Tuesday, July 27, 2010

1972 Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Daytona Spyder

When Lamborghini introduced the mid-engined Miura in 1966, the automotive press turned to Ferrari in anticipation of his response. It was reasonable to expect Ferrari to adapt his hugely successful mid-engine V-12 prototype platform to road use, but he was never one to hew to others’ expectations, and at the 1968 Paris Auto Show he unveiled a brand new and stunning front-engine design, the 365 GTB/4.


Just 122 Spyder versions were built by Ferrari between 1970 and 1973, most of them for the American market. Built in December 1971, the 365 GTB/4 Spyder offered here is the 35th produced, the 25th of 96 built to U.S. specification.

Friday, July 9, 2010

This Is What It's All About


RT66 takes a time out between Lillooet and Lytton in the wilds north of Whistler, B.C.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Apache II

Founded in Watervliet, New York on 12 August 1908, the Hacker Boat Company is one of the longest-lived wooden boat companies in the world. Its founder, John Ludwig Hacker, was an extraordinary talent who has long been acknowledged as one of the world's leading naval architects and the greatest American motorboat designer of the 20th century. An accredited marine designer by the age of 22, Hacker had earned a name for himself by building a 30 foot runabout incorporating several innovations, most notably a revolutionary V-shaped hull that allowed his creation to reach speeds unheard of at the turn of the century.

In 1904, Hacker designed Au Revoir, which instantly set a world speed record; by the time he established the Hacker Boat Company, he had already built a wealthy clientele. In 1911 Hacker designed the first airplane floats (for the Wright Brothers) and the first successful stepped-hull hydroplane, the Kitty Hawk, the first to reach the “impossible” 50 mph mark on water and, between 1911 and 1915, the fastest boat in the world. A series of Kitty Hawks followed, each building on earlier design successes and in the end establishing the basic design parameters that today still define the American speedboat.


Apache II is consigned to the Mecum at Monterey Auction for sale on Saturday, August 14 at 3:10 PM.