Ahead of next week's season opening Rallye Monte Carlo, Ford and Toyota have also revealed their all-new Rally1 cars. Built and run for the 'Blue Oval' by specialists M-Sport, Ford will be represented in the World Rally Championship by this Puma Hybrid Rally1. Like all Rally1 cars, it combines a turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine with an electric motor that can boost the power by as much as 100 bhp for a brief period of time. The striking livery of the Puma Hybrid Rally1 is clearly inspired by the hybrid drivetrain. One of its rivals will be the GR Yaris Rally1 produced by 2021 World Champions Toyota Gazoo Racing.
The motorsport arm of the Japanese manufacturer was also out in force at the Tokyo Auto Salon last week. One of the new cars on display was this GR GT3 Concept. It has a 2000 GT inspired profile but little else was revealed other than Toyota's belief that a purpose-built GT3 racer could also be made road legal. We do hope to see this project come to full fruition. It was shown alongside this GRMN Yaris. This is a limited production, Japan-only tweaked version of the highly acclaimed GR Yaris. It is available with two distinct body kits, including one inspired by the WRC winning Yaris.
On Friday, Porsche revealed several images of the roll-out of the upcoming LMDh. This is the first of the new-for-2023 LMDh cars due to hit the track.

Among the early highlights revealed by auctioneer Gooding for their Amelia Island sale are a quartet of fascinating Porsches. The oldest of the four is the beautifully restored 718 RSK Spyder. It has extensive period racing history and is offered from a single family ownership of over 50 years. Accordingly, chassis 718-018 has a pre-sale estimate of $2.5 - 3.5 million.
Also consigned is a rare, high performance version of the 964-generation 911. Built for the CEO of gearbox manufacturer Getrag, this 911 Carrera RS 3.8 could very well be the lowest mileage example in existence of this model. As a result, it could sell for around $2 million.
An altogether more modern Porsche available is this paint-to-sample silver Carrera GT. It was sold new to the United States in 2005 and has since covered only 2,500 miles. With a $1.8 to $2.4 million estimate, it promises to be the most expensive Carrera GT sold at auction yet.

Anglo-Canadian auctioneer RM Sotheby's have revealed the complete lot list of the upcoming Arizona sale. The absolute headliner is this Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Alloy 'Gullwing' Coupe. One of just 24 examples fitted with the lightweight bodywork, it was originally sold to the Mercedes-Benz distributor in Casablanca, Morocco. Very early in its life, it moved to the United States and has been with just three owners since 1975 and meticulously maintained for them by Paul Russell. Alloy bodied Gullwings only very rarely come up for auction and chassis 5500332 is expected to sell for over $7 million.
This morning, Hyundai revealed the i20 N Rally1, which will compete in the upcoming World Rally Championship that will start with the Rally Monte Carlo later in the month. It is the first of the next generation of plug-in hybrid Rally1 cars to break cover. As per the revised the regulations, the new i20 N Rally1 combines a turbocharged petrol engine with a standardised electric motor that is connected to the propellor shaft and drives all four wheels. The electric motor alone can produce up to 134 bhp. Other changes include less elaborate aerodynamics and a five- instead of six-speed gearbox with a manual gearshift.
At last year's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, there also were demonstration runs with this Williams FW07 Cosworth. Freshly restored, this rare early FW07 was originally driven to four wins by Alan Jones. Among them was the first win of the 1980 season, on the way to his World Championship title. Chassis FW07/04 was demonstrated by Damon Hill and Emerson Fittipaldi.

The Consumer Electronics Show or CES opened its doors in Las Vegas yesterday and several manufacturers have used the opportunity to offer a glimpse of what the future will bring. Among the more interesting concept cars revealed this week is the Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX. Equipped by an all-electric drivetrain and sporting very slippery lines, it is capable of a startling range of over 1,000 km on a single charge. The highly efficient machine uses just 10 kWh per 100 km. The EQXX is unlikely to enter production in the current form but Mercedes-Benz is adamant that quite a few of its advanced features will be available on future products. Much the same can be said of the rather striking Cadillac InnerSpace Concept, which is a battery electric and autonomous show car. It forms part of the Cadillac Halo Concept Portfolio and even boasts green tyres developed by Goodyear specifically for electric cars. A lot closer to an actual production vehicle is the Chrysler Airflow Concept. The American manufacturer revived the legendary Airflow name for a car that Chrysler suggest is as futuristic as the original was back in the 1930s. The first electric Chrysler production vehicle will debut in 2025 and it could very closely resemble the Airflow Concept.
Already available to customers is the new range-topping BMW iX M60. As the name suggests, it is a BMW Motorsport prepared example of the all-electric iX. It has a peak output of 610 bhp, which makes the car more powerful than the current generation M3 and M4. Despite the impressive performance figures, the iX M60 should have a range of 566 km.

We would like to kick off by wishing you all the best for the New Year. For our first edition of 2022, we would like to highlight four cars that are available for sale. Among them are two iconic 1990s supercars that are being offered through the RM Sotheby's Private Sales department. First up is a one-owner Ferrari F50. It was delivered new to Belgium and has been fastidiously maintained over the last 25 years. Entrusted to RM Sotheby's by the new owner, 105111 has an asking price of €3.6 million. Even rarer is this Jaguar XJR-15, which was sold new to Japan and has more recently been repatriated to the United Kingdom. Reflecting the recent interest in the long ignored road-legal Group C car is the £1.4 million asking price for chassis 021, which changed hands in 2014 for a much more modest £218,400.
One of the more fascinating cars consigned to the upcoming Scottsdale auctions is this Delahaye 135 Competition Figoni & Falaschi Cabriolet. The rare machine features one of just four bodies made by the fabled carrossier for a Delahaye chassis in 1935 and the sole survivor. The car has had a colourful history and following a complete restoration, the Figoni & Falaschi Cabriolet was shown at Pebble Beach in 2016. It has now been consigned to the Worldwide Auctioneers sale.
At the end of 2021, Maserati revealed the first teaser images of the MC20 Cabriolet. The drop-top version of the highly anticipated mid-engined sports car should break cover later this year.

As 2021 draws to a close, it is time to take a look at the ten most expensive cars that sold at auction in 2021. Taking top trumps is this McLaren F1, which found a new owner at the Gooding Pebble Beach auction for just over $20 million. The only other car to sell for eight figures was this Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spyder Competizione, which was offered at the same sale. Ferraris feature strongly in the top ten as always but among the more unusual cars is this Matra MS670. Sold by Artcurial for $8.3 million, it was offered directly from Matra and was the actual 1972 24 Hours of Le Mans winning chassis. The most expensive car sold by RM Sotheby's was this Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato at $9.5 million. The Anglo-Canadian auctioneer also sold this ex-Lewis Hamilton, Grand Prix winning McLaren MP4-25 Mercedes. Rounding out the top ten was this Jaguar D-Type. It was sold at the start of the year for an even $6 million.
We are already looking forward to 2022 and would like to wish you Happy Holidays and all the best for the New Year!