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Ferrari 212 Barchetta highlights RM auction at Villa d'Este

While show-goers sip champagne and basque in the glow of some of the most beautiful classics and most notable concept cars at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este, at the Villa Erba just down the shore, collectors bid on some of the most tempting automotive creations. And this year was no exception. Highlighting RM Sotheby's auction this year was a rare classic 1952 Ferrari 212 Export Barchetta. The Touring-bodied competition roadster from Ferrari's early days fetched an incredible ˆ6,720,000 – nearly $7.4 million at current exchange rates – to set a new record for that model. According to Sports Car Market, the previous record was held by a 212 Export coupe that sold for $3.2 million early last year. A Barchetta failed to sell for a high bid of $1.97 million in 2008, which just goes to show how far this auction raised the bar for the 212. Though it was by far the top lot of the day, it wasn't the only million-dollar sale of the day. Heck, it wasn't even the only million-dollar Ferrari sold. A quartet of Ferrari supercars – including a 288 GTO, F40, F50 and Enzo – each fetched seven figures, as did a 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso and a 250 GT Cabriolet. So did a Lamborghini Miura, a '73 Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 and a '53 Fiat 8V Cabriolet, if you can believe it. Other notable lots included a 1949 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS Villa d'Este Coupe, a '74 Lancia Stratos and a rare stick-shift Ferrari 599 HGTE. All told, RM Sotheby's racked up nearly $30 million in sales at its first European auction since merging and rebranding, selling 34 out of the 39 lots consigned, but that stunning 250 California Spider did not appear to be among them.

Ferrari 488 GTE and GT3 unveiled at Mugello

Ferrari is preparing its latest assault on sports car racing with new racing versions of the 488 GTB. Presented over the weekend at Mugello, the lineup includes both GTE and GT3 racers to replace the current models that were based on the 458 Italia. Though little in the way of details were revealed at the vehicles' presentation, the principal change they present over the accomplished versions they replace are their new turbocharged engines. The 3.9-liter twin-turbo V8 replaced the 4.5-liter atmospheric V8 in the road-going version, and is now carried over to the race track as well. Output will, of course, be catered to the regulations pertaining to both classes. Not to be confused with the Volkswagen's hybrid lineup, GTE is the category that replaced the previous GT2 class, and with it absorbed the defunct GT1 class, as well. It's run principally at Le Mans and its associated championships, and the outgoing Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 has proven a force to be reckoned with. That car took top honors in its class every year since the inception of the FIA World Endurance Championship, and won its class twice at Le Mans. Its turbo successor will have quite a challenge in keeping up that legacy. The GT3 class, meanwhile, is a step below, running in the Blancpain Endurance Series, Pirelli World Challenge, and the like. Here the teams running Ferrari equipment could use some extra help, and the new 488 GT3 aims to deliver that competitive edge to get ahead of rivals. Those include GT3 racing versions of the Aston Martin V12 Vantage, Audi R8, Bentley Continental GT, Lamborghini Huracan, McLaren 650S, Mercedes-AMG GT, Nissan GT-R, and Porsche 911 (to name just a handful). Ferrari presented the pair at its end-of-year Finali Mondiali event, which wraps up the various regional Ferrari Challenge series run around the world. This year's was held this weekend at the Mugello circuit in Italy. Last year's was in Abu Dhabi where the FXX K was revealed. The previous year's was also held at Mugello, where the current 458 Challenge Evoluzione was presented. The 2016 event is scheduled to be held in North America for the first time at Daytona the weekend of December 1-4, 2016. With the GTB, Spider, GTE, and GT3 variants now presented, the next step in the fleshing out of the 488 lineup will be to present the new Challenge racer for the company's own spec racing series.

Ferrari families have 'agreement' to prevent takeover

With its initial public offering already a massive success, Ferrari is now officially a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. While anyone can buy those shares, don't expect investors to take control away from some of the top owners of the Prancing Horse anytime soon. To maintain their power, Enzo Ferrari's son, Piero, and Exor chairman John Elkann will sign a deal guaranteeing themselves nearly half of the automaker's voting rights, Bloomberg reports. As part of this arrangement, shareholders that agree to hang onto Ferrari stock for at least three years would receive additional voting rights in the company, and that would give Piero and Elkann a combined 48.7 percent of the automaker by banding together. While not quite complete control, the move should be enough to prevent a takeover of the business. "We have an agreement among the families to protect our interests in Ferrari," Piero said to Bloomberg. This agreement won't really become a concern until next year because only 10 percent of Ferrari will be traded for now. FCA will distribute another 80 percent to its shareholders in early 2016, and Elkann's Exor will be getting the largest portion of the Prancing Horse in the spin-off. Meanwhile, Piero holds the remaining 10 percent but has absolutely no intention to sell his stake in his father's business. The newly public Ferrari will push to grow volume with a goal of moving 9,000 vehicles annually by 2019. To reach that 30-percent boost, expect to see a new model every year, and some of them might use a new, modular platform that's reportedly under development. Related Video: