Race Car Service and Repair Bay Area - Glickenhaus SCG003C Makes Competition Debut In Ill-Fated VLN Race: Video - Zucchi Motorsports - Sonoma - 707-334-3700

Just weeks after its debut at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show, Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus’ SCG003 supercar in its motorsport specification (SCG003C) took to the Nürburgring on Saturday to compete in the opening round of the VLN race series, held exclusively at the punishing German race track. Unfortunately, the Nürburgring lived up to its “Green Hell” nickname when the number 23 Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 driven by Nissan GT Academy driver Jann Mardenborough left the track and crashed into a group of spectators, killing one of them.

The tragic accident brought an end to the race but for the SCG003C the race was ended even earlier as the two examples that were fielded, cars number 701 and 702, were black flagged because they exceeded the race noise regulations. The SCG003 has been entered in the newly-created SPX Class.

The video above from nordschleife96 shows the two SCG003C cars competing, one yellow and one in unpainted carbon fiber, during a practice session and prior to being black flagged. You can see that the SCG003C was lifting off the ground during an initial practice run (it was the car’s first time at the track) but engineers adjusted the aero before the race to ensure it remained stable throughout.

The ultimate test for the SCG003C will be the event highlight of the VLN, the Nürburgring 24 Hours in May. Right now, however, organizers of the VLN have put a stop to any GT3-spec cars and those from the special classes like the SCG003C from running at the ‘Ring pending the outcome of an investigation into Saturday’s crash.

source: Motorauthority.com

by Viknesh Vijayethiran

Race Car Service and Repair Bay Area - A dream come true for hunters of classic antique cars - Zucchi Motorsports - Sonoma - 707-334-3700

Photograph by Xavier Leoty/AFP/Getty images

It is the dream of every car enthusiast: to have a remote and padlocked shed and its contents bequeathed to us by a formerly unknown distant relative or benefactor.

Cracking open the door, the lock and chain weighted down with rust and neglect, sunlight penetrates the interior for the first time in decades. The light falls upon weathered metal, tarnished chrome and cracked leather.

A barn-find, the discovery of an unheralded collection of hugely valuable classic cars left mouldering in some agricultural shed, can turn ownership of a rotting building from a painful chore to a lucrative windfall.

And it happens, it really does. The most recent and celebrated case is of the Roger Baillon collection. Experts from the Artcurial auction house in Paris were called to a location in rural France to assess the collected cars of a long-bankrupt haulier.

Baillon had a passion for cars and assembled some rare and wonderful machines, with the intention of retiring them and exhibiting them in a proper museum-like atmosphere. Alas, with the collapse of his company, his reach exceeded his grasp and the collection fell into disrepair in a motley gathering of tin sheds.

With the passing of time though, these cars became ever rarer and more valuable and when the assessors from Artcurial broke out their cameras and notepads, what they recorded was nothing short of sensational. A Maserati, for instance, that turned out to be one of only four built. Three incredibly rare Talbot-Lago T26s with coachwork by French bodywork company Saoutchik.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Pierre Novikoff, Artcurial’s car specialist, said that “a collection like this can’t fail to arouse the passions of those who love automobiles, as well as art and history enthusiasts. Emotionally it is very strong. Some cars from the 1920s and 30s still have the original paint. Many of the most interesting cars are from the 1930s, 40s and 50s, most are coach-built by French firms”.

Then there was the real prize – a Ferrari 250 California SWB. Once you put the name of Ferrari next to the numbers 250, you can metaphorically start to print your own money. Ferrari 250 models in all their forms are invariably the most prized and valued cars in the world, and this one had some interesting history – having been owned by celebrated French actor Alain Delon.

Star find

Not surprisingly, it was the star find and in rather better condition than most of the other cars, having been stored in a brick building rather than a corrugated iron shed. It proved by far the most valuable car of the bunch.

When it was sold at auction at the recent Rétromobile classic car show, the Baillon collection amassed a total value of €25 million. The Ferrari made €16 million all by itself.

The odd thing is that while the world of classic cars is generally an obscure and specialised one, barn-finds seem to have been oddly popular and populist in recent years. It all began with the story of a shed in Portugal which was found to contain a literal and figurative wealth of old cars, some exceptionally rare. The wildfire mentality of the internet soon had it that the collection was lost and long forgotten, and only discovered when the rest of the property was sold for tax purposes.

Apparently though, this was purest baloney – the collection belonged to a car dealer and the photos that surfaced online were simply those he had taken to catalogue his assets.

Nevertheless, there are genuine finds to be had out there. A 1930s Mercedes convertible, a literal one-off made especially for racing driver Rudolf Caracciola, was found in the back of a Los Angeles junkyard. A young enthusiast bought on eBay what he thought were the reproduction body panels of a BMW M1 supercar, only to find that the panels were original, and belonged to a car that had actually raced at Le Mans.

There are even tales of shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis buying a Lamborghini Miura, parking it in the underground parking garage of the Athens Hilton and never getting around to going back for it.

So, have barn finds really become more common? Given the ever-spiralling values of rare cars should we all be out there right now, peering into disused buildings in the hope of uncovering rare supercars?

James Elliot, group editor of Classic and Sports Car magazine, urged caution when he spoke to The Irish Times. “Rising values definitely have something to do with it, and while there are always people on the trail of lost classics, more often than not it is the barn-finds that come to the people and not the other way around. Certainly, the current high profile of classics in the mainstream media contributes a great deal in that people who are sitting on collections are a bit more forthcoming when there are stories about prices going crazy every day.

Baillon collection

“I would like to say that increased coverage also creates a false perception of higher prices – as I believe it does to the quantity of barn- finds – but you only have to look at the Baillon collection results to see that that isn’t true. A complete wreck of a Jaguar S-type went for more than a minter would fetch, and that is solely down to hype and the romance of rust.”

But surely, one would think, even when they were new, such cars as the Delon Ferrari, would have been valuable and coveted enough that someone would have kept an eye on them?

“I think you need to draw a distinction between genuinely ‘lost’ –which can happen – and ‘out of the public eye’, which was more the case with the Delon Ferrari,” says Elliot. “Plenty of people in the trade knew exactly where it was and had been trying to get their hands on it for years.

“The biggest factor in how far a car goes off the radar depends on how long ago it disappeared. The longer ago – when there was less of a classic car movement, a California didn’t have the value of a Park Lane mansion and something like Alain Delon’s ownership would have been an interesting factor but probably have no effect whatsoever on values, plus when there was no internet keeping track of everything ever – the greater the chance it will be forgotten. It is very difficult for anything to go missing nowadays, but a couple of generations ago it was different.

“There are still plenty of amazing cars unaccounted for, especially pre-war cars and racing cars, and you never know what is going to come to light. In particular cars that were caught up in the second World War, many of which were hidden or moved or broken up during the hostilities, and some of which still haven’t re-emerged.”

source: http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/motors/a-dream-come-true-for-hunters-of-classic-antique-cars-1.2135578

by Neil Briscoe

Race Car Service and Repair Bay Area - Things You Need to Know About Ferrari's Insane New Supercar - Zucchi Motorsports - Sonoma - 707-334-3700

MEET THE FERRRARI FXX K

10 years ago, Ferrari launched the FXX, an Enzo-based, track-only monstrosity that you couldn'’t bring home to mother. No, literally, you couldn’'t. Maranello retained custody of the unholy beasts, hauling them to events for owners to race against each other. Hailed as a pinnacle of Ferrari tech, of sorts—a crowdfunded R&D program, one might say—the XX program continued with a 599 variant. Ferrari has now unveiled the third car in the program’s history, the LaFerrari-based FXX K. €2.5 million (roughly $3 million) buys you the car and two years of Ferrari’s stewardship. It’s also perhaps the most mind-bending thing to roll out of Maranello since the F40 set us on our ears more than a quarter-century ago. We went to Abu Dhabi to see the latest, craziest horse prance around the Yas Marina Circuit. Here’s what we learned.

Originally published at Car and Driver.

THE SPEED IS RELENTLESS.

Ferrari claims the FXX K laps its 1.862-mile Fiorano test circuit in 1 minute, 14 seconds. That’s five seconds quicker than a LaFerrari. We asked what a LaFerrari on slicks might do, and Ferrari product marketing director Nicola Boari suggests that gumballs would be good for perhaps a second. The other four ticks are 

due to the extreme aero mods and additional power.

THE POWER IS RATHER OBSCENE.

The FXX K’s naturally aspirated V-12 makes 848 horsepower, while 187 electric ponies arrive courtesy of Ferrari’s HY-KERS kinetic-energy recovery system. Total system output is 1036 horses. That’s 86 more than the 950-hp LaFerrari, previously the most powerful car Maranello had fobbed off on semi-average Giuseppes. The K in the name, rationally enough, stands for “KERS”.

IT HAS TWO STEERING-WHEEL-MOUNTED MANETTINOS.

The now-traditional steering-wheel "manettino" knob controls the chassis and throttle response, while the console-mounted KERS knob controls regeneration and output. The four-position switch’s most aggressive regenerative setting can recharge the system in less than one lap.

 FERRARI CONSIDERS THE FXX K ITS OWN MODEL—, NOT A VERSION OF THE LAFERRARI.

After spending time around it, we'’ll buy their assertion. To our eye, the K actually seems like what we wish the LaFerrari had been. It makes the Enzo-based FXX look like a crude hack-job— and the 599 variant look like somebody paraded his steed through a Pep Boys at hot-glue gunpoint. With its unique LED headlamps and more-aggressive front/rear fascias, this XX has a look all its own. For something so festooned with vents, scoops, and winglets, the K actually has a rather clean, cohesive look.

THERE LIKELY WILL BE AN FXX K EVO.

“"History tells that after two years, we are ready to do something else,"” Boari explains. The 599, you might remember, arrived after the Enzo, containing much of the knowledge the company had gleaned during the hypercar’'s development—, and it carried a variant of the Enzo'’s motor between its front fenders. The LaFerrari is so far beyond the F12 berlinetta, we can only assume that Maranello is planning an even more extreme version of its flagship supercar, rather than an F12-based XX.

source: http://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/research/11-things-you-need-to-know-about-ferraris-insane-new-supercar/ss-BBgS9Yt#image=5

by Michael Simari Davey G. Johnson

Race Car Service and Repair Bay Area - McLaren 570S Spied Testing with Ferrari F12berlinetta as Benchmark - Zucchi Motorsports - Sonoma - 707-334-3700

The Sports Series

Just like the Super sub-species, which includes the Asia-confined 625C, the 650S and the 675LT, the Sports stuff will be offered to us in three main flavors. The 570S we see here will be the "standard" model, if we can call it so. The Series should also include an even more usable 5xxC model, while at the top of the range we'll find a street-legal track special 5xxLT model.

The British spiders are coming! Yes, as McLaren has accustomed us, we shall also receive open-top versions for most, if not all of these models. McLaren has the cocky habit of delivering Spider versions for comparos, stating they're just as good as the coupes. After having driven the 12C and 12C Spider, it's hard to argue with their logic.

A recipe with GT ingredients

The basic ingredient here will be the carbon tub, the monocoque chassis that sits at the core of all the Macs out there. As usual, we'll find a 3.8-liter twin turbo V8 at the center of the carm working with a seven-speed SSG dual-clutch gearbox.

Sure, the engine will be downtuned compared to what is offered on the Super Series - as the car's designation tells us, we'll be dealing with 570 PS or 562 hp.

Still, there's no reason to be worried. You see, McLaren is getting closer to the grand touring concept than ever with its Sports models, so the reduced output will come with the advantage of even greater drivability.

It's not like anybody is surprised to see a Ferrari being used as a benchmark, but while many would have expected the 552 hp just-as-turbocharged, entry-level California T to serve that role, the British engineers went for what is the best GT on the market, the Ferrari F12berlinetta. Sorry, Aston fans.

We may be looking at both a Coupe and a Spider here

Speaking of the Prancing Horse, what you see in front of the F12 is an old 675LT prototype, but when it comes to the actual subjects of this spyshot session, the two cars up front, things get a bit more complicated.

While the second prototype appears to have a coupe-like rear window, the test vehicle up front replaces this with a solid panel, while also covering up its rear side windows with camo (car #2 has visible side rear windows). Moreover, there's some sort of a buldge in the area where the aforementioned panel meets the roof. These clues point towards the Spider scenario, as if that panel would be covering a pair of rear buttresses. Alas, the camo on the pillars wouldn't allow the metallic roof to be operated, so we can't be sure of the test car's open-top nature.

While McLaren may not have all that much experience with building GTs, the suprising usability of the supercars should be a serious hint of things to come.

As for what styling moves the serious camo might be hiding, McLaren boss Ron Dennis is the kind of man who follows the "cluttered desk is a sign of cluttered mind" philosophy, so expect the same performance-over-drama design we've received so far.

The McLaren Sports Series will land on our planet at the New York Auto Show in April, while an European debut is reportedly set to take place simultaneously, at the AutoRAI 2015 event in the Netherlands.

source: http://www.autoevolution.com/news/mclaren-570s-spied-testing-with-ferrari-f12berlinetta-as-benchmark-93469.html
by Andrei Tutu

Race Car Service and Repair Bay Area - Watch Jay Leno Take the BAC Mono for a Drive - Zucchi Motorsports - Sonoma - 707-334-3700

Jay Leno recently spent some time with the BAC Mono in an episode of Leno’s Garage. The car is based on a Formula 1 car, but it’s completely street legal. Although because it’s only a one-seater you wouldn’t likely be using for your daily commute.

The BAC Mono has an inline 4-cylinder Cosworth engine with 280 horsepower. That doesn’t seem like a particularly impressive number, but with a curb weight of 1,500 pounds, the story changes. There’s lots of carbon fiber in the Mono to make it so lightweight and help it achieve the impressive numbers.

The car will do 0-60 mph in just 2.8 seconds. It also has a top speed of 170 mph. Leno not only drives the car, but he also interviews the company’s Sector 111 President, Shinoo Mapleton.

The two talk about design and performance and how the goal was to make Formula 1 racing performance available outside of the professional circuit in something that people could drive on the track or on the road. Watch the video to get all the details and see Leno have a hell of a good time at the wheel.

source: BoldRide

by Nicole Wakelin

Race Car Service and Repair Bay Area - Petrolicious showcases the Nardi-Danese 6C 2500 - Zucchi Motorsports - Sonoma - 707-334-3700

The Nardi name is far more closely associated with beautiful wooden automotive steering wheels than compete vehicles. However, before Enrico Nardi was lending some style to automotive touch points, he was building some racers of his own. Petrolicious takes a look at a wonderfully restored example from the late '40s with this Nardi-Danese 6C 2500 – just one of three made to go racing in the famous Mille Miglia.

Dick DeLuna owns this example, and he enjoys taking this old-school racecar out on the road as much as lapping it around a circuit. Petrolicious takes advantage of that by showing the Nardi off extensively taking a drive through some picturesque backroads. In reality, the low-slung roadster is absolutely gorgeous even sitting still, with an almost coffin-shaped nose and headlights partially hidden behind the vertical chrome grille slats.

DeLuna is a pretty inspiring guy, too. He says that he's 76 years old and figures he has 20 summers left before he slows down. Take a drive with him in the latest from Petrolicious.

source: Autoblog

by Chris Bruce

Race Car Service and Repair Bay Area - This Might Be Your New Favorite Track Car - Zucchi Motorsports - Sonoma - 707-334-3700

While the Geneva Motor Show has come and gone, there were a few concepts at Geneva that didn’t get grab much of the limelight. When that’s the case, it usually means the concepts are either utterly boring or hideous to the eye. However, this new track day concept cars is neither.

This is the Phiaro P75 Concept Cypher. Besides it’s silly, silly name, the Cypher definitely begs your attention. Under the hood is a 1.5-liter engine that produces a mere 142 horsepower, which is connected to a five speed manual gearbox. And while the horsepower may not be that impressive compared to its other track day brethren, the weight or lack thereof surely is.

At 1,310 lbs., this car is insanely light. Couple that horsepower rating with the sheer lack of weight, and we’re betting it can still get up and go at lightning speeds.

Now here’s the only bad part. While the looks are just straight up supercar ridiculous, this still remains solely a concept. Phiaro, the company behind this wonderful creation, hasn’t stated whether it will actually build the Cypher. All Phiaro has said is that it’s “a message to the next generation.” Which, besides being unbelievably cryptic, is a shame, since this car would likely put the Ariel Atom on notice.

source: boldride

by Jonathon Klein

Race Car Service and Repair Bay Area - BMW Apparently Likes Drifting Now, Sort Of: Video - Zucchi Motorsports - Sonoma - 707-334-3700

The above video clip is a trailer for a video that BMW has created called "The Drift Challenge". It will pit two BMWs against each other to see who can drift better. One car is driven by a professional drifter while the other is driven by computers.

It should be interesting to see how the man stacks up against the machine. It's also interesting to see BMW finally realizing that maybe millennial enthusiasts aren't the horrible people they previously envisioned.

You see, BMW used to actually have a strong dislike for drifting. In 2013, pro sideways shoe Michael Essa was on the cusp of winning the Formula Drift Season. He would be crowned champion, and he would do it in his E46 BMW M3. The automaker asked any driver operating a BMW during the season to pull off any BMW badging, as drifting wasn't good for its image. A BMW vehicle was about to win a form of motorsport popular with a young demographic... and the ultimate driving machine wanted no part of it.

Now though, drifting is apparently A-OK for BMW. Well, as long as a computer is the one that does it best. Remember when BMW was the German automaker that was pushing to win races while offering up vehicles to customers who cared about how they performed? That certainly feels like 

a long time ago, doesn't it?

source: www.motorauthority.com

by Jeff Glucker

Race Car Service and Repair Bay Area - Even the ‘everyday’ old Ferrari is booming in value — thanks to boomers - Zucchi Motorsports - Sonoma - 707-334-3700

In 1975, Ferrari unveiled a mid-engined model designed by Pininfarina. The rakish coupe was called the 308 GTB, and one could argue it made the company’s name. In fact, Ferrari might be seen to agree with that assertion, as it’s newest model, the 488 GTB, is a nod in name and side-gill design to that iconic machine.

The value of the original GTB and its ultimate iteration — the 328 GTB and targa-top GTS, which bowed out in — is rising frighteningly and, for many experts, perplexingly fast, making this model perhaps the latest to benefit from the surge in Ferrari prices of late.

Hold your prancing horses, you say: The 308? No sir, Ferrari’s legendary name was made way before that modestly fast V-8 thanks to not just Formula One triumphs but also decades of 12-cylinder machines that hunted prey on Europe’s greatest race tracks. Think GTO, 275 GTB/4 and Daytona to name just a few. So why assign such importance to the 308/328?

Ferrari 308 GTB

Here’s why. Way before Luca di Montezemolo, Ferrari’s recently exiled king, used his Columbia University-honed business acumen to turn the Italian automaker into a luxury nameplate that would find its way onto everything from theme parks to slippers, the 308 GTB had just that sort of broad marketing effect.

Suddenly, a Ferrari was on posters in college dorm rooms; I’m personally guilty, having framed the classic Rick McBride image of the 308 GTB flanked by one of a wine bottle and a reclined woman with the simple words, “Decisions, decisions.” From 1980 to 1988, a red Ferrari 308 and 328 zipped across the small screen as the personal transportation of Tom Selleck in “Magnum P.I,” which arguably set the automaker up for a later Testarossa-led romp in “Miami Vice.” The 308 GTB made Ferrari a pop-culture hit.

The good news for admirers of this model — and countless boomers first fell in love with Ferrari after they spied a 308/328 on the road — was that for a long time it was considered an entry-level Maranello machine. Up until just a year or so ago, you could routinely spot these cars for comparative (that is compared to $38 million GTOs) peanuts: $40,000 for a nice 308, maybe $60,000 for a gleaming 1989 GTS complete with then-new tech such as ABS brakes and remote side mirrors.

Ferrari 328 GTS

And now? Dream on. A quick perusal of any number of online auto-sales sites quickly unearths 308s at pristine late-model 328 prices, and 328s routinely listing for $100,000 or more. The very early and rare 308 models that were made of fiberglass may well push into the territory of what some new Ferraris cost: Gooding and Company expects to get as much as $225,000 for a 1977 308 GTB Vetroresina at its Amelia Island auction this month.

Crazy? While freely praising the 308/328’s admittedly modest merits, most marque experts say yes.

“Although you need to keep a few thousand around each year for things like belt changes and other maintenance, I always felt that that series was a great entry-level exotic. But at $100,000 I’m much less enthused,” says Keith Martin, publisher of Sports Car Market, which keeps a careful eye on classic car values.

Ferrari 328 GTS

Also on the negative side of the ledger for Martin is the 308/328’s Fiat-sourced switchgear (the Italian giant bought a 50% stake in Ferrari in 1969) and that they’re far from rare (stats show that some 20,000 308/328s were built).

“I’m assuming people are getting caught up in the mania of the moment,” says Martin, adding that before this year most staggering used-Ferrari prices - such as a $10 million Steve McQueen-owned 275 GTB/4 - “had a logic to them. But I think we’re entering the realm of irrational, where anything that’s red and ends in an ‘i’ is thought of as gold.”

Longtime classic-Ferrari seller Michael Sheehan calls it simply “a classic trickle down, and now we’re at the bottom of the food chain.” He says that he recently purchased a 328 based solely on a few blurry iPhone photos, and came out the financial winner for it. He took another car on consignment at his Southern California-based Ferraris-Online.com, and “sold it to a dealer for a correct $79,000, who I saw then immediately marked it up to $130,000.”

On his blog, Sheehan writes about the five Ferrari booms. Today, “it’s the same story, just a different year and a different generation.” The 308/328 series was for “that guy who couldn’t afford a Daytona, but wanted to join the party.”

When asked if he’d recommend the 308/328 as a purchase, Sheehan laughs. “The late ones were nice, with a lighter clutch and a smoother, four-valve engine, but they’re hog slow with heavy steering,” he says. “But, I guess that doesn’t matter.”

Forza magazine editor Aaron Jenkins concurs.

“There’s no doubt that any year (Porsche) Boxster will speed away from a 328, because it’s old tech and it feels like it,” says Jenkins, who has regularly run features on the 308/328 in his pages. “That said, the 328 delivers a truly vintage car feel. There’s the noise and vibration. It’s like being inside a machine, or with a wild animal. When you’re in a Boxster, you’re just sitting inside a car.”

Ferrari 328 GTS

Jenkins also highlights the 328’s classic gated shifter, “which demands extra thinking from the driver, but in turn delivers a much more personal experience.”

So if you’ve always wanted a 308/328, have priced permanently raced off into the silly zone?

Jenkins says this is the longest Ferrari price boom to date, and he knows of many people just now getting into the used-Ferrari-selling game, implying there’s still more money to be made. Sheehan, too, is loathe to predict when the bubble will burst.

Back in 1989, Martin was actually selling new Ferrari 328s at the well-regarded Ron Tonkin dealership in Oregon. He remembers being thrilled with the car, which finally did away with the 308 ugly US-spec bumpers and offered a modicum of modern conveniences.

“People were getting all excited saying these were the last of Enzo-era cars (Ferrari died in 1988 at age 90), which was nonsense and just a reason to get excited about the model,” he says. “But in the end, rarity is the key to (classic car) prices, and the truth is they just made too many of this model to make them unique.”

His advice: wait a while, and the 308/328 price point just might correct itself.

Otherwise, look into a early model Ferrari 360 Modena, circa 1999-2002. Says Martin: “It’s three times the car that a 328 is, and right now, I guess also about the same price.”

source: Motoramic

by Marco R. della Cava