Six Degrees of Automotive Separation – Jowett and Ferrari

Judging from the great responses to the Hemmings Six Degrees of Separation Challenge series so far, you all seem to share my concept of entertainment. But that’s not to say I’m so big in the breeches that I won’t accept a suggestion for the challenge, and thus, we have a thrown gauntlet from reader Patrick, who saw Jim Donnelly’s recent post on the Jowett Jupiter racing at Monterey and wanted to see if we could connect it in six degrees or less to Ferrari.

What made Patrick choose those two is beyond me, so hopefully Patrick has already figured out a path between the two and can enlighten us sometime before the end of the day. For the rest of you, give it a shot, and if you can dream up any challenges, let us know.

The rules, as always, are simple: A connection consists of one company owning another, merging with another or sharing another’s parts. The more obscure the connections, the better. Explain your connections, and if you need examples, check out our previous Hemmings Six Degrees of Automotive Separation Challenges.

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The Most Expensive Car Ever Auctioned in United States

The 1937 Bugatti Type 57SC Atalante Coupe that sold for a record $7.92 million

Financial tough times? Hogwash!
Gooding & Company, the official auction house of the 58th annual Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, brought in a total of $64.2 million during it’s two-night auction of ultra-rare collectible cars on August 16 and 17.

One lucky bidder paid a record setting $7.92 million dollars for a 1937 Bugatti Type 37SC Atalante Coupe. That’s the highest price ever paid for an automobile in the United States. The $64.2 million take broke even last year’s huge tally of $60 million. Twenty cars sold for more than $1 million and five cars sold for more than $2 million.

“Our auctions at Pebble Beach this year represent the finest grouping of cars we have ever had the honor to offer, and the strong sales results reflect that exceptional quality,” said David Gooding, president and founder of Gooding & Company. “We’re proud to have set the North American auction record with the $7.92 million sale of the 1937 Bugatti Type 57SC Atalante Coupe, and to have reached noteworthy milestones in a host of other categories as well.”

Dr. Peter Williamson’s collection of 12 Bugattis, the finest collection of it’s kind to ever come to auction, played a big part in bringing in such a large crowd to the Gooding & Co. auction. His 12 cars alone sold for over $15.5 million, a portion of which was donated to the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and the Dartmouth Medical School. The results of the auction as a whole were mixed though, with some of the 140 cars selling for below estimate, and one in five actually failing to sell at all.

Here are the top five big sellers:
1937 Bugatti Type 37SC Atalante Coupe – $7.92 million, the big one, the highest price ever paid for an automobile in the United States.
1959 Ferrari 250 GT LWB “California” Spider – $3.63 million - Yes, you heard right, Cameron’s dads car from Ferris Buellers Day Off.
2009 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport 001 - $3,190,000
1938 Alfa Romeo 6C 2300B Mille Miglia “Sleeping Beauty” – $2.585 million
1950 Ferrari 166 MM Berlinetta Le Mans – $2.2 million.

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Backyard Ferrari Of The Day: Fierrari 512 Testarossa [Backyard Ferrari Of The Day]

An interesting difference between Backyard Lambos and Backyard Ferraris is that eBay apparently won't let you use the word "Ferrari" when you're trying to sell your Fauxrrari. That's why the vehicle we're looking at today is actually a "512 tr FERR@RI" replica.

You may have noticed that the words "Fiero," "Pontiac," or even "GM" don't get mentioned anywhere in the description, but the statement "v6 tuned port fuel injected with an auto transmission that shifts like a dream" tells the whole story: this is a Fierrari. However, its Fiero origins aren't so obvious at first glance (other than the engine and gauge cluster) and the build quality seems pretty decent. Would you be better off taking your $34,500 and purchasing a clean 308 or Mondial, with enough left over to pay shop bills for a couple years… or do you get the nicest Fierrari in town instead?
[eBay Motors]

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Ferrari recalls 612 Scaglietti for faulty clutch sensor

Yes, even Italian supercar companies have recalls. Ferrari is recalling about 366 of its 2005 to 2007 model 612 Scagliettis due to a fault in the clutch sensor of its F1 transmission.According to...

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Vandenbrink Designs Ferrari 599 GT Convertible

Michiel van den Brink, dutch designer, decided to make his unique design of the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano after he successfully designed the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO. With the help of the tuning-house Edo Competition, he “upgraded” the 600-hp, from the Enzo V12 engine, to a number of 750-hp.

After hearing the rumors about Ferrari wanting to built a small amount of convertibles, altered from the Fiorano, the dutch designer presented his idea of the “GT Convertible”. van den Brink said that the folding hardtop will be made of carbon-fiber only at the request of the customer.

So far, the asking price wasn’t declared, but we anticipate the unique piece of art will be very expensive because the company is focusing on an exclusive area.

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