Legendary racer Sir Stirling Moss purchased a 1961 Porsche RS 61 Spyder for $1.705 million at this spring’s Amelia Island Auction by Gooding & Company. It was this car that he brought to the Monterey Motorsports Reunion at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca this past Friday, where he was to compete in the group 1A class against Listers, Lotuses, Maseratis and other Porsches. This Porsche is one that he held in high esteem, having nearly won the 1960 Targa Florio in a similar RS 60 Spyder. Sadly, his first time on the track with his new RS 61 ended in disaster.

Final numbers from RM, Gooding, Bonhams & Butterfields, Mecum, and Russo and Steele's Monterey events are in, showing a combined $172m in sales.

This year's top grossing spot went to RM Auctions, with 209 of 224 lots sold over three days for a final total of $66,886,000. The 1958 Ferrari 250 TR racer, perhaps the most anticipated car of the weekend, crossed the block in downtown Monterey on Saturday night, but after starting at $6m on the block, it failed to sell at $10.7m. Tied for top sale honors were a 1938 Talbot-Lago T150 coupe and a 1954 Ferrari 375MM Berlinetta at $4.6m each.

To celebrate the 60th anniversary of its arrival in America, Porsche has launched a search to find the oldest Porsches in the nation. In addition to searching for the great-granddaddy of them all, Porsche wants to identify the oldest Porsches in 12 model categories, from the 356 to the newest generation of Boxsters and Caymans.

Four auction houses will host sales from September 2 through September 5, with more than 1,400 cars hitting the auction block throughout the weekend.

Auctions America by RM will hold its inaugural Labor Day Auction in Auburn, IN on September 2-5, with over 800 vehicles consigned to date. Cars and motorcycles from the estate of John O'Quinn are featured.

When RM Auctions put the Astra coupe up on the auction block at its Arizona event back in January, it had a lot going for it – recent magazine coverage, a recent restoration, and plenty of history to separate it from most other mid-1950s homebuilt cars. Yet it came down from the block a no-sale, bidding up to $120,000 (RM estimated before the auction that it would sell for $150,000 to $250,000). Now we see the 1952 Astra coupe for sale on Hemmings.com, at a price not too far off from that high bid.

Customs were not purely a West Coast phenomenon, as a pair of brothers from Detroit proved. Larry and Mike Alexander, the famed Alexander brothers, began customizing cars out of their father’s garage in the mid-1950s and went on to land enough business customizing cars to quit their day jobs and open a shop of their own. Over the course of the late 1950s and 1960s, they turned out some of the more iconic customs of the day, including the Victorian, Chili Catallo’s Silver Sapphire, the Adonis and the Venturian, but they gained nationwide fame through the Deora show truck they built for Chrysler.

Larry Alexander, the older of the two, later went on to work at Ford as a model builder. After suffering a stroke earlier this week, he died yesterday at the age of 79.

After spending decades as a collection of parts stuffed into wooden crates – the F-88 was reassembled.

In 1954 – the F-88 was a Motorama “Dream Car” and was one of only two – or an unconfirmed possible three ever created. The F-88 seen here is literally the only car left of its kind – and was sold to John and Maureen Hendricks at the prestigious Barrett-Jackson Auto Auction in Scottsdale, Arizona for an unbelievable $3,240,000. This acquisition made automotive history and is the “cornerstone” of the Gateway Colorado Automobile Museum in its own special room in a rotating display worthy of the F-88!

I can’t live without my cell phone, it keeps me in touch with friends, family and associates. In my daily life I see a complete lack of respect for everyone around us when we are forced to be subjected to someone explaining over their cell phone every breathing moment of their dull lives. For this reason I often let my voice mail pick up my calls until I am by myself and can dedicate my full attention to what the other person is telling me.

Unfortunately, when I’m in my car all by myself you would think I would be free of the annoying yapping on the cell phone. Nope, the guy or girl in front of me is blabbing about who cares what and what should be their most important task, which is driving has become a very low priority and they are just a pest on the road.

I found a solution that is so amazing, it has nothing to do with auto appraisals, but if your like me this device is magic. It’s called a Cell Phone Jammer, when you turn it on it forms a 30 meter radius in which all cell phones become crappy little calculators. It jams all cell phone communications and Bluetooth. Bluetooth, as in those stupid things that hang out of peoples ears like they are aboard the Starship Enterprise.

I have seen it work in traffic and while you’re trying to enjoy the company of someone you would like to hear. Getting on the freeway or at a stop light and some idiot is not paying attention, turn it on and watch them stare at their dead phone. Truly magic, if your in the position to get one I’d highly recommend it. And i'm not associate in any way with the manufacturer.

XT7000 Jammer Order Info

Most auto policies are for "Stated Value". The most cost effective insurance for your daily driver is a Stated Value policy, but not for your custom or collectable car. With a Stated Value policy the insurance company decides what your collector car is worth at the time of the loss. If you do not agree with them, chances are you'll need a lawyer and an appraisal to help you argue the point. Many collector policies sell Stated Value as if it was the same as "Agreed Value". It is not! Stated Value policies pay The Stated Value or The Actual Cash Value of a stock vehicle ... whichever is less.

Only Agreed Value Insurnace coverage is without hidden gotchas. If your car is stolen or totaled, you will receive the Agreed Value that it was appraised for when you Insured your collectable car.

Imagine two identical cars for sale on a dealers lot. Both cars have similar mileage, similar options and are in similar condition, and both have the same asking price. Now imagine finding out that one of those two vehicles had previously been involved in serious accident. Which one would you buy?

Would you expect to pay the same price for the vehicle that had been previously wrecked as you would for one that had NEVER been in an accident? Certainly not!

The difference between the amount of money that you could now expect the previously wrecked car to sell for, compared to what it would have sold for if it had NOT been involved in an accident is called the “DIMINISHED VALUE”

AUTO APPRAISAL NETWORK will provide you, your attorney or your insurance company with the evidence and information they will need to justify your Diminished Value claim with a professional, Auto Appraisal Network Diminished Value appraisal report. Appraisal Request