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The Most Expensive Car Ever Sold at Auction Is This 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO For $48.4 Million
Apple offers two months of free iCloud storage to US customers
A working Apple-1 computer is going up for auction soon

The Most Expensive Car Ever Sold at Auction Is This 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO For $48.4 Million

Posted: 26 Aug 2018 07:02 AM PDT

It’s been described as “the world’s most important, desirable, and legendary motor car.” Of course, that was by the people selling it, but the hyperbole must have worked somehow, because this 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO became the most expensive car ever sold at auction this weekend at an RM Sotheby’s sale during Monterey Car Week. The price tag: a staggering $48.4 million.

The auction shop won’t say who bought it (was it you? It was you, wasn’t it? Nice.) but the seller was Greg Whitten, an early Microsoft employee who is now slightly richer than he was Friday. Bloomberg reports this Ferrari smashed the old auction record, which was for a 1963 250 GTO sold for $38.1 million four years ago.

Nearly $50 million for any car is a shocking number, but the 250 GTO is no ordinary car. As the auction house notes, only 36 were ever made, and this one—chassis 3413—was one of just four upgraded at the time by Scaglietti and one of only seven to have this more aggressive coachbuilt body. From the listing:

Designed by Pininfarina, this improved bodywork was lower, wider, and shorter, with a more aerodynamic, steeply raked windshield, larger tires, wider track, and the engine sitting lower, all with the aim of improving handling and balance – a critical consideration on the curves and shorter straights through the towns and seaside hills along the coasts of Sicily.

It was driven by Phil Hill, one America’s greatest racing drivers, in the 1962 Targa Florio, and came in first in its class in the Targa Florio events the following two years. It hails from the golden age of modern racing, its 3.0-liter V12 engine and stunning design helping to make Ferrari into the legend it is today. This particular car’s history in both racing and private ownership is very much worth a read. It entered and finished 20 races in its career and remains absolutely period-correct today.

The 250 GTOs regularly command probably the highest prices for any cars sold. Earlier this year a 1963 GTO sold for a record $70 million in a private transaction, and in 2013 another GTO went for $52 million in another private sale. (The former car was reportedly bought by the founder of WeatherTech, so don’t let anyone tell you the floormat game isn’t lucrative as hell.)

Anyway, congrats to its new owner. I look forward to seeing it at a Cars and Coffee somewhere.

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Apple offers two months of free iCloud storage to US customers

Posted: 26 Aug 2018 05:00 AM PDT

Apple doesn’t really offer any free trials for its iCloud services, but it seems a rare promotion is being offered ahead of this year’s new iPhone models. New and existing iPhone users can get two months of iCloud’s 200GB of storage for free, which is a hefty amount of space but not for very much time. The promotion is only available in the US, unfortunately, as it requires users subscribe to one of the four big carriers (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint).

The offer is available now to any iPhone user who doesn’t already pay for iCloud storage space. Apple doesn’t mention how long the promotion will be around beyond a “limited time,” and once the free two month window is over users will be charged $2.99 per month if they don’t cancel.

It appears Apple is timing the promotion around the debut of the new iPhone, when many people upgrade to the newest model, as it uses the language that they can be ready “when your new iPhone arrives.” 200GB is more than enough space for users to safely back up their device’s data and migrate to the new iPhone. It also serves as a way to bring in paying users for Apple’s subscription services.

It’s worth noting, however, that this promotion isn’t much of an upgrade over the existing offer for new iCloud subscribers. Users can already get one free month when they sign up for the 50GB, 200GB, and 2TB storage tiers. The extra month is a nice bonus, especially for users interested in trying out iCloud as a storage service, but it isn’t necessary just for the purpose of upgrading to a new iPhone.

SOURCE Apple (Verizon / AT&T / T-Mobile / Sprint)

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A working Apple-1 computer is going up for auction soon

Posted: 26 Aug 2018 08:14 AM PDT

Image: Getty Images

By Martha Tesema2018-08-26 15:14:00 UTC

Gather your coins, folks. Another opportunity to own a piece of Apple history is coming soon.

This September, an Apple-1 computer is going on sale to the highest bidder. While you might not want to rely on it for your day-to-day needs, the Apple-1 — designed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in the 1970s — is fully operable.

Apple-1 expert Corey Cohen restored the machine earlier this summer, and has officially given this particular computer an above average 8.5/10 rating. Auctioneers at Invaluable are expecting this computer to go for anywhere from $300,000-$400,000, but before you reach for your wallet it's worth noting that previous sales of different versions of the Apple-1 have fetched everywhere from $130,000 to over $800,000, per MacRumors.

According to auction details, the set includes the original Apple-1 board along with manuals, keyboard, video monitor and more.

Over the years, many of these computers have been auctioned off — but of the 200 made, there are reportedly only around 60-70 units left. So if you're itching to get your hands on any of the remaining computers, time is ticking.

The actual sale will occur at a WeWorks in Boston on Sept. 25th, at 1:00 p.m ET, but until then you can watch a video of the computer here.

[H/T CNBC]

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