Aston Martin luxury vehicles have long been recognized for their power, performance and sex appeal, so it was a natural decision to feature this classy piece of machinery in the then, up and coming Bond film, “Goldfinger”.  Aston Martin jumped at the opportunity and quickly made improvements on the existing DB4, getting their star DB5 ready for its close-up.  Just like a real leading lady, however, the Aston Martin had its own stunt double, because the original tricked-out, weaponized version proved too heavy to shoot high speed chases.  Upon the release of “Goldfinger”, the popularity of the film and vehicle soared immediately.  Requests for appearances of the DB5 poured in from everywhere, everyone wanting “the Goldfinger car” at their preimiers, events, museum exhibits and car shows.  Obviously unable to fulfill all the appearance requests worldwide with only two existing cars used in the movie, two more models were created, spitting images of the original.  In total, four original vehicles were produced by Aston Martin and the film producers for the film, one star car, one stunt car, and two P.R. cars used to promote the movie around the globe.

Eventually, other models of the Aston Martin emerged, making it more difficult over the years to identify the ones which were the originals.  The Four used for “Goldfinger” were all bought, sold, tweaked, adjusted and resold, and in 1981, three of the four ended up at the hands of Richard Losee, Jerry Lee and Frank Baker.  All three men claimed to be the proud owner of the original Goldfinger car, but all three knew there could only be one.  After much dispute among the men, they turned to Aston Martin to properly identify each vehicle’s authenticity.  After all, it had been 16 years since the film’s release, and the vehicle’s rapid rate of transformation and resale had blurred the lines of its origin.  Aston Martin was able to properly identify each car by the chassis identification numbers.  Richard Losee turned out to be the winning owner of the “Goldfinger” star car, worth between three and four million dollars.  Lee posessed the stunt car and Baker had one of the two tour vehicles used for promotional use, the other owned by Smokey Mountain Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.  With ownership of the vehicles clarified once and for all, the celebrity vehicle seemed to keep a low profile for the next several years, only to retake the spotlight in 1997, but not for a bond film.

Owner of the star car, Richard Losee eventually sold his prized posession for a cool $250,000 to businessman and car collector, Anthony Pugliese III, who stored it at the Boca Raton Airport Hangar.  In June of 1997, local officers were stunned upon learning the legendary film star had been stolen from the hangar.  Due to the crime scene, police determined the most likely scenario was the theives had tore a gate off its hinges, wrapped a chain around the car’s axel and dragged it out of the property.  The absence of alarms sounding immediately suggested they had severed any alarm wires, giving them plenty of time to execute the film-like theft.  Officers cross-referenced for the following weeks, to ensure no vehicles had been transferred, on or offloaded to an aircraft.  There was also no evidence of the vehicle being dumped in the ocean or discarded of in any other manner.  To this day, the case remains unsolved.

Luxury vehicle enthusiasts familiar with this story have speculated motive for the theft, the prominent one being insurance fraud, as the car’s insurance appraisal was upwards of $4million. Yet, no one has ever been charged with being remotely involved in the crime.  The open end to this case makes it one of the most high profile heists Boca Raton and South Florida has ever seen, but the questions remain. How did the theives really do it?  Was there an inside man? What was the motive, and will the celebrity star car ever resurface?

Some people are just born to do it!  On Saturday, November 21, 2009, Renntech Inc. will be celebrating their 20th birthday at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino’s posh nightclub, Pangea.  The festivities include and open bar from 8pm-11pm, house appetizers and models with bodies as hot as the luxury vehicles being proudly displayed and celebrated.

Hartmut Feyhl, founder of Renntech, will be the guest of honor, raising his glass to the anniversary of his prestigious automotive tuning empire.  Born in Affalterbach, Germany, Feyhl spent his teen years in close proximity to the AMG factory in Germany and there, earned himself an apprenticeship which would one day become the first stepping stone to his worldwide conglomerate.   Feyhl’s innate fascination with speed and the interworkings of automotive technology resulted in a degree of in mechanical engineering and then spent the following twelve years dedicating his time and talents and passion to AMG Germany.  After painstakingly working his way up in the ranks, he was rewarded, appointed technical director of AMG North America, opening the flood gates for his own personal automotive endeavors.

Deemed “Master Mechanic” by the German Chamber of trade, the skilled automotive engineer proceeded to birth Renntech, now one of the most well-known Mercedes-Benz tuners in the world.  Hartmut’s accomplishments in North America include the development of of the AMG “Hammer” which has been recognized as the “hottest passenger sedan in history” by Car and Driver magazine, and to this day runs unopposed.  His work has also been featured in various credible publications such as Motortrend, Autoweek and Luxry and Exotics.

Today, Renntech’s philosophy focuses on “performance without compromise”  which is clearly illustrated by the meticulous craftsmanship of each vehicle.  Renntech, based in West Palm Beach, receives cars from all over the globe in need of services ranging from minor adjustments to major surgery.  All assembly is done by hand and Feyhl personally oversees the construction of each vehicle.

In 1985, the then 39 year old hairdresser, Greg Hauptner decided he’d had enough time with his 1967 Rolls Royce Shadow, worth at that time around $25,000 to $30,000.  He was open to suggestion as to how he would dispose of it.  Hauptner recieved offers of money and flesh for his classic luxury vehicle, and even a desperate request from a county jail inmate.  After lengthy deliberation, however, the avid diver donated his Shadow to the sea.

Celebrating the sinking of his automobile in style, donning an Yves St. Laurent dinner jacket over a bottle of Spanish champagne, he watched the car, which he’d owned for nine years sink 80ft. tot he bottom of the Atlantic ocean, offshore of the Breakers near the inlet in West Palm Beach.  Hauptner’s decision to sink the vehicle was done in hopes of raising awareness to save the South Florida reefs, many which have succumbed to natural erosion, but joked when asked why he did it, playfully responding, “The ashtrays were full.”  Pricy accessories such as the front grill, worth about $4,000 and hubcaps worth around $500 were welded to the vehicle to prevent divers from disassembling the car.

Greg Hauptner went on to sell his seven hair salons and launched G-Star, a charter High School teaching “Artademics”, focusing mainly on arts for motion pictures and television.  His school and his career in media has since flourished, and his Rolls still sits at the bottom of the ocean.

Photo Braman

2009 marked the 50th anniversary of Porsche’s MINI brand, and Braman MINI ensured the MINI’s birthday bash was everything but!  It was “Start Your Engines!” at Braman MINI’s 50th Anniversary Birthday Bash to benefit The Lord’s Place this past Sunday at the Palm Beach International Raceway.MINI automobiles converged from as far as Jacksonville, Florida to attend – many in convoys. The largest MINI convoy of over 60 MINI’s left from Braman MINI in West Palm Beach to get to the track.

“Imagine a row of over 60 MINI’s travelling on Flagler, PGA Blvd. and the Beeline Highway – you should have seen the onlookers waving in excitement!” stated Kim Duprille, one Braman MINI owner who was part of the convoy.  On arrival to the motoring event, they and hundreds of others were treated to an open track day to put their cars through the paces on PBIR’s pro drag strip and slalom course. All day go-kart racing and watching performance and professional race cars make laps around the 2-mile PBIR Road Course were enjoyed by all.  Over 100 door prizes included T-Shirts, car washes and copies of the ‘Italian Job’ blockbuster featuring the MINI Cooper.

Blogs from Facebook to Twitter and all in between were alive with buzz about the event and bloggers on MINI Club sites such as Sunshine MINI’s shared drag strip times and chat pronouncing “Great Event”, “Great Turnout”, “Beat your time by a hair”, and even “Just got home and I’m wiped” were evident late through Sunday evening.

Car show competitions and entertainment by the hit band Ever So Klever kept the crowd lively and a Kid’s village kept the young ones interested and engaged.

“We had a blast” stated Neil Archer, President of the popular Wheels Across the Pond Club who was seen on many Slalom runs.

“Awesome” pronounced Jacksonville Area MINI’s (JAM) Club President Debbie Jeffrey. “I drove 298 miles for this and wow!” she concluded. Jeffrey’s JAM Club scooped up several prizes, including the MINI Club with the Mostest $500 prize for most contestants participating (handicap modified).Vlad Kleynburg also propelled JAM top gram the “Most Competitive Club” trophy by picking up the most wins club member wins with his ‘best drag’ and ‘best in show’ wins.  Jose Nasciomento grabbed first place trophy on the Slalom course in his MINI and kids medal winners included Nedrick McKoy, Natalie & Christian Orth, Luke Rinehart and Noah McCoy in Kid competitions.

“Helping The Lord’s Place is a great activity for our staff and management to be involved with” stated Vince Cerone, Braman Motorcars General Manager and COO. “The funds raised at this event represent not only our contribution, but that of every Braman customer. There is a percentage of every car purchased that goes to a good cause to help others and we could not do so without a healthy business and loyal customer base” Cerone continued.

Funds raised from the event will help supply hot meals to homeless men, women, and children while they connect with community resources at our Engagement Center.  Job Training and Placement program participants will not have to walk in the heat of summer to find work but will be able to receive a bus pass from Cafe Joshua. Individuals and families at our residential campuses will receive the personalized support services they need to be able to stabilize their lives and work toward their goals of exiting homelessness.  The Lord’s Place is dedicated to breaking the cycle of homelessness by providing innovative, compassionate, and effective services to men, women, and children in our community.

Jan Phillips, director of administration, human resources, and volunteers stated that “all of the clients who volunteered for the event had such a great time and now want to know when they can do it again!”

“Kudos to the Braman family for a fun-filled day. You guys worked very hard to put on a great event. We are pleased to have Braman Motorcars as one of our community partners. Together as a community we can end homelessness one person, one life at a time. ” Phillips concluded.

Celebs, Pro Drivers and Racing Enthusiasts of 11th Annual Gumball 3000 Rally to make one Florida stop at new state-of-the-art raceway during “Coast to Coast” journey from Las Angeles to Miami

Event Open to Public ($10 per person)

Palm Beach International Raceway (PBIR), a newly redesigned, technologically superior multi-track venue, along with the Palm Beach Driving Club (PBDC), the most exclusive motorsports club in the Southeast, will play host to participants of the 11th Annual Gumball 3000 Rally, a 3000 mile international public road rally comprised of 120 supercars and their drivers, on Friday, May 8th from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m.

Spectators, racing fans and pro drivers alike will join to welcome Gumballers, as Palm Beach International Raceway opens their gates exclusively for over 100 drivers of the eccentric rally, featuring some of the most beautiful vehicles on the planet.

The rally, beginning on May 1st in Los Angeles, California, will embark on a “Coast to Coast” road trip, incorporating stops in Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Santa Fe, Dallas and New Orleans before its grand finale, a supercar bash on South Beach’s Ocean Drive on May 8th. Eight days, seven states, and nearly 3000 miles later, before reaching the finish line, 120 of the world’s finest cars will arrive at the recently revamped Palm Beach International Raceway to drive some of the fastest and most challenging corners and straight-aways offered by any track in North America.

“This is the third year that I have participated in the Gumball Rally and each year is an experience all its own,” says Gil Dezer, PBIR and PBDC Partner and Gumball Rally participant since 2007. “I’m especially excited about this year’s race making its first Florida stop at Palm Beach International Raceway. Everyone’s going to be very impressed with the track. It’ll be a fun stop.”

Dezer, who will drive his Porsche 911 Turbo, is among several Palm Beach Driving Club members participating in the rally. Also behind the wheels are, Jon Davidman, who will co-pilot the Turbo, as well as Joe Lubeck and co-driver Michael Dezer, driving a Mercedes-Benz S65 Renntech.

The 3000 mile route will embellish Gumball’s core values of uniting people through popular culture and the language of the motorcar. Showcasing some of the most fantastic cars ever built, including vintage, customized and luxury Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Rolls Royce’s, Aston Martins and Bugattis alongside America’s finest muscle cars and today’s ‘greenest’ hybrid and electric vehicles of the future, the Gumball Rally will create a spectacle for all to enjoy.

Among the stars who have already signed up are, David Hasselhoff, Jackass’s Bam Margera & Ryan Dunn and extreme sports stars, Tony Hawk, Danny Cass, and Dave Mirra, along with Brit indie stars The Enemy, UK TV’s Dirty Sanchez and the Fire-eating Fuel Girls driving with Lemmy (Motorhead). Music wise, participants include vintage rockers The Cult, Avenge Sevenfold and The Cuban Brothers, with more big names to be announced. Adding to Gumball’s tradition of having professional racing drivers on the Rally, Mika Salo, F1 driver and reigning 24 Hours of Le Mans GT2 champion will be driving the Rally in his Ferrari GT2 430.

The rally will also feature leading trendsetters from the world of fashion, with Team Rogue Status returning this year as well as Eddie Cruz of UNDFTD, and Team Puma driving alongside numerous Playboy Playmate’s & models, including Caprice, making the 2009 Gumball 3000 Rally all the more stylish and beautiful!

This year’s “Coast to Coast” rally promises high-octane high jinx across some of the world’s finest freeways before coming to a halt on Ocean Drive where hundreds of locally owned supercars will welcome the weary, yet intrepid Gumballers with a sunrise to sunset bash.

For more information on the 11th Annual Gumball 3000 Rally visit www.gumball3000.com or contact Jessica Rees-Middleton: +44 (0) 20 8964 7878 / jmiddleton@gumball3000.com

For more information on Palm Beach International Raceway visit www.racepbir.com
For more information on the Palm Beach Driving Club visit www.racepbdc.com

Each race car’s make and engine size will determine the group the vehicle will race in.  The first featured race , the B.O.S.S. series includes Indy cars, Indy Light s, Formula 1, Formula 3000, Formula 2 and Atlantic race cars.  An additional event will feature cars from the 1970′s including Formula Atlantic, F5000 and Formula 1.  Al drivers will be competing for the Emerson Fittipaldi Trophy, named for the highly successful Brazilian-born racing driver.

The historic sports car racing has upwards of 100 entries for the vent taking place this weekend and is open to the public.  Come and enjoy these oldies, but goodies with the whole family!

After three months of tests and trials Spadaconcept – the Italian design studio founded by Paolo Spada (former designer at Smart and Honda) together with his father Ercole, (former chief designer at Zagato and BMW), Domiziano Boschi (former Mc Kinsey) and Wojtek Sokolowski – has launched the production of its supercar, the Spada TS Codatronca. With this car Spadaconcept cherishes and revives the important heritage of Ercole Spada and the philosophy which characterized each of his creations.

The first version, named TS (Turismo Sportivo), is a car with a naturally aspirated engine with more than 600 HP with race performances. Despite the focus at Spadaconcept wasn’t on “pure” power but rather on aerodynamics, lightness and handling, this car can still reach more than 340 km/h due to a short ratio gearbox and complies with the FIA GT1 regulations. Care for environmental issues has resulted in SpadaVettureSport’s decision to add to the menu an ad-hoc “converter kit” which allows fueling the car with E85 green fuel, with a slight increase in torque and power.
With this new sport car Spadaconcept aims at reviving the philosophy that inspired Ercole Spada’s past models, in an attempt to combine aesthetics with functionality and racing performances. This new model is the latest evolutionary step of the truncated tail – “coda tronca” in Italian. The typical and aerodynamic shape which Spada had introduced with the Alfa Romeo Giulietta SZ, TZ1 and TZ2 in the 60’s – gives this new car unique and nimble lines which bring in lightness and aerodynamics improving performances.

The company’s vision is centered on “functional design”, which, according to Ercole Spada, means to express the functionality of an object through its shape. Following this vision Spadaconcept came up with a genuinely breaking product, something bold an daring. Far from creating a show car where anything is allowed, Spadaconcept has worked creatively but within strict feasibility constraints, in order to reach the quality standards of a niche, handcrafted production. The performance of this car is maximized by introducing aerodynamic lines such to mould
a light and essential body. The result is an extremely stable and manageable car, able to achieve good racing performances by exploiting at the best the power of its engine, with an original and nimble shape and essential but elegant interiors.

TS Codatronca, will be produced and commercialized by SpadaVettureSport – a company created and controlled by Spadaconcept – in collaboration with a team of selected technical, industrial and commercial partners. SpadaVettureSport has aggregated highest level knowledge and expertise around this project by establishing strategic alliances mainly with small firms located in the district of Turin with great past histories and amazing skills. These partners have great tradition and specialization and allow SpadaVettureSport to combine the “best of breed” in technology with the tradition and “saper fare” – i.e. the Italian for know how – of Italian small firms. The industrial partner FS Group (a firm based near Turin, who has already realized prototypes for Mercedes, Smart, Range Rover) will realize the body, using material supplied by Elantas Camattini, and PPG. The partner Italtecnica (a small firm located in Cambiano, near Turin, already involved in the tuning of Paris-Dakar and Le mans cars for Peugeot) will work on braking system, suspensions and engine upgrade, Sparco – the manufacturer of tuning products based in Turin – will supply seats and other interior items, Pirelli and OZ Racing will provide respectively tyres and wheels, while Alcantara S.p.A., the italian company that produces the omonymous and unique material, has selected a tailored Alcantara® for the interiors. AIM-sportline will give the board-instrumentation, that thanks to the great expierence in the racing world, will even permit the storage of more than 80 hours of telemetry datas. Meccaniche Veloci will supply the dedicated on-board watch named “QuattroValvole”.

For the launch of this supercar SpadaVettureSport has signed a co-branding and co-marketing agreement with AZNOM, a small company based in Monza operating in the production of accessories and luxury items, who will realize and commercialize a line of amenities with the Codatronca brand.
The agreement signed by SpadaVettureSport and AZNOM has a long term perspective and involves joint efforts to approach the market.

The Codatronca TS version According to SpadaVettureSport the TS version is a first step which will be shortly followed by others upcoming. The more powerful TSS version – Turismo Super Sportivo – which is already under test at SpadaVettureSport, will be launched at the end of 2008. In order to realize this unique car Spadaconcept and SpadaVettureSport have put in place a manufacturing system such as to meet the quality standards typical of niche, handcrafted production.
In the present of Spadaconcept there is a strong focus on the core business – consulting and design of niche cars, motorbikes and accessories like helmets, seats, etc. – but looking to the future, the company has started to explore new fields, especially bio-ethanol powered cars and it is currently working in the development of an Environmental Friendly Vehicle (EFV).

Expect the Spada Codatronca in Palm Beach soon.