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Ferrari-Maserati dealer folds in Las Vegas casino

The ten-year-old Penske Ferrari Maserati dealership located inside the Wynn resort in Las Vegas, where non-Ferrari owners had to pay $10 to walk among the cars, is closed. Word is that the Ferrari franchise is moving to Towbin Motorcars, which you'll know for being the home of the former "King of Cars," and more recently where Floyd "Money" Mayweather has bought 100 cars, including three Bugatti Veyrons. According to Ferrari Chat almost the entire Penske-Wynn staff will make the move, including the highly regarded service department. This being Las Vegas there are, naturally, various theories about why the only Ferrari franchise in the state of Nevada is leaving one of the state's marquee locations. We got a tip a month ago from reader Johnny Autos that Ferrari pulled the franchise, and if there is any truth to that, rumors at Ferrari Chat suggest it part of the reason could have been Steve Wynn flipping his LaFerrari before the 18-month no-sale period had elapsed. Wynn supposedly sold his $1.5 million supercar to Naples Motorsports in Florida for $3.5 million, Naples is asking $5 million for it and using it for the elementary school run in the meantime. On the other hand, Vegas Tripping says Wynn is letting the dealership go in order to get ready for the Alon – another casino – to open across the street in three years. That story believes Wynn will build a pedestrian bridge and rearrange shops on the Wynn side so that customers enjoy the kind of grand entry he would want. And then there's the theory that Penske is getting out of the Ferrari dealership business to focus on commercial trucks. No matter where the truth is in all of this, what matters to you is that you won't be able to spend $10 to check out Ferraris on the strip anymore. Which means more money for the penny slots.

2015 Brazilian Grand Prix is the same as it ever was

At this point, we hope Nico Rosberg is planning to carry his current qualifying form into the 2016 season and back it up with the same kind of race-day cojones he showed winning the race in Mexico City two weeks ago. The Mercedes-AMG Petronas driver got it right enough again on Saturday afternoon to take his fifth consecutive pole position ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton by almost a tenth of a second. It's the same one-two from Brazil last year. The bad news for the rest of the field is that the winner in Brazil the last seven years has been one of the two drivers on the front row. Last year it was the Williams duo that lined up behind Mercedes, this year it's Ferrari. Sebastian Vettel plays the stalking horse, securing third in his Ferrari ahead of teammate Kimi Raikkonen in fourth. Williams driver Valtteri Bottas actually qualified in fourth, but he had to serve a three-spot grid penalty for passing under red flags in Free Practice 2, so he started sixth. That promoted Sahara Force India driver Nico Hulkenberg up to fifth. Daniil Kvyat was the quickest representative from Infiniti Red Bull Racing, getting into seventh even with a Renault power unit that's weak on some of the key stretches at the Interlagos track. Felipe Massa had the second Williams in eighth, in front of the second Red Bull driven by Daniel Ricciardo in ninth. Toro Rosso hasn't confirmed its drivers for next year but Max Verstappen keeps making it hard to look elsewhere, taking 10th. Rosberg is working nearly the same trick he pulled last year: drive like a second driver for most of the year, drive like a world champion for the last quarter of a season. He pulled away at the start and covered Hamilton just enough on the run to the first corner to keep Hamilton on the outside. By the end of Turn 1 the German had the lead and didn't give it up for the rest of the race outside of pit stops. Without overwhelming pace to pass and unable to follow closely, Hamilton could do nothing except ask his team for a different strategy to go for the win. When Mercedes told him "No," trying to protect Rosberg's second place in the championship ahead of Vettel, that was the race. Just like last year, Rosberg and Hamilton finished one-two. Vettel, Raikkonen, Bottas, Hulkenberg, and Kvyat drove lonely races to finish in positions three through seven.

Fangio's Ferrari sells for $28 million in New York [w/videos]

See this Ferrari? It just set the record as the most valuable automobile sold at auction this year. It's a 1956 Ferrari 290 MM driven by the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio, and it sold last weekend in New York for an astonishing $28.05 million. The speedster was built for Fangio to drive in the 1956 Mille Miglia – the last time the Argentinian would enter the race, which was shut down as a competitive event the following year. But before chassis number 0626 was retired, it was driven by such legends as Phil Hill, Alfonso de Portago, and Wolfgang von Trips. Ferrari only made four examples, and between its provenance and its pristine condition – it never crashed – this 290 managed to exceed its pre-sale estimate. In the process, 0626 powered its way into the record books as the most expensive car sold at auction in 2015, the most valuable that RM has ever handled, and the highest price ever paid for a vehicle in New York City. In fact the only cars ever sold at auction for more than this one were another Ferrari (the 250 GTO that Bonhams sold last year for $35 million) and another of Fangio's racers (the Mercedes W196 also sold by Bonhams for $29.6 million in 2013). Though Fangio's Ferrari was far and away the top lot of the day, it wasn't the only multi-million-dollar automobile sold as part of RM Sotheby's Driven by Disruption auction. A 1962 Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato set a new record for British automobiles at $14.3 million. A Ferrari 250 GT Series I Cabriolet sold for $5.7 million, a Pierce-Arrow Silver Arrow went for $3.7 million, and another Ferrari 250 Europa sold for $3.3 million – as did Floyd Mayweather's Enzo. A '72 Lamborghini Miura SV fetched $2.4 million, and Janis Joplin's Porsche 356 set a new record for its type and well exceeded expectations at $1.7 million. All told, the event generated a massive $73.5 million in sales, of which the Fangio Ferrari alone accounted for over a third. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.