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1954 Ferrari 375-Plus sells for record $18 million at Goodwood

Among all the action at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this past weekend, Bonhams held its classic car auction, bringing in a massive $38.4 million in sales. And this was undoubtedly the highlight.
Bearing the chassis number 0384 AM, this 1954 Ferrari 375-Plus has a storied racing history, competing that year in such events as the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Mille Miglia and the Silverstone endurance race, where the late José Froilán Gonzalez drove it to victory. One of only five made, the 375 Plus packed a 4.9-liter V12 with 330 horsepower under aluminum barchetta bodywork by Pininfarina. It was subsequently owned by Kleenex scion Jim Kimberly, trading hands between owners on both sides of the Atlantic and was the subject of a legal dispute over its ownership four years ago.
With the dispute now resolved and after heated competition between two bidders, the Ferrari finally sold for £10.7 million, equivalent to $18.2 million at today's rates and accounting for nearly half of the day's sales totals. Other highlights included a 1902 De Dietrich 16-HP "Paris-Vienna" Rear-Entrance Tonneau and a a '75 Lamborghini Countach, each of which sold for around $1.7 million - the latter eclipsing the example that Bonhams also recently sold for $1.2 million.

Custom-built Ferrari 412 is not easy on the eyes

The 1989 Ferrari 412 Pavesi Ventorosso is a one-off topless creation from Carrozzeria Pavesi, which isn't the most well-known Italian coachbuilder in history. Ventorosso stands for "Red Wind", which brings a tear to one's eye – much like the 'improvements' to the bodywork. To begin with, the front end isn't all that bad. The headlights seem to have been grabbed from the then-new Citroen XM, and they are far less squinty than the lights originally complementing the 412's pop-ups. But the further toward the rear you go, the more it all falls apart, as the rear end treatment inexplicably combines round 412 taillights with a black, Testarossa-like plastic slatting above them. The complete car is somehow similar to the Michelotti-designed Reliant Scimitar SS1, which is undeniably also a product of its time. Still, the 18,641-mile car is mentioned to be in perfect condition inside and out, and that has resulted in a nearly $137,000-price tag by the seller, Maranello Service in Calvatone, Italy. It is also noteworthy that the 5.0-liter Colombo V12 is mated to a manual gearbox, which isn't always the case with 400i/412 models. And the best thing? You cannot see the exterior when driving it. Related Video:

Ferrari threatening to fine journalists $69,000 for breaking LaFerrari embargo?

In automotive journalism, we deal with embargoes on a regular basis. For the uninitiated, these are agreements between publications like Autoblog and manufacturers. While news embargoes (where pubs are provided with information and images and agree to hold until a predetermined date) are fairly common, today, we're focusing on drive embargoes. These are what we generally end up signing when we attend a vehicle launch. Generally, these are in the media's best interest. As drive programs are spread out over a week or two with multiple different "waves" of media, drive embargoes put the biggest and smallest publications on level footing when it comes to publishing reviews.
According to a report from Autocar's Steve Sutcliffe, Ferrari has taken its drive embargo for the LaFerrari hypercar a bit too far. See, initial reviews from the few publications that attended the drive event for the hybrid-powered monster can hit the newsstand or internet on April 30. Originally, syndicated stories - those sold by freelancers or publications to other outlets - couldn't be published until May 12. These syndicated reviews are big money for larger magazines and, in the case of freelance journalists, are a primary source of revenue. Inexplicably, though, Ferrari has pushed the syndication embargo back to May 26, which is bad news for everyone involved (aside from Ferrari).
This could have been nothing more than an annoyance. The stories would still get sold (although it might be for a bit less coin, considering the initial reviews will be nearly a month old) and you'll still be bombarded by reviews of the LaFerrari not once, but twice, just as Ferrari planned.