Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1130632
M7 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 16 JUNE 2019 MOTORING Just like you. The new A-Class with The new A-Class fits to your life – from the sporty design to the intuitive Mercedes-Benz User Experience (MBUX) with Natural Voice Control, innovative touchpad and the new touchscreen. Mosta Road, Lija LJA 9011, Malta. Tel: 21433601 Mgarr Road, Xewkija XWK 9012, Gozo. Tel: 21550962 Email: sales@autosales.com.mt Kind's www.autosales.com.mt Lorem um Starting from €31,500 which includes a 5 year service plan. 275 GTB/C Speciale, of which just three were made, doesn't quite com- mand the same sort of fervour. The auction sheet for this particular 275, the first of three factory-built cars, calls this an "unrepeatable opportuni- ty to acquire such an important auto- mobile". While auctioneers are prone to bouts of hyperbole, we think it's en- tirely apt in this case. And possibly the only reason why it doesn't send buy- ers into a frenzy as a 250 GTO does is perhaps the fact it doesn't wear the hallowed GTO badge. 7. MERCEDES-BENZ W196 £19.7 million (S$34.5 million) Bonhams Goodwood, Jul 12, 2013 The very same car piloted by post- war racing legends Juan Manuel Fan- gio and Sir Stirling Moss to two con- secutive world championships, and the only one believed to be in private hands (the rest belong to the factory or museums) was put up for sale at the 2013 Goodwood Festival of Speed. And the winning price, as you'd ex- pect, was astronomical and a record at the time. In addition to its exceptional race pedigree, winning nine of the 12 races it entered, the W196 was the last Formula One car entered by the Mer- cedes-Benz factory before it pulled out of the championships. A factory- backed Mercedes-Benz car would only return to Formula One some six dec- ades later in 2010. 8. ASTON MARTIN DBR1 US$22.6 million (S$31.1 million) RM Sotheby's Monterey, Aug 19, 2017 The Aston Martin DBR1 is the most expensive British-made car ever sold at auction, and it's not difficult to see why. Built from 1956, the DBR1 was a clean-sheet design not based on any road-going car (owing to rule changes from that year) and still holds the dis- tinction of being Aston Martin's only overall victory at the world's premier endurance race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Chassis number one (of five) was put up for sale in 2017 – while it may not be the Le Mans-winning car from 1959 and retiring in all three of its attempts at the endurance classic, it is nevertheless hugely important. Rac- ing legends Jack Brabham, Sir Stirling Moss and Carroll Shelby once warmed chassis number one's seat. 9. DUESENBERG SSJ US$22 million (S$30.3 million) Gooding & Company Pebble Beach, Aug 25, 2018 To be certain, 400hp isn't a lot of power these days, with the next-gen- eration Mercedes-AMG A45 S hot hatchback rumoured to pack 421hp. But in 1935, when the Duesenberg SSJ made its debut (two years before the carmaker folded), that must have been akin to driving a Saturn V rocket. Key to that performance was its 6.9-litre inline-eight engine, supercharged in SJ models for extra oomph. One of only two built and formerly owned by silver screen pioneer Gary Cooper, that SSJ hammered for US$22 million last year and today holds the record of being the most expensive American car ever auctioned. 10. JAGUAR D-TYPE US$21.8 million (S$30 million) RM Sotheby's Monterey, Aug 19, 2016 The Jaguar D-Type endurance race car was designed by Malcolm Sayer, whose work with cars was preceded by his work with aircraft during the war years. The aerodynamic bodywork, typified by its flowing lines, small frontal area, underbody optimisation and most obvi- ously a fin behind the driver, was revo- lutionary at the time. Fitting then, that Ron Flockhart, one of the drivers who piloted the D-Type put up for auction in 2016 to an overall Le Mans victory in 1956 was himself a keen aviator. Adding to the richness of this D-Type's story is how the 1956 race was run in abysmal conditions – only a third of all entrants finished the rain-sodden, mist-caked race, with one driver losing his life. cars ever sold at auction 7 8 10 9