Saturday at Amelia, Finding the Cars ...

03/12/2012

By Ken Visser

Saturdays at Amelia are very busy.  It's like the calm before the storm but you feel the ratcheting up of the anticipation.  Both Goodings and RM have significant auctions at the Amelia Island Concours.  The top sale at Goodings on Friday was a 1973 Porsche 917/30 Can-Am Spyder that sold for $4.4 million.  Speculation has it going to the Seinfeld collection.  At RM on Saturday, a 1929 Cord L-29 Special Coupe went for $2,420,000.  Astounding figures for astounding vehicles.  Once again, provenance and presence drive the pricing.

In the parking lot, a mechanical frenzy of test drives in Lamborghinis, Audi's, Mercedes, and Porsches compete with incoming hotel traffic and the rumblings of an occasional vintage car pacing up the drive. 

The RM auction fired up at 11 a.m. but I wanted to hunt for cars.  My quest was temporarily quenched by this car:

It's a one-of-a-kind 1938 Delage D8S Sports Model.  I interviewed the owner who had just purchased it at the Milhouse auction one month ago.  This was the car maiden voyage and the owner was learning all about the French bombshell.

On the Road to Amelia Island

03/10/2012

Well, we made it to Amelia - a good 10 1/2-hour drive.  Along the way, we ran into an Australian couple with a 49 MG they had shipped over from Australia.  They were here with two other couples and their vintage cars for a 5-week tour starting with the Concours.  We passed their friends' expired MGA that was having electrical problems.  They had a tow coming to pick the car up for some doctoring.  But they were is the spirit of the moment, excited for all the cars we would see tomorrow.

This first shot illustrates that you just never know what is around the corner. 

I was photographing the Spyker when the gates opened with the 1915 Duesenburg Indy car emerging on the left and the Norman Timbs 48 Buick Special slaloming past on the right.  It's difficult to imagine a more diverse grouping of vehicles.

Road Trip! Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance Bound

03/07/2012

By Ken Visser

With the fast approaching Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance (March 9 to 12) annual show in Florida, I'm packing my cameras and driving down with two friends.  I’m really looking forward to the trip – and, most importantly, the cars.  We are talking about 250 cars on the golf course of the Ritz Carlton at Amelia Island.  Bill Warner and his team always put together the most eclectic field of automotive beauties.  This year the featured vehicle is the Ferrari GTO.  There will be 10 or so GTO's total on the field.  At an estimated value of $25 to $35 million a piece, it’s quite an assemblage of vehicles. 

Beyond the GTO's will be a host of Duesenbergs, Delahayes, Porsches, Lincolns, Maybachs, Maseratis, Oscas, Chevies, Packards, Cobras, Siatas, Abarths, Rolls Royce, Bentleys, HRGs, Aston Martins, Jaguars, Alfa Romeos, Fords, Bugattis, Tuckers, BMWs, Peerless, Pierce-Arrows, Talbot Lagos and more.  Here are a few shots of my favorites from 2007:

 

1932 Buccialli Tav12 rolls down the greens to accept its class award.  The smoke comes from the sleeveless motor, mixing oil and gas.

Velocity's Weekly Round Up: Week of February 13, 2012

02/25/2012

by Eileen Marable

News from the auto world is coming fast and furious this week. There are game changing concept cars, phone apps, those famous driverless cars and more so let’s buckle up and get going!

Driverless Cars

You’d have to be living under a rock not to have heard about the new laws in Las Vegas that allow driverless cars on the roads. Google has pretty much jumpstarted the trend by being the first to install their driverless system in cars. Everyone’s asking how will this thing work? Here are the basics – Nevada law will require the special cars to have red plates so other cars can easily identify it. Two users will have to be inside the vehicle as a start. They are free to talk on their cell phones or use computers while the car drives along, but forget about drinking. The same drunk driving laws will still apply.  The car itself will operate by using existing maps – if it heads into territory that it doesn’t have a map for it will ask you to take over or it will pull over to the side of the road. Not many of vehicles are equipped with the program at the moment so it’s likely you won’t see to many in the near future, but be warned. They are coming!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image via Gizmag

Bertone Nuccio Concept Car

Word on the street is that Italian auto design house Bertone will be unveiling a concept car at the Geneva Auto Show that is nod to one of Nuccio Bertone’s classic 1970’s designs – the Lancia Stratos HF Zero. Low slung and very angular it was considered pretty far out for its day and the prototype car recently sold for over $1M. The sketches that have come out prior to the show indicate the car will have a similar wedge shaped designed. Nuccio Bertone was the head of the company until he retired in 1997, and the car is part of a 100^th anniversary special honoring the company that bears his family name.

Velocity Weekly Round Up: Week of February 6, 2012

02/19/2012

by Eileen Marable

Early February has been busy in the world of cars and here at Velocity. Did you catch our One of a Kind caption contest? No?  Check out the photo and winning caption here.

The rest of the news for the week was full of the glitzy, offbeat and just plain awesome new car developments.

Let’s get going:

BREAKING NEWS: Nevada Approves Driverless Cars

We usually look at the week prior, but the big news at the end of this week was Nevada approving driverless cars. Yep, it seems like something out of the movies, but it is true.  We’ll look at this in more detail in the week to come, but the basics are that anyone who wants to use the driverless car program (developed with the help of Google) now will have to have a special plate and post up to a $3 million bond. When the cars become a reality for real people in the future that bond will no doubt have dropped to a reasonable level.  Forget about the money for a second and consider the fact that according to the law, drivers won’t even have to be in the car when it is operating though they will be responsible for its actions.  We NEED to hear your thoughts on this one!

‘Mayumi Special’ Nissan Infinity Q45

Take a look inside this amazing custom Nissan that was the result of 10 years of loving work. This blazing red Q45 was on display at the Tokyo Auto Show 2012, and according to the owner Fumihiro Takeda he wanted to “…(create) a car that was not just pretty cool, but awesome.”  With all the modifications – including an audio doll as a passenger, I think you could say mission accomplished.

 

Photo: Tesla Press Shots/Courtesy of Engadget

Tesla’s Totally Hot Model X SUV Unveiled

If you want to feel a little bit like James Bond and you have around $50-70 thousand to spend you’ll want to consider the new Tesla crossover SUV. Equipped with a unique “gull wing” door – which Tesla calls a “falcon wing – the car is an all wheel drive that will go from zero to 60mph in 4.4 seconds. If you aren’t salivating over it being electric, powerful and super-groovy, they want you to consider the SUV’s “frunk.” Yes, frunk – that would be a trunk in the front since where a standard engine would be.  Don’t you just love a company that can make up their own words?

Sweet Seatbelt Package

Mercedes Benz has released details on their new “active” seatbelt system. Designed with safety in mind, the system has multiple features designed to get users in the back seat to buckle up. In addition to being illuminated, the buckle itself will now extend itself from the seat almost three inches when a person is seated so they’ll have no trouble finding the equipment to strap in. Once buckled it automatically adjusts to proper tension for every body shape. The seatbelts also act in reverse – extending after a crash (provided the electrical system is still intact) so rescue personnel can easily unstrap passengers. Expected to roll out on their newest luxury models first, we can’t wait until the industry follows along with these cool innovations. 

Baby It’s Cold Outside

Perhaps you’ve been seeing reports about the unbelievable cold and snowy weather that has Europe in its grips? Here’s another interesting fact that makes it real just how cold it is. In Germany, it has been reported that as temperatures have hit -18° farenheit diesel fuel has begun to crystallize. That’s right, the fuel is freezing. Though it is German law that fuel stations have to provide a fuel that is cold resistant it generally only works up to -8° farenheit. Those diesel owners who don’t have garages and have had their car stuck on the street are reminded to NOT add gasoline or to defrost the engine manually (like with a heater), because, well, you know – it could explode. They are advised to find a place inside to tow the vehicle and let it defrost naturally. Presumably Germany isn’t the only country having this issue so let’s spare a thought for our freezing friends in Europe!

Photo: Gibbs Technologies via Gizmag

What a Humdinga!

It’s likely you’ll want one – who wouldn’t want an SUV that converts into a boat? The reality is that this amphibious vehicle from Gibbs Technologies will more likely be something the military will invest in or perhaps even search and rescue teams. Still it is fun to dream – the 4WD has a 350hp V8 gasoline engine that provides highway speeds on land and up to 30mph in the water. The Humdinga will carry up to five passengers or payloads over 1,600 lbs. With flooding plaguing certain areas around the country and the globe, it’s nice to know there is a purpose built vehicle like this out there.

 It's really a Rally car driver...

Sorry Dad… I Crashed the Car. Into the Ocean.

You all know I love ending on a humorous note. And while crashing is not generally funny, the guy behind this crash and his father seem to be taking it fairly well and no one was hurt. The story goes that after a back injury, Andrew Miedecke loaned his classic 1975 Ford Capri Terana to his son George, to compete in his place at the Targa Wrest Point Rally in Tasmania. Perhaps his dad set the bar to high by telling him not to crash and to not come in second… D’oh. Sadly, Andrew accomplished both. In his defense, the Targa rally is one of the most challenging out there – with tight turns, high speeds and harsh road conditions. Plus, the crash was not fully his fault as he technically crashed into another car that had trouble with the same turn he did.  Better luck next time guys – you deserve it!

So Velocity fans, what’s on your mind this week? What have you seen that amuses or amazes. We love hearing from you!

Until next week!