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Gary Cooper's 1935 Duesenberg SSJ fetches record price at Pebble Beach

The 1935 Duesenberg SSJ formerly owned by Gary Cooper sold for a jaw-dropping $22 million over the weekend at the Gooding & Co. Pebble Beach auction, setting a record for the most valuable pre-war car ever sold at auction. It also appears to have become the most expensive American collector car ever sold at auction, eclipsing the very first Shelby Cobra ever made, which sold for $13.75 million in 2016. The Duesenberg was also the lone American-made entrant in the list of top 10 sellers, which was crowded with the names Ferrari and Porsche. You have to go all the way down the list to No. 21 to find the next American car: a 1930 Packard 734 Speedster Phaeton, which sold for a mere $1.127 million. All told, Gooding & Co. said it realized more than $116.5 million in auction sales over the weekend, with a whopping 25 cars sold for north of $1 million, an 84 percent sales rate and an average transaction price of $947,174. Clearly this is how the other half 1 percent lives. Gooding & Co. said there were five world-record sales at the auction. Joining the Duesenberg were a 1955 Ferrari 500 Mondial Series II, which sold for $5.005 million; a 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Tour de France Berlinetta, $6.6 million; a 1967 Ferrari 330 GTC Speciale, $3.41 million; and a one-of-two 1966 Ferrari Dino Berlinetta GT, $3.08 million. Oh, and that 1969 Ford Bronco test vehicle we told you about? The one that was rebadged by Holman & Moody as a Bronco Hunter? It sold for $121,000, which was well below the expected range of $180,000 to $220,000. Perhaps it was the presence of all those gorgeous Porsche Spyders and Ferraris that meant collectors weren't interested in boxy, utilitarian off-roaders. View 24 Photos Gooding and Co. had expected the convertible Duesenberg coupe to go for more than $10 million. It was one of only two of its kind built by Duesenberg — the other having gone to Clark Gable — with a specially shortened, 125-inch wheelbase and a supercharged straight-eight with double overhead cams, able to produce around 400 horsepower and a top speed of 140 miles per hour. It features a lightweight open-roadster bobtail body produced by LaGrande out of Connersville, Ind. The car was also owned at one point by race driver Briggs Cunningham.

Former Ferrari boss takes over FIA Single-Seater Commission

After "stepping down" from his position as team principal at Scuderia Ferrari earlier this year, we knew that Stefano Domenicali would find ways to keep himself busy. We just didn't know with what, but now we have a bit of a clearer picture as the FIA named the longtime racing strategist the head of its Single-Seater Commission at its annual General Assembly, held this past week in Qatar. The FIA Single-Seater Commission, for those unfamiliar, is responsible for organizing and fostering the ladder of formula racing – right up to (but not including) Formula One. The presidency of the commission was previously held by Gerhard Berger, former F1 driver and Toro Rosso team principal, who was largely credited with the rebirth of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship and the founding of the FIA Formula 4 category. Before Berger the position was held by racing consultant Barry Bland, and serving alongside Domenicali as vice-president of the commission will be John Ryan of the UK's Motor Sports Association (MSA). In taking over the commission, Domenicali will be charged with further defining a clear progression for aspiring racers to graduate to increasingly more challenging forms of open-wheel racing. He recently served as well on the special Accident Panel that looked into the Jules Bianchi incident. In that regard he seems to be following a similar trajectory to his predecessor Jean Todt, who was elected president of the FIA shortly after leaving his long career at Ferrari. The FIA appointment, however, isn't the only thing Domenicali has been working on lately. He was also recently hired by Audi in an undisclosed capacity that is said to include evaluating prospects for the German automaker's potential future F1 program. FIA Annual General Assembly FRI 05.12.14 The FIA Annual General Assembly, held in Doha, Qatar, today (5 December 2014), marked the end of the annual meeting week attended by Sport and Mobility FIA Member Clubs from around the world and which culminates with the FIA Prize-Giving ceremony this evening. The FIA President, Jean Todt, along with Senate President Nick Craw and Deputy Presidents Brian Gibbons and Graham Stoker, welcomed the delegates to the meeting and, on behalf of the General Assembly, thanked hosts Nasser Khalifa Al Attiyah and the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) for their warm hospitality and assistance.

Ferrari launches upgraded 458 Challenge Evoluzione

Want to drive an eight-cylinder, mid-engined Ferrari? Assuming you can get your lucky little hands on one, you can drive a 458 Italia, 458 Spider or new 458 Speciale on the street. But the real action is where the road ends and the racetrack begins. Ferrari's Corse Clienti division offers versions for GT2 and GT3 racing, for Grand-Am (likely to be revised for the new United SportsCar Championship), and, of course, for its own Challenge racing series.
It's the latter version that Ferrari revealed it was upgrading last week, and now it's made its debut at the tail end of the rain-soaked Finali Mondiali event at Mugello. Although Ferrari only released limited details and just the one new photo, the new 458 Challenge Evoluzione upgrades on its predecessor as promised with obvious aerodynamic enhancements.
Those upgrades are "aimed at making the car even more driveable" for the customer racers who take part in the series, and seem to bridge the gap (at least visually) between the previous 458 Challenge and the more extreme racing versions that have to contend with more competition than its own kind. The upgrades are being rolled out as a kit that will be obligatory in the various Challenge series that will kick off around the world next year.