Autoblog

For the last race of the ALMS season at Laguna Seca, the P1, P2, and GT1 championships had already been wrapped up since Petit Le Mans. Still, the Audi team was out to better the Penske camp for the second race in a row after a close victory at Petit Le Mans. GT2 was the most exciting class, with the driver, team, and manufacturer championships all up for grabs. Risi Competizione came in as a heavy favorite, needing only to finish 70 percent of the race to clinch the team title.

Spoiler Alert: Follow the jump to read what went down.

As a fellow GTI owner, I really feel for this guy. A South Florida owner of a brand new 2008 Volkswagen R32 walked out of work and found that his car, which had been turned off and parked for six hours, had set itself on fire. The flames started in the driver's side dash, grew to the door and roof, and melted a hole in the windshield. According to the thread, this isn't the first R32 to do so either. Can you smell a recall coming, or is that just the smoke? Check the gallery for the photos, and visit the thread over at VW Vortex for updates on the car.

Thanks for the tip, Jason!

[Source: VW Vortex]

Former two-time Formula 1 champion and Indy 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi has announced he will come out of retirement to test the new car being built by Ferrari for the A1 Grand Prix. The 60-year-old Fittipaldi, who is currently the head of A1 Team Brazil, never drove for Ferrari (he won his F1 titles with Lotus and McLaren) but is excited about getting seat time in a single-seater powered by the Prancing Horse. He also has high hopes that bringing Ferrari to the A1 GP will increase people's awareness of the racing series. "The Ferrari name alone is incredible and people are going to give A1GP more respect and we are going to be much bigger," he stated. Fittipaldi admitted that he has no intention of racing the car in the series, and will limit his time behind the wheel to purely testing. Follow the jump for the press release.

[Source: A1 Grand Prix]

We have been tracking the progress of Bad Boy Vette's new livery for the C6R in its final race of the ALMS season with great anticipation. The finished product was finally revealed last night at a pre-race party in Monterey hosted by BBV. The new graphics look downright menacing, with the "Take No Prisoners" skull featured prominently on the hood and sides. A handful of photos have been posted on the web site, and hopefully more are to come. Both C6Rs will hit the track at Laguna Seca today for practice sessions, and they can be seen live on Speed TV on Saturday, October 20 at 2:30pm PDT. Now if only there were some other GT1 contenders to scare off...

[Source: Bad Boy Vettes]

All photos Copyright ©2007 BadBoyVettes.com

Back in May we reported that Barrett Jackson was considering a move to Las Vegas after the Scottsdale city council refused to sell Craig Jackson the land he needed to build a permanent facility for his auction house. Nothing had been solidified after several meetings with Las Vegas Mayor Oscar B. Goodman, but Jackson claimed to have a very positive response from Sin City officials. Now it seems that an auction in Vegas will indeed happen. Daniel Strohl from Hemmings Auto Blogs posted a photo of credentials and an information packet with "Barrett-Jackson Las Vegas" on the cover. Whether or not it will replace or simply supplement the famous Scottsdale auction is unknown, but we'll find out on October 29th, probabaly at the SEMA Show, when Barrett-Jackson makes an official announcement. For the record, we're behind any proposal that gives us another reason to visit Vegas.

[Source: Hemmings Auto Blogs]

Only for the Mustang could there be a special edition of a special edition. The initial announcement for the 2008 Shelby GT named Vista Blue as the car's only new color, but apparently California dealers are getting a limited allotment of Shelby GTs in Grabber Orange. Only 217 have been built in this color, representing less than 10% of just 2,500 that are scheduled for production this year at the Shelby facility in Las Vegas. Perry Ford in San Luis Obispo already has one in stock and has put it up on eBay with a starting bid of $40,000. If the price gouging on other Shelbys is anything to go by, then expect the reserve price to be quite a bit higher.

[Source: eBay Motors via Mustangblog.com]