Paul Newman's Last Race Car To Be Auctioned Saturday
A lot of movie stars have gotten into racing cars in their spare time, but few, if any, were as good at it as Paul Newman.
The actor began racing in the early 1970s, not long after starring as an Indianapolis 500 driver in the 1969 film “Winning.” He continued to take to the track until shortly before his death in 2008. In between he amassed a long list of wins and impressive finishes in sports car racing including second place in the classic 24-Hour race at Le Mans, France in 1979.
Now RM Auctions, a company specializing in collectible cars, will offer Newman’s last race car, a 2002 Chevrolet Corvette, this Saturday at its Amelia Island, Fla., sale.
The car, which began life as a Trans Am racer, was piloted to three wins, eight top-five finishes and five poles by racing great Butch Leitzinger during the 2002 season. It has a 346-cubic inch V8 engine under the hood that puts out 700 horesepower.
Newman and his business and racing partner Michael Brockman acquired the car the following year, painted it in Newman’s longtime signature red, white and blue livery and ran it in the Sports Car Club of America series. Newman continued to race competitively, at or near the front of the grid, from 2003 through 2007. He won his last race at Lime Rock, Conn., just about a year before he died.
Going Once, Going Twice: An Unreal Lot of Turbocharged Porsches
In the world of car auctions, there are sales, and then there are Sales. Consider this one of the latter: On Friday, Gooding & Company will auction an 17-car lot of turbocharged Porsches known as the Drendel Family Collection. The sale is nothing short of a landmark.
The man who owned this collection, Matthew Drendel , was just 35 when he died in 2010. At the time of his death, he had amassed what is widely considered one of the most significant collections of turbocharged Porsches ever assembled. Many of these cars have never before been offered at auction, and flipping through the sales catalog offers what is essentially a potted education in the history of blown Porsches. We've selected 10 to showcase here, based on nothing more than personal preference.
1973 Porsche 917 Can-Am SpyderIt is a testament to Drendel's taste that this car isn't the most important or even the most impressive machine in the lot. This is a 1973 Porsche 917/30 Can-Am Spyder. It is one of just six built, and in current trim, it produces around 1,200 horsepower at 8,000 rpm.
AutoWeekAP AUBURN, Ind. — A long-running classic car auction in northern Indiana that faced an uncertain future because of its founder's financial troubles will RM Auctions buys Auburn complex from KruseAUTOS: RM Reportedly Buying Kruse AuctionAuto auction park gets $1M facelift - -all 31 news articles »
Hitler's letter to a car dealer, and Mengele's to his wife, appear at auctionTwo auctions are coming up offering letters which show different sides to the characters of two notorious Nazi war-criminals: Josef Mengele and Adolf Hitler and more »
famous January collector-car auctions, focusing on Scottsdale's monumental Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Event and other Barrett-Jackson auctions. and more »
