1964 FERRARI 250 LM BY SCAGLIETTI

As far as I’m concerned, the Ferrari 250 LM by Scaglietti is the single most beautiful Ferrari of all time. Some will disagree with this, preferring Enzo’s front engined models but the mid-engined 250 LM was a precursor of Ferraris to come, as well as the last Ferrari to win at Le Mans.

Based on the Ferrari P (for “prototype”), the 250 LM was intended to be homologated as a GT car by the FIA, then raced in the GT class at Le Mans. A minimum of 100 units had to be built for homologation and Enzo was about 70% short of this target, as a result the FIA refused to homologate the model – forcing it to race in the much quicker “prototype” category.

The North American Racing Team (NART) bought, prepared and entered a Ferrari 250 LM in the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans, it was driven by the dream team of  Jochen Rindt and Masten Gregory and despite being entered into the far more competitive Prototype Class, the men landed the mid-engined V12 on the top spot of the podium.

Ferrari clients could order a hand-built 250 LM and a small number did, the cars weren’t designed to be all that comfortable and Ferrari’s “official” GT cars were far more suitable for prolonged use on the road. As a result of this, only 32 250 LMs were built - making them rare and highly sought after by collectors, a recent auction saw one sell for $14.5 million USD.

The beautifully presented Ferrari 250 LM you see here is due to be offered at the Monterey Auction on the 15th of August 2014, it’s in immaculate condition throughout, so you can be your bottom dollar that it’ll sell for a price high enough to raise the eyebrow of even the most most wealthy of collectors.

Click here to read more via RM Auctions.

Photo Credits: Pawel Litwinski ©2014 Courtesy of RM Auctions via SILODROME

TT Assen - Pourquoi le samedi ? / TT Assen’s unique status as only round to host Saturday racing

L’Iveco Daily TT Assen est un évènement particulier dans le calendrier MotoGP™ puisqu’il s’agit du seul Grand Prix dont les courses ont lieu le samedi plutôt que le dimanche. Les raisons de cette particularité remontent à la première moitié du 20e siècle.

Assen est aussi le seul rendez-vous qui ait figuré sur le calendrier des Grands Prix chaque année depuis la première édition du Championnat du Monde en 1949. Bien avant ça, le premier Grand Prix des Pays-bas eut lieu un samedi, en 1925.

« Le premier Dutch TT eut lieu en 1925, mais pas à Assen, » explique Egbert Braakman, Secrétaire de Course à Assen de 1970 à 2006. « C’était dans un village nommé Rolde, à sept kilomètres à l’est d’Assen. »

« La raison pour laquelle les courses avaient lieu le samedi était qu’il y avait une église à proximité de la ligne de départ/arrivée. Le conseil municipal ne voulait pas d’une situation où les gens qui souhaiteraient aller à la messe le dimanche ne puissent pas le faire en raison de routes fermées pour la course. C’est pour ça que la course a lieu le samedi. Ça a marché et nous avons donc maintenu le samedi. C’est maintenant une véritable tradition d’avoir le Grand Prix le samedi mais toutes les autres courses au circuit ont lieu le dimanche. »

La tradition allait cependant se poursuivre durant des décennies, à la plus grande joie des spectateurs venant de l'étranger.

« Dans les années 1970 et 1980, nous avions beaucoup de spectateurs venant de Scandinavie et du Nord de l’Allemagne, » continue Braakman. « A cette époque, nous avions aussi la ‘Speed Week’, qui commençait avec le Championnat d’Europe les lundi et mardi et continuait avec le Grand Prix le reste de la semaine. Beaucoup de spectateurs restaient donc toute la semaine, au camping ou non. La plupart arrivaient le dimanche et restaient toute la semaine. Ils rentraient ensuite chez eux le dimanche et avaient donc toute une journée pour leur voyage avant de reprendre le travail le lundi matin ! »

En 2013, le TT Assen fut remporté par Valentino Rossi. Il s’agissait de la 80e victoire de l’Italien en catégorie reine.

The Iveco Daily TT Assen is unique on the MotoGP™ calendar in that it is the only Grand Prix at which races take place on a Saturday, as opposed to the usual Sunday. The reason for this stems back to midway through the first half of the 20th century.

Also, Assen is the only venue on the calendar to have hosted a Grand Prix every single season since the World Championship was inaugurated in 1949. Furthermore, the Dutch Grand Prix event itself was first hosted on a Saturday, in 1925.

"In 1925 was the first Dutch TT, but not at Assen," explains Egbert Braakman, who was the Race Secretary at Assen between 1970 and 2006. "It was in a village called Rolde, seven kilometres east of Assen."

"The reason why it was on the Saturday is that the church was near to the start/finish area. The town council didn’t want to have a situation in which people who wanted to go to church on a Sunday could not, as all of the roads were closed for the race. That is the reason the race was staged on the Saturday. That proved a success, so we continued to do it on the Saturday. It is now a real tradition to have the Grand Prix on the Saturday, but all other races at the circuit on a Sunday."

However, this tradition would continue to benefit fans for decades to come.

"In the 1970s and 80s, we had a lot of spectators from Scandinavia and the northern part of Germany," Braakman continues. "At that time we also had the so-called ‘Speed Week’, starting with the European Championship on Monday and Tuesday followed by the Grand Prix for the rest of the week. Many spectators would therefore stay here for a week, at campsites and so on. Most arrived on Sunday and would stay for the whole week. They would then go back home on the following Sunday, allowing them a full day to travel in order to go back to work on Monday morning!"

Assen has hosted a Grand Prix every year since 1925, with the exception of the six from 1940 to 1945 because of the Second World War.

In 2013, the legendary TT Assen was won by Valentino Rossi: an 80th premier class victory for ‘The Doctor’.

Message sur le mur by MotoGP.

Icons of Hollywood: Can you guess all 50?

If a picture is worth a thousand words, these simple graphic interpretations of 50 iconic big- and small-screen moments should give you enough clues to be able to guess their source…

Since we're focusing on the art of playing truant this week, the first image in the gallery should be obvious – but in case it isn’t, we will tell you that it’s from the build-up to the legendary scene from the 1986 cult classic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Scroll through the gallery above and see if you can identify the remaining 49, each of which is available as a print from California-based graphic design company DKNG Studios. 

Photos: DKNG Studios

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