The very last of the fabulous 8C 2900s built by Alfa Romeo was this experimental Balena Spider. Constructed during the War, it fitted with a streamlined body that was built in-house. Italian for Whale, the Balena was 20 km/h faster than a sister car equipped with a Touring body. Subsequently raced in Argentina, the unique Alfa Romeo has been part of Louwman Museum collection for three decades. We captured it in action at last year's Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Renault revealed this Filante Record 2025 today, which is a celebration of three record-breaking Renaults of the past. The all-electric single seater is constructed using sophisticated methods and weighs a mere 1,000 kg despite carrying 600 kg worth of batteries. The Filante Record 2025 will be displayed at Rétromobile next week.
The M3 line-up has been expanded with the first-ever M3 CS Touring. That means the 543 bhp version of the turbocharged six-cylinder engine is now available in the most practical of 3-series body-styles. Like the four- and two-door Club Sport versions, the Touring is equipped with an eight-speed automatic gearbox and four-wheel drive.

Following the ill-fated Formula 1 effort of the late 1990s, Lola was rescued by Irish businessman Martin Birrane. The first car built under his reign was the B98/10 top level prototype racer. The first example was produced late in 1998 and not raced until 1999. Eventually eight were built and helped Lola to reestablish itself as a leading sports racing car manufacturer. Highlighted today is chassis HU08, which was the final example built and fitted with a Judd V10 engine. It was sold new to DAMS and raced at Le Mans. Later in the 1999 season, it scored four outright wins, making it the most successful of all B98/10s. Freshly restored by Moto Historics, the Lola was raced in historic events last year and is now offered for sale by Sam Hancock.
Cadillac has revealed a V-version of the Lyriq all-electric SUV. It is equipped with a pair of electric motors that produce a combined 615 bhp and 880 Nm of torque. The Lyriq-V has a MSRP of $79,990, although Cadillac states that the final sticker price is set by the dealers.
At this weekend's legendary Kitzbühel downhill ski race, Audi revealed the Q6 e-tron offroad concept. Based on the Q6 e-tron, it features a raised suspension and specifically developed portal axles. These are capable of torque spikes of up to 13,400 Nm. The Q6 e-tron offroad concept will also be demonstrated at the upcoming FAT The Ice at Zell am See.

In the majestic and freshly restored Grand Palais in Paris, Bonhams will stage their annual Grandes Marques du Monde à Paris sale during the first week of February. Among the absolute headliners are the three very rare racing cars featured today.
The most valuable of the trio is Ferrari 555 F1 Super Squalo that was raced by the factory team during the 1955 Formula 1 World Championship. It is one of four built and of only two known to have survived. It was part of several major collections during its eventful life and a winner at the 2000 Monaco Historic Grand Prix. Now offered for the first time in nearly 25 years, chassis 555/1 is estimated to sell for €4 - €6 million.
Used in Harold Errtl's successful 1978 DRM championship campaign is this BMW 320 Turbo Group 5. It was fielded by Schnitzer Motorsport and equipped with the team's own turbocharged version of the four-cylinder BMW engine. In 1981, it was fitted with a naturally aspirated engine and driven to victory at Macau by Hans-Joachim Stuck. In more recent years, E21 R1-26 was completely restored by Belgian specialists Qvick and is ready to go racing.
One of the most fascinating consignments is this Matra MS640. Created for the 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, the V12 engined sports racer was involved in a very bad accident during testing that nearly ended the career of Henri Pescarolo. The project was abandoned but the drawings and moulds had survived. These were used to create a reconstruction that was appropriately tagged MS640/02. Using the lessons learned from the original car, it was subtly improved. To proof this point, Pescarolo got back behind the wheel and ran the car up to speeds of 300 km/h. The unique MS640 should now sell for €600,000 - €800,000.

During the original, Cricklewood era of the Bentley Motor Company, only two rolling chassis were ever clothed by an American coach builder. Coincidentally, both of these cars built under the W.O. Bentley custodianship are now offered for sale. Offered by British dealer Fiskens from a single family ownership is this Speed Six Schutte Limousine. It was commissioned by Ruth Vanderbilt Twombly, who was the great granddaughter of railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt. It has been cared for by Bentley enthusiasts from very early in its life and as such has survived in its original configuration instead of suffering the fate of so many other fixed head bodied examples that were re-bodied to Vanden Plan Open Tourer configuration. Chassis HM2854 is now offered on public sale for the first time since 1981.
One of the headliners of this week's RM Sotheby's Arizona auction is this Bentley 8-Litre Murphy Convertible Victoria. It was fitted with a striking Franklin Q. Hershey penned design on behalf of sugar tycoon Conrad H. Mathiessen. Later in life, the car spent many years in Mexico and was even fitted with a truck engine. Fortunately, the original engine was preserved and re-fitted during a restoration in the 1970s. The current custodian acquired the car in 2012 and had it restored once again by British specialists R.C. Moss. The unique 8-Litre is now estimated to sell for around $3 million.

Following in the footsteps of the revised Vantage Coupe announced last year, Aston Martin have now revealed the updated Vantage Roadster. Like the Coupe, the new Roadster features a 150 bhp boost in power to a grand total of 655 bhp. This power is fed to the rear wheels through an eight-speed automatic gearbox. In addition to the mechanical changes, the new Vantage Roadster also includes updated styling. It will be available from the second quarter of this year.
Anglo-Canadian auctioneer RM Sotheby's have announced further consignments of the upcoming Miami Sale. Included are a trio of Ferrari supercars. The earliest of the trio is this F40, which is one of just 213 built to United States specification. Beautifully preserved, chassis 89832 has covered a mere 3,435 miles and has a pre-sale estimate of $3.25 - $3.75 million.
Both expected to sell for over $5.5 million are the low mileage F50 and Enzo due to cross the block in Southern Florida.

By popular demand, the Peter Auto Endurance Racing Legends grid was split in two last year with one field dedicated to several generations of the GT2 cars. Part of the most recent generation is this Ferrari F430 GTC, which was raced three times in period at Le Mans. Among its original drivers was Formula 1 design legend Adrian Newey. He shared the car at Le Mans in 2007 and finished fourth in the GT2 class. Newey clearly had fond memories of chassis 2466 as he acquired the car and debuted it in historic racing late in 2024.
One of the original GT2 cars is the appropriately dubbed Porsche 911 GT2, which have also been a popular choice in Endurance Racing Legends. The featured example was one of the very last built in 1995 and was originally raced by Jean-François Véroux. Now in German hands, we saw it in action at the Spa Classic and 24 Hours of Spa in 2024.
The latest additions to the Type 992 II generation 911 are the rear-wheel drive Carrera S Coupe and Carrera S Cabriolet. The pair is powered by a fundamentally updated version of the twin-turbo flat 6 engine, which is now good for 473 bhp. Mated to an eight-speed automatic gearbox, the revised engine can propel the 911 Carrera S to 100 km/h in a mere 3.3 seconds.

The upcoming RM Sotheby's Paris Sale promises to be one to watch judging from the early consignments. Leading the way is the Le Mans winning Ferrari 250 LM from the Indianapolis Speedway Hall of Fame museum but there are other fabulous sports cars due to cross the block. Among them is this Ferrari 512 M, which was originally raced by the Belgian Ecurie Francorchamps. It was raced at Le Mans twice and also competed in several Can-Am rounds. Ferrari Classiche certified, chassis 1030 is estimated to sell for €9 - 12 million.
Of a slightly later vintage is this Jaguar XJR-10, which competed in the IMSA GTP championship for the better part of three seasons. Powered by a twin-turbo V6 engine, it was driven to two wins by Davy Jones. Now fully restored but not raced in recent years, 589 should sell for around €1 million.
One of our favourite consignments is this one-off Abarth 208A Boano Cabriolet. It is a more luxurious version of the more common 207A Spyder and features similar Boano styled bodywork. The four-cylinder engined Abarth was originally sold to the DuPont family and was later cherished by a single owner for over three decades. It has had just two custodians since and 005 was recently cosmetically restored under the supervision of Corrado Lopresto.

We would like to kick off the year by wishing you all the best for 2025 and by highlighting a pair of V8-engined BMW M3 racers we saw in action in 2024 and expect to see back out in the new year. The most recent of the duo is this E92-generation BMW M3 GT2. The V8-engined racer was originally developed to compete in the American Le Mans Series, it was also raced with considerable in Europe as well between 2009 and 2012. The featured example was the second chassis built and initially served as a test and development car for the VLN Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Having served its original purpose, it was subsequently also raced by BMW Team Schnitzer at the Nürburgring, scoring several podium finishes. Now back in the Team Schnitzer fold, chassis 902 was raced at the Endurance Racing Legends support race during the 24 Hours of Spa.
Also out in the 2024 Endurance Racing Legends series was this E46-generation M3 GT V8. It is one of six chassis built by BMW with PTG Racing in the United States. The first cars were powered by six-cylinder engines but chassis 004 was the first M3 racer to be fitted by a V8 engine. This was a five-litre unit derived from the E39 M5. It was raced with great success in the Grand-Am Championship through to the 2004 season.