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Classic Ferraris fight currency rates for bragging rights

Which is the most expensive car ever sold at auction? That should be a fairly straightforward question to answer, only it isn't. Due to currency fluctuations, we're actually dealing with two contenders, both of which have legitimate claims to the crown. The contenders are both classic Ferraris, each of them worth in excess of $30 million. In one corner is the 250 GTO sold at Pebble Beach in 2014 for $38 million. In the other is the 335 S sold in Paris just the other day for ˆ32 million. Resolving the bragging rights should come down to a simple matter of currency conversion, but the problem is that the rates don't stay constant. So the $38 million for which Bonhams sold the 250 GTO worked out to ˆ28 million at the exchange rates of the day. At that rate, the GTO was worth a good four million euros less than what the 335 S sold for, even though today's rates value the 335 S at "only" $35 million, or a good few million dollars short of the GTO. The answer, then, may be subject to which market you're in. But if you're looking for the tie-breaker, consider the British Pound: in Sterling, the 335 S sold for the equivalent of GBP24.7 million, which is more than the GBP22.8 million that the GTO's $38 million worked out to at the time – but less than the GBP26.5 million it would be worth today. And so we're back to where we started. But we're sure the confusion won't last (or be relevant) for too long, as there's bound to be another highly sought-after classic automobile on the auction block before too long. And it'll probably be another Ferrari. WORLD RECORD PRICE FOR A MOTOR CAR SOLD AT AUCTION* 32.1 Mˆ / 24.7 MGBP / 35.7 M$ INCLUDING PREMIUM LOT 170 • 1957 FERRARI 335 SPORT SCAGLIETTI DE 1957 • CHASSIS N°0674 FROM THE PIERRE BARDINON COLLECTION Lot 170. 1957 Ferrari 335 Sport Scaglietti • Chassis n°0674 • From the Pierre Bardinon Collection WORLD RECORD FOR A COLLECTORS' CAR AT AUCTION* Sold : 32,1 Mˆ / 24,7 MGBP / 35,7 M$ including premium (estimate : 28 – 32 Mˆ / 21,5 – 24,6 MGBP / 30 – 34 M$ ) *World record price for a car sold at auction, in euros and sterling. Previous record : 28,5 Mˆ / 38 M$, in 2014, in the US Paris – Friday 5 February 2016, shortly after 18h50, at the Retromobile Salon, Artcurial Motorcars, the collectors' car department at Artcurial achieved the world record for a car sold at auction, under the gavel of Maitre Herve Poulain.

2015 Italian Grand Prix is smoke, mirrors, stalls, and stewards

For the first day-and-a-half of the Italian Formula One Grand Prix weekend, everything went to blueprint: Mercedes in front, Ferrari lurking, everyone else scrambling in their usual orders behind. Then qualifying came, and someone stirred the pot. About the only thing we expected was for Lewis Hamilton to put his Mercedes-AMG Petronas on pole position, the 11th time he's done it this year. He did it with a brand-new specification engine, one that represents not only an evolution in components, but also in power unit philosophy. Kimi Raikkonen lines up in second. It's been a long time since we read those words; the Iceman hasn't been on the first row since the 2013 Chinese Grand Prix, when he put his Lotus second on the grid behind... Lewis Hamilton. Raikkonen lined up just ahead of a Ferrari at that China race, then driven by Fernando Alonso. In Italy this weekend, he lined up in front of the Ferrari driven by his teammate, Sebastian Vettel, who qualified third. Both Ferraris benefitted from an upgraded power unit, ending a front-row drought for the scuderia that goes all the way back to Monaco in 2009 Germany in 2012. Nico Rosberg has a lot of work to do from fourth in the second Mercedes-AMG Petronas. Mercedes discovered a problem with Rosberg's engine but couldn't figure out the cause, so he reverted to the previous-spec engine he used in Belgium, one that's six races old. The lack of power hurt. Williams teammates Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas took fifth and sixth, with Massa seemingly given a team-ordered helping hand. Williams told Bottas to tow Massa down the front straight, giving Massa a blistering time in the first sector. Then Bottas did it again, ensuring he would line up behind Massa. The first Sahara Force India of Sergio Perez nabbed seventh, three places ahead of teammate Nico Hulkenberg in tenth, with Romain Grosjean in the Lotus behind Perez in eighth. Marcus Ericsson in the Sauber qualified ninth, but some clumsy driving saw him impede Hulkenberg twice. The stewards penalized Ericsson with a three-place grid penalty and two points on his superlicense, so Hulkenberg inherited ninth and Pastor Maldonado in the second Lotus inherited tenth. We hardly saw Hamilton during the race, because he led from the start, worked up a larger gap to second place on every lap, and didn't give up the lead for the whole event.

Race Recap: 2015 US Grand Prix was wet, wild, and historic

Hurricane Patricia made landfall in Mexico this weekend, and made her presence known throughout the South. For two of the three days of the grand prix weekend it rained non-stop in Austin, so badly on Saturday that qualifying had to be postponed until Sunday morning, and then it only stayed dry enough to conduct the first two sessions. At the end of a tricky, slippery Q2 Nico Rosberg had put his Mercedes-AMG Petronas on the front row, one tenth ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton. The German had done the best he could to keep his hair-thin chances of a World Championship fight alive. Daniel Ricciardo lined his Infiniti Red Bull Racing chassis in third ahead of teammate Daniil Kvyat, both drivers having moved up a place because Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel took a ten-spot grid penalty for using a fifth engine and dropped to 13th. Continuing the two-up theme, Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg were fifth and sixth for Force India. After that came variety: Felipe Massa in seventh for Williams, Max Verstappen for Toro Rosso in eighth, Fernando Alonso looking good in the rain for McLaren in ninth, and Romain Grosjean for Lotus in tenth. When the lights went out, Turn 1 set the tone. Pole position is on the outside line at Circuit of the Americas, and Hamilton had got himself far enough under Rosberg by the time the two got up the hill that Rosberg had to stick to the outside through the corner. At the corner exit Hamilton used the entire track, pushing Rosberg wide, their cars touching. As Rosberg left the track and dropped back to fourth, Hamilton radioed to the team to say the contact was unintentional. The two Mercedes' and two Red Bulls animated the front. Rosberg passed Ricciardo at the end of a Virtual Safety Car period employed to let the marshals clean the debris at Turn 1. Kvyat started chasing down Hamilton until the Russian ran wide and let Rosberg and Ricciardo through, then Rosberg ran wide on the next lap to let Ricciardo through. On Lap 15, Ricciardo passed Hamilton through the esses to take the lead. After the first round of pit stops the Aussie still had the lead, followed by Rosberg, Kvyat, Hamilton, and Vettel. Then Rosberg got around to take the lead and Vettel closed in on Hamilton as the Brit duked it out with the Russian. Rosberg showed excellent speed, building up a nine-second gap on Ricciardo, but a Safety Car period erased that when Marcus Ericsson had to park his dead Sauber on the inside of the track after Turn 10.