Auctions

Ken Block’s 1977 Ford F-150 Custom Pickup “HOONITRUCK” is up for auction

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Ken Block was an American professional rally driver, formerly known as the Monster World Rally Team, who died in 2023 at the age of 55. One of the cars he drove in episodes of Gymkhana Ten and Climbkhana Two, the 1977 Ford F-150 Custom Pickup “HOONITRUCK”, is up for auction.

This Hoonitruck project is by Ken Block and the Hoonigan team, in collaboration with Detroit Speed, and it took two years to build. It is equipped with a 3D-printed intake manifold designed by Ford Performance, popping out through the hood and flanked by two turbochargers, a unique chassis, extended fenders, and a new spoiler. It is mounted on custom wheels made by Fifteen52 with real beadlocks, wrapped in Toyo tires.

Block first used this car in Gymkhana, five years ago, while driving on Route 66 and later drifted driving up the Tianmen Mountain in China.

Under the hood is a twin-turbo 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 engine with 914 hp (681 kW), and power is sent through a sequential transmission and a custom all-wheel drive system.

The auction will take place between January 18 and 26, 2025.

Source: Barrett Jackson

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Ken Block's 1977 Ford F-150 Custom Pickup "HOONITRUCK" is up for auction
Auctions

1964 Shelby Cobra 289 FIA 50th Anniversary Edition is up for auction

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The Shelby Cobra is a sports car produced by the American company AC Cars in the early 1960s. In 1964, Shelby debuted two body styles in the FIA ​​Manufacturer’s World Championship, the Daytona Coupe and the Roadster Cobra. Both were very powerful but not enough to initially dethrone Ferrari. However, they did manage to do so in 1965 when they secured America’s first FIA Manufacturer’s World Championship. Celebrating their 50th anniversary, Shelby American introduced the Cobra 289 FIA 50th Anniversary Edition as part of their Cobra Continuation Series. Only 50 examples were produced and one of them, the 1964 Shelby Cobra 289 FIA 50th Anniversary Edition, is up for auction.

The car is finished in Viking Blue, decorated with a white strip that runs the width of the front part and white circles on the hood, rear cover and sides with the number 50. It is equipped with a three-inch “drawn over Mandrel” tube chassis, an original wood-rimmed steering wheel, polished Monza-style fuel filler, Stewart Warner gauges, dashboard-mounted rearview mirror, an FIA-spec rollbar, and side-exit exhaust.

This Cobra is breathtaking but also provides an impressive driving experience for all road racing fans of the last century. It is powered by a powerful 302-cubic-inch V-8 engine which has been stroked to 363 cubic inches with more than 500 hp (373 kW) and 450 lb-ft (610 Nm) of torque. The engine is equipped with four Weber 48 IDA carburetors, and power is sent to the rear wheels via a TKO 600 Tremec five-speed manual transmission and a Kirkham TorqueTrak differential.

The auction will take place on January 24, 2025 and the estimated value of the car is $200,000 – $250,000 USD (Offered Without Reserve).

Source: RM Sotheby’s

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1964 Shelby Cobra 289 FIA 50th Anniversary Edition is up for auction
News

BYD is the world’s largest EV producer

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The Chinese company BYD has been one of the world’s largest car manufacturers for a long time, and now it has finally sat on the throne. According to the latest data, in 2024 BYD sold 1,777,965 EVs, dethroning the long-time leader Tesla.

The year 2024 is over and it brought some changes with it. After the manufacturers collected their sales results, we got a new automotive king of electric cars. Chinese manufacturers have once again shown that they are unstoppable and that their development can hardly be followed by other manufacturers.

In 2023, Tesla produced 1.85 million electric vehicles, while 1.6 million EVs came out of BYD’s factories. However, strong competition, price and an aging fleet of Tesla EVs drove customers to competitors. Since the beginning of the year, the figures showed a drop in demand, which happened for the first time in the history of this American company.

On the other hand, Chinese companies have increased production and entered the global market. This resulted in BYD’s total sales last year increasing by 41 percent to 4.27 million cars. However, if you look at the numbers differently, Tesla is in advantages. The American company sold 1.79 million electric vehicles, while BYD sold about 1.65 million. So, these figures refer to the number of cars sold, not produced, so in this case Tesla has a slight advantage. This means that Tesla sold thousands of cars produced in 2023.

Back in 2023, China showed that it was not kidding and that sooner or later it would become a leader in automobile production. Their cars have become technologically better but also more affordable, which other big manufacturers cannot keep up with.

Source: Reuters

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