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Bonhams is pleased to announce that the iconic Aston Martin DB2 Team Car ‘VMF 65’ is to headline at the 11th annual Bonhams auction of Aston Martin and Lagonda Motor Cars and Related Automobilia – the only auction in the world solely dedicated to this iconic marque. The auction will be held on 22nd May 2010 at Aston Martin Lagonda Limited Works Service, Newport Pagnell.

‘VMF 65’ – the ex-Works 1950 Aston Martin DB2 Team Car, Registration no. VMF 65, Chassis no. LML/50/9 – is a British Racing Green gem, as raced by such legendary and leading drivers as Stirling Moss, Peter Collins, Roy Salvadori, Tony Rolt, Lance Macklin, George Abecassis and Eric Thompson.

This prestigious competition Coupe was built in 1950 to contest that year’s Le Mans 24-Hours endurance race. It was one of a team of three DB2 Coupes representing the David Brown-owned marque – the others being ‘VMF 63’ and ‘VMF 64’. In those days, it was not unusual to drive the cars to the race – ostensibly to run-in the engines – and en route to the circuit driver Jack Fairman missed a corner on a French road and ‘VMF 65’ overturned. The car was too badly damaged to participate in the 24-Hours, but subsequently made its racing debut on 26th August, driven by Eric Thompson in the Daily Express One Hour Production Car Race at Silverstone.

 

Following on from its successful return to Race Retro last year, H&H has already attracted a host of exciting entries for 2010. However, the catalogue for this prestigious auction will not close until Monday February 23rd so there is still time to present your property be it a motor car, motorcycle or piece of automobilia to a truly international audience.

Significant Motor Cars:

1975 Ford Escort MKII RS1800

One of the famous Works-supported Championship-winning Haynes of Maidstone liveried cars as driven by John Taylor and later Malcolm Wilson (among others). Still retaining the same bodyshell with which it finished its period career, this ultra-rare Works-supported RS1800 has been extensively restored over recent years and boasts an enviable mechanical specification (original Terry Hoyle block etc).
Estimate: £90,000 - £110,000

1971 Ford Escort MKI RS1600

One of two RS1600 cars that Historic Motorsports of Daventry assembled to what some have described as the ultimate rally specification yet achieved for a MKI Escort, ŒWRV 207K‚ was last piloted in anger by Stig Blomqvist and co-driver Ana Goni on the 2007 East African Safari Rally. Having taken some 870 hours to prepare, ŒWRV 207K‚ finished the grueling 4,500km event in sixth place overall, while its sister car ŒWPU 242L‚ claimed outright victory.
Estimate: £55,000 - £65,000

 

Patrick Head, one of the most respected Grand Prix designers of the modern era, will give his name to a new class division within the Grand Prix Masters historic race series this season.

Head's name will adorn the class for Post-1978 Formula One cars, in the series run by Masters Historic Racing, and he becomes the first non-driver to be honoured in such a way. The other classes within Grand Prix Masters are named after legendary drivers Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, Emerson Fittipaldi and Niki Lauda. “The Patrick Head Class” is now open to ground-effect and flat-bottomed Formula 1 cars produced between 1978 and 1985, an era when Patrick’s design team at Williams Grand Prix Engineering were constantly producing ground-breaking new designs.

Head, still very much Williams F1’s Director of Engineering, has a superb record in the sport having joined Frank Williams as Chief Designer in 1976. His first design was the excellent FW06, a car very much part of the Grand Prix Masters races in recent years; and he later created the classic FW07, which took the team's first World title in 1980 with Alan Jones; both these designs are eligible for GPM in 2010.

Head has been at the centre of the 16 World titles won by Williams in three decades at the very pinnacle of the sport. The designs created by Head and his team include the later years of the Grand Prix Masters eligibility list, including the ground-effect cars of the late 1970s and early 1980s.

"There is no one better than Patrick Head to typify the innovation and fresh thinking of this dramatic era of Grand Prix racing," said Christopher Tate of Masters Historic Racing. "We are thrilled that he has kindly agreed to his name being used for this class. Patrick's achievements in three decades at the top of Grand Prix racing are remarkable, and we hope he will find time to come along to one of our races."

More details are available from www.themastersseries.com

 

The Barrett-Jackson Auction Company helped raise nearly $4.5 million for various charities during the 39th Annual Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction in Scottsdale Jan. 18-24, 2010. Funds were gathered from the sale of 17 vehicles consigned by event sponsors, charities and generous Barrett-Jackson customers. Barrett-Jackson does not collect fees or commissions on vehicles sold for charity, which amounted to nearly $400,000 in waived fees.

Barrett-Jackson kicked off its charitable efforts in Scottsdale with the Childhelp Drive the Dream™ gala on Jan. 16. This star studded event was attended by over 700 people. Through a commitment for matching funds by Westminster International Humanitarian Trust, Childhelp was able to raise well over $1.5 million with more funds still pouring in. The charitable efforts of Barrett-Jackson continued throughout the week with multiple charity cars being auctioned. Many of them were captured live on SPEED.

“Barrett-Jackson has a strong commitment to helping charities raise money by providing time during our auction and waiving our commissions and fees,” said Craig Jackson, Chairman/CEO of Barrett-Jackson. “This year, our sponsors like Ford, General Motors and SPX, as well as our customers, really stepped up and donated some great collector cars for auction. Our customers have great hearts and show it by bidding on charity cars for worthy causes.”

The leading charity car was a 2011 Ford Mustang GT glass roof pace car donated by Ford Motor Company that sold for $300,000 to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. On Feb. 14, 2010, the new pony car will be the first Ford vehicle in 40 years to pace the famed Daytona 500. Another top charity car was a 2008 Chevrolet Corvette coupe limited edition #427 sold for $200,000 by General Motors. Before the hammer fell, four other bidders donated an additional $50,000, increasing the total charity amount to $250,000. All proceeds from the sale were donated to the American Red Cross to help fund relief efforts in earthquake-stricken Haiti.

One of the most rousing charity sales took place when Darrell Gwynn’s 1990 Coors Extra Gold top fuel dragster replica crossed the block. The initial winning bid sky-rocketed to $200,000, but the new owner asked that the car be re-entered into the auction immediately and his bid donated to the benefiting charity, the Darrell Gwynn Foundation. The dragster then sold for $110,000, only to be donated back and sold again for $100,000, making for a total donation of $410,000.

 

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Other Tour Auto Photos

After the Ferrari 250 "Tour de France" in 2007, the OSCA in 2008, the Jaguar MkII and Ford GT40 in 2009, the Tour Auto Optic 2ooo celebrates in 2010 the 50th anniversary of the first victory of the Ferrari 250 SWB in the Tour de France Automobile. For this chrome and aluminium star adulated by the public, the organiser Peter Auto has big ambitions and hopes for a unique gathering of SWB for the Tour Auto Optic 2ooo start on April 19, 2010 in the Jardins des Tuileries in Paris.

Already ten entered, but the inscriptions remain open with special conditions –including an automatic outclassing– reserved for 250GT SWB drivers. Among the ten cars already entered, is the one driven to victory by Willy Mairesse in the 1960Tour de France. Flashback to the period when the Cavallino ruled over the French race…

September 1960, an armada of nine Ferrari 250 GT SWBs line up for the start of the ninth after-warTour de France. Enough to dishearten the competition, as the new Berlinetta is of the lineage of the Ferrari 250s which have already ruled over the French race for four years. Boasting a brilliant V12 3 litre engine, this new version has a chassis shortened by 20 cm and beautifully designed aluminium bodywork. At the finish, after a 5000 kilometre expedition via the Ventoux, Spa and Nürburgring: is the awaited victory, with a bonus triple win!