Autoblog

Click image above to see our huge gallery of pics from the '08 Pebble Tour

Because so many collector car fans refer to the seven days in August as Pebble Week, it should come as no surprise that the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance is still the cornerstone of automotive nirvana here on the Monterey peninsula. The ultra-exclusive Concours staged on the Pebble Beach Golf Links, providing classic car buffs the ultimate venue to see automotive history staked out on the greens. While dozens of supporting events have surfaced to fill the entire week with automotive happenings, Pebble itself has diversified to include a free event for spectators: the Pebble Beach Tour d'Elegance.

The Tour is open to all Concours entries and those that participate earn tie-breaker points in the Concours judging on Sunday. All but the oldest cars drive 50 miles up and down the hills along 17-Mile Drive and PCH from Pebble Beach to Big Sur, before heading back to the Polo Grounds at Pebble. Most of the participants also make a lunch stop in Carmel which clogs the streets for most of the day. Nobody can blame fans for trying to get a glimpse of these great cars for free rather than shelling out the big bucks for the Concours tickets. While the Sunday show offers truly spectacular vistas, getting a chance to see, hear and smell these museum pieces in action is really special too.

Just like last year, heavy fog along the route did it's best to obscure our view, but our long lenses and thermal underwear prevailed against the moist air. We've assembled a huge gallery comprised of Ferrari California Spiders, early Lamborghinis, the F1 Safety Car, vintage Lancias, Alfas, early Benzes, Delahayes, Talbots, Jags, BMWs, and many, many more. With the Tour, it's official: the festivities have begun.

Gallery: 2008 Pebble Beach Tour d'Elegance

The 13th Amelia Island Concours -- called by some the Pebble Beach of the East Coast -- will begin on March 7th at the Ritz-Carlton on Amelia Island in Florida. Held on the last two holes of the Ritz's golf course, this year's event will host 250 rare cars from private collections and museums, the traditional RM Auction, and will also be GM's splashdown as the first event of the General's 100-year anniversary. It will include the auctioning or appearance of three one-of-a-kind vehicles, and a Trans-Am rumble honoring Parnelli Jones. And who doesn't like the sound of a Trans-Am rumble?

Gallery: 2008 Amelia Island Concours Cars

The County Court of Nottingham, England has decreed that Thou Shalt Not Congregate With Thine Automobiles. Or something like that. The authorities wanted to halt bad drivers and the ferocious noise of fast car owners racing through the streets, and found it easiest to simply ban any kind of gathering. From now until June 2009, the county forbids "five or more motor vehicles from congregating together, driving in convoy or racing each other on the highway." If they catch you in convoy, you'll be fined and spend two years in the tower, or whatever they use for jails in Nottingham. The police will be watching the county's closed-circuit TVs to make sure the law isn't flouted, and as an example, they impounded a motorcycle that three kids were taking turns riding.

Is there no Robin Hood among the people who will rise up against the evil Sheriff of Nottingham? If not, we suppose we could lend you Kevin Costner, but we want him back at the end of the month for a Field of Dreams sequel.

Thanks for the tip, Jay!

[Source: The Newspaper]

There are Ferraris, there are rare Ferraris, and then there are the exceptionally rare Ferraris, the likes of which collectors and enthusiasts wait to hit the auction block with bated breath. At last month's RM auction of vintage motor cars at the Amelia Island Concours D'Elegance, one such special Prancing Horse hit the auction block, selling at a price significantly lower than its estimated value.

The Ferrari 365 GTS/4 was the convertible version of the car nicknamed the Daytona, although officially it never received that nameplate. Only 121 such Daytona Spyders were built by the factory; the rest were chop-jobs performed on Daytona coupes by Carrozziere. Serial number 16467 was the 71st authentic 365 GTS/4 built by Maranello, and had a rather eventful history. The car was originally sold in the Reno, Nevada to an American customer named Mr. Greer. In 1975 it appeared in the Warner Bros. movie "A Star is Born" starring Kris Kristofferson and Barbara Streisand, and was severely damaged in the production. (Why they didn't use a mock-up like in the original Miami Vice series or at least a chopped-roof Daytona coupe is beyond reasoning.) The bashed-up car was sold to a Mr. Luigi Chinetti, who commissioned the coachbuilder Giovanni Michelotti (not to be confused with the Ferrari racing specialists Michelotto) to rebuild the damaged roadster into the one-of-a-kind special you see here. It would be among the last Michelotti would ever design.

Since being displayed at the Turin motor show in 1980, the Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Michelotti NART Spyder has changed ownership only a few times. Although its value prior to the auction was estimated between five and $700,000, the Spyder sold for only $385,000. It just goes to show that an item is only worth as much as someone's willing to pay for it, but this is one example that's bound to appreciate in value over the coming years.

[Source: RM Auctions]