25 agosto 2012

Mecum Monterey 2012 – Auction Results


1972 Porsche 917-10 on the Mecum Monterey Auction Block

Posted on August 22, 2012 by 

The Mecum Monterey Auction 2012 was held August 16-18 at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa in Monterey, California, resulting in sales expected to exceed $34 million once final figures including “Bid Goes On” post-auction sales are tallied. The results represent an increase of more than 65% over last year’s figures.
Top sale at the 4th annual Mecum Monterey sale went to the Can-Am Championship-winning 1972 Porsche 917/10 Spyder at $5,830,000. Throughout the three-day event, Mecum sold a total of 30 Porsches, which contributed more than $10 Million to the weekend totals. Each day of the auction saw a standing-room-only audience as Mecum led the way in Monterey with sales figures by volume for a total of 364 vehicles sold.
Other notable results at the 2012 Mecum Monterey sale included the 1908 Simplex 50 Speedcar Roadster, the oldest Simplex known to exist, that sold for $2,014,000, the 1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Spider, with only 21,185 miles, that brought $1,113,000, the 1974 Porsche 911 RSR IROC that fetched a strong $927,500 and the 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS Lightweight that made $498,200.
Dana Mecum, President and CEO commented, “It’s great to see such incredible growth for a young sale like our daytime auction in Monterey which is only in its 4th year, and I’m happy that our team was able to produce great results for our customers.”
Mecum Monterey 2012 – Top Ten Auction Results
1. 1972 Porsche 917/10 Spyder – $5,830,000
2. 1908 Simplex 50 Speedcar Roadster – $2,014,000
3. 1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Spider – $1,113,000
4. 1974 Porsche 911 RSR IROC – $927,500
5. 1987 Porsche 962 – $874,500
6. 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing – $715,500
7. 1965 Shelby Cobra 289 Roadster CSX2428 – $636,000
8. 1968 Chevrolet Corvette L88 Convertible – $609,500
9. 1961 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster – $609,500
10. 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS Lightweight – $498,200
For complete auction results, visit www.Mecum.com.

Monterey Motorsports Reunion 2012 - Photos, Results, Report



Monterey Motorsports Reunion 2012 - Photos, Results, Report


Monterey Motorsports Reunion 2012 – Report and Photos

Report and photos by Dennis Gray

17 agosto 2012

Porsche RSR Carrera Turbo – Car Profile


1974 Porsche 911 Carrera RSR Turbo 2.14
Via Sports Car Digest
At the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 1973, Porsche unveiled a special 911 concept car that changed the course of sports car history. With RSR fender flares, a large rear wing and the word “Turbo” emblazoned over the rear haunches, the new Porsche offered an exciting new glimpse at the future of the 911 series.
A month later, Porsche announced that they would cease factory-backed racing activities for 1974, allowing private entrants to represent the marque with the Group 4 RSR. However, in cooperation with Martini & Rossi, Porsche entered a turbocharged Carrera in the Group 5 category for the Manufacturer’s Championship, just as had been done with the prototype RSR 3.0 models of 1973.
At the time of the announcement, Porsche had little more than a concept for a turbocharged racing Carrera, yet the idea was appealing for several reasons. Not only would a Turbo Carrera expand on the technical expertise gained during the final years of the 917 program, it would set the stage for the production Porsche Turbo that was being developed for the 1975 model year. Furthermore, the promise of a “silhouette formula” in the near future made a Group 5 Turbo Carrera an ideal platform for experimentation.
Over the winter of 1973–1974, Porsche began work on their latest racing 911 using a standard RSR as the foundation.
To comply with the Group 5 regulations that limited capacity to three litres, a 2.14-liter engine was developed with a magnesium alloy crankcase, polished-titanium connecting rods, enlarged oil-pumps, dual ignition, Bosch mechanical injection and sodium-cooled valves. At the rear of the engine, a single KKK turbocharger was mounted in the manner of the 917 Can-Am cars. This potent engine was mated to the five-speed RSR transaxle with an 80% locking differential and special half-shafts for increased strength.
Like the engine, the chassis was a vast departure from the production 911 and Porsche implemented the best RSR and 917 components. The standard torsion bar suspension was replaced with progressive-rate titanium coil springs, Bilstein shock absorbers, anti-roll bars and boxed-aluminum trailing arms. The result was a suspension assembly 66 lbs. lighter than those of the RSR 3.0. To this sturdy foundation, Porsche equipped the Turbo Carrera with RSR-type brakes and massive rear wheels for additional grip.
Again, using the RSR as the basic foundation, the bodywork made extensive use of fiberglass, with lightweight plastic forming the front fenders, rear aprons and all door and deck lids. Similarly, the interior was stripped of all unnecessary details and outfitted with an aluminum roll cage, boost gauge, boost knob and full-race controls. At the rear, a substantial rear wing was fashioned to both increase downforce and provide a more discreet inlet for the intercooler. In an attempt to maintain a visual relationship with the production 911 , the large rear wing was painted black to downplay its size.
After extensive testing, the RSR Turbo 2.14 made its competition debut at the Monza 1000 Kilometers finishing 5th overall and proved extremely successful at the 1974 24 Hours of Le Mans finishing 2nd overall behind a Matra sports prototype. Throughout the 1974 season, the Turbo Carrera continued to be tested and improved, eventually leading to the introduction of the 935 in 1976.
Presented here is the second of the four Carrera RSR Turbo 2.14s purpose built for the 1974 Group 5 Championship. Constructed at the development center in Weissach during the Winter months of 1973–1974, chassis 911 460 9016 was given the internal designation R9.
According to letters from the Porsche factory, R9 was “handmade in long duration” and used for testing and development in January 1974 at the Paul Ricard Circuit in the South of France.
Following substantial revisions at Weissach, R9 and another RSR Carrera Turbo premiered as factory entries at the Le Mans trials beginning on March 23, 1974. Finished in the classic Martini & Rossi livery – silver metallic striped in red and blue – R9 wore race number 1 and was driven by works drivers Gijs van Lennep and Herbert Müller.
1974 Porsche RSR Turbo Carrera Side Porsche RSR Carrera Turbo   Car Profile
1974 Porsche RSR Turbo Carrera 2.14
1974 Porsche RSR Turbo Carrera Interior 295x185 Porsche RSR Carrera Turbo   Car Profile
1974 Porsche RSR Turbo Carrera Interior
1974 Porsche RSR Turbo Carrera Dash 295x185 Porsche RSR Carrera Turbo   Car Profile
1974 Porsche RSR Turbo Carrera Dash
1974 Porsche RSR Turbo Carrera Pedals 295x185 Porsche RSR Carrera Turbo   Car Profile
1974 Porsche RSR Turbo Carrera Pedals
1974 Porsche RSR Turbo Carrera Details 4 295x185 Porsche RSR Carrera Turbo   Car Profile
1974 Porsche RSR Turbo Carrera Chassis Plate
1974 Porsche RSR Turbo Carrera Right Rear Porsche RSR Carrera Turbo   Car Profile
1974 Porsche RSR Turbo Carrera

Auto Union Type D Returns to Audi

Auto Union Type D Returns to Audi


Auto Union Type D Returns to Audi

 Auto Union Type D Returns to Audi
1939 Auto Union twin-supercharger Type D
The 1939 Auto Union twin-supercharger Type D Silver Arrow racing car, the second “Karassik restoration” car, has been purchased by Audi AG. With the acquisition, Audi now owns three of the five Auto Union racing cars that can claim to be original.
“This is one of the most emotional moments in our heritage work for AUDI AG – we have come full circle,” said Thomas Frank, Head of Audi Tradition. “Twenty years ago we would never have dreamed that such a thing would be possible!”
The Silver Arrow legend was born in the 1930s. In 1934, Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz appeared on the international motor racing scene with German racing cars of totally new design, with a silver finish and futuristic appearance, and were immediately successful. Whereas Mercedes-Benz relied on conventional front-engined cars, Auto Union placed the engine behind the driver – the layout that is still a standard feature of today’s Formula One cars. The two manufacturers dominated racing on Europe’s Grand Prix circuits without serious opposition until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939.
The 16-cylinder and 12-cylinder racing cars from Zwickau and Stuttgart captured one title after another, almost as if no other cars were competing. Drivers such as Bernd Rosemeyer, Tazio Nuvolari and Hans Stuck (Auto Union), Rudolf Caracciola, Manfred von Brauchitsch and Hermann Lang (Mercedes-Benz) are still acknowledged as heroes by modern motor sport enthusiasts: they often reached speeds of more than 300 km/h in races devoid of any serious safety precautions. On the long straights of the Avus circuit in Berlin in 1937, Rosemeyer’s car was timed at 380 km/h.
The Second World War put an abrupt end to what had become known as the supercharger era. Mercedes-Benz was able to rescue almost all its Silver Arrow cars after Germany’s total collapse, but fate was less kind to Auto Union. Zwickau was occupied by the Soviet Army, Auto Union was liquidated and the factories shut down. The Russian occupying forces found the Silver Arrows where they had been stored: in a mine building above ground. The cars were carried off to the Soviet Union as part of Germany’s reparation payments, and all trace of them was soon lost in that vast country.
The vehicles best able to pay tribute to Auto Union AG’s great motor sport heritage were thus regarded as irrecoverably lost by the new Auto Union GmbH (today’s Audi AG) when it was established in Ingolstadt in 1949. The Cold War had already begun and the Iron Curtain was firmly in place. Only one Auto Union Type C remained accessible; it had been presented to the Deutsches Museum in Munich before the war, but was later damaged in a bomb attack there.
At the end of the 1970, the first rumors were heard that one of the long-lost Auto Union racing cars had been located somewhere in the vast region of the former Soviet Union. Paul Karassik, an American collector of high-class classic vehicles, came to Europe with his wife Barbara, whose family came from Germany, and began to search for the car. As a small boy he had been a spectator in Belgrade at the last Grand Prix held before the Second World War – an unforgettable experience. Later, after emigrating to the USA, it proved to be useful to him in his search that he came from a White Russian family, had grown up in Serbia and spoke fluent Russian. It took more than ten years and numerous visits to the USSR before he tracked down the remains of two dismantled Auto Union cars in Russia and the Ukraine and, with keen negotiating skill, was able to buy them.
This was followed by several hair-raising journeys, often at the wheel of a delivery van, before he was able to bring the parts out through the Iron Curtain to Western Europe. The engines, chassis, axles and gearboxes were then flown to Florida in the USA. In the autumn of 1990, Paul Karassik made initial contact with experts, including in May 1991 the Audi AG Tradition department, which acted as advisors for the planned restoration. The Karassiks entrusted the rebuilding of their racing cars to the English company Crosthwaite & Gardiner, which already possessed the extensive know-how needed for the restoration of historic racing cars.
After detailed examination of the racing cars’ components, it was decided to rebuild a Type D single-supercharger racing car to 1938 specification, and a Type D racing car in the 1939 version with twin supercharger. In both cases a complete replica body had to be constructed, since no parts of the original bodies had survived. Rod Jolley Coachbuilding built the new bodies in England. In August 1993 the first of the two racing cars, the one rebuilt to 1938 specification, was completed. A year later the twin-supercharger 1939 car was also “ready for roll-out”. With support from Audi, both cars appeared on the starting line for the first time since 1939: at the Eifel Classic at the Nurburgring on October 1, 1994.
In recognition of its support during the rebuilding project, Audi was able to exhibit the 1938 car in the years that followed; it was purchased by AUDI AG in July 1998. The 1939 twin-compressor car returned to Florida. In the spring of 2000, Paul Karassik sold the second car to a private collector: in 1999 he had hoped to see this Auto Union run again in Belgrade, 60 years after the last Grand Prix held there, but the Balkan War put an end to this dream.
Purchase of the Type D twin-supercharger car means that AUDI AG now owns all three Auto Union racing cars recovered from what was formerly the USSR.
As well as the two “Karassik” cars, the collection includes the famous hillclimb car driven by Hans Stuck, the Auto Union Type C/D. This was on show at the Car Museum in Riga, Latvia, until just after the demise of the Soviet Union, and is today one of the outstanding exhibits at the Audi museum mobile in Ingolstadt. This is also where Audi plans to display the Auto Union Type D on a long-term basis.
But first of all, the new acquisition is to make a notable guest appearance at the 2012 Goodwood Revival in England, from September 14 to 16. After 67 years, the latest homecomer from the former Soviet Union will form part of an impressive ensemble together with the Auto Union Type D racing cars first seen in 1994.
[Source: Audi AG]

02 agosto 2012

Tandas Contra el Cáncer de la AECC

Imagen

Jornada.LEMA:
Una carrera a vencer juntos, la “Tanda contra el Cáncer”.

PÚBLICO OBJETIVO:
Niños de entre 6 y 15 años enfermos de cáncer, sus hermanos y padres.

TIMMING:
Domingo 16 de Septiembre de 2012 (9:30 a 14:30 horas)

LUGAR:
Circuit de Catalunya (Montmeló)

COLABORADORES:
Ayuntamiento de Montmeló, Circuit de Catalunya, Mossos de Transito, Policía de Montmeló, Bomberos, Protección Oficial, Cruz Roja, Eat and Out, Sunny Delight…

GENERAL:
Ofrecer una jornada lúdica a las familias con niños afectados de cáncer, lejos del contexto hospitalario, en el cual puedan disfrutar conjuntamente de diferentes actividades relacionadas con el mundo del motor y la velocidad.

ESPECÍFICOS:
-Fomentar la interrelación familiar en un contexto lúdico y descontextualizado del entorno hospitalario.

-Conocer otras familias en situaciones similares. Posibilidad de ampliar elsoporte social

-Disfrutar con la familia del conjunto de actividades organizadas. -Transmitir el lema de la Jornada: “Tanda contra el càncer” como una carrera que corremos todos juntos, en equipo

Jornada Circuito de Cataluña 2012

Actividades:
1. Visita a las instalaciones del Circuit de Catalunya y Helicóptero medicalizado

2. Parque automobilístico de Policía de Montmelo, Bomberos, Mossos de Transit, Protección Oficial y Cruz Roja

3. Mural de Pintura: decora nuestra parilla de salida llena de personajes conocidos por ellos.

4. Concurso de Dibujos “El coche de mis sueños”. Con cinco categorías (0-4 años; 5-7 años; 8-10 años; 11-14 años; 14-17). Representantes de la organización de la Jornada actuaran como jurado del concurso.

5. Taller de Recortables: corta y colorea tu coche

6. Pinta Caras

7. Mini circuito de Motociclismo: La empresa MotoZK, propiedad de Lucas Oliver Bultó montará un mini circuito con monitores y motociclistas que ayudaran a los mas pequeños en su primera experiencia con las motos.

8. Tanda Contra el Cáncer:

Todos los coches se disponen en parrilla de salida para que los niños disfruten de la velocidad a bordo de un coche hecho a la medida de sus sueños.

¿Qué necesitamos?

Personas, que dispongan de un coche deportivo (no importa la marca o el modelo, clásico o moderno todos tienen cabida en los sueños los niños) que quieran compartir con las familias de niños enfermos de cáncer un día que para ellos es inolvidable

Requisito imprescindible: experiencia en conducción dentro de circuito

¿Cómo podéis colaborar?

Llamando al 932 002 099 y preguntando por Isabel Bonachela(ext 12). Ella os explicará  los detalles