One of the world’s rarest Jaguars will undergo a live restoration at The Classic & Sports Car Show this autumn

• One of the world’s rarest Jaguars will undergo a live restoration at The Classic & Sports Car Show this autumn
• The 1954 XK120 by Pininfarina will be worked on by a team of specialists from Classic Motor Cars (CMC) throughout the event
• Total will also have a classic oil station offering advice to enthusiasts
• Other features at the Alexandra Palace event include the unveiling of the greatest supercar ever, a Live Interview Stage in partnership with Goodwood Road & Racing and a Coys auction
• For further information and to buy tickets for the show taking place from 28^th – 30^th October, head to 
• http://www.classicandsportscarshow.com

Visitors to this year’s Classic & Sports Car Show will be treated to an amazing sight this autumn: the live restoration of a one-of-a-kind ‘lost’ Jaguar by a team of specialists from Classic Motor Cars (CMC).

In its first public appearance for 40 years, the 1954 XK120, which features bodywork by Pininfarina, will be restored at the event from 28^th – 30^th October, giving show goers unprecedented access to the techniques and skill that goes into bringing a classic car back to its full glory.

And what a car. The unique Jaguar is believed to have been created for US importer, Max Hoffman, and was displayed at the 1955 Geneva Motor Show. It will be the key focal point in a special restoration hall at the Alexandra Palace show.

Also featured in the hall will be a classic oil station from leading international oil and gas company, Total. Experts will be on hand to discuss the importance of oil technology in the restoration of classic cars, in addition to recommending the most suitable lubricants for different vehicles.

Tim Leese, managing director, CMC, said: “As the only XK120 by Pininfarina ever produced this is one of the rarest Jaguars in existence. We are looking forward to bringing this special project to The Classic & Sports Car Show and giving visitors the opportunity to not only watch CMC’s mechanics and technicians at work but also ask any questions, to really gain a full understanding of the painstaking work that goes into restorations like this.”

Marc Smith, general manager, Total UK Lubricants Division, added: “We have always been committed to providing specialist oils for a wide variety of engines and are keen to bring this expertise to The Classic & Sports Car Show. Our specialists will be on hand to advise classic car owners and talk about lubricant problems that owners may have.”

James Elliott, Classic & Sports Car Group, editor, continued: “We often get to see the before and after images of these incredible restorations, but don’t get to see or fully appreciate the skill that goes into each element, from the body and trim to the engine. We are sure that this, combined with the expertise provided by Total, will make the restoration hall a fascinating and even educational feature for enthusiasts at our event in October.”

The Classic & Sports Car Show in 2016 will feature the world’s most prestigious classic cars from world-famous collectors and world-renowned classic car retailers. The event will also feature an auction from Coys and a Live Interview Stage in partnership with Goodwood Road & Racing.

Following a hotly contested public vote, the greatest supercar ever will be unveiled at the show as part of the ‘A Century of Supercars’ feature. The second stage of the vote, which will see the winners from each category pitted against each other, will open soon, with this shortlist forming the spectacular, multi-million pound display.

The continuing curse of the "that" Ferrari, should be resolved this September, or will it, or will it go on for ever.

Wanted: one caring owner for a cherry-red 1954 Ferrari racer; current proprietorship heavily contested.

When an eccentric U.S. Army engineer who worked on the Manhattan Project during World War II bought a burned-out Ferrari chassis for $2,500 in 1958, he had no idea that it would become the most fought-over car on the planet.

Now, after 16 years of lawsuits and ownership claims from Paraguay to Switzerland, the fate of the roadster, which Victoria's Secret founder Les Wexner thought he bought last year for 10.7 million pounds ($16.5 million), is finally coasting toward resolution in a London court.

Ferrari made just five 375 Plus models that year and only four of those gleaming symbols of motor racing's golden age remain. Fashion designer Ralph Lauren and candy billionaire Giorgio Perfetti have two of them.

"This vehicle, along with a number of others, has entered into the realm of fine art," Dave Kinney, publisher of the Hagerty Price Guide for classic cars, said.

The move toward closure of the case comes amid a surge in the value of vintage Ferraris. A 1962 250 GTO fetched $38.1 million at auction last year, the most ever for a car. Hagerty's Ferrari Index of 13 models has more than tripled since 2010, peaking at $5.4 million in May.

The last undisputed owner of the 330-hp 375 Plus was Karl Kleve, the army engineer-turned designer, artist, serial tinkerer and author (of a book linking baldness to blood circulation).

Kleve, who died in 2003 at the age of 90, bought the car's damaged body from the heir to the Kleenex tissue fortune, Jim Kimberly, to add to his collection. It languished on a trailer outside his home near Cincinnati, Ohio, for three decades before it was stolen sometime between 1985 and 1989, according to court documents.

That's when things started to get weird.

Shortly thereafter, the Italian machine, or at least part of it, turned up in Antwerp via Atlanta, where it had been acquired by a Belgian trader. Customs officials there impounded the car to determine its ownership after Kleve reported it stolen, but authorities sided with the trader. 

Once cleared, it was sold to another Belgian, Jacques Swaters, a Ferrari dealer and former racecar driver, for an undisclosed sum. Not knowing it had been purloined, Swaters, who considered Enzo Ferrari, the automaker's late founder, a close friend, spent years restoring the car and its Barchetta-style aluminum bodywork to racing form.

In 1999, after Kleve located the vehicle and confirmed his ownership by its chassis number, 0384M, Swaters agreed to pay $625,000 to keep it.

"It's a car worth fighting for," John Collins, owner of UK Ferrari dealer Talacrast, said by phone Thursday. "It's an important car."

A decade later, after both Swaters and Kleve died, a daughter of Swaters filed a suit in Ohio arguing that Kleve violated the sales agreement by withholding some of the car's parts, according to court documents. That claim of ownership was followed by two others -- one by a fellow Ohio resident and the other by a U.S. citizen living in Switzerland.

In 2013, the four parties jointly agreed to "extinguish all claims and counterclaims" and allow Bonhams, one of the world's oldest auction houses, to sell the roadster so they could split the proceeds. And so last June, after an extensive marketing campaign, it was sold to Wexner, the lingerie billionaire, at an auction at the historic Goodwood Festival of Speed in the English countryside.

But the bickering didn't stop there.

Wexner sued Bonhams after the sale, claiming the auctioneer had failed to inform him of unresolved ownership disputes and demanding a full refund plus damages. Bonhams, for its part, sued Kleve's daughter, Kristine, for allegedly breaching the terms of their settlement deal prior to the sale. And that's not all: Bonhams is also suing a Paraguayan car dealer for deceit. 

The dealer, the company said in a complaint, sent a letter three days before the auction claiming ownership of the Ferrari.

The auction house, anxious to avoid canceling the centerpiece of the Goodwood Festival, allegedly paid him 2 million pounds, according to the documents.

All four lawsuits related to the roadster in London have now been folded together so a judge can settle the disputes once and for all. The next hearing is scheduled for September.

Lawyers for each party involved either declined to comment or didn't respond to emails seeking comment.

While Kleve may not have foreseen the extent to which people would one day go to possess his once-battered chassis, he certainly would have appreciated the passion behind it. 

He started his collection in 1939 with his mother's black 16-cylinder 1936 Cadillac, according to an obituary in theCincinnati Enquirer newspaper. By the time his Ferrari was stolen, the collection was so vast that his neighbors had started to complain, prompting a court to order him to clear his yard.

"Do you know anyone in America who's limited to two cars?" Kleve asked the judge in 1990, according to the newspaper. "Especially one who loves cars? Cars are my life."

REPORT HERE 

Barons Auction House, achieves new record for the uber rare 1954 Bentley Continental R-Type Fastback.

Bids were flying around Barons’ Sandown Park saleroom on April 21^st, when an extremely rare 1954 Bentley R-Type Continental Fastback ‘barn find’ restoration project went under the hammer. With an estimate of £200,000-£400,000, the car attracted frenzied bidding before it was finally secured by its new owner for £739,212*. 

This was the highest price Barons has ever achieved for a car – and other strong sales on the day brought the auction total to over £1 million, another company record for Barons.

It was not an easy bidding battle to win, with bids coming in from around the world. Barons’ staff were taking bids from 10 potential buyers over the telephone, 20 on the internet and a further 15 in the saleroom itself, as the bids began climbing in increments of £50,000 then tapering to increments of £25,000 before reaching the final, remarkable figure.

In the end the car went to a British owner, who will be adding this magnificent machine to his private collection. When restored his new acquisition – which has not been driven in 15 years - could be worth over £1,000,000.

Chassis BC52C was commissioned in 1954 by the Welsh racing driver R D Weatherall and was originally painted in his racing colour, Royal Purple. It still bears the registration number RDW 536. A subsequent owner, a doctor from Yorkshire, had the car re-sprayed in white, the colour it retains to this day.

Barons’ director Tony Cavell said, “This was an absolutely fantastic result. A ‘lost’ car always attracts collectors’ attention, and when it’s such a rare, iconic and valuable machine, that interest can lead to a frenetic bidding battle such as we saw yesterday. It will be fascinating to see the ‘journey’ the Bentley now takes, as its restoration commences.”

“This was the first sale that my fellow director Peter Gascoigne and I have fully assembled and presided over since we took the reins at Barons earlier in the year. 

We couldn’t have been more delighted with how things turned out, from the atmosphere in the saleroom to the final result. To top £1 million for the first time for Barons is a tremendous achievement, and it has been a privilege to play a role in finding a new home for a truly remarkable car.”

Other strong results achieved included the very beautiful 1934 Rolls-Royce 20/25, which drove past top estimate to sell for just under £41,000*, and a stately Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III, which sold for £23,500*.

Year	Make	Model	Sold @ Inc
1953	Bentley	R-Type Continental Fastback	£739,212
1934	Rolls-Royce	20/25 Saloon	£40,892
2001	Aston Martin	DB7 GTS Coupe	£25,772
1965	Rolls-Royce	Silver Cloud III	£23,532
1951	Chevrolet	Styleline Custom	£19,052
1974	Triumph	Stag	£14,292
1987	Mercedes	300SL Convertible	£10,876
1935	Austin	7 APD/E Military Tourer	£10,042
1963	Mercedes	Evocation 500K	£10,000
1968	Ford	Escort 1100 De Luxe	£9,756
2000	Rover	Mini Cooper 500LE	£8,132
1991	Peugeot	205 Cti	£7,964
1996	Alfa Romeo	V6 Spider	£7,852
1989	Bentley	Eight	£7,852
1966	Wolseley	Hornet Heinz 57 Crayford	£7,852
1987	Mercedes	300SL	£7,068
1987	Harley Davidson	1200 Custom	£6,732
1989	Alfa Romeo	Spider	£6,620
1989	Land Rover	Range Rover Vogue SE	£6,452
1986	Bentley	Eight	£6,172
1989	Citroen	CX 2500 Gti	£5,612
1977	Mercedes	200	£4,716
1972	Fiat	500	£4,604
1961	Mercedes	180 Ponton	£4,268
1998	Mercedes	SL320	£4,212
1996	Daimler	Six (X300)	£3,988
1995	Daimler	Double Six LWB	£3,752
1985	Austin	Rover Mini Hot Rod	£3,652
2002	Land Rover	Range Rover	£3,596
1979	Daihatsu	F20 Taft	£3,484
1991	Mercedes	300CE	£3,204
2000	Mercedes	CLK 320	£3,036
1974	Reliant	Scimitar GTE SE5A	£2,924
1999	Jaguar	XJ8 4.0 V8	£2,364
1990	Mitsubishi	3000 GTO V6	£2,364
1978	Rolls-Royce	Silver Shadow I	£2,252
1990	Mercedes	300SE	£1,916
2002	Vauxhall	Vectra	£1,142
1950s		Child's pedal car	£531
		Bologna Chronograph	£142
		Rim Chronograph	£130
	SALE TOTAL		£1,038,010