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WATCHES OWNED BY PAUL NEWMAN AND FERRARI'S PRESIDENT BRING OVER $2.3 MILLION AT AUCTION!

Most people who like cars also like airplanes ... and boats ... and trains ... and watches. Almost anything mechanical, in fact, attracts our attention.

Two motor racing-related wristwatches once owned by Paul Newman and a former president of Scuderia Ferrari (Ferrari's racing team) set records and sold for a total of $2,386,067 at the Geneva, Switzerland, auction on May 12th.

A large gold Patek Philippe chronograph watch which had belonged to Count Carlo Felice Trossi, an Italian Grand Prix-winning driver (what they used to call Formula 1) who became president of Scuderia Ferrari was bought for 2.345 million Swiss francs (current USD$2,219,297). This was the highest price ever reached for a wristwatch at Sotheby’s, according to the auction house. In a sale of almost 200 watches, the Patek Philippe knows as the “Trossi Leggenda” was definitely the star attraction. (Photos --- Above, the Trossi Leggenda which sold at auction for over $2.2 million, in front of a photo of a young Carlo Trossi; Below, a version of the Rolex Paul Newman Oyster Daytona which brought over $166,000 at the same event).

At  the same event, a gold Rolex Cosmograph Oyster Daytona, made around 1980, known as the  "Oyster Daytona Paul Newman," named both after the Florida race track and for the American actor who (perhaps unknowingly) made the style famous, netted 157,000 francs (current USD$166,770), compared to its pre-sale estimate of less than half that amount.

It's important to note that the there was never an official "Paul Newman" watch from Rolex until these were produced by the company after 1980 --- The Rolex Oyster Daytona models which came before are known as "Paul Newman-types".

Geoffery Ader, head of watches at Sotheby’s told a news conference that the watch was one of “great symbolic and historic importance as it came out in 1932, a turning point which also saw car racing and the emergence of airplanes".

Count Carlo Felice Trossi was a wealthy, handsome Piedmontese nobleman who was enormously rich from his family's banking and landholdings and was a serious lover of automobiles and racing. His ancestral castle at Caglianico, near Biella, had a racing shop, entered by a drawbridge, where the Count often joined his small retinue of mechanics to work on his cars, always wearing a pair of white linen gloves.

Trossi was one of that small group of European aristocrats whose daily lives were so far removed from reality that even WWII failed to take them away from their "hobbies." (Photo --- Trossi Roadster version of Mercedes SSK currently in the Ralph Lauren collection).

Enzo Ferrari, an engine mechanic and race car engineer, started the Scuderia as a private Grand Prix team which campaigned race cars for Alfa-Romeo. Carlo Trossi, an early investor in the team, replaced Augosto Caniato as the president of record for Scuderia Ferrari in 1932 at the ripe age of 23; but the title was purely honorary, as Enzo Ferrari ran the operation and Trossi acted as Ferrari's personal ATM, the young company's main source for funding and as a backup driver. Trossi died from a brain tumor at only 41 years of age.

For much more information and many more photos concerning Trossi, Newman and Ferrari and their fantastic cars, click below.

2009 ROLLER COUPE' IMPROVES ON SEDAN'S LOOKS

OK, now that we've seen the first official photos of the 2009 Roller Coupe', we take back almost everything bad we've said about the sedan version of the car ... from those box-shaped headlights to the overwhelmingly massiveness of the entire car, from front to rear, from tires to roof, in the engine bay and the car's interior ... the intimidating Phantom sedan is simply too much. But this Coupe' is something else again. The front end is a bit more friendly than it's four-door sister, and the whole thing appears, at least in these photos, more balanced and attractive, inside and out, than the sedan. The huge 6.75 liter BMW V12 (that's 412 cubic inches) sitting in the engine bay no doubt provides plenty of low-end torque (531 foot-pounds) and top-end horsepower (453hp) for this vehicle which weighs ... who knows how much? They ain't saying.

Times have changed, though. There's a lot more known about these cars than in years past. When my good friend Reg Abbiss (whose new book, "Rolls-Royce From The Inside; The Humour, The Myths, The Truth", Tempus Publishing Ltd, United Kingdom, 2007, is available everywhere and more-than-worth your few US Dollars or Euros or Yen) was in charge of public relations for Rolls and Bentley here in the US for many years, the company would never release horsepower figures or top speeds. When asked, the world's most-skilled and most-British of all automotive PR people would answer only, "Adequate," to the horsepower question, and, "Rather quickly", when the top speed query inevitably was raised. By the way, there's a wonderful photo of Yours Truly and Reg in his new book, both of us hard at work, with Reg no doubt begging me to interview the thoroughly and happily sleazy Howard Mosher, who ran Rolls/Bentley in the US from 1998 to 1994.

Car Nuts know for certain that times have definitely changed greatly when one mentions "BMW" and "Volkswagen" in the same breath as "Rolls-Royce" and "Bentley". The world used to be much simpler; as far as most Americans were concerned, the two-door, coupe version of Rolls was most always a Bentley.

Today, Rolls' are built ("crafted"?) in a wonderful, environmentally-conscious new facility on the grounds of the the Earl of March near London, UK, where Lord March annually stages his "Goodwood Festival of Speed". Yes, the guy's grounds are so large that the Rolls factory takes up barely an acre or so of his several hundred (or thousand, or whatever it is). Bentleys are also still made in the UK, and VW invested well over $104 million recently to upgrade the facility in Crewe.

In going through the release which you'll find below, it occurred to us that it's been a long time since we saw a line like this in an automotive PR release of any sort: "A 25 per cent increase in fuel capacity, compared to the Drophead Coupé, adds significant driving range." Well, isn't that just ducky!

Now, we'll allow the Rolls-Royce PR folks have their say, with a possible comment from The Royal We:

2009 Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe - First Official Pictures  

ROLLS-ROYCE TO REVEAL PHANTOM COUPÉ AT GENEVA

16.02.2008 - Rolls-Royce Motor Cars will unveil its new Phantom Coupé at the 78th International Geneva Motor Show on Tuesday, 4 March 2008. Production of the new car will start at Goodwood in the summer of 2008.

The Coupé is the most driver-orientated model in the Phantom line. A number of subtle but significant modifications have been made that change its character. It is noticeably more dynamic, whilst still offering incredible levels of comfort.

Marrying cutting-edge technology with a beautifully proportioned, muscular body that exudes power and style, it incorporates timeless Rolls-Royce design cues in an utterly contemporary manner.

Designed to cover great distances effortlessly, the Coupé is the perfect choice for a transcontinental trip. Power is provided by the Phantom’s 6.75-litre (412cid) V12 that produces 453 bhp, 720 Nm (531 pounds-feet) of torque and has segment-leading fuel economy. A 25 per cent increase in fuel capacity, compared to the Drophead Coupé, adds significant driving range. Agile, fast, long-legged and virtually silent, the Phantom Coupé allows both driver and passengers to emerge unruffled, even after an all-day run.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Chief Designer, Ian Cameron, said “Rolls-Royce has always been about pace, performance and style. For the Coupé design we gave the quintessential Rolls-Royce design a dynamic twist. This adds a sense of drama to the outstanding engineering and drivability that are fundamentals of Rolls-Royce cars. The dynamic drive of the Phantom has always come as a surprise to customers and the Coupé takes it one step further.”

The Phantom Coupé features rear-hinged coach doors which add considerably to the ease of access to the rear lounge seats as well as to the overall aesthetics. Crucially, they aid the overall stiffness of the body as the rear hinged doors allow for an uninterrupted A-pillar helping to make this the most torsionally rigid Rolls-Royce ever. A brushed steel finish of A-pillar and bonnet, as seen for the first time on 100EX, is also available for the Coupé.

At the rear is a spacious picnic boot. A split tail compartment that opens in two parts, gives easy access to 395 litres (14 cubic feet) of space. The lower tailgate also provides a comfortable seating platform for two adults when lowered.

At the core of the Phantom Coupé is an advanced aluminium chassis, perhaps the single most significant  component in delivering the marque’s legendary refinement. Lightweight and exceptionally strong, it impacts positively on ride comfort, handling and safety. Hand made, it requires over 130 meters (427 feet)of welding to create each body.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Chairman and Chief Executive, Ian Robertson, said, “The Coupé has been designed and engineered to be the most dynamic interpretation of our values. Our 2007 sales figures illustrate how successful the entire model range has been with an increase of 25 per cent over the previous year.”

Rolls-Royce
Goodwood, West Sussex, England, United Kingdom (end of release)

WARNING HEARD AGAIN IN BOSTON: "THE BRITISH ARE COMING, SORT OF!"

For many years, in fact since they started selling cars in this country, BMW and Mercedes-Benz have kept their national headquarters offices in New Jersey. Volkswagen was there for a long time, too. And how many of you remember that Volkswagen had a factory in Pennsylvania which was shut after ten years of operation, in 1988 (of course, the world being as it is, a new VW plant in the USA might be announced at any time). Jaguar was located in lovely Mahwah, New Jersey until Ford bought them, and moved the outfit to Irvine, CA, in a single office from where FoMoCo wanted all their import "partners" to operate (Mazda, Aston-Martin (Sold!), Jaguar (For Sale!), etc).

Now, Bentley (Photo -- Bentley Hunaudieres concept), owned by VW, makes this announcement about moving their US HQ to Boston, MA. BOSTON!??! This is a silly as Carlos Ghosn (the man who heads both Renault and Nissan, has now HQ'd himself in Paris, and doesn't like hybrids) moving Nissan's USA HQ from Gardena, CA to Nashville (and that move is going to bite Nissan so badly in the butt in a few years that we only hope we live long enough to see our prediction proven right ... and we're not the only ones standing on that particular platform). We can't wait to find out the "real" reason Bentley is setting-up show in one of their former owner's former colonies, what top Bentley exec living in the Boston area refused to move, which are usually the reasons when companies make moves like this, which have no real sense on their face.

Now, almost everyone knows that Rolls-Royce has a factory in Springfield, MA. In fact, in 1919, the company incorporated as Rolls-Royce of America and acquired its first US manufacturing plant in Springfield. Production began the following year. By 1923, Rolls-Royce presence in the U.S. was substantial, with offices in Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Cleveland, Hartford and Troy, NY, in addition to the original office in New York City. The company was further represented in 16 cities across North America. Rolls-Royce of America Inc. manufactured nearly 3000 Silver Ghosts and Phantoms before succumbing to the Depression. To this day, Springfield is the only place outside England that Rolls-Royce cars have ever been built. Now Bentley is in the same area as RR was, not building the cars there, but making sure your new Bentley is as bright and shiny as the day it left the factory (Photo -- You like the Breitling watch? Buy a Bentley and the company gives you one). But please keep in mind: We don't blame any person or any company moving from Detroit for any reason! Here's the "official" info on the move, short, sweet and to the point:

Ultraluxury car maker Bentley Motors Inc. will move its North American corporate headquarters to Boston from suburban Detroit by summer 2008. "The U.S. is our biggest market by a considerable margin, and we are making these changes now to ensure our long-term viability and success in North America," Bentley sales and marketing board member Stuart McCullough said in a press release.

The move to Boston follows a move last month by Volkswagen of America Inc. from suburban Detroit to suburban Washington. Volkswagen AG owns Bentley. (Photo -- 2007 Bentley Azure; when the car was first introduced in 1995, I was the first motor journalist to introduce it on American TV, on KTLA, the superstation out of Los Angeles).

ASTON MARTIN GETS A LONG-TIME MOTOR RACING WINNER AS ITS NEW OWNER --- BUT WILL THAT BE ENOUGH TO KEEP THOSE CARS COMING?

David Richards is familiar with fast cars -- apart from being named a "Commander of the British Empire" in 2005, he also has driven and owned plenty of on-road and on-track high-performance cars in his career. The 54-year-old auto racing mogul suddenly added a lot more speedsters to his collection earlier this week, being part of an investment consortium which bought a controlling stake from Ford in Aston Martin, the world-renowned exotic sports car-maker which made its public name worldwide by appearing in James Bond movies.

On the race track, by the time the first Bond movies hit silver screens worldwide in the early 1960s, Aston Martins had already made their bones on the world's top racing circuits. How much money has Prodrive managed to, uh, "promote" from their various partners? Well, 2008 sees Prodrive bringing a Formula 1 team back to the sport --- quite possibly under their own brand "Prodrive" name. Which means, if true, that Prodrive will be building their own chassis and engines for the minimum-two-car team (and have the HUGE money buy-in necessary for F1, somewhere around $50 million per car ... minimum, per car, not counting every other single cost, including transport to all the tracks for the entire team, all salaries; of course much of this is off-set by sponsor bucks, but that's up to Prodrive to, uh, promote). That all takes some juice ... At least Richards has denied that the F1 car will run as an "Aston Martin" ... Hmmmm ... Maybe as a "Ford"? Now THAT would be nice! Bring Jackie Stewart, "The Wee Scott", back to the grid and on-the-air! By the way, if a team can afford the F1 buy-in, they get the use of a business jet for the entire season for their team as they see fit, painted in their team's livery. Not bad, eh wot?

Richards, who will join the board of Aston Martin as non-executive chairman, is a former head of Formula One teams Benetton and BAR and also a former World Rally champion. In 1984, he founded Prodrive, the racing and automotive technology company that also runs Aston Martin's auto racing program. Prodrive has been one of racing's most successful ventures anywhere in the world, continuing to draw on the great UK tradition of racing as a "cottage industry", utilizing the talents of the many great UK-based artisans and fabricators devoted to motor racing in all its forms.

Richards got into auto racing after studying accounting, becoming a professional World Rally co-driver. While  competing with Ford, he and Ari Vatanen won the World Rally Championship title in 1981. This was a great entry into the sport of racing. The old joke, "Know you make a small fortune in racing? Start out with a larger fortune!" was apparently heard early and bypassed by Richards, who had coin-counting abilities before he ever got into a race car. Kind of like (and how many of you know this) Mick Jagger graduating from the London School of Economics before starting his little rock band. Now you know why The Rolling Stones are one of the most successful money-makers in the business ... or at least one of the reasons. (Photo above - Recent Prodrive-built Aston Martin at "24 Hours of LeMans).

He constantly developed his business interests, which led to the formation of his own rally team and the creation of Prodrive. Richards will return to F1 for the 2008 season with Prodrive, which will become the 12th team on the circuit.
   
Since Richards founded the firm, Prodrive has won more than 200 motorsport events, plus six World Rally titles with Subaru. When Prodrive managed BAR Honda in 2004, the team finished second in Formula One's Constructors' championship. (Photo below - Aston Martin DB2 1956 edition).

Richards is a non-executive director of International Sportsworld Communicators Ltd., which owns the commercial rights to the World Rally Championship (some good money there, eh what! Think of him every time you watch World Rally on SPEED TV in the USA). He is also on the advisory board of the Warwick Business School, a trustee of the British Racing Drivers' Club Benevolent Fund and vice president of BEN, the automotive industry's benevolent fund.

In 2005, he was made a Commander of the British Empire for his services to motor sports.

ASTON MARTIN SOLD! $925 MILLION BUYS IT ALL --- UK RACE SHOP PRODRIVE'S OWNER LEAD BUYER --- BUT NOW MUSTANG IS ON THE SKIDS, TOO

Ford announces sale of legendary Aston Martin to a group headed up by Prodrive chief Dave Richards. Prodrive is a large race shop in the UK known for building race cars for World Rally, LeMans and other race series, and are starting an F1 division. They have been building the LeMans race cars for Aston Martin. Kuwaiti investors figure into the deal, too. At least ownership stays (in part) in the UK. (Photo - The "James Bond" Aston Martin DB5, perhaps the most famous movie car ever).

(From the Los Angeles Times, Automotive News and other sources) - Ford has confirmed that it has sold a controlling stake in Aston Martin, creator of exotic $100,000-plus sports cars made famous in James Bond movies. Yes, that iconic DB5 model driven first by Sean Connery in "James Bond" movies such as "Goldfinger" loses much of its cache' as an international group of businesses and businesspeople now own the company which originally made it.

Aston Martin will now be run by a consortium of investors consisting of racing mogul David Richards, car collector John Sinders and Kuwaiti companies Investment Dar and Adeem Investment Co.

Ford executives announced the Aston Martin sale at the firm's headquarters in Gaydon, England. Ford will receive $848 million and retain a $77-million stake in the company, totaling a value of about $925 million. (Photo - Current road-going Aston Martin model).

Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford, which lost $12.7 billion last year and expects red ink to continue until 2009, put Aston Martin up for sale in August. It acquired control in 1987 and had owned the brand outright since 1994. Sales dipped to a few dozen in 1992 but climbed to about 7,000 last year. Buyers can get a new Aston Martin for about $110,000, but the price can run as high as $270,000.

Richards is founder and chairman of Prodrive, a British racing and automotive technology company that runs Aston Martin's international sports car racing team. Sinders, from Houston and Dubai, is an Aston Martin collector and racing backer.

The company, which has been profitable under Ford, will have only modest growth in coming years but will remain true to its roots as an iconic British luxury sports car, Richards said.

Ford will continue to provide safety, emissions and other technology as well as some marketing, advertising and public relations services, to Aston Martin, he said.

Closing the Aston Martin sale will be a process that could take six months. (Photo - Aston Martin built by Prodrive for the "24 Hours of LeMans").

MAYBACH DEALERS CUT BY HALF; CAR MAY NOT SURVIVE AS SEPARATE BRAND

Automotive News reports that Mercedes-Benz executives said at the start of September that it didn't  cost much to keep Maybach on the market. But that wasn't heartening news to the 70-plus U.S. dealers who each invested more than $500,000 to create what the automaker calls a special commissioning studio (fancy name for a sales desk where they serve coffee) within their existing stores to showcase the uber-supercar. Mercedes expected to sell at least 500 Maybachs annually in the United States. Since its launch in 2003, it has sold only an estimated 778 cars total through July. Both Maybach models, the 57 and the 62 (referring to their lengths) are built on the (now) old Mercedes-Benz S-class platform, and Stuttgart management is not saying whether the brand will continue or be blended into the Mercedes-Benz brand as a range topper. But now comes word from Stuttgart that Mercedes USA is cutting back on the number of Maybach dealers. So, the end is near ... At least for "Maybach" as a separate name and brand. We think the name just never caught on with American buyers.

The only addition to the Maybach brand this year had been the 62 S, the long-wheel-base version of the 62 that is equipped with a 604-hp, 6.0-liter V-12 and a $428,750 price.

And the truth is that super-luxo sedan sales, including those of venerable Rolls-Royce (owned by BMW) are down worldwide. Sales of Bentley (now owned by Volkswagen, as is Bugatti and Lamborghini) are doing well because of some lower-priced Bentleys introduced recently. And then there's that "Maybach" name problem ... It might have been all the rage in 1930s Germany, but most Americans don't remember those days and those that do might not have fond memories of that country in those years.

And now, as sales of the Maybach super-luxury sedan (photo -- Maybach rear interior) continue to lag, Mercedes-Benz USA has chopped the number of Maybach franchises by more than half. Twenty-nine of Maybach's original 71 U.S. dealers have given up their franchises. In turn, Mercedes has offered compensation to those dealers (which will serve as a prelude to the lawsuits filed by those dealers against Mercedes which will almost definitely appear).

Here's why lawsuits are almost a done deal: One suburban Detroit Mercedes dealer said he accepted (!) an offer of 25 cents on the dollar. “It just was not a profitable franchise,” said Chuck Ghesquiere, owner of Mercedes-Benz of Bloomfield Hills. “It's a great product, but it had a big price.”

Over the past five years, Ghesquiere sold seven Maybachs — not enough to justify the cost of the studio, the demo car and the inventory of parts. Seven cars in five years ... Clearly, wealthy Detroit residents don't see any benefit to driving a half-million dollar foreign car.

Last week, Mercedes spokespeople said the company doesn't plan any further deep cuts in Maybach franchises. Yeah, right. (Photo -- 2007 Maybach 62 S has a 6-liter V12 engine pumping out 604 horsepower; all yours for just a tick under $430,000).

Certainly Maybach dealers have a good relationship with the Mercedes factory, meaning they probably sell a lot of M-B cars during the year. When picking M-B dealers to be Maybach stores initially, the factory obviously looked for dealers with a good reputation for customer service, and strong Mercedes sales to serve as a back-up should Maybach sales not live up to expectations. Now that that's happened, Mercedes is on the long, sad journey of buying-out dealers and hoping they can negotiate buy-out prices outside of a courtroom. Maybe they should talk with GM about how they are handling the Oldsmobile shut-down ...