458 Spider Priced To Sell !!!! No Reserve on 2040-cars

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Ferrari takes over Rodeo Drive to introduce F60 America

Unless you own a very special Ferrari, the only way you were going to park on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills today was to walk there and sit down on a bench. Otherwise, occupying the length of the plutomaniac's thoroughfare was everything from a 1948 166 MM Barchetta, the very first Ferrari imported to the United States, to the brand new 458 Speciale A, introduced at the Paris Motor Show earlier this month. A collection of 60 significant Ferraris were on display to celebrate the marque's 60th anniversary as a US citizen, and it was the most impressive gathering of Italian metal we've seen since the company threw its 50th anniversary event at Pebble Beach a decade ago. How about a Le Mans class-winning 250 GTO, the 1954 375 MM Scaglietti Coupe that won best of show at Pebble Beach back in August, or one of the stunning 330 P4 race cars that was part of the 1-2-3 finish at Daytona in 1967? All parked on Rodeo Drive.
The special-est of them all received an introduction from new company chairman Sergio Marchionne, that being the F60 America. Only for the US, with all ten of them already sold for a reported $2.5M each, the F60 America reaches back to early America-branded offerings like the 340 and 375, and US-focused convertibles like the 1967 275 NART Spider, 1969 365 GTS4 Daytona Spider and 2005 575 Superamerica.
Unlike those Spiders, however, the F60 America is a voluptuous departure from the F12 Berlinetta it's based on, with the subtracted top opening up the flex of its hips, pairing nicely with the swell over the front fenders. As we told our photographer Drew Phillips, we're looking at the future of Pebble Beach, and you can enjoy it in the photos above or the rest of the Ferraris on display in the gallery below.

Ferrari vs. Ferrari: Cut convertibles unloved by collectors?

The New York Times' Wheels blog has a really interesting story on a pair of Ferraris that are set to be auctioned off in Monterey during the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. While the two cars are similar on the surface, their differing histories and Ferrari's attitude towards one of them has led to a sort of experimental auction process.
On the one hand, we have one of ten 1967 275 GTB/4 NART Spiders, in the classic Rosso Corsa and appearing at RM Auctions and seen above. On the other, we have a Fly Yellow version that started life as a 1965 275 GTB Coupe, and was converted into a NART Spider. Called a "cut" car, this particular replica is one of about 100 GTB Coupes that were converted into convertibles to satiate the climbing demand for ultra-rare Spiders.
This will mark one of the first times that an original NART Spider will go toe to toe with a replica of itself at auction, and will answer a number of questions about just how important provenance is in the collector car world. Head on over to The Times blog for the full story.

2015 Mexican Grand Prix is a lot like old times

The last time Formula One visited Mexico, in 1992, 26 cars powered by eight engine manufacturers (counting Honda and Mugen-Honda separately) lined up on the grid; it would have been nine engine makers but the Brabham-Judd cars failed to qualify. In 1992 Lewis Hamilton was seven years old, Sebastian Vettel was five, Max Verstappen was still five years away from being born. Two of the current Sky Sports F1 commentary team, Martin Brundle and Johnny Herbert, were drivers. The starting three were Nigel Mansell on pole – 39 years old, this the year he'd win his only World Championship – and Riccardo Patrese both driving Williams-Renault cars, followed by Michael Schumacher in a Benetton-Ford. Only 13 of the 26 starters would finish. The circuit is has been reworked to today's safer standards, the track surface is brand new and slippery, but the atmosphere and packed grandstands haven't changed. Nico Rosberg was another point of consistency, scoring pole position for the fourth race in a row to beat his now-World-Champion teammate Hamilton by almost two-tenths of a second. The last time Rosberg turned pole position into a victory? The Spanish Grand Prix back in May. Vettel locked up third for Ferrari, followed by the Infiniti Red Bull Racing duo of Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo. Williams went two-up as well, Valtteri Bottas in sixth ahead of Felipe Massa in seventh. Max Verstappen turned in a great late lap to reserve eighth place, Sergio Perez did all he could in front of his home crowd to get ninth, teammate Nico Hulkenberg the caboose in the top ten. In that 1992 race the first three on the grid finished the race in the same order after Mansell dominated, and it was almost the same in 2015. If Rosberg had driven the whole season like he drove today the Driver's World Championship would still be up for grabs. He got a great start and held his line through the first corner, coming out ahead of Hamilton through the initial kinks, pulling away as soon as he got to the straight. Hamilton was never more than a few seconds behind, but every time the Brit inched closer the German found a few more tenths to keep his distance. The field got bunched up when the Safety Car came out on Lap 53 after Vettel spun and got stuck in the barriers, but Rosberg handled the restart perfectly. Both drivers made small mistakes in the last few laps while driving on the edge, but Rosberg earned a strong victory, crossing the line two seconds ahead of his teammate.