The second annual Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival, to be held at Infineon Raceway on June 4-5, 2011, will feature the iconic McLaren marque, announced Steve Earle, president of General Racing, Ltd.

“McLaren, like Ferrari and Porsche and other great names in motorsports, created the bloodlines that we worship today in historic automobile racing,” said Earle, who for four decades has devoted his life to organizing historic car racing events and is the originator of the Wine Country Classic that preceded the Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival for 24 years, as well as the Monterey Historic Automobile Races.

“Choosing McLaren as our marque means we will pay special tribute to the name, the teams, and the cars that McLaren has produced in the past and will produce in the future, adding another dimension of enjoyment for both competitors and spectators.”

The first edition of the epic Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival, held at the scenic 2.52-mile Infineon Raceway in 2010, hosted 375 historic race cars, some dating as far back as 1915, in a series of 13 race groups. This year's highly-anticipated event has already reached the maximum 400 entries, 26 of which are authentic McLarens that were raced since the famed Bruce McLaren of New Zealand founded the McLaren racing team in 1963.

“These beautiful machines on the track combined with the Sonoma wine country experience makes our historic car weekend unlike anything else on our schedule,” said Infineon Raceway President and General Manager Steve Page. “Adding the allure of McLaren and the racing heritage that name represents will make the 2011 Sonoma Historics a weekend we’ll look forward to all year.”
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The 19th annual Palos Verdes Concours d’Elegance, to be held at Trump National Golf Club, Rancho Palos Verdes, California on Sunday, September 18, will highlight California Style and Design. The featured Marques* will be the coachwork of Howard “Dutch” Darrin, the Shelby Cobra and Woodies.

“This year’s event will be a colorful tribute to the art and beauty of our cars plus the art and natural beauty of the Palos Verdes Peninsula,” said Concours Chairman Peter Kunoth.

Classes to be judged include horseless carriages, Darrin coachwork, American classics, European classics, California sports cars, American 50’s convertibles, American 50’s station wagons, Woodies, Hot Rod legends, Corvettes, Ford T-Birds, Shelby Cobras, Shelby Mustangs, Muscle cars, European sports cars, Ferraris, and Japanese sports cars.

In addition to viewing the more than 200 exhibited cars, visitors can see craftsmen at work in Restoration Alley, shop for gifts, dine in the elegant Club House, and look at show cars in the display areas. The Concours will be preceded by a Road Rallye and Grand Marshal’s reception on Saturday, September 17.

Information on all Concours events can be found at www.pvconcours.com. Or by calling 1-866-522-7746.
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Just as they had done a year earlier, Nick Elliott and Dave Price stamped their authority on the opening round of the 2010 Dunlop/WONAGO.com MSA British Historic Rally Championship, the Bulldog Historic Rally (Saturday 27 March).

While Elliott/Price (Ford Escort Mk2) dominated an incredibly strong category three, other key winners were Jonathan Gale/James Whitaker (Sunbeam Tiger) and Jeremy Easson/Alun Cook (Ford Escort Mk1). For the 80-car field, which was packed with quality, the Bulldog delivered a fabulous rally over some of the finest gravel stages in Britain.

Category 1
Gale and the Tiger started favourites to repeat their 2009 Bulldog win in category one, but it was still a challenge as a late change of co-driver left Gale and Whitaker to get used to each other over the opening stages. Meanwhile, Dessie Nutt and Geraldine McBride set off at a cracking pace in their Porsche 911 and edged ahead before the Mimecast-backed Tiger got into its stride.

"We put softer tyres on for the second loop and it was much better," said Gale of the big push through the long Gartheiniog stage that took the Tiger into the lead. Even a spin on the final stage failed to hinder the Tiger's progress as it finished 37s up on Nutt's Porsche. "The stages were very, very good," said Nutt of a trouble free rally.

A strong class B4 was won by the flying Volvo Amazon of Graham Waite/Gill Cotton after another spectacular performance. "We were matching times with Dessie later," said Waite of his day's work. Leading the chase of the Volvo was the Lotus Cortina of Paul Mankin/Desmond Bell, with a gap of just over half a minute at the finish. The sportsmanship of Mankin and Bell allowed a timing query over the class result to be quickly resolved.

In class B1, Geoff Taylor and Steve Greenhill stormed through in their Sunbeam Imp Sport despite a misfire and a puncture late in the last stage. Some way back, but happy to finish his debut BHRC event, was Simon Whitehead, teamed with Gary Wood in his Hillman Imp.

Continua leyendo "Bulldog Historic Rally, British Historic Rally Championship round 1"

Barons’ busy sale at Sandown Park on March 23rd saw 73% of the cars on offer find new homes.

“We had a really varied selection of classics and collectors’ cars from the 1920s up to more recent years, which generated a lot of interest from enthusiasts, and there was a good atmosphere in the room,” said Barons’ MD Laurence Sayers-Gillan.

“Catalogues sold out and nice cars made good money. Unusually for us there were very few Jaguars on offer - but that’s because many owners were holding them back for our dedicated Jaguar Heritage sale next month.”

The strikingly glamourous, immaculate 1951 Chevrolet Styleline DeLuxe BelAir 2 Door Sedan sold for just under £25,000 and the rare RHD 1973 Porsche 911T 2.4 Targa for £20,130, while two beautiful Alfa Romeos - a 1967 Boat Tail Duetto Spider 1600 and a 1970 Alfa Romeo 1300 Giulia-Stepfront GTA Replica - achieved £15,660 and £15,100 respectively.

Other notable lots included a fine 1979 Aston Martin V8SIII with Harvey Bailey handling kit (£19,000) and a head-turning bright red 1967 Ford Mustang GT Coupe (£10,350). Another 1970‘s automotive icon, a 1978 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow II which had covered just 36,700 miles from new, exceeded top estimate, selling for £13,200.

Barons is now gearing up for its Jaguar Heritage sale at Sandown Park on April 27th which celebrates the 75th anniversary of the legendary marque. The entry list already includes several very desirable examples, including a 1933 SS1 coupé (£70,000-90,000), a stunning, rare 1958 XK150SE DHC auto (£60,000-70,000) and some glorious E-types, including a 1973 Series 3 roadster by Vicarage (£78,000-£85,000).
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