As seen on:

SMH Logo News Logo

Call 1300 303 181

Australia’s Best New Car News, Reviews and Buying Advice

Archive for February, 2013

Top 5: Classic car auction sales of 2012

In the first of an on-going ‘Top Five’ series, we take a look at what kind of money high-end car collectors are prepared to pay for the best.

The classic car auction market has always intrigued me. Largely, this is because of the sheer beauty, history and diversity of the automobiles on display. Some are no less worthy of a discerning eye as a Picasso, for they are artworks in their own right. Others have a unique story to tell, or are just simply so damn successful as racing cars that the market has no choice but to respect them.

Beyond the stories of the cars themselves it’s the psychology of the market that also intrigues. Nowadays, it’s not only those in the trade or with oodles of money looking to add to their collections that you’ll see holding a bid card. Nope, like artworks or fine wine, there is the occasional speculator who looks at these items merely as another investment opportunity. There have even been a couple of funds set up in the UK that treat cars as an investment asset class.

Whatever the motive, the market has been on a ‘bull’ run for several years now. The very best examples of the most desirable models continue to grow in value, as seen by the following list of the Top Five Cars sold at auction in 2012. Prices include ‘Buyer’s Premium’ (basically a commission for the auction house) and are nominated in Australian dollars.

A couple of key points to note: All five sales came over the course of ‘Monterey week’, an annual gathering in the United States where all the major players congregate. The list also proves that a Ferrari badge is generally a value-adder; with recent news that Ferrari is the ‘World’s Strongest Brand’- beating Apple and Coca Cola- who knows what heights classic Ferraris will reach in 2013?

1. 1936 Mercedes-Benz 540K Spezial Roadster

Sold for $11,295,585 by Gooding, Monterey, August 18

The height of pre-World War 2 German excess, the 540K Spezial Roadster is somehow imposingly-styled yet still breathtakingly elegant. Powered by a supercharged 5.4-litre straight-eight this example was said to have had only three ‘caretakers’ from new, the first being the Baroness Gisela von Krieger- it was a graduation present from her mother. It has been restored to ‘Authentic, as-delivered appearance’ with ‘matching numbers’ (meaning it retains its original engine and driveline).

2. 1960 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spyder Competizione

Sold for $10,820,537 by Gooding, Monterey, August 17

Achingly desirable (and expensive) even in ‘standard’ long-wheelbase (LWB) form, this ‘Cali’ was one of only nine to be delivered with an alloy body. Additionally it was delivered in ‘Competizione’ specification, with covered headlights, disc brakes and an engine uprated with parts used by the 250 Testa Rossa race cars. Significantly, it was ordered by legendary US Ferrari importer Luigi Chinetti lending it extra resonance on the American auction floor.

3. 1968 Ford GT40

Sold for $10,556,622 by RM, Monterey, August 18

Surprised to see Ford mixing it with the exotic Euros? With the GT40 (so named because its height was 40 inches) Ford’s aim was essentially to destroy Ferrari at the race track, after Enzo Ferrari reneged on a deal that would have seen Ford take over Ferrari (imagine that today…).

Powered by a 4.7-litre V8, this example was one of three ‘lightweight’ production-build GT40s. With ace Jacky Ickx it won a sportscar race at the famed Spa-Francorchamps circuit in 1967. Subsequently upgraded to 1968 specifications, it was used in the filming of the Steve McQueen movie, Le Mans.

4. 1962 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder

Sold for $8,234,165 by RM, Monterey, August 19

Carrying Ferrari Classiche certification- a sign of its authenticity- this California Spyder is of the short-wheelbase (SWB) form- generally accepted to be the ‘Cali’ to have, despite the LWB Competizione above out-pointing it on the auction floor. One of 37 covered-headlight examples, this example is a Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance award winner.

5. 1955 Ferrari 410 S Berlinetta

Sold for $7,914,466 by RM, Monterey, August 18

Said to be a one-off body with coachwork by Italian Carrozzeria Scaglione, this earlier Ferrari was specially commissioned for Ferrari SEFAC (racing department) board member Michel Paul-Cavillier. It is powered by a massive 4.9-litre V12 engine which had been prepared for road racing competitions and produced over 280kW of power. Another award recipient, this time at the famed Concorso D’Eleganza Villa D’Este in Cernobbio, Italy in 2009, the uniqueness of this Ferrari no doubt contributed to its exceptional price.

*Images thanks to Mecum and RM Auctions http://credit-n.ru/avtokredit.html

Fuel Economy: Myth or Fact?

Wringing the most out of our fuel is very much the in thing, whether you’re a greenie or a meanie. Information about what you can do to save fuel and improve your car’s fuel economy gets handed on and handed around. But are some of the things that Uncle Fred taught you actually going to help improve your fuel economy?

• Myth or Fact? You need to warm your car up before you can drive it properly.
Myth. Even if you are in the chilliest parts of the world, you don’t need to warm a car up before you can drive it. Sure, you might need to apply the choke for a little bit in the depths of winter, but if the engine is turning over, you’ve got the energy needed to turn the wheels. If you do use the choke, remember to turn close it off after about five minutes.

• Myth or Fact? Small cars are more economical than large cars.
Myth. As my fellow-blogger David commented, fuel economy is getting very, very sexy in the motoring world, and the guys and girls who come up with car ads are just as likely to mention the fuel economy figures as they are to mention the torque. This means that fuel-saving technology is being applied to medium-sized and even large cars. This is good news of all of us for whom a little Honda Jazz  or similar is impractical – there’s no need to jam a family of leggy teenagers into the back of a little hatchback in the interest of saving fuel.

• Myth or fact? Driving less aggressively is more fuel efficient.

Fact. If you demand less of the car, it can work more efficiently. Feather-light touches on the accelerator, gentle braking and smooth cornering are easy on the car and mean that it uses less fuel. Fierce acceleration, hard braking and tight cornering might be all right on the race track but are bad for fuel economy, as well as making you obnoxious on the road to your fellow drivers. This is anecdotal evidence, but I’ve recently picked up a 4-litre Ford Fairlane . Keeping a light foot keeps the average fuel consumption (according to the trip computer) nice and low. Plant the boot and the figures soar. Think of the effortless and graceful soaring of a seagull or an eagle compared to the aggressive and frantic flapping of a chook.

• Myth or fact? After-market additives and thingummies can make your car run better.
Myth. According to a Reader’s Digest article and the US Department of Energy, most gadgets and additives that you chuck in along with your petrol don’t make your car any more efficient, and the only thing that they clean out is your wallet. The exception is a full conversion to LPG or something along those lines.

• Myth or fact? Replacing your air filter will improve your fuel economy.
Fact – sort of. Changing the air filter does indeed improve the fuel economy of older cars. However, with modern cars, changing the air filter improves the performance but doesn’t actually improve the fuel economy. This is because a lot of modern engines have computerised controls that maintain the right fuel to air ratio, no matter what state the filter’s in.

• Myth or fact? Idling uses more fuel than restarting your car.
Fact. If you have to wait for that person who’s running late or if you’re held up by road works, switching the engine right off and restarting it again uses a lot less fuel. OK, it might not be a good idea to do this at the traffic lights, unless you know that you’re going to have to wait a long time until the lights go green. http://credit-n.ru/business-kredit.html

Modern safety technology: Does it make drivers lazy?

Driving along in a new Mitsubishi Outlander Aspire, I was enjoying the sound quality of the Rockford Fosgate stereo as I sat in climate controlled comfort. Suddenly, the dash lit up with a panicked ‘Brake!’ and an accompanying beep. There was a turning vehicle several metres up ahead that I had already slowed for and was preparing to move around. The reality was that if I had to, I could have stopped comfortably within the space between the Outlander and the car ahead. For me, the Forward Collision Mitigation (FCM) system was a jumpy (and pre-emptive) distraction to something I had already seen…but I can’t talk for everyone, or indeed for every situation.

At advanced driver training courses, the first thing you are taught is to look far ahead so you can make such avoidance manoeuvres with plenty of time to spare. Unfortunately, this is not always related to those learning to drive, but that is a story for another day.

Manufacturers, to their credit, are trying to add safety to their products, to save lives and sell more cars. The advancement in active safety measures has been impressive these last few years and though it’s apparent that not all of these new technologies can claim a definitive ‘number of lives saved’ they are obviously doing their bit in the fight against any incident ranging from a simple accident to a vehicle-related death. But are these systems sometimes too smart for their own good?

Take the FCM system. At its extreme, you could suggest that people will no longer care to look too far ahead, ‘safe’ in the knowledge that the car will tell them when they need to start paying attention.

I also wonder if cars that reverse-park themselves will render that driving skill obsolete…and how much damage will be caused a) if the technology fails and b) if the driver has to do it for themselves! The same goes for cars which use FCM and/or sonar to adjust vehicle speed automatically (and in extremes perform an emergency brake with no driver input). The intent is to avoid upcoming dangers but it can go wrong (search ‘Volvo Brake Test Fail’ on YouTube to see an example).

A rear-facing camera can also embed a sense of dependency on what the camera shows when reversing. I’ve done it myself when in a hurry: “There’s nothing on the screen and the parking sensors aren’t beeping, so I should be right.” It’s usually then that a pedestrian appears from the side, or a stationary object in your blind-spot suddenly greets your bodywork.

More broadly, Automatic Stability Control (ASC) systems do a wonderful job in assisting safety- just watch a driver training demonstration video for proof of that. In my opinion, however, it can lead to complacency behind the wheel and a lack of understanding as to what caused the ASC to trigger in the first place. In my mind, ASC and indeed these other technologies can be seen as cures, but developing your awareness by taking a defensive or advanced driver training course can prevent a potential accident from occurring in the first place. Such courses will also aid in your understanding of these systems and show you how to work with them rather than rely on them completely.

http://credit-n.ru/kurs-cb.html

Automotive brand hierachies

The concept of ‘brand hierarchies’ is nothing new in the automobile manufacturing world. Take a corporate giant and its want to expand into different market categories- or indeed different markets- without diluting its parent brand’s strength or market position.

The example of General Motors and its Holden brand is probably the most well-known to Aussies. A man by the name of Willam Durant had risen to fame in the 1900s as a key driver in the success of the Buick Company. Durant acquired several other manufacturers and named the conglomerate ‘General Motors’. His vision was simple: that each GM sub-brand would stand-alone in its own class, so they wouldn’t be in competition with each other.

As a result, Cadillac became the high-end luxury brand, Buick for the upper-middle class, with Oldsmobile seen as the entry level to the corporation. Later, Chevrolet was added as the ‘everyman’ brand, and so it continued.

Though the ‘one brand per class’ philosophy has faded and several sub-brands have come and gone since, today GM’s presence is still felt world-wide. As well as the home-market Chevrolet, GMC (a commercial vehicle producer) Buick and Cadillac, they have a presence in mainland Europe through their Opel brand (now in Australia), in the United Kingdom with Vauxhall and in Australia with Holden.

Given their heavy global presence and continued success, the Volkswagen Group (VAG) is the most influential of the multi-brand car corporations today.

Currently in Australia the VAG hierarchy commences with the Czech Republic’s Skoda as the entry-point. From there, it moves through the German Volkswagen brand to a premium German marque, Audi. The aristocratic English Bentley is on the next rung before the red-blooded Italian peak of Lamborghini. Other countries receive bookends to these, the budget Spanish SEAT (which failed locally) and the artisan Bugatti, originally of France.

Although there are distinct steps in prestige with each of the brands sold here, sub-brand pricing strategies often collide, particularly when the marques in question share a model platform. For example, a Skoda Fabia RS in three-door hatch form has a list price only $1000 less than the better-specified (though similar underneath) Volkswagen Polo GTI. The Audi equivalent A1 Sport is better specified again, but costs over $10,000 more than the Polo. Of course, if you are looking into any of the cars mentioned, Private Fleet can help save you thousands off these prices!

The Fiat Group has also established a hierarchy, though their reasoning is perhaps more patriotic- if they hadn’t acquired other Italian manufacturers, the entire Italian car-building industry may well have died. The Fiat brand itself sits below Alfa Romeo, Lancia (unavailable in Australia), Maserati and Ferrari and technologies are shared across brands to ensure economies of scale. The re-emerging strength of the Fiat Group has been highlighted with the acquisition of a majority stake in Chrysler to increase its distribution capability in the United States.

So, next time you see a car with a familiar shape but a badge you weren’t expecting, you know why!

http://credit-n.ru/offers-zaim/4slovo-bystrye-zaymi-online.html