MASERATI

A DREAMING GIRL WITH A STIRLING MOSS HELMET

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Yesterday I discovered more about the amazing life of Maria Teresa de Filippis. Someone told me that I reminded him of her, which is the most wonderful compliment possible. I learned soon, as I started looking up her name, what a legendary female race driver she was, always wearing her lovely helmet… Just like my CHAPAL helmet. The combination with Maserati is epic as I love Maseratis, including their new masterpieces.

Everyone is telling me that I drive too fast, that I take too many risks, but I love risks and driving the maximum speed possible. It is my true passion, although… Continue reading

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SERIOUS BUSINESS AT TECHNO CLASSICA ESSEN – 3

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You probably already know that Techno Classica is in scale the largest exhibition in Europe when it comes to vintage and classic cars, so there is still a lot to share with you. Last report we were at the ‘card board’ replica palace. Around it several very special cars were exhibited that have been driven in the Mille Miglia. One of the most iconic superstars was the Mercedes 300 SLR. Juan Manuel Fangio was second on the stage of the 1955 Mille Miglia with this German marvel. More sporty icons were a Ferrari 750 Monza, a highly original Lancia Beta Montecarlo Turbo, Fiat 8V Zagato, Maserati 300 S, Maserati A6GCS, a Porsche 550 Spyder, etc.

Another part of the exhibition was the upstairs hall where a lot of clubs found their spot. By the way, I have not even seen the entire exhibition in one day, sadly. While making a short walk around the clubs, I was first not so impressed, but then… Continue reading

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SERIOUS BUSINESS AT TECHNO CLASSICA ESSEN – 2

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Jetzt gehts los! Let’s get back in the German mood, because we need to finish the Essen tour. In Paris I found my ugliest car, but at Essen I had a second encounter with this Mercedes-AMG CLK GTR. Now that I know that it is carrying a super serious engine I kind of love it, and I had heard of its performance and other stories…

I can imagine that most ladies don’t care much about car facts and stories, but luckily there were enough Louis Vuitton bags, and for the more openminded even exquisite lamps for decoration in your house. A large vintage headlamp on a tripod, how cool is that? To stay a bit closer to Paris, I encountered two other lovely automobiles that I had seen before. Mark Hyman displayed a couple of car striking like… (I am not allowed to say this word anymore), the Pininfarina aerodynamic X Concept, and guess what I found out… You can soon admire this unique car in The Hague… do I need to say more? One car I fell in love with the first time I saw it… Continue reading

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THE STOLEN USTINOV HISPANO – 1

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Everybody will very well remember Peter Ustinov, the unforgettable interpreter of Nero in “Quo Vadis”, the actor who performed so perfectly Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie’s legendary detective. But Peter Ustinov was much more than an actor; he was a great humorist, a novelist, and a true car enthusiast. A man who had been dreaming of cars all his life, and who spent so much time, as well as money, to satisfy his passion.

In his last interview Sir Peter (he had been knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1990), said: “[…] there was no one yet qualified to exorcise an internal combustion engine from a small boy. I know to this day precisely what make of car I was, an Amilcar… Continue reading

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BONHAM’S INVISIBLE RUNWAY – PART 2

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Let’s first finish the older selection with the Edwardians. How are those vehicles doing in the current market, and how wanted were they in the Grand Palais?

The 1914 Renault 22CV Type EE Limousine with coachwork by Letourneur et Marchand did not go for €180,000 – 240,000. That same year the 1914 Adler 35/80hp Phaeton was built, and it is a sole survivor of only four made! Not rare enough as it didn’t go for the estimate of €130,000 – 160,000. Again, from the same year was the 1914 Peugeot 14hp Type 144A ‘Coloniale’ Tourer, which sold for €34,500. But it was a no go for the 1906 Ford Model N Cabriolet. An estimate of €25,000 – 35,000 seemed too much. The 1912 Clément-Bayard AC4A 10hp Tourer had been owned since 1958 until the moment in Paris, when a new owner had €26,450 in his pocket and spent it. The 1913 Renault DG Tourer was again another woody goody in the wheels and did sell for €41,400, also a new owner after a long time… The previous ownership had been since 1968. Hard to tell if they are really that high in demand, since it was a bit of a mixed bag here… Anyway, I think they didn’t do too badly and fetched very reasonable prices.

Now the real treat for me… Continue reading

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BONHAMS INVISIBLE RUNWAY – PART 1

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The last spectacle of the Parisian week starts with a little war… The day before the Bonhams auction in the Grand Palais the party already took off and since Mr. Brown ‘from London town’ and his wicked friends chose this auction over the RM one, I followed. However, before we arrived at the Grand Palais we ended up in a taxi war. Since the fake Uber taxis are not appreciated by the official ones, the official taxis parked their cars in the middle of the roads and left them there as a protest. Were we glad that we were fit enough to simply walk and not spend hours in a taxi!

The Grand Palais is incredible, just look at the view of the roof construction. I saw something even better then stars… Continue reading 

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RM SOTHEBY’S PARIS ‘BARGAINS’

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The first auction that was to be held in Paris during Retromobile was the RM Sotheby’s sale at the impressive Place Vaubain. Earlier on I presented you my shopping list of a few of their more affordable stars. Let’s now take a look how they actually did. I took a good look at the lots during my preview and I will make a list of the, for me, most striking ones. But first my shopping list from an earlier article.

One of my fave lots was the 1965 Maserati Mistral 3.7 Coupé by Frua. The Mistal is one that is making a good name and so it was not a surprise that this one sold for… Continue reading

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THE GREAT ARTCURIAL MOTORCARS AUCTION CINEMA

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We have all been waiting for the legendary sale of the Ferrari 335 Sport Scaglietti, or as my mom called it, that “little red car” of the auction. The Retro week was quite busy with three major auctions, but for sure Artcurial stole the show in a typically passionate French way. A large collection went under the hammer, and 80% sold for a total of €56 million, a European record, of which the 335 is claimed to be the world record for a motor car at auction. The 335 sold for €28 million, but with premium added, it actually yielded €32.1 million! A price unaffordable except for the few. Four automobiles were sold over a million, so enough ‘bargains’ still.

The big and black room downstairs was incredible and very very busy! The auctioneers knew how to fill the space with their voices/songs, and even if they made a mistake, I still like them. The 335 was one big spectacle. The lights were switched off and then… A movie started showing in full song the excitement of the 335. It took a while to… Continue reading

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ITALIAN PASSION BRUSSELS

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Italian Passion means nothing less than fierce classics. The stallions are resting and behaving well, but somehow you see how badly they want to hit the road again to roar loudly and catch every car in front of them. There was one holy bull featured and it was such an honor to meet a machine like the…

Some of you have already been waiting for this report, so here it is: the report of the Italian Passion exhibition in Auto World Brussels. This event runs from 3 December to 31 Januari and at the same time you can see the standard collection of Auto World, which has the best of Belgian marques on show. All great, but… Continue reading

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CAN INTERCLASSICS BEAT RETROMOBILE? – PART 2

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Since we were now in the barn find corner, I spotted another ‘dans son jus’. This was again a very special experience, because I saw two different worlds… On the left we see a Porsche 356 AT2 in excellent condition, while on the right we see the true ‘dans son jus’ 356. This is something that impressed me, and what you don’t see very often. Most special cars in this show I saw double or even triple, and I was not stoned! I saw a discrete ‘dans son jus’ E-Type between the other well restored E-Types on the stand of E-Type Center Europe. The ‘dans son jus’ look is something I really appreciate, and I hope we all will continue preserving rather than restoring everything to the finest detail. Although some cars can handle that perfectly restored look very good… like for instance our Delahaye 135M Chapron convertible super star.

Just around the corner, I saw an unfinished Mercedes 190 SL, a super sexy car that caught my attention. In the same corner, I saw a 1958 Porsche 356 A Cabrio, which told my to mint (mint green…) my own business. Well, sometimes you also meet cars with a grumpy attitude… I wonder if you must first complete a study to become a Porsche expert, because… Continue reading

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CAN INTERCLASSICS BEAT RETROMOBILE? – PART 1

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As promised, here is a report about Interclassics Maastricht. It was my first time visiting this “Premiere Classic Car Show of the Benelux”, and I did not expect all that much, since Retromobile really is the holy exhibition for my dad and me. Earlier on I wrote you a report of Interclassics Brussels, which is a nice exhibition, but it needs to mature, which is not unusual for such a young show… So there I was with my lovely dad, the most popular day, Friday. In the parking it seemed that there was quite a crowd accompanying us. While entering the arena, a DB5 and a DB4 welcomed us with a tempting wink. I was already in trance ; )

Divided in three spacious halls, there was a wide range of stands and cars. Obviously you see that post-war sports cars are high in demand, especially the famous classic Porches 911, of course. Classic sports cars continue to gain compared with for instance prewar cars, because the mid-aged generation is now able to purchase their dream poster car that was once hanging above their beds when they were a kid. Not many of them may have had a poster of a 1947 Alfa 6… Continue reading

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LOUWMAN WILL TELL YOU HOW TO PURCHASE A DREAM AUTOMOBILE! – PART 2 

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All of this made a great time journey, BUT the real deal started for me when I stepped into the world of the finest of the finest. Before I did, accidentally, I grew like a giant after drinking something from a little bottle. I wasn’t able to get out of the Spyker hall with the wonderful aircraft, which was not a bad place at all to hang around. Luckily I remembered from Alice in Wonderland that I I had to eat some cake in order to get back to normal size. I was now smaller as before, especially when staring at those great historic heroes…

Next I ended up at the section of race icons and wonderful vintage and classic supercars. I listened with interest to some great stories about these heroic automobiles, told by… Continue reading

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VEYRON IN HIS BUGATTI TYPE 51 

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Last Year, I spotted two Veyrons casually parked just 20 meters away from my house in front of the Montreux Palace. Montreux, Veyron… these words reminded me of one of my grandfather’s souvenirs: The inaugural Montreux Grand Prix, held in 1934. “This is where I met my hero Pierre Veyron. You know, Veyron was a great driver and even better when driving a Bugatti. He even won Le Mans with one” he reminisced, as he went back to the 1930’s, recapping his youth.

The 1934 Montreux Grand Prix? Most of you may never have heard of this GP, but I think that a race in which VEYRON, MOLL, VARZI, TROSSI and ETANCELIN all took part is worth remembering, don’t you agree?

Montreux, where I live, is a kind of Swiss Monte-Carlo which has always been very appreciated by High Society (Napoléon the 3rd, Strawinsky, The Shah of Iran and so on) thanks to its wonderful landscape, mild climate and quietness. Then, one day, some car enthusiasts decided to turn the peaceful historical city center into a roaring and spectacular racing circuit.

The result was… Continue reading

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MASERATI BUILT A SPACE SHUTTLE!

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As announced, today it is the turn for the alien-like 1972 Maserati Boomerang coupé with coachwork by Italdesign. This space shuttle with chassis #081 and engine #902 is again a very rare car, in fact a one-off concept car that is legally road going, which is rare for a concept car. One thing the Boomerang has in common with the Bugatti T101C of yesterday… they both competed for honors at last year’s Chantilly concours and this year they will be there again, but now to be auctioned.

This very unique Maserati concept was to be shown at the Turin Motor Show in 1971. The Boomerang is a car that featured at a number automobile shows where it was much appreciated. It is a design of the ‘Car Designer of the Century’… Continue readinghttp://crankhandleblog.com