Dip into that money you were saving for The Human Fund: Renowned Porsche lover Jerry Seinfeld is selling off a portion of his legendary car collection.
The lot includes three classic Porsches that have been prepped for racing. The condition and provenance of the vehicles are top notch, as one would expect from the discerning comedian. The auction will be handled by Gooding & Company.
“We are grateful and honored to be entrusted with these superb examples from the collection of Jerry Seinfeld. These cars epitomize the highest of quality and pedigree,” said David Gooding, President of Gooding & Company on the company’s website. “Jerry’s keen eye for significant Porsches, the care and pride he takes in maintaining his spectacular collection, and his enthusiasm and passion for the Porsche marque makes this one of our most thrilling sales in our company’s history.”
The 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder, 1958 356 A 1500 GS/GT Carrera Speedster, and the 1974 911 Carrera 3.0 IROC RSR are among the “selection of consignments” that will come to market at the Amelia Island Auction on March 11, 2016. These three beautiful examples will be featured at Gooding’s annual Scottsdale Auctions marquee on January 27.
The oldest of the three, the 550 Spyder, is in exquisite condition and retains its orignal chassis, body, engine, and transaxle. It was repainted once, in the 1970s, and has only 10,300 miles on the clock. It went through two previous owners before being purchased by Seinfeld in 2006. This is Porsche’s original four-cam sports racing car, and is expected to fetch $5-6 million.
The recently restored Carrera Speedster is one of just 151 1958 Speedsters built, and just one of 13 finished in Auratium Green. This car’s lightweight factory aluminum panels, large GT drum brakes, endurance fuel tank, and roll bar mean it was built to compete. It is expected to bring in $2-2.5 million.
The ’74 911 Carrera has a vast racing pedigree going back to 1973. It was the first of 15 RSRs built to compete in the International Race of Champions (IROC). It later competed in the IMSA Camel GT series, and has since been restored to its original IROC livery.
“I’ve never bought a car as an investment,” Jerry Seinfeld said in a written statement. “I don’t really even think of myself as a collector. I just love cars. And I still love these cars. But it’s time to send some of them back into the world for someone else to enjoy.”
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.