Ferris Bueller Ferrari auctioned for R5.7m

The Barrett-Jackson collector car auction company has sold the Ferrari used in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off for $396,000 (R5.7m).

Not bad for a fake Ferarri.

Yes, it’s a replica of the Ferrari 250 GT California — originals of which have been sold for much bigger money — but the movie provenance gives the car some value. There were actually three replicas of the car built for the 1986 teen comedy starring Matthew Broderick, one of which was famously trashed when it was sent flying through a second-story window.

 “Built by Modena Design & Development, this Spyder is one of three Modenas used for the filming of the iconic movie and will be offered at No Reserve,” the auction house said.

“The cult classic film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off made this Modena an instant classic among collectors and movie fans,” company chairman Craig Jackson was quoted in the announcement. “This was the first of the three Spyders sold to Paramount and when you see it in person, I’m confident it will bring back great memories of this iconic film.”

Barrett-Jackson said the car recently was restored by Neil Glassmoyer, one of the founders of Modena Design.

The car has a carburetted 7.0l V8 engine, tan leather interior with GPS speedometer and Retrosound radio with Bluetooth, and a pair of Blaupunkt amplifiers in the trunk to power 14 hidden speakers.

The car’s next owner also receives movie memorabilia, build photos, a 1/24-scale die-cast model and a Hot Wheels version as well as a certificate of authenticity from Modena Design & Development.

Another famous movie car to be snapped up recently was the 1968 Ford Mustang GT that Steve McQueen drove in Bullitt, which sold for a cool R53m earlier this month — it’s the highest auction price yet achieved by an American muscle car.

Stroll sets sights on Aston Martin

Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll is emerging as the front-runner to buy a stake in luxury carmaker Aston Martin Lagonda as interest from a rival Chinese investor wanes, people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg.

Chinese tycoon Li Shufu’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group is cooling on the idea of a deal with Aston Martin, the people said. Aston Martin could decide on its plan of action as early as this month, they said.

Stroll has been discussing a potential investment of about $261m (R3.8bn) in the British automobile manufacturer. Aston Martin spoke to several investors about a potential capital increase as it makes a final effort to bring in fresh funding.

No final agreements have been reached, and the manufacturer could fail to reach an agreement or decide against bringing in new investors, the people said. Representatives for Aston Martin and Geely declined to comment, while a representative for Stroll couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Parkupp helps generate extra income from unused parking bays

ParkUpp is helping residents and property owners to make some extra cash from their unused parking.

The service has more than 4,500 listings on its platform, predominantly in Johannesburg and Cape Town. They include The Union Castle building owned by Izandla Properties, Design Quarter on William Nicol Drive, along with other commercial and residential parking facilities.

Founder Palesa Moloi says the platform creates extra income from empty parking spaces, and also decreases drivers’ anxiety of parking in unsafe spaces and also saves them a buck.

In the Cape Town CBD, with more than 45% cars parked on-street: paying an average of R18/hour, amounting to R2,880 a month, ParkUpp users are able to save up to 50% by renting out a parking for R1,500.

ParkUpp co-founder Michael Savvides says homeowners or businesses often get frustrated when they find someone illegally parked in their bay. “Instead of being frustrated, list your parking during the times it is unused for people to park in your space legally. No one really wants to knock on someone’s door to ask for parking so our platform is removing that uncomfortable feeling.

“We create trust between owners and drivers through our vetting processes. We save drivers 50% on parking costs and generate extra income for the owners and we also provide access to spaces that were previously inaccessible,” he explains.

More information on www.parkupp.co.za.