anderson on what has to be one of the world’s finest hotels and its famous fleet of Green Phantom V Rolls Royces.

http://www.robbreport.com/Articles/Wheels/Late-Model-Luxury-Cars/Feature-Uncommon-Courtesy-2.asp

It has a short windshield ‘Batmobile’ look and a supercharger intercooled 6.2 liter V8 that kicks 700 HP.

#1 will be delivered to its new owner at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

http://jalopnik.com/cars/coachbuilt-for-your-protection/callaway-reveals-speedster-latest-corvette-c16-282158.php

Honestly, it’s way too Bruce Wayne for me for 300k. I’ll take an 2008 Z06 and invest the rest in something exotic like an index fund….

Do you like it?

This year’s Concours in Pebble Beach will feature Aston Martin and Duesenbergs and a class for the Brooklands race cars. The event is Sunday, August 19^th.

http://www.pebblebeachconcours.net/pages/828/About.htm