The sale of the 1949 Triumph Trophy Custom motorcycle ridden by Arthur Fonzarelli in the television show Happy Days would rate a big “Aaayyy” from The Fonz, as it set a world record for the highest-selling Triumph at auction.
The famous TV bike, sold by Bonhams during its TMC Presents… Hollywood Cool auction of movie and TV memorabilia, roared past its pre-sale estimate of $50,000 to $70,000 to sell for an impressive $231,562, including buyer fee.
Three Fonzie Triumphs were created for the TV show by legendary stuntman Bud Ekins, but two of the British motorcycles went missing after the show wrapped up production in 1984, making this one the sole survivor.
Actor Henry Winkler, whose brilliant comic portrayal secured a permanent place for The Fonz in television history, was often seen in set scenes with the Triumph, although a stunt double rode one of the three bikes in action sequences.
“Untouched since filming wrapped, the motorcycle was tracked down by motorcycle journalist Wendy F Black in 2000,” according to a Bonhams news release. “More recently, it had been exhibited at The San Diego Automotive Museum.”
The sale not only set a record for a Triumph, it also placed the bike among the top 100 motorcycle sales at auction, which is led by the chart-topping $929,000 sale by Bonhams in 2018 of the Australian land-speed-record-breaking 1951 Vincent 998cc Black Lightning, another bike that originated in the UK.
Other items from Winkler’s large collection of Happy Days, Fonz gear and show-biz memorabilia included a compete Fonzie outfit of leather jacket, white T-shirts, blue jeans and black biker boots that sold for $75,312, and a set of Fonz’s mechanic’s coveralls that went for $14,025.
The Hollywood Cool sale also featured such items as Rosalind Russell’s custom-bound script for the 1958 film Auntie Mame and Will Ferrell’s costume from the 2003 comedy Elf.
For more results from the sale, which took place at the Bonhams headquarters on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, visit the auction website.
Back in September, I noticed something happening in the auction world. Over the course of a few weeks, names started to disappear from the RM Sotheby’s staff section of the auction company’s website website.
Every week or so, another name was gone. I made some calls but all I got was speculation that those no longer with the company were leaving the industry, or going to work elsewhere, or — more likely — were going to join together and launch their own collector car auction house.
Earlier this week, that last big of speculation proved correct with the announcement of the Broad Arrow Group, a new collector car auction, sales and finance enterprise to be headed by former RM Sotheby’s executives including chief executive Ken Ahn, chief operating officer Alain Squindo and chief marketing officer Ian Kelleher, among others.
Ian Kelleher
Since that announcement, I’ve talked with Alain and Ian about what happened and about Broad Arrow’s plans.
According to Alain one of the catalysts for his move to resign from RM Sotheby’s was when his best friend and RM Sotheby’s CMO Ian Kelleher left the company. Another catalyst revolved around the departure of his mentor and RM Sotheby’s President and CEO, Kenneth Ahn also leaving. He felt that working there would not be the same and decided to leave and figure out what he wanted to do next. He spent time with his family just before the birth of their new baby and did some heavy thinking about the future.
Ian said that in many ways, with Ken leaving the company and he himself having worked for RM Sotheby’s 21 years, it felt like the right time to move on to something else, despite not knowing what the future might hold. For both Alain and I, we truly enjoyed working with Ken Ahn during his time at RM and thought perhaps there would be an opportunity to work together in the future.
Throughout the ensuing months, other RM Staff did in fact leave, with some later joining the Broad Arrow team while others sought out new career paths, some of whom stayed within the industry.
And thus the launch of the Broad Arrow Group, which promises to announce more news as early as next week.
From my perspective, I believe Broad Arrow Group is going to be a veritable juggernaut in the high-end collector car arena. This new company comprises what I would define as the very best in the entire auction space. The level of expertise and experience appears greater than any other company at the high-end of the business, forward-thinking people who not only know how the difficult auction business works, but who are able to identify how it needs to be improved.
The high-end boutique collector car auction space has been pretty stagnant as far as new ideas are concerned. and if there was ever a group positioned to change and improve the space, this is the team to do so.
When spelunking the ClassicCars.com Marketplace searching for gems to share as Pick of the Day, I like to find vehicles privately owned that come with a story, such as long-term family ownership or racing history.
Well, the Pick of the Day, a 1954 Gilco 750 with a Moretti engine, not only has a private seller, but a wonderful story of racing history.
I’ll share much of that story here, and it comes from a nearly 15-minute YouTube video as noted in the text of the advertisement for the car, which was retired from competition after the 1964 season and now, while a wonderful piece of metallic sculpture, would need restoration to return to the track.
According to the story, the car is believed to have been commissioned for Grand Prix racer Felice Bonetto, who planned to drive it in the 1954 Mille Miglia across Italy. However, after ordering the car, Bonetto died while racing a Lancia D24 in the 1953 Carrera Panamericana in Mexico.
The chassis was one of many produced by Gilco, a Milan-based race-car builder that produced racing chassis for the likes of Ferrari and Maserati, as well as selling them to private individuals. In the case of the Pick of the Day, Carrozzeria Auto-Moto of Bologna, Italy, was hired to craft the car’s coachwork.
As the story goes, the car was completed with a Lancia engine and was sold to a Chicago resident, who apparently was disappointed with the car’s performance and installed a Moretti twin-cam powerplant. The car finished first of second in a succession of early-season races in 1956 — until the engine blew during a race at the Road America track in Wisconsin.
The car was sold to another racer, who replaced the Moretti engine with a Mercury outboard boat engine, which was legal under the rules of sports car racing. It was fast but unreliable.
The car was sold again and the next owner, tired of being passed by rear-engine sports cars, moved the Merc from the front to the rear of the chassis and won three races in a row.
But by this time, the car was 10 years old and it was retired after the 1964 season. The car now is in Brookfield, Connecticut, has the Moretti engine under the hood as raced originally, and retains its Fiat 1100 transmission and differential as well as its 15-inch Borani wheels, its steering wheel and trio of gauges — tach, oil pressure and water temperature.
“It is in need of restoration but once restored, it will be eligible for use in some of the most prestigious events in the world,” the seller notes.
The car, engine and spares are being offered for $96,000. To view this listing on ClassicCars.com, see Pick of the Day.
Up for auction on AutoHunter, the online auction platform driven by ClassicCars.com, is a 1991 Acura NSX.
“As a first-model-year NSX, this example was manufactured in Tochigi, Japan in February 1991 and initially sold in St. Louis, Missouri, residing in that area for its first ten years until being relocated to the western region where it has remained since,” AutoHunter notes on the NSX’s listing.
”While retaining largely stock configuration, this NSX is upgraded with a performance exhaust system and five-spoke aluminum Momo GTR alloy wheels.”
Driven 94,000 miles, this NSX is powered by a mid-mounted VTEC DOHC 3.0-liter V6 engine paired with a 4-speed automatic transmission and limited-slip differential.
The all-aluminum body is finished in Sebring Silver Metallic (NH-552M) with a black roof. It rides on Momo GTR aluminum five-spoke wheel with BFGoodrich G-Force tires.
This NSX has a black interior with leather, power-adjustable bucket seats, factory Bose AM/FM cassette stereo, and aluminum placards on both door sills that state this NSX as production number 1,905 for the model year.
It’s being offered with a clean CARFAX report and a clear Arizona title in the seller’s name.
This NSX’s auction ends on December 15, 2021 at 11:40 a.m. MST.
In August 1961, what appeared to be an Indy-type racing car, but with stubby and inverted aircraft-style wings on either side of the cockpit and a vertical fin behind, set a closed-course speed record of 181.561 mph around the Daytona International Speedway. The car was Bob Osiecki’s Mad Dog IV, aka the Winged Wonder, and was driven that record-setting day by drag racer Art Malone.
Malone’s record run was more than 34 mph faster than the pole speed for the 1961 Indianapolis 500. As a reward for making the Daytona track the fastest in the world, Osiecki collected $10,000 from Bill France Sr.
The car, now owned by drag racing superstar Don Garlits, has returned to Daytona and is being displayed at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.
“I honestly think that’s where the car should be, over there at the round-track museum, and the car made that speed at Daytona,” Florida resident and 90-year-0ld Garlits told the museum staff. “To me, that’s the perfect place for Mad Dog IV.”
Crew lifts Winged Wonder into position on the museum’s banked-track display
The story goes that in 1957, the closed-course speed record had been set at 177.38 mph on the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Italy. While building his superspeedway in Florida, Bill France put up the $10,000 prize for anyone who would break that record at his track, which opened in 1959.
Many tried and failed, including Osiecki, who turned to Georgia Tech aerospace professor John Harper for help.
“My dad attended Georgia Tech for a while,” Osiecki’s son, Tom, is quoted in the museum’s announcement. “He did a mockup of the car and took it to the school’s wind tunnel. He thought they could invert some wings to put downforce on it and they came up with the right angles, and how big the wings needed to be, and built a stabilizer so the back of the car wouldn’t go crazy. It was a real challenge.”
With Harper’s help, the wings were devised to stabilize the car at high speed on the banked track, where centrifugal force shred tires and made steering difficult.
Tom Osiecki said his father invested $35,000 in preparing the car, a Chrysler-powered Kurtis Kraft Indy roadster that Firestone had used for tire testing, and gave the $10,000 record-run prize to Malone, but recouped at least part of the expenses by taking “The Fastest Race Car in the World” on a barnstorming tour.
“Mad Dog IV is the epitome of American innovation,” notes museum president George Levy. “Bill France wanted to claim Daytona International Speedway was the world’s fastest racetrack. When it was clear an existing race car wasn’t going to cut it, Osiecki and Harper came up with the idea of inverted wings for downforce. They broke the record and helped launch the Downforce Era.”
Fisher Guild cars at St. Louis museum
Yet another museum has opened an exhibit featuring cars crafted by members of the Fisher Body Craftsman’s Guild. This newest exhibit is at the National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri.
From 1930 to 1968, General Motors sponsored an automotive design competition for high school students, awarding scholarships that launched many future car designers on their careers. Contestants created 1:12-scale models of their dream cars for the event, and many of those models have become cherished family heirlooms.
Georgia gets a new car museum
The newest car museum in the country has opened. The Savoy Automobile Museum is located in a new 65,000-square-foot exhibition space in Cartersville, Georgia, and is part of the Georgia Museums group. In addition to the exhibition space, the museum has a 35,000-square-foot event and auction room.
The museum takes its name from a 1954 Plymouth Savoy that was found on the 37-acre property where the museum was built. The car had been abandoned and had a tree growing through it. The car has been preserved and remains on the museum grounds.
The museum opened with American Racing, The Great American Classics, Woodies, Orphans and the Savoy Collection exhibits.
Other members of the Georgia Museums group are the Bartow History Museum, Booth Western Art Museum, and Tellus Science Museum.
Coloani Miura exhibited after 40 years
Museum photos
For the first time in 40 years, the Colani Miura, designer Luigi Colani’s 1970 concept vehicle based on mechanicals from the Lamborghini Miura, is on display in a special exhibit at the MAUTO, the automobile museum in Turin, Italy.
Inspired by nature, where there are no straight lines, Colani’s creations comprised curving biodesigns. For his Miura, he took the powertrain from the Miura and mounted it transversely in his fiberglass design which features a glider-style cockpit beneath a plexiglass dome.
Petersen opens supercar exhibit
HRE Wheels photo
“The Allure of the Extreme” is the title of newest exhibit at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles where, over the course of the next 18 months, as many as 30 supercars will take their turns on display.
The exhibit opens by showcasing the Aria FXE concept, Bugatti Veyron 16.4, Caparo T1, Devel Sixteen, Ferrari LaFerrari Aperta, Hennessey Venom F5 (design model), Koenigsegg Agera RS Final Edition, McLaren Speedtail, NIO EP9, Delage D12, Pagani Huayra Hermes Edition, RAESR Tachyon Speed and Rimac Concept One.
Newport adds Tesla Roadster
While Elon Musk’s personal 2010 Tesla Roadster was shot into space and is somewhere out in the solar system, another example of the electric-powered sports car has gone on display at the Newport Car Museum in Rhode Island. The museum also has added a 2017 Audi R8 Spyder and 2017 Lamborghini Aventador SV roadster to its collection.
The museum will open the hoods on more than 85 of its vehicles the weekend of December 11-12.
Blackhawk offers an NFT
The Blackhawk Collection in Danville, California, is launching a line of NFTs on December 10, starting with a 3D render video of the 1937 Rolls-Royce Phantom III known as the “Copper Kettle.”
The Blackhawk says the car is the first pre-war automobile to be 3D-scanned and offered as an NFT. The NFT will be offered up for bidding through December 12 on the museum website.
Special events this weekend
Beaulieu, England, home of the National Motor Museum, and Palace House, will host a new outdoor Christmas Fair from December 10-12.
Because of damage from tornados that struck the area, activities at the National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky, have been canceled until repairs can be made. The facility was to host the “Run, Run Rudolph 5K” at 5 p.m. December 11, a run through 3.2-miles of holiday lights. Also postponed is the Twinkle at the Track drive-through holiday light show.
The Motor bar and restaurant at the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee will host ugly sweater parties from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on December 11 and 18. It will feature Breakfast with Santa events on December 12 and 19 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
LeMay photo
LeMay – America’s Car Museum in Tacoma, Washington, welcomes Santa and Mrs. Clause for photo opps with visitors in a 1906 Cadillac Model K Tulip touring car from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. on December 11 and 12 and again on December 18 and 19. The museum also will offer “If Alfas Could Talk,” with Fred Russell, president of the Northwest Alfa Romeo club, leading a discussion about the museum’s Alfa Romeo exhibit. December 18 also will be Family Steam Day at the museum.
Mark your calendar
The Canadian Automobile Museum in Oshawa, Ontario, offers its Third Thursday lecture at 7 p.m. December 16 on Zoom with Dumaresq de Pencier featuring “Early Electric Cars of Canada: 1897-1927.” The museum also is working on its next exhibition, “Wires to Wheels: Electric Vehicles in Canada and Beyond,” scheduled to open in July 2022.
On December 17, the MAUTO, the automobile museum in Turin, Italy, hosts a series of presentations under the banner of “The evolution of an idea,” celebrating the creation of the internal combustion engine by Father Eugenio Barsanti, a priest, physicist and mathematician who, with engineer Lucca Felice Matteucci, filed documents in Italy in 1853 describing such a 4-stroke machine nearly 15 years before Otto and Benz in Germany.
Ed Swart: From Zandvoort to Daytona will be featured from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on December 18 at Autobooks-Aerobooks in Burbank, California.
The Montagu family Palace House, which shares its grounds with the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu, England, offers a trip back to 1889 with its Victorian Christmas event from December 18 to January 2.
The grand opening of the Segerstrom Shelby museum and event center has been rescheduled for January 20, 2022, in Irvine, California.
The Canadian Automobile Museum in Oshawa, Ontario, has announced its Third Thursday lecture topics for January and February. “Driving While Black: African American Travel and the Road to Civil Rights” will be presented January 20 at 7 p.m. on Zoom by Gretchen Sorin of the State University of New York College at Oneonta, and “The Death and Legacy of Sam McLaughlin – Looking Back After 50 Years” will be offered by Samantha George of the Parkwood National Historic Site on February 17.
Does your local car museum have special events or exhibitions planned? Let us know. Email [email protected] .
A 1953 Aston Martin DB2 Vantage topped H&H Classics “Best of British” collector car auction December 8 at Pavilion Gardens in Buxton, UK. H&H reported a 75 percent sell-through for the auction, its first since founder Simon Hope transferred ownership to H&H Classics employees.
Earlier this month, Hope, 69, who launched H&H Classics in 1993, turned over ownership of the company to an Employee Ownership Trust.
In that announcement, H&H said Hope will become chairman, day-to-day management will remain with Colette McKay and Damian Jones, who have run the company for the past two years, “but of course it now means that clients dealing with any member staff will know they are speaking to one of the owners of the business. They can therefore be assured of the ultimate level and commitment and service.”
‘Arabella” Rolls-Royce sells for $101,695
H&H did not announce a sales total for its “Best of British” sale, which was topped by the DB2 Vantage that was restored in the 1990s and has won its class at events including the Three Castles and Scottish Malts rallies. The Aston Martin sold at the auction for £165,000 ($217,775).
Second-highest sale of the event was a 1931 Rolls-Royce 20/25 swept-tail sports saloon, for £77,050 ($101,695). Known as “Arabella,” the car was restored in its original green-over-cream colors.
H&H Classics next auction is scheduled for March 16, 2022, at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford.
That photo at the top of this story shows the newest Porsche, but while it appears that the car is running around the Nurburgring, it is not. In fact, it’s not a real car.
What it is is the Vision Gran Turismo, a virtual racing car created by Porsche designers for the Gran Turismo 7 video game system due to be released March 4, 2022, for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation5.
Although a Porsche has been racing around Polyphony Digital games since 2017, the Vision Gran Turismo is the first Porsche specifically created for eRacers.
“Freed from the constraints of developing models for series production, they (Porsche designers) were able to put their own ideas for a Gran Turismo concept car into practice,” Porsche said in its news release.
“A vehicle designed purely for the virtual world opens up exciting possibilities for us that are otherwise heavily regimented in a regular design process for a series production car,” added Michael Mauer, Style Porsche vice president.
“Projects such as the Porsche Vision Gran Turismo are particularly valuable for us in the creative process. Further developing our clearly defined Porsche Design DNA and exchanging with designers from other industries is an important part of our work.”
Porsche notes that the Vision Gran Turismo features future-oriented versions of familiar Porsche design elements.
“The concept car exhibits the brand’s typical proportions with an especially sporty height-to-width ratio, an extremely low-set bonnet and very pronounced wings. The lights in the particularly purist front and the integrated air intakes create a visual link to the design language of the Taycan – a nod to the car’s purely electric drive.
“The rear is adorned with a markedly narrow light strip – a further development of the light signature that is familiar from the 911 and Taycan models.
“The clear emphasis of the brand identity continues in the interior, with the curved hologram display, tailored to the driver, which appears to float above the steering wheel.”
“The appeal of a Porsche comes from its purist design,” Polyphony Digital president Kazunori Yamauchi added. “And in terms of engineering expertise, both we and Porsche follow the same perfectionist philosophy. We share the same passion for racing and are looking to the future of the car.”
The automaker noted that expanding its gaming activities also has strategic significance.
“We can engage young and digital target groups in the place where their automotive dreams are born: the world of gaming,” Robert Ader, Porsche AG vice president of marketing, is quoted. “The partnership with Polyphony Digital and ‘Gran Turismo’ is a perfect fit for Porsche, because motorsport – whether real or virtual – is part of our DNA.”
It’s never too late to buy – or build – your dream car. The Pick of the Day is a 1965 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu SS, from which the private seller in Modjeska Canyon, California, describes as providing a satisfying feeling of automotive achievement – even when it comes at a later stage in life.
“I grew up around a bunch of guys that built hot rods and I was never able to do it,” the seller says in the as. “As an older guy, I finally got to experience and build my car.”
A striking paint job in Gold Metallic outlines the body of this two-door Chevelle hardtop, which the seller has owned for about eight years. The recent refinish was part of paint work that cost in excess of $9,000, the seller says, and was completed while the numbers-matching 283cid V8 motor was removed for a rebuild.
The midsize Chevelle was offered in a variety of body styles and rode on General Motors’ A-body platform. The model first launched in 1964 using body-on-frame construction and a four-link rear suspension, while the available Super Sport package added special brightwork, wheel covers, and interior upgrades like a console and full gauges.
Powered by its original 283cid Turbo Fire V8, this Chevelle moves by way of a replacement 700R four-speed automatic transmission with overdrive, and stopping power comes via upgraded power-assisted discs up front. The seller is confident in the car’s mechanical roadworthiness and says it could be driven daily, or even “driven across the country if required.”
This Chevelle reportedly gets looks everywhere it goes, which is understandable given its vivid color and premium condition. The photo gallery shows straight body panels, corrosion-free brightwork, Rallye wheels with polished trim rings, and even a set of original California black license plates.
The Chevelle’s interior is equally show-worthy, with reupholstered black-vinyl seating, an aftermarket steering wheel, an SS console and under-dash-mounted auxiliary gauges.
The photo with the key in the ignition conveys the notion that this Chevelle is turnkey ready. The seller is asking $30,000, which seems like a good opportunity for anyone who’s been putting off buying his or her dream machine.
To view this listing on ClassicCars.com, see Pick of the Day.
Be the winning bidder on this customized 1965 MGB roadster going up on AutoHunter, the online auction platform driven by ClassicCars.com, and you not only get the one-off British roadster, but a car that was customized under the direction of its owner, recording-industry executive and television star Simon Cowell.
Cowell, a record producer and talent scout, became widely known as a judge on the British television series Pop Idol, and then on subsequent programs in the UK and US. He commissioned the MGB build by MG-specialist Frontline Developments in Oxfordshire, England, but don’t worry, its steering wheel is on the left side of the cockpit.
The car’s design was inspired by one of the two Lotus Esprits featured in the 1981 James Bond movie For Your Eyes Only. That inspiration is responsible for several features of the vehicle, including the “Turbo” wording on the car’s flanks (however, the engine in the MGB is not turbocharged).
The new bodyshell, produced with original factory tooling by British Motor Heritage, is covered in Lotus Copper Bronze paint with dual gold stripes. The coachwork features extended and hand-formed rear panels.
The car rides on bespoke 15-inch wheels — 6 inches wide in front and 7s at the rear — with gold-colored spokes. Those spokes match the color of the car’s grille.
The car has Arctic White Prima Nappa leather interior with custom-crafted seats, and with golf-faced gauges set into a custom fabricated black leather-topped American burr walnut dashboard.
The car has power windows — with switchgear cleverly built into the window cranks — as well as Bluetooth connectivity, USB charging, and a JL Audio sound system.
Customized cockpit
Aston Martin fuel filler
Mazda engine rated at 304 horsepower
Under the bonnet is a Mazda 2.5-liter 4-cylinder engine with forged pistons and solid lifters. The powerplant is rated at 304 horsepower and 241 pound-feet of torque and is linked to a Mazda 6-speed manual gearbox and limited-slip rear differential with 3.70 gearing.
The car has no roof, but it comes with a car cover.
Additional details include the installation of Dynaliner insulation during the build process, aircraft seatbelt buckles, a leather-wrapped Nardi steering wheel, audio system with XD600 amplifier and 8-inch subwoofer, 8,500-rpm tachometer, and an Aston Martin fuel-filler cap.
Suspension is by aluminum front uprights with tubular wishbones and adjustable telescopic shocks, and a custom 6-link rear with adjustable coilovers. There are disc brakes front and rear with Goodridge braided hoses.
The auction runs until 11 a.m. (Pacific Standard Time) on December 15.
As BMW prepares for the 50th anniversary of its M GmbH division — that’s M as in Motorsports, by the way — it used the recent Art Basel Miami event to preview “the most powerful BMW M car ever to go into series production” in the form of the Concept XM.
Not only is the Concept XM propelled by a hybrid powertrain, it previews the new front-end styling and overall design of BMW’s upcoming SUV models.
BMW says series production of its new XM model begins in late 2022. It will be built in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and will be the first stand-alone M vehicle since the M1.
BMW said the XM’s hybrid powertrain includes a V8 engine and high-performance electric motor. Combined they will provide 750 horsepower and 737 pound-feet of torque. It adds that the vehicle will be able to travel 30 miles using only electric power.
According to Franciscus van Meel, BMW M chief executive, “The BMW Concept XM represents a complete re-imagining of the high-performance vehicle segment. It underlines the ability of BMW M GmbH to break with established conventions and push boundaries in order to offer fans of the brand the ultimate driving experience.”
BMW updates classic eMblem
As part of the 50th anniversary celebration of its M division, BMW will offer buyers of its M vehicles the option of equipping those vehicles with an emblem inspired by the classic BMW Motorsport logo. Vehicles so equipped can be ordered beginning in January 2022 with production starting in March 2022.
In addition to the badging, BMW said it will again offer classic M paint colors including Dakar Yellow, Fire Orange, Daytona Violet, Macao Blue, Imola Red and Frozen Marina Bay Blue.
Bentley launches GT Mulliner Blackline
Bentley as been so successful with its Blackline specification —included in nearly 40 percent of vehicles being ordered — that it is extending the program to include the Mulliner GT and GT convertible.
Blackline features “a daring, black alternative” to chrome on the vehicle exteriors, with 22-inch black-painted wheels.
Honda says new Passport more rugged
Honda says its 2022 Passport SUV comes with rugged styling that matches the SUV’s of-road capabilities and there’s even an even-more-capable off-pavement version, the TrailSport, which comes with standard torque-vectoring all-wheel drive, “rugged-design” tires, roof rails, navigation and more.
Zeekr delivers 2,000 units in first month
Zeekr is the premium electric brand of Chinese automaker Geely, and it reports delivering more than 2,000 of its new 001 “luxury shooting brake coupe” models in the first month of production. Zeekr says the vehicle’s twin electric motor system enables it to sprint to 62 mph in 3.8 seconds while providing a range of more than 440 miles.
Zeekr adds that the average retail price for the vehicle is equivalent to $53,000.
Pininfarina designs vineyard tractor concept
Agricultural equipment supplier New Holland’s European division recruited Pininfarina to create a concept tractor designed for use in the narrow rows of vineyards in the Champagne, Medoc and Burgundy regions. The result is the Straddle Tractor Concept unveiled at the recent SITEVI 2021, the world’s largest showcase for vine, olive, fruit and vegetable production equipment.
The tractor was designed for work in areas where high-quality, high-value wines are grown in rows less than 5 feet apart and often on steep slopes in small vineyards. The concept tractor was built with what New Holland called a high-comfort, high-safety cab, and with the potential for an electric powertrain.
Pininfarina said inspiration for the tractor design came from the champagne flute, tall at the top and tapering toward the bottom.
Lexus show off hydrogen-powered quad
If you think Pininfarina designing a farm tractor is odd, consider the ROV — Recreational Off-highway Vehicle (aka Quad) — that Lexus recently unveiled in Europe. And if that doesn’t seem strange enough, the vehicle is powered by hydrogen.
“The Lexus ROV concept offers a luxury lifestyle experience to drivers wishing to discover the wilderness in style,” the automaker said in its news release, adding that the vehicle has Lexus’ first hydrogen-powered engine.
Lexus said it chose an internal-combustion powerplant burning hydrogen to show that “exhilarating driving can co-exist with a carbon-free society,” and added, “This ROV Concept embodies the exciting sound of an ICE and the responsive rise in torque that comes from the fast combustion speed of hydrogen.”
Can a road extend EV range?
Road designed to recharge EVs as they drive
Near the Chiari Ovest exit of the A35 Autostrada near Turin in Italy, the Arena Del Futuro has been constructed, a one-third mile loop for field testing dynamic induction recharging for electric vehicles.
The concept is that as you drive over this stretch of pavement, it recharges the batteries in your electric vehicle.
The program is being conducted by automaker Stellantis (Chrysler et al) and other partners to test “dynamic wireless power transfer” on an automotive scale.
The test is in its third phase, Stellantis reports, with testing to be conducted using a Fiat 500 and an Iveco E-Way bus.
“This is a cutting-edge solution to provide a concrete answer to the issues of range and charging,” the news release quoted Anne-Lise Richard, head of global e-mobility for Stellantis. “Charging vehicles while they are on the move provides clear advantages in terms of charging times and the size of their batteries.”
Aston Martin celebrates in Miami
Aston Martin Residences used Art Basel Miami to stage the topping-out celebration for its downtown waterfront project. The celebration included a fireworks display on the adjacent waterway.
The 66-story building includes residences ranging from 700 to 19,000 square feet.
