1965 1966 Mercury Monterey Park Lane Motor's Original Body Crash Illustrations M on 2040-parts.com

Earthquake auction Ferrari 599 XX Evo handed to Google’s Benjamin Sloss

The Ferrari 599 XX Evo auctioned by Ferrari to raise funds for the earthquake in the Emilia Romagna region has been handed to Benjamin Sloss of Google. Back in May, following the earthquake in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy, Ferrari ran an auction to raise funds to help victims of the earthquake’ Amongst the items put up for auction by Ferrari were an F60 nose-cone and an F2008 engine, but the star lot was a brand new Ferrari 599 XX Evo, Ferrari’s track-day only testbed for all things Maranello. The winner of the 599 XX Evo turns out to be a deep-pocketed Google VP – Benjamin Sloss – who forked out €1.4 million for his new plaything (which was almost a bargain price) and, as part of the auction offering, he was rewarded for his generosity with a presentation of his new Ferrari at last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

BMW 730Ld takes ‘Top Chauffeur Car’ title from Jaguar XJ

BMW 730Ld Chauffeur and Professional Driver Car of the Year 2011 Last year was very much the year of the Jaguar XJ, with awards and praise oozing from every publication. But a year is a long time in the car world, and the XJ – winner of the Chauffeur Car of the Year in 2010-  has been beaten in to third place in this year’s Chauffeur Car of the Year by the BMW 730Ld. Professional Driver Magazine awards annual gongs for the best ‘working’ cars, judged by an invited panel of chauffeurs, motoring journalists and private hire operators who drive and judge the contenders during a one-day judging event.

Lamborghini Aventador J at 2012 Geneva motor show

There maybe other Italian sports car manufacturers looking to hog the limelight at the 2012 Geneva motor show (and Ferrari and its 730bhp F12 is one of them) but Lamborghini will vie for attention with the Aventador J. A two-seat, open top speedster based on the Aventador LP700-4, it has some intriguing bits of carbonfibre tech and highly individual design. Named 'J' after the FIA’s Appendix J that governs the tech spec of race cars in certain classes, it’s proper bedroom wall material – but little boys and girls are unlikely to ever see it on the road as it’s a one-off and will go to a lucky owner after its appearance at Geneva.