Land Rover Defender 2,000,000 fetches £400,000 at charity auction

In front of a packed saleroom, Bonhams’ chairman and auctioneer-on-the-night Robert Brooks dropped the gavel on the unique Land Rover Defender 2,000,000 at an extraordinary £400,000, every penny of which – as he was keen to emphasise – will go to charity…

One-of-a-kind

“Continuity and loyalty,” summarised Virginia McKenna in describing the appeal of the Land Rover Defender, whose production at Solihull comes to an end early next year after a remarkable 67 years. The actress and founder of the Born Free Foundation (one of the charities benefitting from the sale) was herself involved in the build process of this ultra-special Defender 2,000,000, along with a host of other celebrities, ambassadors and important Land Rover faces, old and new. The presentation at Bonhams’ New Bond Street headquarters was slick, including old ‘Huey’ (a car we were fortunate enough to experience first hand at the Goodwood Revival earlier this year), a wall of dinky Defenders and a mural of real people’s ‘Land Rover Stories’.

With the champagne in full flow, Brooks opened the bidding low (the car was offered with no reserve), before a lengthy battle ensued between bidders in the room and those on the phone, eventually peaking at £400,000, at which point applause rang out. Despite Brooks’ laudable attempt to garner more (we quote, “It’s going far, far away”), the hammer dropped at the aforementioned figure. We sincerely hope to see this special Land Rover being used as it was always intended.

Photos: Land Rover

You weren’t the lucky bidder? Fear not – you can find a broad selection of Land Rover Defenders listed for sale in the Classic Driver Market. 

1965 Porsche 904 Carrera GTS sells for $1,650,000

Images: RM Auctions by Simon Clay

This late-run Porsche 904 Carrera GTS is a stunning example of Porsche’s return to sportscar racing. It sold at RM Auctions’ Arizona Sale for $1, 650, 000

The car, 904-107, was built in 1965 as one of the last four-cylinder second-series 904s ever built.

Built with road equipment it is one of just four second-series cars to enjoy a reinforced chassis, centre-filling tank, short doors with pull-up plastic windows, upgraded brakes and reshaped tail with ‘Kamm’ ducktail. It is accepted that more time was spent building and perfecting the cars built late in the series, so each example was treated to an immaculate finish.

Originally shipped to Iceland, the car was sold in 1967 to Autohaus Walter von Hoff, and then again to Dr. Carl Armstrong, who was an amateur racing driver at the time.

Armstrong fetched the car in New York City and drove it home – which, barring today’s New York City traffic, sounds magic. He did most of his own race preparation, and painted the car light metallic blue before racing it extensively in SCCA Central Division events in ’68 and ’69.

The pair won the A Production race at Waterford Hills in Michigan twice in 1968 and came second in class in another event there. They won at Steel Cities and secured fourth at Mid-Ohio in that same year.

During this stage of the car’s racing career the Type 587/3 four-cam motor developed a habit of head gasket failure, so Armstrong’s brother fabricated a new set. The transaxle case also suffered damage during a race and was replaced with a 911 unit.

1969 saw the pair return to the track several times, but Armstrong ended up purchasing a 906 and selling this car to Robert Fergus.

Fergus prepared it for road use, repainting it white and installing (gasp) carpets and comfortable seats. It was not in his care long, however, and George ‘Jerry’ Reilly soon purchased it, fitting a correct 904 transmission and 911 S competition motor, and returning the car to its original silver.

Reilly entered the car in track events at Lime Rock Park, but didn’t race it extensively.

In 2001 he returned the car’s original four-cam 904 engine, 99 088, and sold it to Cal Turner, who reignited its race career. It was during this period in a race at Summit Point that the four-cam motor seized and was replaced with another 911 engine.

The car was sold again in 2005 and treated to a thorough restoration with the goal of retaining as much of the car’s original parts as possible.

It’s now in great condition and road worthy. Power is generated by a 911 motor from between ’66 and ’67 with triple-throat downdraft Weber 40IDA carbs. Its original Nadella axle shafts, Eberspacher gasoline heater, fuel surge tank, coconut-fiber matting and ’64-dated steel and alloy competition wheels are still with the car.

It has gained additional reinforcing steel tubing around the rear suspension at some point in its racing adventures, but is an original car in lovely condition. It’s even sold with a correct 1964 Type 587/3 904 engine, currently mounted on a stand.

Desirable, beautiful and fast, with a longstanding competition history and streetable sensibilities, this is the kind of historic racer we all dream of.

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formula 1 simulator. race at monaco for $140,000

How would you like to race an F1 car at the Monaco Grand Prix for $140,000 and from the comfort of your own home? Have a word with FMCG International.

How much would it take to race in Formula 1 (that’s just to be on the starting grid for one race, by the way)? $2 million per week? A VERY generous gift from Santa Claus? A sizeable mortgage and your soul on a piece of paper forever indebted to HSBC?

Nope, you’re way out. It’s actually a ‘mere’ $140,000, give or take a cent or two.

Okay, yes, in the grand scheme of things, that’s still a hefty bundle of cash: for not much more, you could buy your own showroom-fresh Nissan GTR. Still, considering that some considerable amount of overtime will buy you visible carbon fibre wishbones, magnesium alloy wheel rims, F1 Pirelli tyres, Brembo brake callipers and composite front and rear wings, it’s actually surprisingly reasonable. You can even choose your own livery.

The only slight downside is that your newly bought F1 single-seater doesn’t move.

This particular model from FMCG International is another step into the simulated world of motorsport (you may remember that not too long ago we had a play around on the CXC Motion Pro 2 at AUH Motorsports in Dubai, the realism of which pretty much wiped out our afternoon). And this is one we are particularly keen to have in the crankandpiston office. Negotiations for that Espresso Veloce V12 coffee maker have so far got us nowhere.

For your nearly $140,000, you receive a composite F1 chassis (finished in carbon fibre) as well as three 23-inch TFT screens with 5.1 digital surround sound that bring you a full driver’s side perspective of Monaco, Silverstone, Yas Marina, Spa-Francorchamps and pretty much anywhere else your racing heart desires on the current calendar.

Be warned though, racing driver’s excuses are not included…

Kenny Roberts Jr.'s 1996 Yamaha YZR500 on sale for $ 200,000

from TWOWHEELSBLOG

Being the son of such a living legend as ‘King’ Kenny Roberts brings great responsability and loads of pressure, but Kenny Roberts Jr. managed to secure his own place in racing history winning the World Championship of the 500 cc class in 2000, the last one ever clinched by a Suzuki machine, getting the best of a young Valentino Rossi (back then in his maiden year in the premier class with Honda) and fierce rival Max Biaggi (Yamaha).

However, the Californian begun his career in the 500 class in 1996 with a Yamaha YZR500managed by his dad Roberts (who had won 3 consecutive titles from 1978 to 1980, becoming the first American rider to win the World Championship), and that little piece of history (that you can admire in our photo gallery) is now up for grabs for $ 200,000. All you need to do to place your bid for this awesome piece of art is clicking on this link, where you will find more pics and more info on the subject..

We are talking about the original bike used by Kenny Jr. in his rookie year, when he finished 13th in the overall standings with a 4th place in Brno as the best result of the season. Up to this day, the Roberts represent the only case of father and son pair to have won at least one title each in the GP top class.