Classic Cars Authority: February 2012

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

1931 Cord L-29 LeGrande Speedster prototype replica

Carspotting: 1989 Acura Legend

This immaculate specimen will be the subject of a write-up on Hooniverse. The owner really took care of this 23 year old car.

Paper airplane record

Approximately 227 feet (69 meters). The plane was thrown by former Cal QB Joe Ayoob. His day job? Selling Anchor Steam beer.

We don't need no stinkin' environmental regs

Car battery disposal plant, Houston, 1972.

Source.

Recap: Ferrari 250 Tour de France on the Auction Block

This video features an incredibly rare Ferrari 250 Tour de France hitting the auction block at RM's London sale last year. In the video you can see a few shots of the car before it goes under the hammer and see what it is like first hand at an auction of a car of this value. It's tense and exciting as the car gets bid up by the audience.

At the end I was also able to catch the car moving around outside!

Award Winning Yellow Ford GT40 in UK

The Ford GT began life as a highly successful Le Mans winner back in the 1960s, when it was called the GT40. The 40, so named for its height in inches as per the required rules, packed large displacement Ford V8 engines, making it stiff competition for rival brand, Ferrari. This clearly worked – the model won the Le Mans 24-hour race four times in a row, from 1966 to 1969.

Fast forward to 2002, and a new GT40 concept was unveiled at Detroit, sporting the same shape and colour schemes as the original but with bigger, wider proportions. Three prototypes were displayed in 2003 and production began in 2004.

As a limited edition, high-performance model, the Ford GT of the 2000s had to have all the looks and style of its successful Le Mans-winning forerunner, but be street-legal and practical enough to attract Ford enthusiasts. With this in mind, Ford went for a mid-engine, two-seater layout with manual transmission and a host of unique technologies. The car sprints from 0-60mph in under 4 seconds and reaches a top speed of 212mph.

Demand for the Ford GT initially outpaced supply, with the first private sale going to Jon Shirley, a former Microsoft exec, for a cool $557,000. 100 cars were intended for export to Europe, to go on sale at local dealerships such as Peoples Ford. Production, however, ended early with just 4,038 of the planned 4,500 being made.

Despite its short production run, the Ford GT remains one of the most iconic cars of the 21st century thanks to its fantastic forerunner, the GT40, which you can catch in action here:

by Luke

REVEALED: The Ferrari F12berlinetta

The Ferrari F12berlinetta is finally among us. After all the teasers, we can finally see the finished product, and what an amazing piece of automotive genius it is. Behold, the Ferrari F12berlinetta, the most powerful Ferrari ever made.

Pictures from Ferrari.com

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS (from Ferrari.com)

Engine
Type	65-degree V12
Total displacement	6262 cc
Maximum power output	740 CV at 8500 rpm
Maximum torque	690 Nm at 6000 rpm

Dimensions and weight
Length	4618 mm
Width	1942 mm
Height	1273 mm
Dry weight*	1525 kg
Weight distribution	46% front, 54% rear
Weight-power ratio	2.1 kg/CV

Performance
Maximum speed	over 340 km/h
0-100 km/h	3.1 seconds

Fuel consumption and emissions (ECE + EUDC combined cycle)
Consumption**	15l/100 km
CO2**	350 g/km

*With lightweight options
**With HELE System

In my opinion, it looks gorgeous, and the specs are amazing.

Find out more information here

By Andrew

The Flamethrower Strikes Back...

You saw that epic Lamborghini Gallardo spitting flames a fortnight ago, it's been seen again and this time on the move firing that crazy stuff out the back!

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

a quick glimpse of the Desert Classic Concours d'Elegance at Westin Mission Hills Resort & Spa in Rancho Mirage, California

much more coverage of this past Sunday's show to come, it's going to take a lot of time to work the photos first before posting them.

Beautiful day, great venue, marvelous variety of cars, and I'll be there again next year. This was my first year there, and I am getting a bit farther from home a bit more now that I have a new car with 38-39 mpg to range farther out into So Cal