A historic Formula One car that was at the centre of one of the bitterest battles in Formula One’s history and the innocent party in what has been described as one of the most infamous acts in Formula One will go under the hammer at the Ferrari Leggenda e Passione event at Ferrari’s home in Maranello on 17 May 2009.

RM Auctions, in association with Sotheby’s, lift the gavel on the Ferrari 641/2 F1 car that was driven by Alain Prost in 1990 in the acrimonious and bitter battle with his McLaren rival Ayton Senna. It is also the actual car that was being driven by Prost when Senna punted him off the track in Japan within seconds of the start of the race so that Senna could take the 1990 title, an act which an appalled Prost commented on that “motor racing is sport not war.”

In total, Chassis 121 had two third place finishes, one being in the season’s final round in Australia, two seconds and a dominant victory in the hands of Prost in 1990 and it has an auction estimate of NZ$1.3 million.

Ferrari F1 Clienti department, which maintains Ferrari Formula One car for owners so that can drive their car at selected events around the world, carried out a no-expense-spared overhaul at a cost of nearly €110,000 of this unique 1990 Ferrari 641/2 F1 car. The work included fitment of a brand new injection system, a new set of gears for the sequential box, overhaul of the braking system and dyno testing of the engine. No fewer than 360 hours were spent in overhauling this important Ferrari racing car and it was subsequently shaken down at Fiorano in April 2008 by the Ferrari test drivers. Performing impeccably, Ferrari F1 Clienti would welcome the car at any of its events during the 2009 season and even the Monaco Historic Grand Prix in 2010.

Est. 685 bhp at 13,000 rpm, 3,500 cc 65-degree Ferrari Tipo 036/037 V-12 engine, Magneti Marelli/Weber fuel injection, Ferrari seven-speed transmission, double wishbone, pushrod-actuated inboard torsion bar and damper front suspension, double wishbone, pushrod-actuated inboard coil-spring/damper rear suspension, four-wheel SEP/Brembo disc brakes. Wheelbase: 2,855 mm (113.4 in.)

While so many other automakers have reinvented their logos over the years, Mercedes-Benz has stuck with the same old one for 100 years now. One century ago, Daimler-Motoren-Gesselschaft went down to the local patent office and registered the Three-Pointed Star, the logo everyone knows and recognizes today. Only a few weeks later, August Benz & Cie did the same with their logo, the Benz name encircled by a wreath. These two icons later became integrated when the two companies banded together. Now to celebrate the anniversary of their mutual registration, Mercedes-Benz has announced a new special edition of one of its fanciest coupes.

The CL550 4Matic features a number of special touches inside like light tan perforated leather with contrasting stitching and grey accents, gilded brass emblems on the center console and exterior special dark gray paint, new aero kit, and five-spoke 20-inch anthracite wheels with silver brake calipers to differentiate itself from its less aristocratic counterparts. The special edition is available on either the rear-drive or all-wheel-drive 4Matic models around the globe.

The CL550 package commands a hefty €17,850 premium in Europe. But celebrating such a milestone was never going to be cheap.

With the Mini celebrating it’s 50th anniversary this year, we can expect a rash of new books marking the birth of this legendary car. However, as far as New Zealand Mini enthusiasts are concerned, I doubt whether anyone else will be able to top Minis Down Under. And who better to write about the Mini in New Zealand than Donn Anderson who, as a motoring journalist, has been involved with the Mini right from the time of its local launch in February 1960; since then he’s owned no less than nine Minis! As such, he is perfectly placed to conjure up a book covering the car’s Kiwi exploits – from early production and motor sport right up to the modern, BMW Mini. Along the way, Anderson looks at many Kiwi personalities behind the Mini – including Bruce McLaren and his McLaren Mini-Cooper – and even spends time examining Ferris de Joux’s handsome Mini GT.

Minis Down Under is not a full-house historical review of the Mini (you can get that in any number of other books). Instead, it offers a real treasure trove of Mini Kiwiana – an absolute must-have for all Mini enthusiasts.

Mini Down Under: 
50 Years of the Mini 
in New Zealand by Donn Anderson
Review copy supplied by the publisher
Review by James Black

The May 09 issue of NZ Classic Car magazine is on the shelves now, so grab your copy today.

In this month’s issue our cover car is the McCopy CanAm tribute car thats name is a laugh but its performance is no joke. We have a kit car special with a full guide on building your own kit car and we look at all the different component cars availble in NZ. We see what it takes to build your own supercar by chatting to a Ultima GTR owner, and we visit Fraser cars for a factory tour and a test drive of the iconic Kiwi sports car. In our future classics section we profile the R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R and we have a buyers’ guide focussing on Japanese hot hatches. In our motorsport flashback section we go back to May 1979 when Brett Riley took on some future F1 champions. We have an event report from the Legends of Speed meeting at Pukekohe and part one of a new three-part series on racing legend Dennis Marwood.

All this and more articles, news, reviews and technical support to keep you informed on the world of classic motoring. Pick up the new issue before it sells out.

When independent Chinese automaker Geely unveiled its luxury GE model recently (read news item), it was hard not to notice its more than slight resemblance to the Rolls-Royce Phantom. Now with Rolls-Royce threatening legal action about the knock-off vehicle, Geely Automobile is in full denial of British accusations. Geely actually seem rather unconcerned. “As it were, they are actually different … people may feel they are the same at the first glance, but the details are certainly different,” Geely spokeswoman Zhang Xiaoshu said in an interview.

To most observers in the industry, the production-bound Chinese GE concept clearly borrows the Rolls signature grill, down-sloping rear deck, and the Flying Lady mascot. Unlike the Phantom, the Chinese variant is set to hit the market at only a fraction of the cost of the exclusive Rolls. While imitation is often considered the most sincere form of flattery, Rolls-Royce isn’t doing much smiling.

A prolific author, Robson delves through BMW’s archives to produce a really interesting book and, instead of dealing with the marque’s history on a car-by-car basis, instead he concentrates on BMW’s factories. It may seem like a pretty dull idea, but Robson manages to bring it off with a certain sense of style.

The early chapters are easily the most interesting part of the book – dealing with BMW’s beginnings, its early career building aero engines, motorcycles and its forays into license-built Austin 7s and Isettas. From the ’80s onwards the books loses its classic interest, although the sections on BMW’s acquisition of Rover and its flirtation with Rolls-Royce are useful additions.

However, the main core of this book is a collection of rare factory photographs – Herman Goering and Adolf Hitler touring the Milbertshofen factory; lines of BMW apprentices in their Hitler Youth uniforms; Dornier and Junkers aircraft assembly; and a whole series of photos that chart the growth of BMW’s massive industrial might. Fascinating stuff, indeed.

BMW’s Bavarian blue and white propeller logo harks back to its early 20th-century roots as an aircraft engine manufacturer. How this venerable company weathered two world wars, moved from aircraft to motorcycles and, finally, to the cars that would provide its greatest glory is the remarkable story recounted in this book. With unique access to BMW’s factories and archives, author Graham Robson gives readers an inside look at how the great German automaker works and how its methods have evolved over the decades. Visiting factories throughout Germany and in the United States, he offers readers a rare, behind the scenes, nuts-and-bolts account of how BMW produces its famed models. Illustrated with rare photographs from BMW’s own archives, this book constitutes an unprecedented tour of the history and culture of one of the world’s great automakers.

Inside the BMW Factories: Building the Ultimate Driving Machine by Graham Robson
Review copy supplied by Techbooks
Review by Allan Walton

Penn falls under the sway of the world’s greatest passenger car marque despite his often denied Latin bias

I’m always more than a little in awe of this iconic marque’s products. I know that they’re not me – so incredibly imposing in every physical aspect, so much larger than life with that archaic radiator shell and the vertical louvres and so incredibly recognisable anywhere, anytime.

So why aren’t they me? Well it’s to do with that powerful presence they’re always thrusting at you, there’s nothing subtle about what is undoubtedly the world’s most recognisably prestigious motor car. Not that I’m subtle, dear me no! But I do like my cars to be sculptured curvaceously, implying hidden potential, and this isn’t Rolls-Royce style, and never has been. The world’s greatest passenger car never pretended to be anything but what it is – the world’s greatest passenger car, and recognisably so, instantly. Of course, why would the marque ever present itself in any other way? And this beautiful example is a prime example, but with one variation, it has an American-designed and built body mounted on the magnificently engineered British chassis.