All posts by Francis Mitterrand

Bugatti Chiron Profilee sold for $9.79 million

February 2, 2023 Francis Mitterrand

The Bugatti Chiron is the pride of the Italian supercar manufacturer, and all 500 planned units of this car have already been sold out. All of them went for millions, but the unique Bugatti Chiron Profilee broke the record by reaching an auction price of EUR 9,792,500.

The auction was held in France and the realized amount did not include tax. Bugatti Rimac CEO Mate Rimac said the Profilee now holds the record for the most expensive new car sold at auction.

Bugatti Chiron Profilee is powered by an 8.0-liter quad-turbo W16 engine with 1,480 hp (1,103 kW) and 1,180 lb-ft (1,600 Nm) of torque. The same engine powers the Bugatti Mistral. It reaches 62 mph in 2.3 seconds with a top speed of 380 km/h, which is 30 km/h more than the Chiron Pur Sport (350 km/h).

This unique car is based on the Pur Sport model, but instead of the raised full-length rear wing, an integrated spoiler is installed, which still generates 80 percent of the Pur Sport’s downforce. It is equipped with a large rear spoiler, wider air intakes, a larger grille to improve cooling, a redesigned front splitter, 10 percent stiffer springs and magnesium wheels. The rear wing has a double function, with its upper surface it creates downforce and with its lower surface it removes hot air.

Last month Mate Rimac announced the arrival of a new supercar that will be like no other before: “It’s completely new, so there’s not a single part that’s taken from any car. Nothing carried over from the Chiron, nothing carried over from the Nevera, everything’s been made from scratch,” said Mate Rimac.

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Bugatti Chiron Profilee sold for $9.79 million

Source: Bugatti

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Radioactive cars in Fukushima

February 1, 2023 Francis Mitterrand

In 2011, a strong earthquake with a magnitude of 9.1 Mw caused a tsunami that damaged the Fukushima nuclear power plant, resulting in 18,500 dead or missing people, as well as great material damage. The area that is suffocated by radiation is known as the “exclusion zone”, which is much smaller today than before, and in that zone there are many cars, including sports cars.

YouTube channel Exploring the Unbeaten Path posted about abandoned cars in the exclusion zone. Many of them are still waiting for better days, collected in warehouses where they await eventual rescue. However, a large number of them are still without protection, including valuable sports cars. Also, there are limousines, trucks and other vehicles.

Some of the cars that can be seen in the video are Subaru WRX, Nissan Skyline R32 and 300ZX model, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII, Toyota MR2, Porsche 911 964 Carrera 4, Datsun racing car in which radiation is 0.45 microsieverts. Although this is not a much higher level of radiation than normal, it is still too much to possibly save the car.

Among the cars where the radiation exceeds the permitted level are the Subaru WRX STI, Volkswagen Scirocco and Honda S2000 with 5.0 microsieverts. These cars are unfortunately lost, and some of them have already been destroyed.

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Source: Exploring the Unbeaten Path via YouTube

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2001 Ferrari 360 Spider is for sale

February 1, 2023 Francis Mitterrand

At the 2000 Geneva Motor Show Ferrari is unveiled its new sports convertible car, Ferrari 360 Spider. He was produced by 2005 and the production strips left 7,565 cars. One of them, 2001 Ferrari 360 Spider that was part of the David Beckham collection, is for sale.

This car is finished in Nero, properly maintained and is in excellent condition. It is equipped with forged lightweight BBS Challenge wheels, Tubi sports exhaust system, carbon seats and paddle-shift F1 transmission. Beckham likes expensive cars and especially appreciate Italian models. In 2017, he sold his Ferrari 360 Spider for £ 95,000, and now the car is waiting for a new owner.

While in Beckham’s collection, the car had the license plates “D7 DVB”, and since the last sale was not often seen on the road. In 2010, the clock showed about 10,000 km, and today it has just over 7,800 miles (12,700 km).

Ferrari 360 Spider is powered by a 3.6L V8 engine with 395 hp (294 kW) and 275 lb-ft (373 Nm) of torque. Power is transmitted to rear wheels via F1 automated manual transmission. Reaches 60 mph in 4.6 seconds with a top speed of 183 mph (295 km / h).

The asking price is £110,000.

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