We were deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Carroll Shelby. He was a good friend, a true gentleman, and an American legend. Carroll, we will miss you.
Carroll last visited the garage in 2010, to talk about his 2011 GT350.
If you've attended major international auto show in the U.S. this season, you've likely seen this car: Edsel Ford's 1934 Model 40 Special Speedster. We first saw it at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegancee last August, then again in January at the Detroit Auto Show. It is, frankly, a most beautiful specimen, and since we hadn't yet taken the opportunity to capture it with our own lenses, New York seemed like the perfect place to hold an impromptu shoot.
The Speedster has a very long history going back to 1932 when Edsel Ford, then president of Ford Motor Company, returned from Europe and asked design director E.T. Gregorie to pen a sports car similar to the ones he saw running around Europe. It started out as a 1934 Ford, but was radically altered to make a low slung, two-seat sports car with technology that wouldn't appear on production Fords for many years. It originally weighed 2,100 pounds and was powered by a 75-bhp Model 40 flathead V8 that was later replaced by a 100-bhp Mercury V8.
Edsel Ford enjoyed the car until his death in 1943, at which point the car began a journey of many ownerships, ultimately vanished and then resurfaced in 1999 when it was sold to a collector for $1.76 million. When the collector died, the Speedster was given to the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House who oversaw a complete restoration of the car. It now travels the auto show circuit, on display in a place of honor within the Lincoln display.
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles opens Oldtimer division for the classic Bus
Via autoblog:
Arguably more than any other mainstream automaker, Volkswagen is serious about its heritage. So much so that it appointed Franz-Josef Paefgen – former chief executive of Audi, Bentley and Bugatti – to head up its classics program. In this capacity, Paefgen oversees the heritage departments of each of the group's brands, but while its commercial vehicles operation may seem the least likely to preserve its past, today's announcement proves that assumption wrong.
The Oldtimers department of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles just recently moved into a new 7,000 square-meter facility in Hannover, Germany, where its staff of 13 dedicates itself to the restoration and preservation of old VW Buses. Although the garage has been active for several years, working on the company's own vehicles, the Oldtimer department has now opened its doors for private owners to bring in their vehicles for any degree of service.
Have an old Bus in need of some TLC? Click through the jump for the press release for further details and check out the gallery of high-resolution images for a closer look inside the workshop. Show full PR textVolkswagen Commercial Vehicles Oldtimers now also offers Ex Works Restoration Company installs 100 vehicles in 7,000 square meter premises
Hannover, March 29, 2012. Hardly any other automobile has such a high cult factor as the Volkswagen Bus. Today, 65 years after its first appearance, it stars in cinema films and commercials and stands – more than any other vehicle – for freedom, travel and fun. At Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles this legendary VW Bus has its own department dedicated to preserving its heritage: Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Oldtimers. Formed in 2007, the team has expanded fast over the five intervening years. Not only have the experts purchased and restored about 100 vehicles – from now on, they are offering the restoration of historic Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles ex works for external customers, inclusive of detailed documentation.
For this purpose, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Oldtimers moved to a new building in Hannover at the beginning of this year. An area of approximately 7,000 square meters now not only accommodates the historical treasures, but also houses a machine park which includes everything from a sheet metal bending bench, lathes and milling machines to its own paint shop. The department now has a staff of 13, from mechanics to a technology historian and an event planner.
Owners of a historic Volkswagen Commercial vehicle can now have it restored here, at its place of origin. No matter whether a full or partial restoration is required, or a Bus is simply to be made roadworthy, the 'Bulli' workshop team will undertake any assignment. Paint renovation or an inspection is also possible. The staff talk through all personal restoration wishes with the customer before preparing an individually tailored offer.
The unique feature: only here does the customer receive certificated ex works restoration. In addition, for each customer the team of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Oldtimers provides comprehensive documentation of the restoration of the vehicle, in which every step is photographically documented and described in detail. Thus the work performed by the specialists from Hannover is recorded for posterity, and customers can leaf through their folder whenever they wish. Some of the replacement parts needed when working on oldtimers are even taken from Volkswagen's original stock.
Here Volkswagen Classic Parts supports the VW Bus workshop as a partner.
Jaguar launching factory-backed heritage racing team
Although Jaguar may not be racing all that much these days, motorsport competition was an integral part to forming its identity decades ago. And it's that legacy that Jaguar aims to tap into with its latest development.
The British auto marque has of late been participating in numerous classic racing events, but is now intensifying and organizing its efforts under the Jaguar Heritage Racing banner. Managed for the factory by specialist firm JD Classics of Essex, the program will see the C-Type and D-Type (click on the image above to enlarge the two classic cats) challenging revival events at venues as varied as Goodwood, the Nürburgring and the Mille Miglia, where the initiative will make its first appearance this May.
Although limited in scope to classic racing events, the renewed effort will see the factory getting back onto the track in an arguably more substantial way than it has with the Jaguar RSR XKR GT2, retapping the racing spirit not seen in Coventry since winning Le Mans with the XJR-12 in 1990 and selling its F1 team in 2004 – but which could, if recent rumors come to fruition, resurface again with a new LMP1 in the near future. In the meantime you can read more about the Jaguar Heritage Racing program in the press release below.
En av de mest omdiskurerte sportsbilen. Var dette 911s etterfølger.. Mange var mot dette! De fikk jo som kjendt rett. Mens andre savner 928en den dag i dag...
Milhous Collection hitting the auction block in Boca
Via autoblog:
The world is replete with private auto collections that rival the best any museum has to offer. But no one person could have compiled the kind of spectacle that is the Milhous Collection – the embodiment of the life's work and collective wealth of brothers Bob and Paul Milhous of Boca Raton, Florida.
The Milhous brothers shared a love for everything mechanical, ranging from automobiles and petroliana to player pianos, clocks and even a full-size carousel, and collected them all. Having outgrown four previous locations, the Milhous brothers moved their collect to a 39,500 square-foot facility in Boca in the mid-'90s. And there it has remained, closed to the public, ever since. But now its contents are going under the hammer later this month by RM Auctions in association with Sotheby's.
Aside from the considerable musical and visual elements of the collection is more than a handful of noteworthy automobiles. A rare 1912 Oldsmobile Limited Five-Passenger Touring cabriolet (pictured above) is expected to go for around $1.5 million, joined by a 1933 Chrysler Custom Imperial Tourist by LeBaron, a 1939 Lagonda V1-2 Rapide Sports Roadster once owned by actor Robert Mongomery, a 1949 Rounds Rocket that was the first mid-engine/rear-drive Indy speedster and a 1934 Packard Super Eight Convertible Victoria by Dietrich that won Best in Show at Pebble Beach – just a few of the most noteworthy examples on the docket from the collection.
All-in-all, more than 30 classic automobiles, along with the rest of the collection, are to be auctioned on February 24 and 25 in conjunction with Boca Raton Concours d'Elegance. Take a stroll past the jump to delve into the full press releases, browse through the high-resolution image gallery, and follow the link for a virtual tour of the collection. Continue Reading
Only a tiny number of cars have been unquestioned status symbols for six straight decades. The Mercedes-Benz SL is one of them, and – just like another one, coincidentally – it's new for this year. Although "Magic Sky Control" doesn't have the same classic ring as "pagoda roof," the R231 2013 SL aims to keep the streak going.
For folks who might not know where the streak began, there's a short refresher video after the jump that will speed you from the 1952 300 SL up to the present day. Enjoy.
Jaguar's headquarters and production were located at Browns Lane in Conventry for more than fifty years. Part of the complex included the Jaguar Heritage Museum and its collection of 150 cars, so when the Browns Lane site was sold in 2007 to an Australian developer, the countdown began on the museum's remaining time.
Now comes the formal announcement that the collection will vacate its current spot in September, the tragedy being that it might not relocate to a publicly accessible location. Museum reps say that the collection will continue to be in circulation, either on the historical circuit like Goodwood or on loan to other museums. Even now the Jaguar Heritage Museum only has about 30 cars on-site.
Nevertheless, unless another location is secured you won't be able to just show up, buy a ticket and stroll among cars like the 1935 SS Airline AWR564, 1950 Jaguar XK 120 NUB120 or 1956 Jaguar D-type 'Long Nose' 393RW. You'll also miss Austin Powers' "Shaguar," if that's more your style.
Trollhättan buys entire classic Saab collection to preserve museum
Via autoblog:
Despite the popular saying, history cannot simply repeated. So, when faced with the possibility of losing the entire classic collection of cars that had made up the official Saab museum in Trollhättan after the officials in charge of the automaker's bankruptcy proceedings threatened to break it up, a few organizations stepped up to the plate to keep it together.
According to a report from Autocar, the city of Trollhattan, SAAB AB and The Wallenberg Foundation came up with the $4.05 million required to purchase the entire collection outright. A total of 120 cars are included, including the Ur-Saab, which is the first automobile built by the Swedish company.
