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  • “Fast Five” 1963 Corvette Grand Sport replica for sale

    The “Fast and the Furious” franchise may have started out with tuner cars, but by the time “Fast Five” premiered in 2011, the series had expanded to include cars like this 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport replica, which will be auctioned off online by Volo Auto Sales starting April 14.

    First spotted by Motor1, the Grand Sport replica only appeared briefly in “Fast Five.” It was one of several cars stolen off a moving train by the heroes, only to plummet off a cliff to its doom shortly after. Still, the Grand Sport is a bona fide movie car—and a cool one at that.

    The original Grand Sport was a heavily-modified version of the C2 Corvette designed for racing—hence the numerous cooling ducts, bulging fender flares, and fixed headlights. Only five original cars were built—two convertibles and three coupes—establishing enough of a reputation that Chevy brought back the Grand Sport name for variants of recent Corvettes.

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    The replica was built by Mongoose Motorsports, which is licensed by General Motors to build these cars. It has a custom tubular chassis with C4 Corvette suspension and a GM Performance 5.7-liter V-8 crate engine that makes 380 hp, according to the listing. It’s also an automatic, which isn’t uncommon for movie cars as it makes them easier to move around on set.

    This is one of three surviving Grand Sport replicas from the film, and was used as a “hero car” for close-up shots, according to the listing. That means it likely got the most screen time, and is closest in appearance to what you see on screen. Movie productions generally use multiple cars, which are only made to look or function as good as they need to for a particular scene. For example, a car used for stunts might not have a full interior, because that wouldn’t be shown in a given shot.

    The auction house expects this movie car to sell for between $95,000 and $100,000, while Mongoose advertises new cars (without the movie pedigree) at “under $100,000.” Either way, the “Fast Five” car should be a lot less than one of the five original Grand Sports, which have seven-figure valuations.

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  • 2022 Infiniti QX55, lifted Subaru Outback, 1967 Chevy Corvette L88: The Week In Reverse

    We drove the 2022 Infiniti QX55, learned about a lifted Subaru Outback, and reported on a 1967 Chevrolet Corvette L88 sold at auction. It’s the Week in Reverse, right here at Motor Authority.

    We slid behind the wheel of the 2022 Infiniti QX55 to determine whether a faster roofline is worth about $7,000 over a QX50. The answer: That’s a lot of extra money to pay for style that isn’t matched with substance. The shortcomings are noticeable and the German competition simply does it better.

    The covers came off the 2022 BMW Alpina B8 Gran Coupe. With a price of over $140,000, this four-door coupe will be rare when it lands at BMW dealerships in late spring (Alpina only builds about 2,000 cars annually). While an M8 Gran Coupe exists from BMW, the Alpina model will be something special with trademark styling cues and top-shelf features.

    A lifted Subaru Outback is headed into production. The rugged Outback will be “adventure-ready,” according to Subaru. The tall wagon will be revealed on March 30 and should be a 2022 model. Expect new wheels riding on Yokohama Geolander All-Terrain tires along with the lifted ride height.

    The 2022 Hyundai Kona N was spied without any disguise during an official photo shoot in Germany. The hot hatch/crossover will feature the Veloster N’s turbocharged powertrain, though it’s unclear if all-wheel drive will be offered. Expect a debut to occur soon and the pocket rocket to arrive in dealers later this year as a 2022 model.

    A numbers-matching 1967 Chevrolet Corvette L88 sold for $2,695,000 at a recent Mecum auction in Arizona. It was one of just 20 built that year, and it’s finished in Sunfire Yellow. The car previously underwent a 10-year restoration, making this a stunning example of a rare car.

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  • Blackhawk Collection confirms sale of Bugatti Royale

    The Blackhawk Collection has sold its Bugatti Royale, the famed “The Berline de Voyage” that was hidden from the Nazis during World War II, to a European collector, and at a price that a person involved in the sale says is the most ever paid for a pre-war automobile.

    The transaction was reported on Facebook by former collector car auctioneer Rick Cole after the car arrived in Europe from its previous home in the museum collection in northern California. Don Williams of the Blackhawk said Cole “was a teammate” in the sale.

    While the price paid for the car has not been shared, Cole indicated it certainly was more than the previous highest amount paid for any pre-war automobile, which was the $22 million spent in 2018 for the 1935 Duesenberg SSJ roadster formerly owned by actor Clark Gable at the Gooding & Company auction at Pebble Beach.

    Ettore Bugatti planned a run of 25 of his largest vehicles and dubbed them the Royales with the intention of selling them to kings and princes. But the Great Depression limited sales and only seven cars were constructed, and Bugatti sold only three of them. One was destroyed in a crash.

    Chassis 41150 was the sixth of the seven Royales built. It stretches about 21 feet in length and weighs around 7,000 pounds. Like the others, it has a huge 12.8-liter straight-8 engine.

    The Berline de Voyage was among the cars that did not sell initially and was kept by Bugatti and, with 41100, the “Coupe Napoleon,” was hidden away behind a brick wall at the Bugatti home in Ermenonville, France, so it would not be commandeered by the Nazis during World War II.

    After the war, both cars were purchased from Bugatti’s daughter, L’Ebe, by American sportsman and racer Briggs Cunningham. With the French franc so devalued after the war, Cunningham acquired the cars for about $600 each, though he also threw in a pair of brand new General Electric refrigerators since such comforts were not available in post-war France.

    Cunningham spent several thousand dollars to have the cars restored in France and finally brought them to the US in early 1951. A year later, he sold 41150 to early car collector Cameron Peck, and the car later became part of the famed Bill Harrah Collection in Reno, Nevada.

    When the Harrah Collection went to auction in 1986, the Royale was purchased by Texas real-estate developer Jerry Moore for a then-record price of $6.5 million. Moore, whose car collection included more than two dozen Duesenbergs, kept the car for more than a year, then sold it for more than $8 million to Domino’s Pizza founder Tom Monaghan.

    Don Williams and business partner Ritchie Clyne, who together owned the car collection showcased at the Imperial Palace hotel in Las Vegas, bought the car from Monaghan in the early 1990s.

    Williams noted that people might consider themselves to be the owners of cherished collector cars, but they really are just temporary caretakers.

    “There’s a time in our lives when we get to take care and have fun with the cars we like,” he told the ClassicCars.com Journal of the sale of the famed Bugatti. “We’re all just caretakers.”

    But, he added, “The legacy of the cars is the good friends we make along the way.”

    This article, written by Larry Edsall, was originally published on ClassicCars.com, an editorial partner of Motor Authority.

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