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Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider tops Gooding's Saturday auction at $15.18 million

During the weekend's automotive smorgasbord in Pebble Beach, Ferrari has played a huge roll. Twenty examples of the ultra-rare 250 TR, better known as the Testa Rossa, were prominently on display at the Concours d'Elegance, and the Prancing Horses have been top sellers at many of the auctions. You can chalk up one more on that list with a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider with a scarce, optional hardtop included going for $15.18 million at Gooding & Company's sale on Saturday night. Ferris Bueller would find it so choice.
In all, the auction house brought in about $60.4 million during the night, and 17 of the cars on the block sold for over $1 million. None of the other cars on Saturday managed quite the stratospheric highs of the California, though. A 1955 Aston Martin DB3S was the second-highest seller at $5.5 million. The next four top vehicles were all Ferraris with final prices ranging between $2.09 million and $2.365 million. Clearly, investors are in love with the Prancing Horse these days.
Check out our gallery, and scroll down to read the auction house's announcement of its top Saturday results.

Ferrari LaFerrari is so nice, we say it twice [w/poll]

Forget about the F70, the F150 and the F150th Italia - this is the Ferrari LaFerrari. Earlier this morning we got our first official look at the successor to the Enzo throne, but now we bring you live shots of the LaFerrari straight from the Geneva Motor Show floor.
There is nothing about this car that isn't impressive - from its 949-horsepower hybrid powertrain returning breakneck acceleration to the aggressively curvaceous body creating a new evolution of design for the storied automaker. The best part of the LaFerrari's design is that there is no single focal point, but one of the more interesting elements of the car is its canopy-like cover protecting the occupants. Every detail of the car has been perfectly sculpted into the carbon fiber body creating an appearance that is probably only outdone by the car's overall performance, which Ferrari promises will include a top speed more than 217 miles per hour and a 0-62 mph time of under three seconds. Ferrari says the LaFerrari will be its fastest street car ever.
While it's hard to make criticisms about of the LaFerrari, there will undoubtedly be many regarding the car's name, but with a design and performance numbers like this, we're sure this car could've been called the Ferrari LaBradoodle and all 499 examples of the hybrid supercar would've been snatched up just the same. After checking out the details posted in a press release below, let us know if you think the Ferrari LaFerrari is a worthy successor to past Maranello supercars like the F40, F50 and Enzo.

Race Recap: Monaco Grand Prix makes the kettle boil [spoilers]

It's not hard to believe that 80 percent of the action at the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix happened didn't have to do with straight-up racing. Mercedes AMG Petronas wasn't expected to maintain its obscene advantage over the field with Monaco being a short track that rewards corner speed over top speed, but they still ruled two of the three Free Practice sessions.
Off the track, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton said he thought it should be easier to beat his teammate and that he was hungrier than his teammate. Then came qualifying and Mirabeau, when Nico Rosberg had set the pole lap in the dying moments of Q3, and as the final few drivers tried to best it on their last chance - including Hamilton, who said he was on the lap that would have got him pole position - Rosberg overcooked it into Mirabeau and brought out a local yellow, killing everyone's chance to better his time. Although the sun was shining in Monaco, the paddock got cold as ice; Rosberg and Hamilton didn't look at one another, speak to one another or touch one another. Rosberg said, "It was an honest mistake." After the race, a disbelieving Hamilton said to the press, "I wish you could have seen the data."
They still lined up first on the grid, though, Rosberg ahead of Hamilton, followed by Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel for Infiniti Red Bull Racing, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen for Ferrari, Jean-Eric Vergne in the first Toro Rosso and Daniel Kvyat in the second in ninth, split by McLaren rookie Kevin Magnussen in eighth, and Sergio Perez in the Force India in tenth.