Dr. Karl E. Peace, a biostatistician, author, and philanthropist who has worked in public health for decades, has donated his 32-car collection to benefit Georgia Southern University. One of Dr. Peace’s previous contributions, an endowment in honor of his late wife, Dr. Jiann-Ping Hsu, allowed the university to establish a college of public health in her name.

Hagerty Marketplace is hosting the auction of The Dr. Karl Peace & Georgia Southern University Collection, the majority of which are Studebakers.

We can’t remember the last time we saw so many of South Bend’s finest under one roof. While there are a couple of post-Studebaker Avantis, a Chevy, a Buick, a Mercury, and a couple of Fords among the collection up for sale, let’s take a look at some of our favorite Studebakers that we’ll be paying particularly close attention to as the auctions come to a close starting on June 11.

1953 Studebaker Champion Regal Starliner

The 1953 model year marked the first year of the low, sleek Starliner coupes, penned by Robert Bourke at Studebaker’s design studio, which was headed by the legendary Raymond Loewy. Studebaker coupes of this era are a favorite among land speed racers because they perform much better than their peers, and it’s easy to see why: Their streamlined shapes were unlike anything else on the road. Later Studebaker Hawk variations expanded on the theme with fins and extra trim—we’ll be highlighting some of those as well—but the original Starliner is one of the best iterations and proves that sometimes less is more.

1957 Studebaker Golden Hawk

Studebaker’s most powerful and prestigious model at the time, the Golden Hawk debuted in 1956 with 352 cubic inches of Packard V-8 power, showing the fruits of the brand’s merger with Packard two years prior. For 1957, a Studebaker 289 replaced the larger Packard mill, but the output was the same 275 horsepower as before thanks to a centrifugal supercharger. These luxurious winged coupes are a rare treat, and because a 1956 model participated in the famed Mille Miglia, this one in particular could also be eligible for entry, adding another reason why a collector might see this Golden Hawk as the prize of Dr. Peace’s collection.

1960 Studebaker Champ Pickup

Studebaker didn’t have the deep pockets of its Big Three rivals, so it had to get creative in the late ‘50s when the brand needed to replace its aging pickup truck line that had been in service since 1949. Using the same chassis and stepside bed as its previous light-duty pickup, Studebaker cobbled a truck cab together by shortening a Lark sedan. We’ve gotta say, for something built on a shoestring budget, the styling works pretty well. 1960 marked the final year of a 170 inline-six as a flathead; it got an overhead-valve cylinder head in 1961. These pickups are a rare sight and would likely gather quite a crowd at any car show. Combine that with its fantastic gold paint and this one was an easy pick for our list.

1962 Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk

The Gran Gurismo Hawk represented the final evolution of the sleek Starliner coupe into a more formal and stately touring car. The prominent grille might be a bit brash, but the new greenhouse gave the Gran Tursimo Hawk an all-new profile that matched its more upscale ambition. Inside, a plush interior kept up the theme. This one is powered by a 289 V-8 and a three-speed manual. Membership to the Brown Car Appreciation Society is complimentary.

1964 Studebaker Avanti

Plenty of Studebaker’s designs were vastly different from anything else on the market, yet we can’t help but think that the Avanti was perhaps the most ambitious effort the brand ever made. Its sleek fiberglass body is unmistakable. Studebaker-produced Avanti models were powered by 289-cubic-inch Studebaker V-8s, some with optional Paxton superchargers like the Golden Hawk. This one is naturally aspirated and backed by a four-speed manual transmission. Finished in blue over a blue and white interior, this example looks fantastic in photos, although a few mechanical and cosmetic issues need sorting out. It’s still a well-preserved example of a sporty personal luxury car bursting with style.

1964 Studebaker Daytona Convertible

Like the Champ pickup we mentioned previously, the Daytona used a lot of the mechanical underpinnings of its predecessor. In this case, that was the compact Lark, the same car that served as the basis of the Champ. Renowned designer Brooks Stevens was responsible for completely redesigning the Daytona to compete with rivals like the Dodge Dart, Chevy Nova, and Ford Falcon. We’d say he succeeded, as the lines look clean and sharp, even today. Just 416 Daytona convertibles were built in South Bend before production moved to Ontario, so this represents one of the last U.S.-built Studebakers in the company’s history.

There are plenty of other Studebakers in the Dr. Karl Peace & Georgia Southern University collection—plus the odd Chevy, Ford, and Buick. If you’ve got room in your collection for a bit of American car history outside of the Big Three, then you might consider one of South Bend’s stylish alternatives and help Georgia Southern University in the process.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post 6 Stylish Studebakers up for Grabs appeared first on Hagerty Media.

More than 200 people gathered at Reno’s National Automobile Museum this past April for Music & Motion, an event that raised funds to benefit the Parkinson Support Center of Northern Nevada. The Parkinson Support Center of Northern Nevada aids the more than 5000 people in the High Sierra region living with Parkinson’s disease. Music & Motion was presented by Drive Toward a Cure, a nonprofit that has raised more than $1 million since 2016 to support research and patient care for those suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

Vanessa Williams, the multi-award-winning singer/actress/producer, moderated a discussion with notable luminaries including Dr. Deanna Brown Thomas, the daughter of “The Godfather of Soul” James Brown; Rasheda Ali Walsh, the daughter of “the Greatest,” Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali; along with professional off-road athlete Shelby Hall, a Reno native and granddaughter of Rod Hall, the most decorated off-road racer and Hall of Fame inductee. Both Ali and Hall struggled publicly with Parkinson’s disease.

The open discussion and forum included personal memories from each of the panelist’s family members. Automotive-centric anecdotes featured Mr. Ali’s Rolls-Royce Corniche convertible, in which he would gather all his children for rides through Los Angeles, to James Brown’s 1941 Lincoln and various Cadillac convertibles. Shelby Hall recalled how she, together with her then near-80-year-old grandfather, competed and completed the NORRA Mexican 1000 in 2016, an adventure rally with competitors from racing icons to current stars. The event was the last in which Hall was able to drive his beloved Bronco, despite having to be lifted into the race-prepared truck due to his own debilitation from Parkinson’s.

Among the automotive highlights of the evening was the rare Jaguar C-type driven by the legendary Phil Hill, America’s first Formula One champion. Hill also battled Parkinson’s for a number of years and died from its complications in 2008 at the age of 81. The foundation’s association with Hill dates to the early beginnings of Drive Toward a Cure and was the inspiration for the organization first teaming Cars and Camaraderie to raise awareness for Parkinson’s.

All proceeds from the evening’s event and silent auction will go directly to the Parkinson Support Center of Northern Nevada. Since its inception in 2021, the center has embarked on a financial journey to raise $500,000 over the next five years to create a facility that will continue to bring together the Parkinson’s community in northern Nevada with expanded support services, educational programming, and continued advocacy. For more information, to volunteer or join the local Reno area Parkinson’s community, view www.pscnn.org

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post An Evening of Stars and Cars to Support Those Suffering from Parkinson’s Disease appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Since 2016, the nonprofit Drive Toward a Cure has raised more than $1 million to support research and patient care for those suffering from Parkinson’s Disease. As the summer driving season comes to a close, the organization has concluded its fourth annual 75 Days of Summer nationwide fundraising program, which ran from Father’s Day to Labor Day. The program encourages like-minded driving enthusiasts to join the fight against the neurodegenerative disease that affects nearly one million Americans and 10 million people worldwide.

The 75 Days of Summer program evolved during the early days of the global pandemic, as Drive Toward a Cure searched for creative fundraising ideas unbound by lockdowns or social distancing. Hagerty got on board as a sponsor and has remained committed for each successive summer. To date, the program alone has raised nearly $150,000.

Entrants in the 75 Days of Summer compete to drive the most miles and raise the most funds to earn prizes. There are also weekly random drawings that further build momentum and incentivize participation. Grand prizes are awarded to those entrants with the highest combination of dollars raised and miles driven. This year, 20 Formula SAE university teams joined the challenge, and four students were among the Grand Prize winners.

Grand prizes awarded to entrants with the highest combination of dollars raised and miles driven were provided by Radford Racing School, Michelin Tires, Katzkin Leather Interiors, NCM Motorsports Park, XtremeXperience and Grand Prix Originals USA.

“We created an ongoing interactive experience that has become an easy way individuals, clubs, groups, and organizations can partake and feel like they’re supporting a worthy cause,” says Drive Toward a Cure founder Deb Pollack. “We’ve been fortunate to creatively engage so many of our car family members in supporting our efforts nationwide.”

This year’s Grand Prize winners included Caleb Arena, Chassis Lead for Georgia Tech Motorsports, part of the Formula SAE program. He drove 11,533 miles over the summer and won a One-Day Performance Driving Course at Radford Racing School in Phoenix. Second place was Clinton Quan, of Encino, California, who topped his own documented mileage from last year, clocking in at 9095 miles and raising an additional $500 to earn a set of Michelin Tires. And Vivian Chen, a member of Princeton University’s Formula SAE team who spent the summer in Lansing, Michigan, as an electrical engineering intern on the manufacturing team for General Motors, claimed third place by driving more than 6000 miles. She’ll receive a Katzkin Leather Interior transformation. In all, more than $15,000 worth of giveaways were awarded through the program, which is set to return in 2024. Watch this space for details.

The post Another successful Drive Toward a Cure fundraiser for Parkinson’s comes to a close appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Now entering its fourth year, the Drive Toward a Cure “75 Days of Summer” national fundraising endeavor began on Father’s Day and lasts through Labor Day weekend. It encourages automotive enthusiasts to do what they enjoy most—get out and drive.

Fueled once again by Hagerty Drivers Club, the 75 Days of Summer program began as a means for individuals to escape from isolation during the pandemic summer of 2020 but has become an annual competition that to date has raised nearly $100,000 for Parkinson’s disease. It also means participants have a chance to win prizes via random weekly drawings.

According to Deb Pollack, automotive executive and founder of Drive Toward a Cure, each year the enthusiasm toward and participation in the event has grown; individual entrants have been joined by clubs and groups. For 2023, an additional, separate competition was created to include university Formula SAE team members.

“Our original success stemmed from reaching out to car clubs nationwide and through social media channels,” said Pollack. “This year, we additionally have aligned with 20 university Formula SAE teams that originally signed on to provide awareness through their race vehicles—and now the students are coming forth to create larger fundraising efforts.”

Sponsors such as Michelin and Shell/Pennzoil have participated since the program’s inception, bolstering Grand Prize offerings, as well as making long-standing contributions to the foundation since Drive Toward a Cure’s initial driving events began in 2017.

This year, additional Grand Prize sponsors for the driving program include Radford Racing School, NCM Motorsports Park, Xtreme Xperience, GrandPrix Originals USA, and Katzkin Leather—with JBL, Triple Zero, Audrain Motorsport, and the Ingram Collection contributing to weekly random prize draws every Friday.

Affecting nearly one million Americans and 10 million worldwide, Parkinson’s disease is the second-most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer’s and is the 14th-leading cause of death in the United States. It is associated with a progressive loss of motor control. There is no cure for Parkinson’s and 90,000 new cases are diagnosed each year in the U.S. alone.

Drive Toward a Cure is a 501(c)(3) non-profit supporting beneficiaries including The Michael J. Fox Foundation, the Parkinson’s Foundation, and numerous Centers of Excellence for Parkinson’s. For donations, sponsorship, and information, visit www.drivetowardacure.org.

Join the Drive Toward a Cure and make every mile count in awareness of Parkinson’s Disease—sign up here.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post Drive your car and help support those with Parkinson’s appeared first on Hagerty Media.

The two Honda Civic Type Rs are nose to tail as they come speeding by. I can just make out the red poppies, Stars and Stripes, and red maple leaves that make up their liveries, but then they’re gone into the distance.

This is a Veterans’ Weekend military fly-by with a difference, taking place at the annual Race of Remembrance at the glorious Anglesey Circuit in Wales. Run by British forces’ charity Mission Motorsport, this 12-hour endurance race takes place over two days with two breaks—one for an overnight rest, and another for a service of remembrance.

Teams representing the British army, the Royal Navy, and the Royal Air Force—clad in slick-looking professional outfits—and shoestring-budget amateurs all converge on the most picturesque track in the country. They’re here to race—and to remember those who have fallen in the defense of our freedoms.

Now in its eighth year, the Race of Remembrance is the flagship event for Mission Motorsport, whose motto is Race, Retrain, Recover. Through Mission’s training, mentoring, and support more than 200 wounded, injured and sick ex-service men and women have found employment. Over 2000 veterans have found work thanks to its charity programs.

“Most of our work is actually around helping people get new careers after the military, and the sport is the hook,” explains founder and former Royal Tank Regiment Major James Cameron. “This weekend is about how the motorsport community marks Remembrance Sunday. We come here for a remembrance service and in order to justify that, there’s a bit of a motor race that happens on either side,” he says.

The two Hondas have been brought across the ocean by Mission Motorsport’s North American cousin Operation Motorsport.

Operation Motorsport was formed by Canadian founder and former paratrooper Diezel Lodder, who first attended the Race of Remembrance in 2016. For 2022, Lodder has brought the two Honda Civic Type Rs provided by the famous Skip Barber Racing School, and some 39 people, including 13 ex-forces beneficiaries, two of whom are driving.

“When people medically retire from the military they lose their team identity and purpose, and that’s what we aim to give them back,” says Lodder.

To do that, Operation Motorsport (OpMo) has successfully placed its beneficiaries within North American race teams in IMSA and SRO Motorsports, America’s top two pro sanctioning bodies, and Canada’s FEL Motorsports platform.

“We bring them to the team, the team gives them a shirt—an identity. Then they hand them a rag and say start wiping the car down and slowly they build more skills. It’s not just turning wrenches; we have a beneficiary here who’s doing our social media photography. We’ve had beneficiaries do hospitality, some end up getting their truck driver’s license and then driving the rigs,” he adds.

OpMo also runs a wide range of programs including diversionary therapy, e-sports, and driver development.

It’s through the latter that former U.S. Army helicopter crew chief Hunter Reeve and retired Royal Canadian Airforce 2nd Lieutenant Theo Bruulsema find themselves driving alongside professionals Travis Hill, Mike Stillwagon, Kevin Boehm, Jason Bivins, Huw Leahy, and John Weisberg.

The Type Rs have been shipped over from the U.S. two months beforehand, but this weekend in November, crew only arrives at the circuit in time for first practice. A few electrical gremlins get in the way of early running. Nonetheless, by the end of qualifying the cars are tenth and 11th on the grid.

The lights go out at 3 p.m. for seven hours of competition, and the two Hondas pretty much hold station into the dark. I’m sharing Mission Motorsport’s little Citröen C1 with British Army veterans Matt Stringer and Linda Noble and ex-Royal Navy man Nick Wilson, and it is comprehensively outgunned by the Type Rs. Every four laps or so they fly past in perfect formation, all the way to the 10 p.m. break.

Early the next day everyone is back out on track, picking up the pace in the unlikely Welsh sunshine. At 10:30 a.m., a red and white flag is waved. The cars stop on the grid again. It is time for the remembrance service which makes this event so special.

Fireproof suits are swapped for military uniforms and medals. Engines are silenced, and all 55 teams and their supporters gather in pit lane for hymn and prayer.

It’s a moment that many veterans would choose to avoid if it weren’t for the unique setting. “For one of our guys, it’s the first time in four years that he’s come out of the basement on Veterans’ Weekend,” says Lodder.

“If I was at home, I’d switch the TV off and avoid everything,” says another veteran.

In a masterstroke of diversion, Mission Motorsport’s Cameron breaks the silence with a shout: “Let’s go racing!” Everyone returns to the present and their efforts to finish the final few hours of the race.

At the checkered flag, the Canadian car crosses the line in eighth, with its American stablemate in 12th place—a strong showing for Operation Motorsport and its #22 and #220 Hondas. Those figures are more significant than the teams’ finishing positions, remembering the 22 ex-service men and women who take their own lives in North America every day.

Hopefully, through the work of Operation Motorsport and events such as the Race of Remembrance that number may be a little lower today.

The post Military veterans from around the world race to remember—and to recover appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Antarctica: The least populated place on the globe, the coldest, driest, and windiest place known to humankind, and the last place you’d expect to see a 1956 Porsche 356A gliding through whiteout conditions—but that’s exactly what happened this past December.

Skimming across the surface of this solid-white landscape on a combination of skis and tracks, the Porsche was like a plane that had lost its landing gear. At the wheel was 65-year-old rally driver Renée Brinkerhoff, blindly driving over the stark blue ice at the tail end of a remarkable personal and philanthropic journey. The brutal ride, a symbolic 356 miles long that was hobbled by myriad mechanical difficulties, signified an end to Project 356 World Rally, Brinkerhoff’s seven-continent mission to raise $1 million to stop human trafficking.

How this Colorado mother of four found herself driving a specially modified, vintage sports car across the globe’s southernmost continent is a story ripe for a hungry screenwriter. “I had always dreamed of racing a car, but it was a secret I kept from everyone,” Brinkerhoff says of her midlife shift into rally racing. It wasn’t until her children were grown that her dream seemed even remotely possible, as her moment of revelation came in 2011 at an afternoon barbecue held at a cousin’s house. Brinkerhoff spied his 1956 Porsche 356A and it was love at first sight. “When I first saw that beautiful car, it all just came together,” Brinkerhoff recalls. “I knew I wanted to buy one just like it and get into racing.” She purchased her own 356A that same year.

When it came to what type of racing she wanted to do, Brinkerhoff didn’t have a clue, but she knew that racing around a track seemed too blasé. A simple Google search revealed the La Carrera Panamericana rally in Mexico, one of the most dangerous—and exciting—races in the world. “I just thought it sounded fun,” recalls Brinkerhoff with a now-knowing chuckle.

After further research, Brinkerhoff discovered a team with a similar 356A registered for the 2012 La Carrera Panamericana rally whose partner had dropped out a few months before the race. Paying half the cost to participate, she landed a seat in the car as both driver and navigator, and that seminal experience in the Mexican desert cemented her desire to come back with her own car and team.

With nothing more than a few classes at the Porsche Track Experience, albeit with famed endurance-racing driver Hurley Haywood as instructor, Brinkerhoff returned to Mexico in 2013 at the age of 57 with her newly prepared car and a patchwork support team.

What unfurled was one of the most challenging things she had ever experienced, but it also provided an addictive adrenaline rush. “There was such a visceral connection as soon as I got behind the wheel, and the entire experience just fit in a way I never expected.”

Upon returning home, Brinkerhoff realized that her newfound rally appetite could be used to feed her charitable interests—bringing a deeper personal meaning to this oversize adventure.

First, she established Valkyrie Racing—in Norse mythology, a valkyrie is a female figure who chooses who may die or live in battle. Then she created Valkyrie Gives, a philanthropic arm for her rally efforts.

Valkyrie Gives focuses on human trafficking, a cause Brinkerhoff decided to champion after she learned that, each year, some 1.2 million children are smuggled and used in illicit crimes across the globe. Having spent much of her childhood in Southeast Asia as the daughter of a diplomat, Brinkerhoff quickly realized that she could leverage her racing publicity to help organizations that work to end trafficking, such as Haart Kenya and Valley Light Home in Kenya, CHS Alternativo in Peru, Chab Dai in Cambodia, and New Horizons House in India.

Brinkerhoff says that as these two pieces of the puzzle came together, the next stage of her life clicked into place. She would race for a cause and call it Project 356 World Rally.

Project 356 World Rally

In creating the Project 356 World Rally, Brinkerhoff planned to tackle nearly 20,000 miles over all seven continents in six events to raise $1 million toward her charitable goal. A social media campaign kicked off fundraising, and the Valkyrie team held benefits, golf tournaments, pre-rally parties, and concerts to raise awareness, while simultaneously hitting the rally circuit.

Project 356 World Rally began in 2016 with a return to the La Carrera Panamericana, the rally that started it all. From end to end across the interior of Mexico, Valkyrie finished first in class. Down Under at the Targa Tasmania, the team had the only Porsche 356 out of more than 100 cars. Over in South America at Caminos del Inca, the team’s 356 was the first Porsche to compete and, more important, the only non-modern vehicle in the history of the race. Covering two continents in the historic Peking to Paris, she was again the only Porsche 356 in the 9000-mile, 36-day journey. Heading to Africa, Valkyrie Racing finished the toughest classic off-road event on the planet, the East African Safari Classic, to mark the only time in the race’s history for a Porsche 356 to compete.

Each race brought a stronger sense of commitment for Brinkerhoff and her team, but nothing could match the final capstone to this seven continent journey—356 miles across Antarctica.

The last conquest kicked off in December 2021 atop the blue ice of Antarctica. This concluding step of Project 356 World Rally proved to be the ultimate test for Valkyrie Racing in modifying the vintage Porsche to handle the demands of driving on ice.

Chassis engineer Kieron Bradley, a U.K.-based extreme explorer, spent roughly 18 months re-engineering the classic mascot, replacing the wheels with a skis-and-tracks combination, adding a crevasse bar that supports solar panels, and reworking the cabin so Brinkerhoff could reach her survival and communication gear unimpeded by the rollcage. Reimagined for survivability, the 356 looks absolutely badass.

For the ice journey, Brinkerhoff enlisted navigator Jason De Carteret, who has held both skiing and vehicle world records for polar exploration, with 50 polar expeditions under his belt.

Besides charting a safe course, De Carteret used his background in renewable energy to ensure that Project 356 was carbon positive. He calculated the carbon footprint that every member of the team made over seven continents, both miles flown and driven, and the team donated twice that number in dollars to an organization that plants trees in areas of deforestation. Nearly 10,000 trees were planted.

Although a mixture of personal funds and donations from Colorado-based businesses helped keep Project 356 going around the world, the remoteness of this final leg exponentially increased all expenses. Shipping the Porsche from the U.K. to Chile on a cargo ship was relatively inexpensive, but shipping from Chile to Antarctica by cargo plane was approximately $50 per kilogram. A liter of fuel cost approximately $52 at base camp and double that when the expedition went beyond that reach. It was then that sponsor PXG, a sports-equipment company, came on board and funded all logistical costs for the car and team for the Porsche’s voyage.

Not only did the team drive 356 miles across the blue ice of Antarctica—which, while beautiful, was also treacherous—they became the first to do so in a vintage car. Yet it wasn’t akin to a day of sledding with a cup of cocoa at the finish.

It’s one thing to trust a navigator/co-driver in rallying when, as the driver, you can see what’s in front of you and can visually process directions. Brinkerhoff admitted that driving with near-zero visibility, knowing she couldn’t veer too far off course due to potential crevasses waiting to swallow the car whole, was more than unsettling. “I had to trust De Carteret’s course directions explicitly, only using his GPS coordinates, and that was extremely challenging,” she says.

Then there was the plethora of mechanical issues: Air filters packed with ice like snow cones; frozen carburetors thanks to subfreezing air feeding the engine; two of four cylinders capable of running, forcing the car to cover miles upon miles in second gear; and the bolt attached to the ski’s hub that snapped not once, not twice, but three times—the last with only 16 miles left to complete.

Despite the menagerie of motorized tribulations and weather only Mr. Freeze would enjoy, the car’s skis and tracks performed incredibly well on the Antarctic terrain, perfectly gliding along the surface as it was designed to do. The team finished at Drake Icefall, a stunning ice waterfall spilling from blue snow, the journey’s completion at once breathtaking, poignant, and triumphant.

“I became emotional in the last few miles, which I wasn’t expecting,” Brinkerhoff recalls. “The feelings in those last hours were so intense, and the sense of accomplishment was beyond expression when we hit our goal.”

The Antarctica race may be over, but Valkyrie Gives’ mission to raise $1M to end human trafficking is still moving forward. Although racing on every continent brought donations from around the world, the goal is yet unmet—Brinkerhoff says she will not stop driving until it is.

Whatever those future challenges may be, the skis are apparently here to stay. “The Polar Porsche’s skis and tracks ran so well that it would be a massive mistake to just park her or put her back on tarmac,” she asserts. “We have plans for another challenge—a bigger challenge—for the Polar Porsche.”

Until then, you can learn more about Valkyrie Racing/Valkyrie Gives and follow Renée Brinkerhoff and her team’s progress at valkyrieracing.com, through Instagram, or on Facebook.

World Tour: The first six continents on the Project 356 World Rally

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark us.

The post Why one woman tackled seven continents in a vintage Porsche appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Once again, Hagerty is partnering with Drive Toward a Cure and its 75 Days of Summer event to encourage drivers to enjoy their cars, all while raising money for a great cause and competing for some great car-centric prizes. (As if we needed another reason to get out of the house this summer!)

Drive Toward a Cure is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that raises awareness for Parkinson’s disease, donates to the Parkinson’s Foundation and the Michael J Fox Foundation, and also helps support patient care through grants to families in need.

75 Days of Summer is just one of the ways Drive Toward a Cure mixes cars and fundraising. The event kicks off on June 20 and runs until September 5.

To start competing and racking up miles, entrants first need to register a car with a tax-deductible $20 fee. During the event, entrants log their miles to increase their odds of winning. Weekly prizes are also offered, and drivers can increase their odds for those drawings by posting on Facebook and Instagram and tagging @drivetowardacure and using #summerdrive2021. Finally, drivers create their own fundraising page and encourage friends to donate. Detailing company Mothers will send participants a car care gift pack filled with products from their latest Ultimate Hybrid line worth nearly $200 after individual donations hit the $100 mark, and the top fundraiser will also win a prize.

One grand prize winner will win a set of Michelin tires, valued up to $2000. BMW Performance Center, GrandPrix Originals, and Hagerty DriveShare are among the companies that have also provided prizes totaling more than $6000.

We got a chance to sample some of what the Drive Toward a Cure prize winner will get to enjoy by visiting the BMW Performance Center in Thermal, California for a sweet on-track experience. We went for the two-hour program that’s split into two sections: The first half of the program puts drivers on a short off-road section that highlights the BMW X7’s ability to blend 4×4 climbing ability with on-road manners. We scrambled up steep, loose dirt climbs as the traction management system detected wheel slip and sent power to the tires with the best grip. The off-road section wasn’t particularly daunting, but it was impressive to see how even street tires can scramble up slippery surfaces when the right technology is there to back them up. It’s not tough to imagine a 4×4 with open differentials getting caught in an awkward position when trying to navigate such an obstacle.

The other half of the BMW Performance Center’s sample is some laps on Thermal’s tight, winding course in five BMWs perfectly suited for the affair. There was an X3M, an M850i xDrive, a Z4 M40i, an M4 Competition, and an M2 Competition. After a couple of lead-follow laps behind the instructor, we were on our own. Cycling through the cars, with tips from an instructor via radio, allowed us to learn the track and gain confidence as the hour in the cars quickly passed. Finally, as if we weren’t already hooked on the track, the instructors had us load into an M5 Competition for a smoky, tire-shredding drift of the course.

Other than becoming a member of the exclusive Thermal Club, the BMW Performance Center is just about the only way to get seat time at the venue’s challenging track. And the full-day course could be yours if you win Drive Toward a Cure’s second prize, valued at $849.

To register your car (or cars) visit www.drivetowardacure.org/summer and put your summer driving to good use!

The post Drive Toward a Cure gives you even more reason to hit the road this summer appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Lilly Pray has a passion for cars, and now she’s channeling that energy into an organized drive that will give back to the community. Lilly, a nurse in Boulder, Colorado, serves an ambassador for Rally Across America, a grassroots organization whose goal is to raise more than $1 million for nonprofit groups across the U.S.

As a frontline medical worker and car lover, the fundraising tour is right in Pray’s wheelhouse, and it all started with her dad. Malcom Pray Jr. was a successful car dealer and well-known collector who gave generously to the Boy Scouts, Boys and Girls Club, Red Cross, USO, and other local charities in Greenwich, Connecticut.

“My father taught me how to drive classic cars,” she says of Malcom, who passed away in 2013. “If I wanted to spend time with my dad, it was in the garage with him, as well as attending a lot of auctions and concours events.

“I’ve been a concours judge for many years, and it is probably how I made my dad the proudest when I started judging at Hilton Head Concours 19 years ago. He instilled in me a great sense of giving and giving back to my community,” she says.

Lilly Pray began working in the medical field in 1987, first as volunteer, which led to a career as a firefighter/paramedic. She became an RN in 2010 and volunteers as a victim advocate for the Boulder Police Department.

“My brother died in a car crash in 1986,” she says of Malcolm Pray III. “It was a life changing event. My life motto has been always to ‘help the weaker hikers on their journey.’ So as an EMS provider, and now a RN, I guess I’m still helping the weaker hikers and holding their hands in whatever way I can.”

She jumped at the opportunity to help Rally Across America, which hosted its inaugural drive on June 7, with proceeds going to the Connecticut Foodbank. A total of 41 cars took part, with each driver donating the suggested $100.

Lilly says the idea began with her friends Frank Taylor and Wendy and Jim Petty, who organized the drive as a way to recognize and give to 501(c)3 nonprofits in their area that have greatly suffered during the COVID-19 lockdown. Pray happened to be in Connecticut at the time, so she immediately registered her 1987 Porsche 911. Since Rally Across America hopes to have ambassadors in every state (and average eight drives per state), she took the lead for Colorado.

The first drive that Pray is organizing is set for June 28, beginning and ending in Boulder. Her chosen beneficiary is the Denver-based Morgan Adams Foundation, which raises funds for pediatric cancer research. “The MAF holds the best four-hour concours in the world,” she says, “and they had to cancel their annual major fundraiser on August 24 due to the ongoing events with COVID.”

She has planned two other drives for July 26 and August 16. They will follow a route “into the foothills of the mountains—an easy 60-mile drive lasting 3–4 hours.” As a registered nurse, Lilly is well aware of the possible negative ramifications of any gathering, so social distancing guidelines will be observed. “We just want to get out in our cars and help the nonprofit community,” she says.

She’ll be driving the 1959 Porsche Convertible D that she has owned for 25 years. If you’re sensing a Porsche pattern here, you’re onto something. Lilly’s daughter is named Portia.

Pray says Rally Across America events are planned in six states so far, including one later this year, organized by Barn Find Hunter Tom Cotter, that will travel country roads from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Virginia International Speedway and include a parade lap on the track. Details are forthcoming.

“Driving cars makes me happy,” Lilly says. “My car friends really are my family, and there is nothing as fun as gathering for a family reunion—whether it’s at a concours event, a 1000-mile drive, or a short day-run with friends.”

Rally Across America ambassadors are being sought in every state. If you’re interested in becoming an ambassador or joining a ride near you, contact Lilly Pray at LillyPrayRAA@gmail.com.

The post Drive to help Rally Across America raise $1 million for struggling non-profits appeared first on Hagerty Media.

New York City and the surrounding area is a major epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, and hospital workers there have been working overtime to handle the surplus of patients. At the same time, a lot of people aren’t working. Waiters, hotel staff, and, of course, the actors, extras, production staff and service workers that support New York’s prodigious film and television industry have been twiddling their thumbs since film locations shut down in the middle of March.

Paul Brozen owns New York Picture Cars, a small company that supplies vintage cars to productions like Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and HBO’s 1970s drugs and porn drama, The Deuce. He hasn’t been working amid the public health crisis-induced hiatus, but the downtime got him thinking about what he could do to help the people who were putting it all on the line to save lives.

“I realized that the film industry had the ability to feed hundreds of crew and cast on location with a mobile kitchen,” he said. “So my son Liam and I came up with a concept to provide hot meals to-go for hospital staff.”

After Brozen roped the rest of his family—his wife, Ellen, and daughter, Caitlin—into his plan, he got in touch with producers Andrew Saxe and Michael Kriaris, plus other industry contacts, to get the ball rolling. Henry’s International Cuisine and other on-location catering companies agreed to provide, at no cost, mobile kitchen trucks that typically serve food for film and television productions. Next, they started a GoFundMe campaign that, after a couple of weeks, raised more than $90,000 for food and supplies from more than 500 different donors.

Since April 14, they have delivered more than 15,000 meals to hospital workers across 18 different facilities New York and New Jersey, raising over $108,000. The menu has included grilled chicken, flank steak, Italian meatballs on ziti and, as always, vegetarian options.

“After 10 years of being fed in the film industry, I always look forward to a job where I see the Henry’s truck, because I know the food is going to be top notch,” Brozen said, adding that within a few days, word got around among hospital workers that the food was really good.

Brozen has been directing the operation, but it was his network of industry contacts that got him an in with Henry’s. He said there has been a lot of hard work and cooperation that has gone into the project, which they plan to continue until the money runs out.

“A few of the hospital staffers stayed to chat and express their feelings about what the to-go meals meant to them,” Brozen said. “For me, it was proof that the concept was having an impact.”

As an added bonus, Brozen has been using his Hagerty-insured, NYPD-liveried 1985 Chevrolet Caprice wagon to pick up and deliver shipments of food to the kitchen trucks.

“The wagon is a big hit,” he said. “If I was in a 2020 Chevrolet van, no one would notice, but when you’re in a 1985 Chevrolet Caprice police wagon, wow. It brings back a lot of fond memories for people.”

The post Caprice police movie car brings food to New York-area hospital workers appeared first on Hagerty Media.

For the first time, an original Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet Monte Carlo stock car from NASCAR team owner Richard Childress’ personal collection is headed for auction. The sale, held by Barrett-Jackson launches Friday May 8th and ends Saturday May 16th, with proceeds going to COVID-19 relief efforts.

“I’ve never parted with an Earnhardt Chevrolet from my collection, but with a global pandemic taking place and people in our communities suffering, it’s time to do what I can to help,” said Childress. The North Carolina-based businessman will use the entire sale price to support local and national first-responders and front-line workers, as well as the non-profit food bank organization Feeding America.

Childress owns 44 Earnhardt cars. “I’ve grown my personal collection of memorabilia throughout my career in NASCAR and have especially enjoyed the Dale Earnhardt cars in my collection because they each have such a unique history that bring back priceless memories of my years winning and racing with Dale.” Earnhardt drove for Childress from 1984 until his fatal crash in 2001, amassing 67 of his 76 career Cup wins and six of his seven Cup championships.

The Monte Carlo, designated “Chassis 22,” has a Cup Series win and two other top-fives to its name. The tube-frame stock car, replete with a 358-cubic-inch V-8 and a four-speed manual, was built for short and intermediate oval-track competition, campaigning at circuits like Bristol, Dover, and Darlington from 1996–1999. The car’s win came at Rockingham Speedway in 1996—during the closing laps of a 400-mile race, in classic “Intimidator” fashion, Earnhardt used his front bumper to root Bobby Hamilton out of the groove. The moment only added to the Earnhardt lore, and now some lucky bidder with a big heart can own a piece of it.

How much will the special NASCAR stock car set you back? “Since it’s an Earnhardt car with a race win to its credit, it’s obviously one of the most desirable stock cars out there,” says Hagerty valuation editor Andrew Newton. “Also, as a charity car, we expect to it sell for more than it ordinarily would, although I think the buzz of a live auction setting gets people more jazzed to bid on charity lots than they do sitting at their computer. It’s just not possible to recreate that kind of energy outside of an auction tent.” Recent Earnhardt auctions include the sale of his 1989 Lumina for $220,000 at Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach in 2017, and a $190,000 no-sale of one of his 1994 rides at Mecum Glendale earlier this year.

If you don’t have the scratch for a full-size car from Richard Childress, no sweat: you can also bid on smaller items from his personal collection through eBay. Childress is offering a smorgasbord of rare collectibles from his years as a NASCAR team owner, when he employed drivers like Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, and Clint Bowyer. The collection features everything from pre-production die-cast models to racing-themed home decor to a helmet that doubles as a snack bowl.

If you’ve ever wanted to own a piece of the Earnhardt-Childress legacy, now is the time to bid. After all, it’s for a good cause.

The post NASCAR team owner sells Dale Earnhardt stock car for charity appeared first on Hagerty Media.

A couple of months ago, Lexus introduced its flagship 2021 LC 500 grand tourer as a convertible. You now have a chance to own the very first production drop-top LC 500, VIN 100001, when it crosses the auction block later this week at Barrett-Jackson’s 2020 Scottsdale sale. The charity sale will benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the Bob Woodruff Foundation.

Lisa Materazzo, vice president of marketing for Lexus, said in a statement, “We’re very excited to expand our flagship LC family with the launch of the all-new 2021 LC 500 Convertible, but the most important thing about the auction is the money we raise for two amazing charities. We’re thrilled to support Boys & Girls Clubs of America in its efforts to provide services to children across the country as well as the Bob Woodruff Foundation’s goal to help our veterans and their families.”

One of just 100 “Inspiration Series” LC 500 ragtops to be built, the Structural Blue #1 car is getting extra-special treatment with one-of-a-kind Liquid Platinum colored headlamp, side intake, side mirror, and taillamp “garnishes.” The forged aluminum 21-inch wheels are also finished in Liquid Platinum. Blue brake calipers match the exterior finish. Finishing off the special touches are carbon-fiber sill plates inscribed with “LC Inspiration Series Launch Exclusive 1 of 1.”

The winning bidder of the no-reserve auction will get an exclusive Lexus Performance Driving Experience with Lexus brand ambassador, racer Scott Pruett, along with a round of golf and a three-night stay at the Pebble Beach resort and golf course.

Also included in the sale will be a collection of memorabilia, including a framed styling sketch of the car, a portfolio of photos of the car being assembled at the Motomachi plant, and a one-of-one certificate of authenticity signed by the plant manager as well as the LC 500’s chief vehicle engineer, Koji Sato. In case you are not familiar with the pecking order, a vehicle chief engineer at Toyota is regarded as just below Japanese Emperor Naruhito.

Completing the auction package will be another first, the first set of Zero Halliburton’s new Lexus inspired luggage, custom-fitted for the LC 500 Convertible’s trunk.

Mechanically, the special edition #1 LC 500 Convertible is unchanged from the rest of the standard LC 500 production run, with a naturally-aspirated, direct-injection V-8 engine putting out 471 horsepower and almost 400 lb-ft of torque, driving the rear wheels through a 10-speed automatic gearbox. It’s a lovely, concept-car-styled grand tourer with a sonorous engine that we imagine would sound great from inside an open cabin.

Toyota won’t be making a penny off the sale—100 percent of the auction price will go to the charities. If you want to bid, the LC 500 Convertible is scheduled to go on the block at approximately 4:30 PM MST, on Friday, January 17, 2020.

The post This uniquely blue 2021 Lexus LC 500 Convertible headed to charity auction appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Chris Mazzilli remembers well the day he first saw maybe the greatest barn find in Corvette history. The hair stood up on his arms as he witnessed 36 grime-coated cars dwelling beneath the dim light of a Manhattan parking garage.

That was five years ago, and the cars—some of them banged up from a recent relocation by movers who didn’t really have a good idea how to move delicate, fiberglass-bodied classic cars—were coated with the particulate detritus of America’s busiest city. Brake dust, train grime, road salt, pigeon crap, and God knows what else had obscured deep reds, bright yellows, and brilliant shades of blue-green. The cars spanned the first four decades of Corvette production and had been sitting in various Manhattan garages for nearly 30 years.

Now, the cars will soon find as many as 36 different homes. 

In partnership with Mazzilli (who is co-owner of the Gotham Comedy Club) and two New York City real estate families (the Hellers and Spindlers), formed an organization called Corvette Heroes. Later this summer, the group plans to give the cars away one by one in a national sweepstakes to benefit charity.

Dusty treasure

How did Mazilli and the Hellers end up with the so-called Peter Max collection of dusty ’Vettes? Peter Heller, his cousin Scott Heller, and Scott’s sons, Adam and Mike, bought the collection from Peter Max—the psychedelic pop artist known for his colorful paintings—in the summer of 2014. The Hellers had met Chris Mazzilli (a Corvette expert in his own right) at the Old Westbury Gardens earlier that summer, where Mazzilli was showing his ’71 LS5 Corvette.

“I went to get a drink of water and when I came back there was a guy under my car,” he says. “He started asking questions about the ’53 Corvette and the ’55 Corvette and others. There aren’t a lot of those, so I asked him, ‘Are you talking about the Peter Max collection?’ and he said, “How did you know?’”

Any Corvette collector worth his salt had heard of the semi-abandoned collection, but the Hellers were new to the genre. They wanted to know how much the cars were worth, en masse, before they put in an offer. Mazzilli went to see the cars so that he could better advise them.

“We walked in and they turned on these dim lights and the hair stood up on my arms,” he says. “It was the greatest barn find in history.”

The origin of the stash

Peter Max had acquired the cars in 1989, when he bought them from Dennis Amodeo, a carpenter from Long Island who had won the cars in a national call-in contest on VH1. Max was going to use the cars in an art project, but he never got around to it amid other projects and some trouble with the Internal Revenue Service.

Although the Hellers had hoped to sell the entire collection as a single lot, it was tough to find a buyer with the kind of scratch to afford them all, especially given the need to restore them all.

More importantly, not many of the cars are especially rare or collectible, with the exception of some of the models from the early ’50s and a few that feature rare paint colors. One of them—a Cascade Green ’56—was used in a Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee episode featuring Jimmy Fallon and a Boston Whaler runabout.

When Jim Cahill purchased the cars in 1988 as part of a stunt to boost VH1’s flagging ratings, he wasn’t really on the hunt for unicorns. They were all driver-quality cars. The lion’s share have automatic transmissions, although more than half are convertibles. More than three decades later, the dusty ’Vettes have become more valuable simply due to the passage of time, to say nothing of their bizarre association with Peter Max. 

A new chapter

After the Hellers bought the collection, Mazzilli’s showbiz connections helped them get the cars featured on a History Channel special, The Lost Corvettes, which airs September 21. History also commissioned Mazzilli to lead a project in which his team designs their version of what the 1983 Corvette should have looked like. (Hint: It’s based on a 1985 Corvette and looks a lot like a 1984 Corvette.)

Restoration work on many of the cars is finished, and restoration of the others is ongoing at Dream Car Restorations in Hicksville, New York, on Long Island. Much of the work involved bringing lightly modified driver cars back to factory stock condition.

Winners from the sweepstakes will be announced later this year or at the beginning of 2020. Proceeds from the contest will go to charities benefitting US military veterans, including the National Guard Educational Foundation.

The post Wild 36-car Corvette barn find to be given away in charity sweepstakes appeared first on Hagerty Media.

The loudest cheers at Barrett-Jackson the night of the final C7’s auction weren’t for the glossy black Z06, but for the crowd of American military veterans lining the stage in Corvette baseball caps. 

“The packed house at Mohegan Sun gave them a hero’s welcome and the loudest support of the night as the bidding quickly ratcheted into the millions,” said our man on the ground, Mark Mitias. 

The entire proceeds of the $2.7 million sale are going to the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, to benefit the foundation’s mission of building accessible homes for the most gravely wounded combat veterans.

The charity auction of the final C7 Corvette heralds the changing of the guard from the front-engine C7 to the mid-engine C8 later this month. Mitias reports that the factory at Bowling Green is already gearing up for the mid-engine generation by building non-production versions of the C8 alongside production-spec C7s. These Capture Test Fleet (CTF) C8s will be tweaked, tuned, and crashed before the advent of the production-spec C8s. 

When you first lay eyes on a C8 at your local dealership, you’ll likely look out on a row or two of its front-engined C7 predecessors. There is so far no indication that factory production for the C7 and C8 will overlap. However, the two generations will probably keep each other company on dealer lots, according to Corvette product manager Harlan Charles.

GM will unveil the mid-engine C8 Corvette in southern California on July 18, 2019, which also marks the final day customers can order the outgoing front-engine C7. So in case you don’t want to rely on the whims of dealers to stock your dream-spec Stingray, Grand Sport, Z06, or ZR1, you’ve got 16 days before orders close and the new C8 lands—because of course we’re counting.

The post A closer look at the final C7 Corvette’s $2.7M auction night appeared first on Hagerty Media.

The last C7 Corvette just sold for 33 times its MSRP, and—by the way—Chevrolet hasn’t even built it yet. The final seventh-generation ‘Vette, a black 2019 Z06 coupe with seven-speed manual transmission, went for $2.7 million at Barrett-Jackson’s Northeast Auction to benefit the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation.

That’s the highest price paid for an automaker-donated vehicle and auctioned for charity by Barrett-Jackson.

When the eighth-gen mid-engine Corvette arrives later this year, Chevrolet will cease production of the C7, meaning the final seventh-gen Corvette built at General Motors’ facility in Bowling Green, Kentucky, does not yet exist. The car on the auction block was a replica of that future car: gloss black with Adrenaline Red trim, custom-wrapped red interior, Performance Data Recorder, navigation, Brembo brakes, and an all-aluminum, 650-horsepower, supercharged 6.2-liter LT4 V-8 engine.

GM hasn’t said what it plans to do with that replica, but it will likely be considered more collectible than a production C7.

For comparison, a 2019 Corvette Z06 coupe with manual gearbox that is purchased through Chevrolet starts at $80,900. And an orange 2019 Corvette ZR1 coupe with a supercharged 6.2-liter 755-hp V-8 and a top speed of 212 mph—the fastest, most powerful Corvette in history—sold for $176,000 at Mecum’s 2018 Monterey Auction. That ZR1 is one of only 2000 made and had only 29 miles on the odometer at the time of the sale.

Frank Siller, chairman and CEO of the Stephen Siller Foundation, says proceeds from the $2.7M sale of the final C7 will build “at least five homes” through the foundation’s Smart Home Program. The program constructs accessible homes uniquely fitted for service members who have been catastrophically injured, Siller says, “[giving] them their independence and a better quality of life.”

GM has supported the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation as its national foundation of choice for the past five years, helping raise more than $10 million. That includes $2.2 million raised last year, highlighted by $925,000 paid for the first production 2019 Corvette ZR1.

The post Final C7 Corvette sells for $2.7M and it hasn’t even been built yet appeared first on Hagerty Media.

When the contract to build the first 50 ND-generation Global MX-5 Cup cars landed on his desk, Mazda Motorsports director John Doonan didn’t touch it for a week. “I was worried that we’d never sell that many,” he laughs. His worry was misplaced; the first run sold out in hours. The Global MX-5 Cup car, which starts life as a plain white (because that paint color is the lightest!) MX-5 Miata Sport before receiving more than $40,000 worth of safety and speed upgrades from North Carolina’s Long Road Racing, has proven to be a rip-roaring success—and the Battery Tender MX-5 Cup, which offers owners a chance to run neck-and-neck on the country’s greatest road courses for cash and prizes, has been nearly as popular.

Ownership of an MX-5 Cup car is passport to a world of competitive opportunities, from the Battery Tender Series and SRO’s professional TC America events all the way to affordable endurance series like AER and WRL. There’s just one little problem: The original price of admission was $54,995 and it’s only gone up in the two years since. Isn’t there another way?

That’s where Lemons Of Love comes in. The nonprofit organization, which creates and delivers care packages to cancer patients, has deep ties to motorsports. In 2017, they raffled off an early-build MX-5 Cup and the tickets sold out quickly. For 2019, they are upping the ante.

A hundred-dollar raffle ticket gets you a chance to win a very special MX-5 Cup. To begin with, this is chassis #200, which represents a significant milestone for Mazda and Long Road Racing. As with all MX-5 Cups, this one’s white—but it also features a special lemon-yellow rollcage and interior. It will be supplied with a Sparco seat, a set of tires, and a package of prepaid race entries. Long Road values the whole package at $68,000.

The 2017 winner, Drake Kemper, plans to use the car to train new drivers in his own racing school. The 2018 winner, on the other hand, hasn’t even seen the car in the metal. Daniel Miller serves with the United States Air Force, and he’s been deployed to the Middle East for a few years. He’ll have a chance to meet his prize for the first time when he returns home in May. If you want to go racing with Drake and Daniel, and you’re $67,900 short of the required cash to buy a car of your own, now’s your chance.

The post The 200th Mazda MX-5 Cup race car will sell for just $100 appeared first on Hagerty Media.

The very first 2020 Toyota Supra just sold for $2.1 million at Barrett-Jackson’s 2019 Scottsdale Auction. Now, before you go all crazy thinking the new Supra is worth that much money, pump the brakes. The sale was a charity car with the proceeds benefiting the American Heart Association and the Bob Woodruff Foundation, a charity for post-911 impacted veterans and their families. That said, the figure was a new record for a Japanese car at public auction.

The previous record for a Japanese car at auction, and still the record holder if you put an asterisk on the Supra sale, was $1.7 million for a Nissan R90CK race car sold at the 2018 Tokyo Auto Salon BH Auction. The R90CK was Nissan’s car for the 1991 24 Hours of Daytona. A later evolution of the car, the R90CP, would see Daytona Victory a year later.

The Supra outsold one of the other big charity lots of the weekend, the first 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, which took in $1.1 million dollars. The 2019 Ford GT Heritage Edition (another first-of-production car) went for $2.5 million to benefit the United Way of Southeastern.

Are any of these cars worth millions of dollars? No. Will they ever be? Maybe the Ford GT, eventually. Early VINs carry a premium, of course, but odds of the Supra appreciating more than 35 times its sticker price are slim.

But for a car that’s seen mixed response, with critics complaining about the lack of a manual transmission and the car’s BMW underpinnings, this sale shows that there is some interest in Toyota’s new sports car. Or, at the very least, the last two bidders are willing to spend a whole lot of money for a new car and a good cause.

The post The first 2020 Toyota Supra just sold for $2.1 million appeared first on Hagerty Media.

“The Ultimate Last Chance” has come and gone, and somebody made sure not to miss it. The final 2017 Dodge Viper and final 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon were paired at Barrett-Jackson’s Northeast Auction in Connecticut on June 23, and the star-studded lot went for $1 million. Proceeds from the auction were donated to the United Way.

In addition to the final 840-horsepower SRT Demon and final 645-hp Viper built, “The Ultimate Last Chance” auction included the authentication kits for each vehicle, which contained custom build sheets, authenticity letters, certification cards, iPads with videos and pictures, and other custom-branded items.

“We know the power of the Dodge Viper and Dodge Challenger SRT Demon to put a smile on people’s faces. We’re smiling today because we know the power of this donation to the United Way,” said Steve Beahm, head of Passenger Car Brands for Dodge, SRT, Chrysler and FIAT–FCA North America, in a press release. “These particular vehicles mark the end of their eras as the last of their kind to be built. It’s rare to have just one such vehicle cross the auction block, much less a pair at the same time.”

The final price was the highest at Barrett-Jackson’s four-day Northeast event.

“We’ve been fortunate to have many incredible moments on the auction block for charity sales over the years, and this was another one,” said Craig Jackson, chairman and CEO of Barrett-Jackson. “The winner is taking home two spectacular and historically significant vehicles.”

Both cars have black interiors and Viper Red paint; the SRT Demon was hand-painted to match the Viper after it left the Brampton Assembly Plant in Ontario, Canada. The Viper is powered by an 8.4-liter V-10 engine, while the SRT Demon has a supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi V-8. The Demon is the world’s fastest quarter-mile production car (9.65 second ET at 140 mph). Dodge limited production to 3300.

The post Final 2017 Dodge Viper and 2018 Challenger SRT Demon sell for $1 million appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Mason Watson lost his mother to breast cancer when he was 13. When he graduated from high school, Watson launched Cars for a Cure Apparel, which featured T-shirts with his own automotive designs, with each sale sending 20 percent of the profits to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Today, the 21-year-old student at L.A.’s Art Center College of Design continues fighting this deadly disease via his original artwork inspired by the machines we all love. His activism — now in the form of a fresh endeavor called Cure Collection — is inspiring.

The rebrand as Cure Collection comes after much thought on how he wants to position the shirts. “I jumped in blind,” he says, “and there was a huge learning curve — things like finding suppliers and printers. I’ve definitely gone through a few to get the quality right.” His suppliers now produce the look and feel he envisioned, with everything sourced entirely in southern California, and Watson is keen to make Cure Collection a premium automotive lifestyle brand while still fulfilling his initial mission to fund breast cancer research.

And now that he’s happy with the product, Watson is looking for backing via crowdfunding site Indiegogo. His campaign runs through the end of April, with the goal to raise $10,000, which will fund the initial run of shirts and posters. Funding options for T-shirts begin at just $26, with stickers available for half that and posters available for $55. All the designs are broken into themed collections, and cars include the Mini Cooper, Mercedes 300SL, BMW 2002 and 3.0CSL, a variety of classic Porsches, and more. Designs for American muscle and Japanese classics are in the pipeline.

As the brand gets its legs, Watson plans to add other accessories to the fold, including sweaters and hats. In the meantime, if you’re looking for some sweet new threads, or if your life has been affected by breast cancer, consider contributing to Watson’s funding campaign. Rock a great, 100% ringspun cotton shirt and change the world in one fell swoop.

Learn more at CureCollection.com, and help fund the campaign at https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/cure-collection-curing-cancer-with-cars#/

The post This budding car designer is curing breast cancer on the side appeared first on Hagerty Media.

The Rev. Matthew Keller is a firm believer in forgiveness, second chances and redemption. That includes cars.

Father Keller, vocations director with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup, N.M., “grew up in a car-rich environment” and never lost his love for automobiles, even after he received a higher calling. When one of Keller’s parishioners suggested he restore a car, Keller took it a step further. He thought that rebuilding a classic, raffling it off and using the proceeds to send a prospective priest to seminary school would be a great way to build fraternity and do God’s work at the same time.

“I’ve always loved cars,” said Keller, 50. “My dad had a super-charged ’57 Studebaker Golden Hawk, and my first car was a ’64 Malibu SS. My dad taught me a lot – most of what I know mechanically – and I was in vocational school in high school, so we fixed up the Malibu and about a half dozen cars. I sold my car when I went to college (Ft. Lewis College in Durango, Colo.), and it was the worst decision I ever made.”

He’s making up for it by restoring a 1972 Chevrolet Chevelle SS with the help of seminary students and community volunteers. It will be raffled off on Dec. 12.

“The training and development of priests is expensive,” Keller said. “I thought it would be fun to restore a classic and help one of these young men at the same time.”

“V-8s for Vocations” was born in June 2014 when a parishioner bought the Chevelle and donated it to the cause. “It was a daily driver – a bit of a basket case,” Keller said. In the 17 months since, Keller’s team has been working tirelessly to rebuild the Chevelle in Sacred Heart Cathedral’s garage. “So many people have helped us out with their time and expertise – mechanics, car guys, all kinds of people. Some men have walked into the garage in the back of the church who might not walk through the front doors. The car has given us a great opportunity to minister to them.”

Keller estimates that 50-60 volunteers have played a role in the Chevelle project, but “there’s a group of about 12 who have been fully committed to it” – a number with added significance to anyone familiar with the Bible. “It’s funny and perfect at the same time,” Keller said.

Nothing in the frame-off restoration has been overlooked. The Chevelle is powered by a 454-cid big-block Chevy engine (bored to 468) that generates approximately 450 horsepower and 500 cu.-ft. of torque – work led by Brandon Garcia. It has a M20 Muncie four-speed transmission and a 12-bolt posi stuffed with 373 gears. The frame and suspension have been powder coated, a three-month job led by Phillip Peña. The car has new wiring, steering and front-end components, front and rear inner fenders, floor pans, rear quarters, clutch, glass, shifter and clutch linkage, gas tank, fuel lines, brake lines, brake assembly, interior, vinyl top and more. The final touch will be a black and white paint job – “priestly colors,” Keller said.

Raffle tickets are $25 each (available at www.v8forvocations.org), and the winner will not be required to cover the taxes. “We’re paying those,” Keller said. “We want the winner to be able to drive the car away without worrying about that.”  He said date of the drawing is significant because it coincides with “the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the day of diaconate ordinations,” as well as the 75th anniversary of the Diocese of Gallup and the 60th anniversary of its Sacred Heart Cathedral.

Keller admits that after nearly a year and a half of work, it will be difficult to see the Chevelle go.

“This is my mid-life crisis,” he joked. “I thought (working on cars) was behind me, but God had other plans. It’s been a lot of fun, and it’s been a way to bring people together. I’m trying not to get attached to it – just finish the car, raffle it and say goodbye to it.”

Until another one comes along.

“If God is willing,” Keller said, “so am I.”

The post Resurrected Chevelle proves to be just the ticket for New Mexico seminary program appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Jacob Persing’s eyes lit up at the sight of his 1977 Chevrolet Scottsdale C10. Once worn out and in need of TLC, the restored Chevy now looks – in Jacob’s words – “better than new.”

Someday, he plans to say the same about himself.

Jacob, a 15-year-old sophomore from Constantine, Mich. (near the Indiana border), has been battling cancer for more than two years. The truck restoration project was granted through Make-A-Wish Michigan, which is completely funded through donations and volunteer work.

“It was in really bad shape,” Jacob said of his Chevy. “The floor boards were ripped up, the speakers were gone. It didn’t look like this, that’s for sure. But everything is done. Everything is fixed. It’s just something I’ll always remember – a way to look back at my struggles and remember what I went through.”

Christy Hammond, Make-A-Wish Michigan’s Communications and Public Relations Manager, said automobile-related wishes are common.

“Our wish kids have amazing imaginations, from wanting to meet their hero to getting their vehicle customized or seeing their favorite event,” she said. “Make-A-Wish Michigan shares the power of a wish with community supporters – from organizations to celebrities to people like you and me – to make these special car-related wishes come true for our incredible wish kids.”

Make-A-Wish Michigan granted 413 wishes in 2014 and expects to grant 440 this year.

Hammond was asked to name her five most memorable car-related Make-A-Wish Michigan wishes – a nearly impossible task, she said. So we let her pick six:

1. I wish to go… to Germany to visit AutoMuseum Volkswagen, tour the Volkswagen factory and ride in a Bugatti.
2. I wish to go… to North Carolina and meet YouTube car reviewer Kyle Lindsey (SaabKyle04).
3. I wish to go… to the Daytona 500.
4. I wish to have… Tools so I can work on my 1989 Toyota Cressida with my family.
5. I wish to go… to Disneyland or Walt Disney World Resort to meet the “CARS” movie characters
6. I wish to go… to Monster Truck Nationals in Las Vegas.

“The power of a wish is a wonderful thing,” Hammond said. “Days when the kids get their wish, that’s the best part of the job. They’re going through the worst of times, but for a moment they get to be happy kids.”

The post Top 5 auto-related dreams fulfilled by Make-A-Wish Michigan appeared first on Hagerty Media.

The future of the collector car community just got a little brighter. Hagerty and LeMay – America’s Car Museum have partnered to create a new program that supports a national effort to provide funding for hands-on learning in vehicle restoration.  Called the Hagerty Education Program at America’s Car Museum, the program will provide scholarships and educational grants to students and organizations committed to the specialized training of skills and trades vital to the collector vehicle industry.

Carrying on the mission and legacy of the former Collectors Foundation, which was established by Hagerty in 2005, the Hagerty Education Program at America’s Car Museum supports the education of young people ages 14 to 25 and prepares them for careers in automotive preservation and restoration.

Considering on the success of the Collectors Foundation and the potential for greater growth, the boards of directors at Hagerty, the Collectors Foundation and the America’s Car Museum agreed to join their shared visions to eliminate redundancies and more rapidly develop a nationwide program.

“Building on the past work of the Collectors Foundation and an existing group of supporters, we now combine the efforts of Hagerty and America’s Car Museum to provide more and better ways for individuals and businesses to support collector vehicle education,” said McKeel Hagerty, president and CEO of Hagerty.  “Anyone who enjoys the classic car industry shares the responsibility of helping ensure its future for more generations.  This partnership makes it possible for the collector car community to impact a greater number of young people nationwide.”

To find out more about the Hagerty Education Program at America’s Car Museum and how you can help support the future of the collector community, visit www.hagertyeducationprogram.org.

The post Partnership will help ensure the future of the classic car hobby appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Tommy Mertaugh dedicated his life to preserving the beauty and mystique of wooden boats, and his passion for classic vessels will live on through the students at the Great Lakes Boat Building School in Cedarville, Mich.

The 47-year-old Mertaugh’s sudden death on Oct. 8, 2013, stunned the collector boat community, as he was a well-known and highly skilled restorer whose family has been in the business for generations.

“Tommy’s enthusiasm, knowledge and commitment will be greatly missed by the classic boating community – the ACBS (Antique and Classic Boat Society) in particular,” said Bud McIntire, director of development and student services at GLBBS. “He was one of the founders of our school and an early board member who helped steer us on a successful course.”

Mertaugh’s grandfather Eugene J. Mertaugh founded the first Chris-Craft dealership in the country in 1924 in the small town of Hessel, Mich., located in the Les Cheneaux Islands area on Lake Huron in the Upper Peninsula. In 2000, Tommy and his father, Jim, and brother, Dan, opened Classic and Antique Boats in Hessel, with Tommy serving as business administrator. The company became known as one of the finest restoration shops in the country, and its boats have won numerous awards.

To honor Tommy Mertaugh’s quality craftsmanship and attention to detail, an endowment fund is being established through the Les Cheneaux Community Foundation. The Thomas “Tommy” Mertaugh Memorial Scholarship Fund was created to give financial assistance to second-year GLBBS students “who are truly dedicated to becoming highly skilled builders, restorers and finishers in the wooden boat trade.”

Contributions can be paid to the order of Les Cheneaux Community Foundation (please note Mertaugh Memorial Scholarship Fund on the memo line) and mailed to: Les Cheneaux Community Foundation, P.O. Box 249, Cedarville, MI 49719.

To find out more about Hagerty’s Classic Boat Insurance, click here.

The post HELPING HAND: Tommy Mertaugh Memorial Scholarship Fund to benefit Great Lakes Boat Building School appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Carole Brown’s 1971 Volkswagen camper van drew so much attention during a 7-month trip from Oregon to Massachusetts four years ago that she decided to make another cross-country jaunt to California, with a higher purpose in mind. So in 2012, the native of England drove nearly 8,000 miles through 19 states to bring attention to a little-known autoimmune disease called Myasthenia Gravis.

Brown’s mother suffered with “MG” for over 50 years before passing away from another autoimmune disease in June, 1996. Coincidentally, June is “MG Awareness Month,” so Brown is at the wheel again, touring her adopted home state of California and hoping that a third cross-country trip is in the not-too-distant future, perhaps encompassing portions of old Route 66. Brown’s goal is “to put MG on the map.”

“From the time my mum was diagnosed with MG in 1944, hardly any progress has been made, and neurologists still miss this disease (when making a diagnosis),” she said. “Patients should not have to wait years to find out why they can’t swallow, chew food or smile, or why they lose the strength in their arms or legs with no warning.

“So I decided I would tell the public the symptoms to watch for, in the hope that heightened awareness would lead to a quicker diagnosis than the years and years it usually takes.”

Brown, who purchased her “YesWeCan CamperVan” on eBay in 2009, created an organization called Vehicles Working for Causes, and she promotes MG awareness through her website (vw4causes.org), blog (yeswecanjourney.wordpress.com) and Facebook page (The YesWeCan CamperVan) and via Twitter (@YesWeCanJourney). She is looking for sponsors and drivers to help her get the word out.

“I was shocked to discover that the number of people suffering from autoimmune diseases is now more than those with all types of cancer,” she said. “Twenty-four million Americans are afflicted with autoimmune diseases … but they receive only a fraction of the attention and support.”

Brown calls MG a “cruel disease,” and she knows firsthand. In addition to weakening facial muscles needed to chew and smile, MG can cause blurred vision and drooping eyelids. Brown said her mother often slurred her words and struggled to keep her balance, which led others to assume she was drunk.

“The thought of it makes me angry and determined to do something to help,” she said.

And the ’71 Volkswagen camper van has given her a platform. In addition to educating the general public about MG, Brown said she has met a number of MG patients and helped build a support network. Her “VW family” has been particularly supportive, Brown said. She recently participated in the Ranch Run VW Car Show in Sacramento, and the camper van received its usual share of attention.

“If I can educate enough people to spot the symptoms of MG and help their friends or family get a quicker diagnosis, then I’ll be well pleased,” Brown said. “At the very least, I hope the people I’ve met will now treat a person with MG with far more empathy and compassion that they might otherwise have done. At most, I’d like MG to be as well-known as MS (Multiple Sclerosis).”

The drive continues.

The post ’71 VW camper van helps create awareness of autoimmune disease appeared first on Hagerty Media.

It began with a friend’s gut-wrenching announcement and grew into a phenomenon that is gaining momentum — and fans — by the day.

When Mike Newsome told John Nikas that he had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, he feared he had only a few weeks to live. And being a classic car enthusiast, Newsome told Nikas he wanted to get his tired 1953 Austin-Healey 100 — a project car he bought on eBay — up and running again before he died.

More than a year later, Newsome and the Healey — aptly nicknamed “Grace” — are still pushing forward, although it’s Nikas who is driving the car all over the country to honor and encourage his cancer-stricken friend.

“When I decided to do this, I did it for one reason — to help keep Mike’s spirits up and give him something to get excited about,” Nikas said during a visit to the Hagerty Classic Car Insurance headquarters in Traverse City, Mich., while promoting Drive Away Cancer Day, set for Aug. 11. “He was really depressed about the news, naturally, so I wanted to give him something to look forward to.

“But I don’t know how the car does it. It shouldn’t be running, not with what little work we did to get it on the road. No wonder people have taken to it the way they have. It’s been an amazing, inspirational story.”

After the Healey was deemed roadworthy last summer, the 41-year-old Nikas borrowed it and threw together a one-man cross-country trip that he called “Drive Away Cancer.” Buoyed by the financial support of businesses and individuals, Nikas drove the resurrected classic from California to the East Coast and back, using 300 quarts of oil, 300 bottles of STP and 150 cans of ring seal during his 7,000-mile journey. By the time Nikas reached California, the car’s oil pressure had fallen from 18 to 2 pounds.

While Grace may have been tired from the trip, but she returned home forever changed — a symbol of hope for cancer patients and families affected by the disease. Early on the route, someone noticed that Newsome had signed the trunk of the car in Sharpie pen, and others began to follow suit, writing the names of loved ones who had died from cancer or were fighting it. Families also asked Nikas to carry photos or other mementos with him. One man even handed over his father’s ashes — the container is now secured inside the car near the passenger seat.

Supporters also began posting comments and updates about the car on Facebook, reporting Grace’s whereabouts in case anyone wanted to see the car for themselves. “They’d post things like, ‘Grace just passed Exit 42 and she’s still running,’ ” Nikas said. Then, to Nikas’ surprise, people began to stand along the roadside and cheer as Grace passed by. Sometimes they followed the car to the next stop so they could add a name or two. Grace now carries nearly 10,000 inscriptions.

“One day while I was in Arkansas, I drove past a girl riding in the backseat of a car who had written on an envelope, ‘I’m 15. I have cancer. Will you talk to me?’ So I pulled over at the next exit and we talked for awhile,” Nikas said. “Her name was Amy de los Santos and she was just coming from chemotherapy. With her mother’s permission, she was the first kid with cancer that I gave a ride to. She was so happy in that car — laughing and smiling. For those few minutes, she forgot she was sick.”

When it came time for Amy to sign the car, she drew a horse and the words “Go like the wind.” Touched by the girl’s emotional reaction, Nikas began offering rides to any child with cancer who contacted him, and that generally determines his route now. He has given almost 800 rides since meeting “Amy from Arkansas.”

“In Tennessee, I drove a very rural road — first on gravel, then on a trail through the woods – to give a boy a ride,” Nikas said. “When I pulled up to the house, his mother started crying and she couldn’t seem to stop. I tried to console her, and she said, ‘You don’t understand … I can’t get anyone to deliver a pizza out here. But you drove 2,700 miles to find us.’ When I hear things like that and see the joy that Grace brings to these kids, how could I possibly say no?”

Amazing stories abound.

In a fast food restaurant parking lot in Tennessee, a woman approached to add her father’s name to the car, only to collapse in tears. Collecting herself she pointed to the spot where she had intended to sign and showed John that her father’s name was already on the car, added by her brother the day before in Georgia.

It’s no wonder that Nikas is on the road again this summer for an even more ambitious tour that he calls “One Lap for America.” It was planned as a 50-state, 50,000-mile journey, but Nikas estimates that when all is said and done, he will have driven the car 85,000 miles by the time he reaches his scheduled “final” destination, the Monterey (Calif.) Motorsports Reunion on Aug. 18.

“And to think that before last year she was a non-running car,” Nikas said.

Grace has received an abundance of publicity, despite the fact that Nikas has “never sent a press release.” The two appeared on NBC’s “Today Show” last year and will be featured again in early August. Nikas has also taped a segment for the “Ellen Show” and has been profiled in newspapers from New York to Japan to Hong Kong to Germany.

“It has all happened without a plan, without PR, even without a support vehicle,” said Nikas, Associate Editor of Vintage Roadcar magazine. “What you see is what you get — me and Grace. I’ve talked to a lot of people and received a lot of publicity, but I don’t deserve any of it. Grace is the star; I’m just the driver.”

Prior to this summer’s ambitious trip, Nikas received a boost from eBay CEO John Donahoe, who offered to create a page with information and an interactive map so people know where Grace is and when she’s on the move. Information is also available on the Drive Away Cancer website, through Facebook and on YouTube.

Nikas has fought, coaxed, begged and pleaded with Grace to keep going. The car has no roof, no side curtains, no carpet and is fighting an invasion of rust in the engine compartment. Nikas has burn marks on his legs from the exhaust that runs under the driver’s seat. He does his own mechanical work. He has driven through rain, hail and record heat. And he has put out 14 fires. “But no worries,” he said. “I’m getting good at it.” Through it all, Nikas sees Grace as “the perfect metaphor for cancer.”

“We couldn’t have picked a better car,” he said. “She’s tired. Sometimes she can’t make it through the day without help. Sometimes there is no cure for what ails her. She’s broken, but she keeps fighting. She goes out and does the best she can, and she can still do amazing things.”

Including winning the inaugural 1,000-mile Mille Miglia North American Tribute last October. Mostly, though, what Nikas does is encourage those with cancer and help survivors remember their loved ones. Sometimes it involves giving a ride to a patient or helping them forget they’re sick. And that’s something Nikas has been doing almost daily for more than a year now — offering hope through Grace.

“When we got her running again, we thought we were saving her,” Nikas said. “And all along, she was really saving us.”

The post Resurrected Austin-Healey perseveres against odds, offers hope to cancer patients appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Raffle benefits The Ronald McDonald House of Long Island

Can you make room in your garage for two Mustangs? 

The Ronald McDonald House of Long Island (RMHLI) will be hosting its 25th Anniversary Gala at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets. The evening will feature an unprecedented raffle — the opportunity to win both a 1965 Ford Mustang (courtesy of East to West Classic Car Club) and 2012 Ford Mustang (donated by Ford Lincoln of Queens & CBS News).

Tickets are $100 each and a maximum of 2,500 tickets will be sold; the winning ticket-holder need not be present at the gala to claim the prize.

RMHLI is a home-away-from-home, a temporary lodging facility for seriously ill children and their families who must travel to area hospitals for urgently needed medical care. These families stay at the House while their child is under a physician’s care, whether the child is hospitalized or being treated on an out-patient basis. Residents enjoy a home-like setting, the privacy of their own room and, most importantly, the understanding of others who share the same burden of having a seriously ill child.

Studies show that with their family nearby, a child heals better. When a family doesn’t need to worry about food and lodging, they are better able to cope with their child’s medical needs.

RMHLI must cover its operating expenses through private donations and contributions. Call 516-775-5683, ext. 138, or visit www.rmhlongisland.org for more information.

The post Best of Both Worlds: Win both a 1965 Mustang and a 2012 Mustang appeared first on Hagerty Media.

The inaugural “Elegance at Hershey: A Weekend of Cars and Causes” will be held June 11-12 on the grounds of the four-star Hotel Hershey in Hershey, Penn.

The event will celebrate the finest of collector automobiles, vintage race cars and charities. The Grand Ascent, a timed hill climb open to cars from the 1920s through 1959, will be held Saturday, June 11, followed by The Elegance, an invitation-only event featuring the finest of Concours-quality cars, on Sunday, June 12.

A dinner party and charity auction, themed on Italy’s Mille Miglia, will be held Saturday night at the Hotel Hershey. An evening of Italian-themed food, drink and entertainment will culminate in a live auction of luxury items to raise funds for event beneficiaries.

Saturday’s Grand Ascent will retrace the route of the Hershey Hill Climb that ran between 1958 and 1970. The new event will be sanctioned by the Vintage Sports Car Club of America and feature only vintage cars. The field of 40 vehicles is expected to have 15 or more pre-World War II cars charging up the twisting 0.7-mile course in what promises to be a real spectacle of vintage machines and their intrepid drivers pitted against a challenging course. (Think Goodwood, with trees.)

The Elegance is modeled after the classic Concours d’Elegance, featuring cars of the early 1960s and older. The exclusive field of 60 cars was hand selected based on rarity, style, preservation and significance. The cars will be arrayed in the classically manicured gardens immediately behind the Hotel. Lunch is available in the famous circular dining room, which features a clear view of some of the most fabulous cars ever assembled on the East coast.

Beneficiaries include the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the AACA Museum, and AACA Library and Research Center.

Tickets to The Grand Ascent are available for $5 at the gate, while tickets for The Elegance are $20 in advance or at the gate. Dinner tickets are also available for $150 each.

For more information go to www.theeleganceathershey.com. To purchase tickets or make a donation, call 717-534-1910.

The post First Elegance at Hershey set for June 11-12 appeared first on Hagerty Media.

One of Europe’s most rapid pre-war race cars – the 1937 Delahaye Type 145 V-12 coupe that won the 1938 LeMans 24-hour event – will be on display along with 175 other vintage and classic automobiles in the 3rd Annual Marin Sonoma Concours d’Elegance on Sunday, May 15, at the Marin Civic Center Fairgrounds.

Built by early 20th century French motoring genius Emile Delahaye as part of a then-renewed effort to advance France’s pre-war motor racing accomplishments, the 4.5 liter V-12 coupe was driven by premier French racer car driver Rene Dreyfus. The lightweight coupe also won the 1938 Dunlop Jubilee.

The rare Delahaye has been entered by the Peter Mullin Automotive Museum Foundation and is one of a number of Delahaye automobiles in the foundation collection.

The Delahaye 145 coupe is powered by a 4.5 liter, 220 hp V-12 engine that features magnesium components and three camshafts. This thoroughbred racing machine is one among several owned and raced in the late 1930s by expatriate American heiress and race car driver Lucy O’Reilly Schell and her husband Lawrence “Laury” Schell. They were the parents of the Formula 1 Cooper racer Harry Schell.

The Delahaye augments a field of stunning European and American classic vehicles displayed on the greens at the Marin Civic Center site. Rolls-Royce is the featured marque and event organizers will pay centenary tributes to two American motoring institutions – Chevrolet and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The six-car Indy showing includes the revolutionary rear-engine Cooper-Climax racer that finished 9th in the 1961 500-miler, with Sir Jack Brabham driving.

There will be a display of vintage motorhomes and trailers, classic wooden speedboats (in the site’s lagoon), ‘50s steel-bodied American station wagons, and a roundup of stately British motor cars and early Bantam microcars.

The Marin Sonoma Concours d’Elegance is a nonprofit fundraiser to benefit Hospice By The Bay and also will feature “The Drive,” a separate Hospice fundraiser to be held Saturday, May 14. Gourmet food and fine wine and beverage purveyors are set up to serve Concours visitors.

General admission is $20 for adults and free for children under 16.  Hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. For information, call (415) 479-7727 or visit the event website.

The post Le Mans-winning Delahaye highlights Marin Concours appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Some ventures are plotted to the last detail, with business plans, P&l predictions and long-term strategies. According to Rich Taylor, who founded Vintage Rallies with wife Jean, “We’ve never planned a thing.”

Doing the unplanned seems to be a pattern for Taylor, who started out as an aspiring engineer then earned a doctorate in art history that he’s never used. Taylor — who has raced motorcycles and cars professionally and for fun — built a career as an automotive journalist, beginning with Car and Driver. Jean Constantine, meanwhile, attended the Rhode Island School of Design, where she earned a degree in illustration. An accomplished photographer and designer, she was well prepared to partner her husband on a variety of book, newspaper supplement and magazine projects.

One of those joint projects turned out to be a life-changing event. As Taylor recalls, “In 1991 we did an article on the Mille Miglia Storica for Town & Country. Organizer Costantino Franchi gave us a great experience. It was exciting and fun, but there was no support for the 350 cars and you spent three days driving around Italy in a huge traffic jam. It was exhausting and you never caught up on sleep.” In other words,” says Taylor, “it was wonderful and Italian.”

When the couple returned home they thought, “We can do something like this, but more fun.” The pair was very familiar with Jean’s native Vermont and knew it had wonderful roads and great hotels. The first New England 1000 was held in 1993 for 23 couples from all over the country.

Most of the participants were people Taylor knew through vintage racing or were Ferrari club acquaintances of friend Jim Skyrm, who introduced the Taylors to then-Gov. Howard Dean.

With the full support of the governor and the state police, that first New England 1000 was a resounding success and raised more than $25,000 for charity. Along the way there were valuable lessons learned by way of careful preparation, engaging state officials early and supporting small charities for which modest donations would make a huge impact.

When asked when he realized the rally business was lucrative enough to be his primary livelihood, Taylor just laughed, explaining that it isn’t their livelihood at all. “We pay our temporary employees and cover our expenses. The rest goes to charity — over $1.25 million so far.”

Vintage Rallies currently stages four rallies a year, which Taylor figures is the right number. They’re about to put on their 19th annual New England 1000 and currently organize the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Rockies, the Texas 1000 in the Texas Hill Country and the Mountain Mille in West Virginia, which Vice President of Private Client Services Paul Schneider will be joining later this year.

Over the past 19 years, the Taylors have learned not to accept more than about 50 cars for each event. If there’s a larger number of cars — as they’ve found out more than once — start, finish and meal times become too complicated. They also find that if there are fewer entrants, they’re more likely to mix with each other and become friends instead of forming little cliques.

The Taylors have worked hard to ensure that their rally participants come from a wide cross-section of the collector car world. As a result, their guests bring a truly varied range of machinery from MGAs to 2.9 Alfas and Ferrari GTOs. Many of the participants are small business owners, although the rallies have also proven popular with doctors, lawyers and investment bankers. But what’s really made the events successful is that well over 60 percent of the entrants repeat the experience.

Those repeat guests appreciate that starting points, routes and hotels vary every year, so that someone who runs the New England 1000 two years in a row is unlikely to drive the same piece of road twice. Rich and Jean plan all the routes themselves, and Jean personally selects the hotels and restaurants. Vehicle support is provided by official mechanics Peter and Stephen Markowski from RPM VT. Transporters from RPM VT and Exotic Car Transport carrying new Porsche sports cars follow the route, and if a car fails and can’t be repaired, the entrants finish the day driving one of the new Porsches, while their car rides along.

Rich and Jean are content to remain “a mom-and-pop operation” with their four events a year. However, they’re considering a new event that may alternate with one of the existing rallies. From time to time they also put on special events for clubs, auto manufacturers or one frequent entrant who wanted an all-Duesenberg tour.

If the Taylors had any goal when they started, it was to put on a rally that was fun, luxurious and relaxing. That one “hobby” event has grown into 65 rallies over 19 years. Although the Taylors immensely have enjoyed every one of the events, they are particularly proud of the impact they’ve made on a variety of small charities over the years. Says Taylor, “It’s our way of giving back.” As they gear up for the 2011 rally season, it’s clear, though, that Rich and Jean Taylor intend to give plenty more to both their rally guests and deserving charities throughout North America. For more information go to www.vintagerallies.com.

The post The accidental tour guides: Rich Taylor and Jean Constantine’s Vintage Rallies appeared first on Hagerty Media.

The BMW Plant in Spartanburg, S.C., hosted the 15th annual European Auto Festival on October 15 and 16. The event drew roughly 6,000 attendees from 15 states and three countries. More than 550 cars were showcased, including marques such as Ferrari, Mercedes, Volvo, Rolls Royce, Jaguar and, of course, BMW.

The festival has come a long way since its 1996 beginnings, when just 40 vehicles were featured from an MG club. Within two years, the show grew substantially and Paul Ianaurio, the curator of BMW’s Museum, BMW Zentrum, was asked to aid with the festival.

This year, representatives from 74 car clubs, and sponsors such as Michelin Tires and BMW supported Ianuario in making the show a success. The Red Cross also lends its volunteers and the majority of the funds brought in by the festival are donated to disaster relief.

“If you’re doing it for the money, you’re doing it for the wrong reasons,” said Ianuario.

This year’s featured vehicle was a 1932 Helicron from the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, Tenn. The Lane has an esteemed collection of both European cars and motorcycles on display. The Helicron was found abandoned in 2000 and has since been restored.

True to its name, the festival welcomes all kinds of European cars. Ianuario encourages attendees to drive their vehicles and refrain from worrying about “bringing a 100-point car.”

“The show isn’t about the cars, it’s about the owners,” he said. “Don’t clean your car; just park it and talk to your buddies.”

Darren Frank, of Charlotte, N.C., attended with his 1969 ISO Grifo. He has been coming since 2005, when he won “Best of Show.” “Winning the crowd pleaser award was a big thrill,” he said, but it’s the casual nature of the show and the relationships he’s built that keep him coming back each year.

The festival closed with a banquet featuring racecar driver Boris Said as the keynote speaker. Several owners were awarded “Crowd Pleaser” honors and “Corporate Awards.” The festivities wrapped up another successful show that not only supports a good cause, but also celebrates European food, beer, cars and, best yet, good friends.

The post European Auto Festival: Cars, food and friends appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Jim Schubert of Long Island, N.Y., recently donated his prized white 1973 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible to the Collectors Foundation. Preparing for a move to another part of the country and wishing to down size a bit, Jim decided the Foundation would be the perfect place to donate and help the future of the hobby. Jim owned the car for 17 years and meticulously cared for its maintenance and well-being. Thank you, Jim, for passing on the value of this vehicle to the future of the collector car community.

The Caddy has 81,429 miles, automatic 8-cylinder engine, two door, black interior, white exterior – and it has been inspected. It’ll be on eBay until Feb. 3, 2007.

Proceeds of the sale go toward the future of the collector hobbies, in mostly educational forms such as scholarships and grants for museums, libraries and clubs. For more information about the Vehicle Donation Program through the Collectors Foundation, please visit www.collectorsfoundation.org.

The post Collectors Foundation Auctions Off Cadillac appeared first on Hagerty Media.

A red 1986 Fiero SE 2m6 was recently donated to the Collectors Foundation. Kimm Zamarron, an automotive designer with Classic Instruments, located in Boyne City, Mich., wanted to make space in his garage and was ready for something new to add to his collection. Having still one other Fiero (an ’85 GT), he was OK with letting go of the little red one. He had heard about the Collectors Foundation and realized donating was the best option for him. “I didn’t want to put a For Sale sign on it and sell it to just anybody,” says Zamarron.

The red Fiero has gray double pinstriping on the sides, gray cloth interior, a V-6 (2m6 model) 2.8L, manual 4 speed, alloy wheels, p/s and p/b, a/c, Alpine cassette radio and tilt steering wheel. Odometer (actual mileage) reads 195,056. It’s currently up for auction on eBay Motors until August 5, 2006. So if you’re looking to go back to the ’80s heyday, you may want to bid on this hot little number.

Zamarron and his wife both had Fieros when they met years ago, a total of three Fieros in all. He’s happy to donate his Fiero, although it will be missed. He’s had it for 12 years and the much-loved sporty car was “an excellent ‘trip’ car,” he says.

For more information on the Vehicle Donation Service, contact Executive Director Bob Knechel at 231-932-6835 or bob@collectorsfoundation.org. You may also visit www.collectorsfoundation.org.

The post Donated 1986 Fiero up for Auction on eBay appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Maple Ridge, British Columbia (May 16, 2006) – Speed Tech Performance, (STP) manufacturers of aftermarket products for the 1967–69 Camaro, 1970–81 second generation Camaro, 1968–74 Nova, 1964–72 A Body and the 1994–96 B Body Impala SS, has announced the development of a worldwide discount purchasing program. Effective immediately, all products manufactured by STP will be offered at a 5% discount to currently employed police, firefighters and military service men and women.

Terry Betts, co-owner of the company stated, “We want to show our appreciation to all of the men and women who are often in dangerous situations as they serve and protect. My partner and I are both members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, with prior military experience and are very aware of the potential dangers you face every day.”

Many soldiers leave home with an unfinished restoration project in their garage, and the thought of finishing it upon their return reminds them that there is something to look forward to. Police and firefighters have daily stress in their lives as well, and while it’s not easy transitioning from the type of work they do to a relaxed atmosphere, a hobby is often what they need most to unwind.

Betts and his partner, Todd Balaban, were inspired to do something after hearing about SEMA ’s participation in helping to restore a 1968 Camaro owned by Shane Colton. Shane and his son, Lance, were in the process of restoring the car when Shane was killed in Iraq . “The amount of help that poured in nationwide was overwhelming,” Betts commented. “Restoring vintage cars has always been a dream for some people, and we want to be a small part of those dreams.”

For more information, visit www.speedtech-performance.com.

The post Police, Fire and Military Personnel Benefit From Aftermarket Manufacturer appeared first on Hagerty Media.

The ’74 Alfa Romeo Berlina that was donated by the Lane Museum in Nashville, Tenn., has been sold. The winning bid was $2,385.

By donating this vehicle to the Collectors Foundation, the museum wanted the proceeds of this vehicle sale be used to encourage and educate another generation of automotive collectors. Thank you to all who bid on the Alfa. We expect to have future donations for bid on eBay Motors, so keep an eye out.

For information on the Collectors Foundation’s Vehicle Donation Service, visit www.collectorsfoundation.org or contact Bob Knechel at 231-932-6835. It may be just the tool you’ve been looking for to honor a loved one or to pass on your own enthusiasm to another generation of hobbyists.

The post Donated Alfa Sells on eBay appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Palm Beach, Florida, is a great place to be in March – and the Hagerty Travel Team was lovin’ it. The auction raked in a total of $35 million in sales – a major pot considering it’s only in its fourth year. Highlights included a Barrett Palm Beach record $1,728,000 for a 1947 Franay Bentley Mark VI; $572,400 for the #003 2005 Ford GT (which sale benefits the Carroll Shelby Children’s Foundation); $226,800 for a 2002 Ferrari 360 convertible owned by Dr. Phil; and $110,700 for a 2006 Cadillac CTS owned by legendary rock star Sir Paul McCartney.

The Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach event featured vendors showcasing everything from automotive art and sculpture to automobilia, motor homes, real estate, car care products and general merchandise including jewelry, collectibles, electronics and apparel. A Gala was held during the week for bidders and VIPs that benefited the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Darrell Gywnn Foundation, the auction’s charitable beneficiaries. Early estimates indicate that approximately half a million dollars was raised for charity.

The stats:

Total sales: approximately $35 million

Total number of vehicles sold: 583 (100% sale rate)

Bidders came out from all 50 states and 14 countries with the total number of bidders at 1,230

The event was covered for 16 hours on Speed Channel

Approximate attendance: 50,000

Online bidding: 18 registered bidders for a total of 5 cars sold with sales of $114,600

The post Sun, Palm Trees and… Cars appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Do you remember the spring of 1964 when Ford introduced the Mustang? Take part in making history as we gather over 500 first-generation Mustangs on August 19 in Brecksville, Ohio, at Broadview Heights High School on Mill Road at 9 a.m.

If you were a member of the Class of ’65, ’66 or ’67 we’ll seat a graduate from your graduating class in the respective year car. We’ll put their name and grad photo on the door with a magnetic sign. For those who have passed away, an empty passenger seat and a white bow on the grille. Significant others may tag along and enjoy the ride.

We’ll cruise the streets of downtown Brecksville, and then, in caravan fashion, cruise down Highway 21 to Cleveland and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for a group picture and maybe a Guinness record!

Cars and grads should be back by 3 p.m. – plenty of time to schedule other events for Saturday night.

Considering one Mustang is about 18 feet long and this event will see about 500 Mustangs that’s 1.7 miles of sweet classic Mustangs running the streets of Brecksville!

Proceeds from this event will be given to a children charity of the drivers and graduates choice.

For more information and to register, contact Bruce Hatfield at 828-696-4168 or e-mail noirs@aol.com

The post Largest Gathering of First-Generation Mustangs appeared first on Hagerty Media.