Classic cars change hands all the time. What brings them to the spotlight is usually one of several factors. It might have a track record distinguished by race wins. It might be in particularly good shape. It might have had a starring role in a major motion picture. It might be a particular rarity from a small production run, or maybe it served to showcase the manufacturer’s offerings at a major auto show. Having all these factors come together on one specific automobile is a rarity, but that’s what we’re looking at with this stunning 1955 Ferrari 750 Monza Spider.

One of only 35 built, Ferrari displayed this Spider at the 1955 Brussels Motor Show, after which it was brought to America by famed importer Luigi Chinetti who sold it to his rival Porsche importer John von Neumann in Los Angeles. Neumann set the Monza on an aggressive race program up and down the West Coast that saw it win twice and score another nine podiums at various sportscar racing events, bringing on board, among others, no less a talent than Phil Hill to man the wheel.

Most notably, the car was driven by Fred Astair in a fictionalized post-apocalyptic grand prix in the movie On The Beach. Since then, chassis 0492M has been part of several prestigious collections, but after a comprehensive two-year restoration is now heading to the auction block at Pebble Beach, where RM Auctions will be putting it up for grabs with prices reportedly expected to top million. With a 260-horsepower 3.0-liter DOHC four similar to that found in the 500 TRC that RM sold for million at Villa d’Este, this Monza Spider is described by one noted Ferrari expert as the best she’s ever seen.

Follow the jump for more details in the auction listing and scope out the spectacular high-resolution images in the gallery for a closer look.

Continue reading ’55 Ferrari 750 Monza speeds from show stand to race track to silver screen to auction block

’55 Ferrari 750 Monza speeds from show stand to race track to silver screen to auction block originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 30 Jun 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Polyphony’s Gran Turismo games tread the line between fantasy and reality with the balance of a trapeze artist. Not only are the games themselves a close approximation of reality, but once in a while, reality jumps out of the digital world and into the tangible.

A couple of years ago the game’s creators worked with the French automaker to give birth to the GTbyCitroën – a supercar designed specifically for the game. But then they made it into a concept car and put it on display. And while it never came to be, they even considered a limited production run.

The latest collaboration brought the recently-crowned world champion Red Bull Racing team on board for the X1 prototype. Again, an extreme high-performance vehicle designed specifically for the game – this time a vision of what an F1 car could be if not for all the pesky regulations. Initial reports that the car is powered by a turbine engine are now being corrected to an F1-derived, direct-injection, twin-turbo V6. Fortunately, the 1483-horsepower output remains.

Actually building the X1 into a functioning track car would be a little pointless and undoubtedly extremely expensive, but they have made a full-size mock-up that will be unveiled during the game’s launch party, scheduled (don’t hold your breath) for Madrid in a few weeks’ time. Here’s hoping GT5 can follow that same fantasy-to-reality trajectory and land in our hands on (the revised and revised again) schedule.

[Source: GTPlanet]

From Virtual to Reality: GT5‘s Red Bull X1 prototype jumps out of the screen originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 10 Nov 2010 18:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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