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Vintage VW camper van, but made of Lego blocks

Life-size vehicles made of Lego blocks seem to be all the rage these days. The latest example comes from Volkswagen’s commercial vehicles division which contracted Rene Hoffmeister to re-create a vintage T2 Bulli camping van that will be unveiled this week at the f.re.e leisure fair in Munich, Germany.

According to VW, Hoffmeister is one of only 12 officially certified Lego model makers in the world. 

Hoffmeister and his colleague, Pascal Lenhard, used around 400,000 Lego blocks for the build, which took six weeks. The Lego version of the camper van, which was produced from 1967-71, weighs 700 kilos (nearly 1,500 pounds).

The van is complete with a pop-up roof. 

Bondurant school seeking investors, buyers as Chapter 11 process nears end

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The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving is accepting investment and purchase inquiries as its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing process nears completion, the facility said Monday in a news release.

“This is an incredible opportunity and the chance to be a part of the future of one of the most respected brands in the industry,” Tim Shaffer, the school’s chief restructuring officer, was quoted in the release.

“Bob Bondurant enjoyed an incredibly successful racing career, which he parlayed into one of the world’s premier driver-trainer schools. We look forward to talking with potential investors and purchasers who can take the school to the next level.”

Interested parties have until February 28 to submit inquiries.

Should the school emerge from bankruptcy in the coming months, it would be slightly ahead of the schedule Shaffer set for the school when he spoke with the ClassicCars.com Journal in December. At the time, he said the facility should be done with the process by midsummer at the latest.

“There aren’t that many problems that need to be resolved that would take that much time,” he said, adding that the school was not in that bad of financial shape. “If I’m not out of Chapter 11 by the end of June or the Fourth of July, I’m not doing a good job.”

In the same interview, Shaffer said there had been a “high level of interest from people wanting to get involved with the future of the school.”

Bondurant founded the school in California 51 years ago. The current Chandler, Arizona campus — which is the largest purpose-built driving school in the world — opened in 1990.

The school was briefly closed in November after now-former employees walked out, claiming they had experienced a hostile work environment at the hands of Bondurant’s wife, Pat. The couple has denied the claims.

Family fascination leads to barn-found Oldsmobile Jetfire

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Barn-found stories have become legend, it seems, no matter what is being discovered under ratty covers, layers of dirt and piles of discarded household items.

But in this case, if Eric Jensen’s wife had been just a bit taller, he may have never pursued his curiosity about an Oldsmobile resting in a shed in Iowa. That curiosity ultimately uncovered a rare 1963 Jetfire which looks like a smaller version of Oldsmobile’s full size 88 hardtops but is powered by a relatively tiny aluminum V8 with an equally revolutionary turbocharger.

The Jetfire had been parked in this shed in Iowa since 1976 | Eric Jensen photo

Jensen’s story starts at age 13 when his father, a diehard Oldsmobile fan, introduced his son to the wonders of the early ‘70s 442s and Rallye 350s. Jensen’s first car, a 1970 Rallye 350, stayed with him for 25 years.

In 2000, Jensen found the perfect bride who just happened to admire his Oldsmobiles as much as he did and several years later, he found her an original-paint ’72 Cutlass in North Carolina, flying there to pick up the car and drive it back to Indiana.

For a year the car did duty as her vehicle, but she admitted she wasn’t quite as comfortable driving it as she wanted, having some issues with seeing over the steering wheel. Jensen was undeterred and showed her some pictures of 1962 Cutlasses, Oldsmobile’s smallest unibody compact. 

“She fell in love with it right off,” he said, “and wanted to find one.”

The ’72 Cutlass was sold as the search began and Jensen expanded the criteria for a car to include the entire F85 model line. 

“The first car I found was a ’62 Jetfire that was an original-paint, rust-free car,” he explained. 

For Jensen the car had an added bonus because it was the performance version of the F85, but it also didn’t quite fit the couple’s budget.

“I showed it to my wife, and she loved it even more because of the special Jetfire-only side trim.” 

So, in February 2012, they purchased their first 1962 Oldsmobile Jetfire and that changed the course of the Jensen family’s Cutlass love affair. 

“By the summer of 2015 we were really not interested in my other cars,” he said, “and we sold the 442 W-30 and Rallye 350.”

Today it is Oldsmobile Jetfires only and true to form of any real car nut, Jensen has not only learned all he can about these special models, but has become something of an expert within the Jetfire community.

That community networking (and his wife’s need to find something that might better fit her) eventually led to the shed in Iowa. Like many barn finds, someone sees a vehicle parked in some out of the way place and passes the information along to someone else who passes it along again.

Eric Jensen (left) and Jim Noel are the ‘go to’ guys when it comes to restoration of Oldsmobile’s 1962 and 1963 turbocharged Jetfires

Jensen explained that once he and his wife got interested in these early ‘60s Oldsmobiles, he made every effort to reach out and build a network. Within that network was Jim Noel of Bloomington, Minnesota, a longtime 3M employee and an admitted “hands-on” tinkerer who says he’s rebuilt everything from player pianos and slot machines to mechanical cash registers. But his mechanical passions blossomed when it came to cars and, like many enthusiasts, followed those passions from his youth into a longtime marriage and well into his retirement.

Noel bought his first 1962 F85 two-door brand new when he traded his “hot rod” 1957 Oldsmobile Super 88 to get something a bit more economical. Noel said he fell in love with the ’62 even though it was a “plain Jane” with no power options, a column shifted three-speed (with posi-traction!) and a bench seat interior. But Noel eventually owned nine more of the ‘62s plus a 1963 among some 22 Oldsmobiles (including eight Toronados), a Pontiac Trans Am, a couple Chevy Blazers and three Cadillacs.

By 1970 the couple needed a “second car” to augment daily transportation so for Mother’s Day in 1971 he presented his wife with, what else, a 1962 F85 Cutlass of her own, something he had put together from two “well used” Cutlasses. The die was cast. From that point on the Noel family would have the small Oldsmobiles as rolling members even to this day.

Noel continued building his own network of F85 and Cutlass enthusiasts, even making the effort to travel to Oldsmobile headquarters in Lansing, Michigan to learn as much as he could about the F85 development and specifically more information on the aluminum 215cid V8 with turbocharger. 

He recounts how, when he bought that first new F85 in 1962, he had to take it into the dealer for some routine service. The dealer said they would need to keep the car overnight and would he like a loaner to use. The only thing they had to loan was a demo Jetfire with a 4-speed, one of only 50* 4-speed cars built that year by Oldsmobile with the Turbo-Rocket engine, according to the dealer (* the actual production number was 203, but still a very small number).

Original owner Phil Schildroth, with wife Dianne, pose next to the Jetfire before it leaves Iowa for its new home in Indiana | Eric Jensen photo

“I tried to be calm,” he describes, “and not show my excitement and said, yes, that would be fine!” 

He said he got away from the dealership as fast as he could fearing they might find him a different loaner. He was so impressed with the Jetfire compared to his own F85 that he decided right then “someday I will own one of these.”

Eventually the Jetfire dream became reality when Noel converted a ’62 Cutlass convertible to a 4-speed Turbo-Rocket which included finding several Jetfires in junk yards to find parts, sometimes traveling to Arizona and California and getting parts from sellers in New York and North Carolina. The convertible, once completed, was joined later by a similarly converted 1962 F85 3-seat station wagon.

Of course, during all this research, rebuilding and restoration, Noel managed to establish himself as a “go to” Jetfire expert which takes us back to that ’63 languishing in Iowa.

The son of the ’63’s owner had been wanting to sell the car, which he knew had been sitting since 1976, and began looking to see what it might take to find a buyer. During his search he ran across Jim Noel and made contact to see if Noel might have some interest. Noel really wasn’t interested in the ’63 model but he knew someone who might consider it and made a call to Eric Jensen.

He and Jensen had crossed paths at various Oldsmobile shows and gatherings. Jensen was interested in learning all he could about restoration of the Jetfires, much like what Noel had done when he first discovered them. Noel also had probably the most expertise when it came to understanding and rebuilding the little Oldsmobile’s turbocharger, so Jensen had stayed in close touch when he began tackling his own rebuilding projects.

The ’63 wasn’t really that interesting for Jensen either as he also prefers the 1962 Jetfires. But he talked with the son and had him send pictures so he could take a closer look. He also recruited Ryan Brutt, a contributing editor for Hot Rod magazine and a well-known “automotive archaeologist” to help verify the car as a true “barn find.” Jensen said the more he considered the car, its condition and rarity, the more he thought it might be worthwhile to pull it out of its resting place and get it to a new home.

Negotiations ensued and Jensen decided to make the trip to Iowa with trailer in tow to retrieve the Jetfire. He determined it would be a worthwhile investment even though he wasn’t totally certain exactly what would happen with the car once he got it back to Indiana.

Personal inspection sealed the car’s fate and Jensen yanked it out of the shed, loaded it up and headed back home. He also made a commitment to Ryan Brutt to display the car at the 2018 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals show in Rosemont, Illinois, which would be its first public viewing. It garnered a lot of attention.

Once home, Jensen dug in to find out what caused the car to be parked in the first place and discovered a malady common with these engines… two bent pushrods and a flat cam lobe. 

“The car had about 89,000 miles on it and these engines were known for having cam issues when they reached 50,000-80,000 miles.” 

He pulled the valve covers and distributor, initially to prime the oil pump and changed the oil and filter. None of the valves seemed to be stuck, but once he primed the oil pump a couple of valves were still loose and he knew then what the problem might be. Off came the intake manifold and the bent pushrod was found.

Fortunately, Jensen had a cam he had removed in a previous engine build, so he slid it in, replaced the push rods and fired it up. The engine ran, though the turbocharger was not functioning, but Jensen wasn’t real concerned about that aspect of the engine.

“Jim Noel has gathered parts to rebuild 50 of these units,” Jensen explained, “which includes finding the proper materials to make certain parts like diaphragms which simply are not available in any form.” Jensen said Noel managed to have some parts made including molds that are used to crimp valves back together once the internal parts are replaced.

Both Noel and Jensen now can rebuild a turbocharging unit. 

“Jim Noel started gathering parts and information about the turbo units in the mid-80s, making use of a couple of other Olds experts at that time and now he’s been kind enough to pass that information on to me,” said Jensen. “I really believe without Jim Noel taking on all the research about these cars, we wouldn’t have any functioning survivors today.”

The Jetfire was displayed in as-found condition at the 2018 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals | Jim Volgarino photos

At the muscle car show, Jensen was uncertain what he was going to do with the car… restore it, leave it as it was or sell it. 

“It is such a nice complete car I’m tempted to hang on to it,” he said. But Jensen has plans for more 1962 restorations, so the ’63 was put up for sale soon after the MCACN show.

“It’s gone to a collection down in Florida which eventually will be part of a museum that is being planned down there,” he said. Jensen said he may be asked to handle the engine and turbocharger rebuild once the restoration proceeds, but for now he’s taking the funds from the ’63 and applying it to his next ’62 Jetfire project.

At the time of its development, the Jetfire was a technology marvel and one of the first passenger cars offered with a turbocharger, an honor shared with Chevrolet’s 1962 Corvair Spyder Turbo. The Olds used a single-barrel carb and 10.25:1 compression in conjunction with the Garrett AiResearch turbo that produced a maximum 5 psi boost at a relatively low 2200rpm.

Hard throttle operation caused spark knock in the engine, so Oldsmobile came up with a novel water-injection using metered distilled water and methyl alcohol which was called “Turbo-Rocket Fluid”. Unfortunately, many owners failed to keep the fluid reservoir filled using the underhood bottle container and the turbos wouldn’t function properly. In many cases owners were taking the cars back to the dealers to have the fuel system replaced with a conventional 4-barrel carb and manifold.

The ’63 Jensen found in Iowa, however, still has a bottle of fluid under the hood, just waiting for use once the car is brought back to its full glory.

At the show, Jensen also displayed a fully rebuilt and restored turbocharged 1962 Jetfire engine . The aluminum V8 continues on today as the block used to power many of the British Land Rovers. GM sold the rights to the block in 1964 | Jim Volgarino photo

Ranger off-roader has Ferrari heritage

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Torino-based Ferves took its name from a shortened version of Ferrari Veicoli Speciali, or Ferrari Special Vehicles, and from 1966-71 produced around 600 examples of its Ranger off-road vehicle. One of those, a 1968 Ferves Ranger, is the Pick of the Day. 

The chubby, clubby little off-roader is being offered in an advertisement on ClassicCars.com by a dealership in Oceanside, New York.

Windscreen folds down

The dealership’s description of the vehicle is sparse, noting the 500cc engine, 4-speed gearbox, 18,000 kilometers traveled to date, that the vehicle was designed by Carlo Ferrari and is for sale for $39,000.

The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile devotes a single paragraph to Ferves, noting that the Ranger was introduced at the Turin auto show in 1966 and was “an attractive looking and extremely compact all-terrain vehicle” with a rear-mounted 18 horsepower Fiat 550 engine, independent suspension from the Fiat 500D and with all-wheel drive. 

The encyclopedia adds that the windscreen folded down and the doors could be “fixed in the open position.” The vehicle had four seats. Later, a cargo/pickup version was added and late examples had 5-speed transmissions and offered such options as 2-wheel drive and locking differentials.

The encyclopedia makes no mention of Carlo Ferrari. And while RM Sotheby’s catalog from its London sale in 2015 credits the Rangers design to Carlo Ferrari, it includes no mention of the designer’s possible relationship to Enzo and the sports car manufacturing family.

There’s a convertible roof

The 1973 Ferves Ranger sold in London had previously been owned by famed designer Phillippe Starck and brought slightly less than $37,400 at the auction.

The seller offering the ’68 Ranger through the ClassicCars.com advertisement asks $39,000. Photographs with the advertisement show the car open and with a convertible-style roof covering.

To view this listing on ClassicCars.com, see Pick of the Day.

Jay Leno takes a look at the engines that power Lamborghinis

The latest episode of Jay Leno’s Garage isn’t about physical Lamborghinis, but rather the heart and soul of a brand: the engines.

Leno brought on Andrew Romanowski, president of the Lamborghini Club of America, who showed off two engines from the Italian firm’s history.

The first was a 3.5-liter V12, the first Lamborghini engine. Normally, it sits under the hood of a 350 GT. Romanowski said he’s in the process of restoring the car, but the engine is ready to roll. For the show, Romanowski threw it on a cart modeled after one used by Lamborghini at a 1960s auto show to display it and fire up.

As the story goes, Ferruccio Lamborghini decided to build a better engine for a road car than Ferrari. While that’s subjective, the V12 powerplant certainly caught everyone’s attention. The engine originally made 315 horsepower, but Romanowski didn’t offer the output of his restored version.

The rest of Lamborghini and Ferrari’s history is rather well known. Cliff notes for those interested: two Italian men, a sports car builder and a tractor builder, argued about building a better car, and Ferrari told Lamborghini to do it himself. So he did.

Jay Leno took a look at two engines from Lamborghini on the most recent episode of Jay Leno's Garage. | Screenshot
Jay Leno took a look at two engines from Lamborghini on the most recent episode of Jay Leno’s Garage. | Screenshot

Lamborghini’s V12 was regarded as smoother and slightly more advanced than the engines Ferrari had put into its own road cars. On the cart, it also looked like an artistic masterpiece, with the valve covers elegantly displaying the Lamborghini name. The engine features four cams, two valves per cylinder, and six Weber carburetors.

Leno remarked that it came at about the middle point of the development of the automobile, and that it’s not very complicated in comparison to today’s engines. As an overhead cam engine, however, it’s basic design is more advanced than some of today’s pushrod engines from American automakers (though those engines make plenty of power and have other advancements of their own).

At the 8-minute mark, Romanowski fired it up, and it sounded lovely.

The second engine on display was an 8.0-liter marine engine owned by Lamborghini enthusiast Rob Leary, who Romanowski described as a guy who “caught the Lamborghini bug” a few years ago. Since then, he’s bought up all sorts of obscure engines and items from the Italian car maker. The marine engine is essentially a bigger version of the 3.5-liter V12.

According to Leary, the 8.0-liter V12 could have made its way to the Countach or LM002, but the engine was too large and heavy for any road car so it was made for boats instead. This particular engine is fuel-injected and was built for boat racing in about 1988. A carbureted version was meant for pleasure boats.

SEMA expanding support for high school builds, will fund five projects

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The Special Equipment Marketing Association — aka SEMA — will support five high school builds in 2019 after the success of the pilot program last year, the group said.

The pilot program, which was funded by SEMA, had students at Santa Fe Early College Opportunities customize a four-wheel drive 2015 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. In addition to the auto work, the New Mexico school “developed a written curriculum and a how-to guide intended to be used for similar projects in other secondary schools across the nation,” a SEMA news release read.

“We partnered up with SEMA, which is just a huge opportunity for us, the school and the community,” Chris Coriz, instructor for the class at the Santa Fe ECO said in a video on the project’s website. “We had been talking for about a year about how we could come up with something new and innovative to help students and just keep the auto industry rolling.”

Upon completion, the Jeep was auctioned for $56,175, which will be put toward the 2019 build.

Santa Fe ECO will participate in the program again, along with C.D. Hylton High School in Woodbridge, Virginia; Comstock High School in Kalamazoo, Michigan; R.L. Turner High School in Carrollton, Texas; and Santa Ynez Valley Union High School in Santa Ynez, California.

Wranglers will again be the focus of the builds, but it will be limited to those produced between 1996 and 2006. At the conclusion of the builds, they will be sold and the funds put toward expanding the program further.

More than 20 companies donated toward the 2018 build. SEMA said it was still seeking sponsors for this year’s projects. Those interested can fill out a form.

3-wheeler being readied for race it couldn’t finish in 1907

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Despite being asked, “Are you mad, Anton?” a Belgian architect will attempt to complete the 2019 Peking to Paris rally in a three-wheeler similar to one that didn’t get all that far in the inaugural competition back in 1907.

The Contal Mototri in its 1907 race trim

Anton Gonnissen, 58, has completed three Dakars, four Rallies of Egypt and the UAE desert rally in cars, trucks and even on an ATV. He will enter the 2019 Peking to Paris event which begins June 2, in a 112-year-old Contal Mototri, a French vehicle like one of the five that started the 1907 event. Also competing in 190 were a Dutch Spyker, two French Dion Boutons, and the winning Italian Itala driven by Prince Scipione Borghese.

That earlier Contal Mototri was entered by Auguste Pons and Oscar Foucauld, both French, who became stranded in the Gobi Desert and nearly died while walking back to Peking.

According to a news release from the Endurance Rally Association, Gonnissen was inspired by learning of the 1907 entry travail, found one of the rare Contal Mototri three-wheelers still existing, put it through structural testing at Ghent University, made improvements to the chassis, wheels and engine and has prepared it for the rally, which led to the rally director from the Endurance Rally Association questioning the architect’s sanity.

Herman Gelan works on the 2019 version of the three-wheeler

Anton Gonnissen is the driver

But the real question of sanity should be directed to Gonnissen’s navigator, Herman Gelan, another architect who will be sitting out front in the vehicle’s “suicide” seat. Though at least Gelan’s seat is mounted above the front suspension. There is no shock-reducing system at the rear of the three-wheeler, although Gonnissen has installed the seat from the modern Harley Davidson motorcycle saddle to replace the original “bottom crusher.” 

Although he has competed in marathons and triathlons, this will be Gelan’s first participation in a motoring challenge.

With Gelan out front and Gonnissen at the rear, the route covers 8,600 miles and 36 days. 

Stuck in 1907, and finally abandoned in the Gobi Desert

Period advertisement for the Contal Mototri

“The story for Auguste Pons was a short one,” Gonnissen is quoted in the Peking to Paris rally news release. “Stranded without petrol early in the race they couldn’t be rescued by the other competitors as they were ahead of them. They ended up drinking the water out of the radiator, and then started their perilously long walk back to Peking in the heat. They nearly died and the Contal is still out there covered by sand somewhere.”

Regarding his own Contal Mototri, Gonnissen said, “We have tried to keep as many original parts as possible, which is why some components of the original trike will be in place. In some cases we have simply had to beef up the chassis with the endurance rally and the finish in mind.

“We know this will be a life changing event, but it could turn us, ordinary men, into heroes if we can get the Contal Mototri all the way to Paris and finish the job for Auguste Pons 112 years on.”

Peace, love and the re-creation of the Woodstock van

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Back in 1969, the owner of a 1963 Volkswagen Standard Microbus asked artist Bob Hieronimus to paint the vehicle, which would transport one of the bands performing in 1969 at the Woodstock Art and Music Fair. At Woodstock, the van was featured in an Associated Press photograph and became an icon, even appearing in the liner notes of the official Woodstock record album.

“The bus is really about being one people on one planet,” Hieronimus said in a news release after a three-year project to recover — and later to re-create —  restore and repaint the famed “Light” bus, which came to symbolize Woodstock and the Summer of Love.

“On every side of the bus is a story — many stories — and the stories all point to unification, working together and a higher conscientiousness, which is what Light really is all about,” Hieronimus said.

Iconic ‘Light’ VW bus of Woodstock fame has been re-created. It was unveiled this past weekend in California and is going on a cross-country tour | Volkswagen of America photos

The new “Light” van is the result of a three-year endeavor by Canadian documentarian John Wesley Chisholm and Hieronimus to re-create the van ahead of Woodstock’s milestone anniversary in mid-August in upstate New York. 

“It’s a time machine that takes people to the past, through the present and to the future,” added Chisholm, who also worked with Volkswagen of America and the greater VW enthusiast community on the project. 

The completed van was unveiled this past weekend at the Orange Country Transporter Organization Winter Meet in Long Beach, California, which served as the starting point for a cross-country tour that will take the van to the festival’s 50th anniversary celebration this summer.

According to the VWoA news release, Hieronimus and Chisholm hoped to located and restore the original “Light” bus. However, after six months of searching, they decided instead of create a replica. A Kickstarter campaign helped fund the acquisition of the same model, though the vehicle was in need of extensive restoration. 

After the bus was restored, Hieronimus and five other artists spent six weeks re-creating his original paintings on the vehicle.

Bold and beautiful ’66 Oldsmobile Toronado in restored condition

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Hard to believe today but there was a time when front-wheel drive was, at least to American drivers, a strange and exotic configuration. Only such oddball “foreign” cars as Saab, Citroën and Mini were being pulled around by their front wheels.

So it was when the Oldsmobile Toronado arrived on the scene for 1966, the first FWD car from a U.S. manufacturer since Cord in the 1930s.  The styling was as dramatic as its driveline, with boldly flared wheel wells and hideaway headlights that made the big two-door hardtop look more spaceship than automobile.

Oldsmobile
The full-size Olds was considered to be a ‘personal luxury car’

The Pick of the Day is a sharp-looking example, a 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado from that first year of production, presented in what the seller describes as restored condition and ready to drive anywhere.

The Tucson, Arizona, private seller advertising the Olds on ClassicCars.com says the car was cosmetically refurbished by the previous owner, with a repaint in its original shade of Autumn Bronze.  The mighty 425 cid Super Rocket V8 also was rebuilt.

Oldsmobile
The Toronado is powered by a rebuilt 425 cid V8

“I then performed an extensive systems and mechanical restoration,” the seller says in the ad. “This included rebuilding the front suspension, replaced all fuel and brake lines. Front end and rear brake system rebuilt. Replaced master cylinder and booster. Reworked the A/C and vacuum system.”

The interior has been redone, although much of it remains in good original condition, the ad says. The Toronado was a premium car and loaded with features, and everything is in working order aside from the clock and the radio, the seller notes.

Oldsmobile
The stylish interior looks inviting

An extensive list of parts and repairs are included with the ad, as well as an in-depth gallery of photos (which is how everyone should advertise their vehicles).  Close-up photos show that the paint and chrome look great.

The Oldsmobile is in fine running condition, the owner adds.

Oldsmobile
The chrome and paint look clear and shiny

“After completing the restoration, I drove it from Salt Lake City to Tucson, AZ,” the seller says. “I averaged 80 to 85 and occasionally up to 100 mph. Zero oil was burned on the 800-mile trip.

“If you want something that has been completely gone through and safe to drive anywhere for a fair price, this is it.”

The asking price for this classic is indeed fair, at $22.500.

To view this listing on ClassicCars.com, see Pick of the Day.

 

WhatsApp founder offloading collection of Porsches at Amelia Island

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Editor’s note: The ClassicCars.com Journal is your source for Amelia Island news – from collector car auctions and shows to the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. Read more of our coverage on our dedicated page.


Gooding & Company will oversee an auction of 10 incredible Porsches from WhatsApp founder Jan Koum’s collection at its Amelia Island sale on March 8.

Koum said he’s out of space and time to take care of these 10 Porsches, and we wonder what kind of cars took precedence over these. The collection is, frankly, wonderful in its variety and includes some of the hottest 911 variants we’ve seen in the past 30 years.

There’s a Porsche for everyone in the collection, but we’re most interested in the 964 and 993-generation 911s. It’s no secret air-cooled Porsches are highly desirable, and the 993 Carrera RS represents one of the last of the breed. Following the 993 generation, air cooling was out with the introduction of the 996-generation 911.

Other highlights include the 918 with the Weissach Package. The optional package reduced the supercar’s weight by 99 pounds and added aerodynamic components. Porsche only made 126 918 Spyders with the Weissach package, and this one has only gone 20 miles.

The 911 R is another modern 911 that should tickle enthusiasts. Porsche unveiled the 911 R as a no-frills throwback to the 911 R of the 1960s, which included a standard manual transmission. Shortly after its reveal, some examples sold for $1.3 million on the used market despite a retail price of $185,980. The model headed to auction has never been driven and retains the delivery packaging from the factory.

Other standouts from the collection include the 2008 GT3 RS 3.6, which is one of 53 North American cars finished in RS Green; rare carbon fiber fenders fitted to the 2011 GT2 RS; and the fact the 1993 964 Carrera RS 3.8 is one of just 55 built.