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Petrolicious cruises with a high-mile Lamborghini 400 GT

When a sports car is as beautiful as a 1967 Lamborghini 400 GT 2+2, it belongs on the road for people to see, and Jack Riddell definitely gives folks plenty of opportunities to check out his red Lambo. He has owned the grand tourer since 1972 and put well over 200,000 miles on the odometer in that time. They earn the spotlight in the latest clip from Petrolicious after previously appearing on Jay Leno's Garage. Riddell's constant use of the coupe is exactly what Ferruccio Lamborghini would have wanted. The company made the 400 GT to eat up huge stretches of road at high speed through Europe. The beautiful sound of the 4.0-liter V12 beckoned the driver to keep going just a little more. Riddell got lucky when he found the 400 GT and refused to let it go. Now the Lambo is like an old pal to him. He jokes about a few of the coupe's foibles, but after hundreds of thousands of miles together, they clearly have a deep connection. Related Video:

Why Italians are no longer buying supercars

Italy is the wound that continues to drain blood from the body financial of Italian supercar and sports car makers. The wound was opened by the country's various financial police who decided to get serious about superyacht-owning and supercar-driving tax cheats a few years ago, by noting their registrations and checking their incomes. When it was found that a rather high percentage of exotic toy owners had claimed a rather low annual income - certain business owners were found to be declaring less income than their employees - the owners began dumping their cars and prospective buyers declined to buy.
Car and Driver has a piece on how the initiative is hitting the home market the hardest. Lamborghini sold 1,302 cars worldwide in 2010, 1,602 cars in 2011 and 2,083 cars in 2012 - an excellent surge in just two years. In Italy, however, it's all about the ebb: in 2010, the year that Italian police began scouring harbors, Lamborghini sold 96 cars in Italy, the next year it sold 72, last year it sold just 60. The declines for Maserati and Ferrari are even more pronounced.
Head over to CD for the full story and the numbers. What might be most incredible isn't the cause and effect, but where the blame is being placed. A year ago the chairman of Italy's Federauto accused the government of "terrorizing potential clients," this year Luca di Montezemolo says what's happening has created "a hostile environment for ­luxury goods." Life at the top, it ain't easy.

'Born of a Blue Sky' brings the Amelia Island Concours to you

The Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance has more clout every year and is getting a reputation as Pebble Beach minus the madness. Held in March this year, it celebrated Ducati and the 50-year anniversaries of Lamborghini, the Corvette Sting Ray, Porsche 911 and the Ford GT40.
Justin Lapriore was there, and seemingly everywhere, getting footage of the various wares on display on the lawns and the sand and the runway. The resulting video, Born of a Blue Sky, is a 16-minute survey of some of the finer sights and plenty of engine sounds. Check it out below.