Opening day auction results from Monterey

In results gathered by Hagerty Insurance, $5.8 million worth of cars, trucks and motorcycles were sold Thursday at auctions on the Monterey Peninsula. A total of 190 of 323 lots were sold, for a sell-through rate of 59 percent. The average selling price was $30,511.

Renault Gordini Return Confirmed

Renault has confirmed that the Gordini badge is to be revived. We’ve known this was on the cards for a while – the return of the Gordini badge – and we reported last week that Renault were going to announce their plans for a new Gordini range this week. And they have.

Cash for clunkers plan revives trade fight

Import brand automakers and dealers warned on Thursday that a vehicle scrappage proposal before the Senate would violate trade agreements and could weaken the economy. The Senate could vote on the plan on Thursday, which would offer $10,000 to any moderate- or low-income consumer who trades in a car or truck that is at least 10 years old and buys a new one that is more fuel-efficient and "assembled in the United States." The trade-ins would be scrapped rather than resold. The U.S.-made mandate "smacks of the protectionism that led to the Great Depression," said Barbara Nocera, the top Washington lobbyist for Mazda North American Operations.