East Coast Mini Club
February 3, 2023
Our 1967 Jaguar E-Type Racing Series 1 received some attention in the East Coast Mini Club Facebook group recently. The names of Bridge Classic Cars
February 3, 2023
A New Arrival
February 3, 2023
The Bridge Classic Cars workshop recently welcomed our very special 1958 AC Ace. While it is with us, our team of classic car technicians will
Bugatti Chiron Profilée – Breaking Auction Records
February 3, 2023
There always seems to be a story floating around the automotive industry of another record being broken for the most expensive car, the rarest car,
Talking Classics With The Bad Blonde
February 3, 2023
Caitlin Shook, better known as The Bad Blonde, has been around cars all her life. She regularly shares the interesting history that so many cars
East Coast Mini Club
February 3, 2023
Our 1967 Jaguar E-Type Racing Series 1 received some attention in the East Coast Mini Club Facebook group recently.
The names of Bridge Classic Cars Directors, Gordon and Craig Ranson can be seen on the car.
Our racing E-type is back with us and we are very much looking forward to getting it running and ready for more photo opportunities in the future.
A New Arrival
February 3, 2023
The Bridge Classic Cars workshop recently welcomed our very special 1958 AC Ace.
While it is with us, our team of classic car technicians will be giving the complete braking system a thorough check as the owner has reported that the front brake calipers feel a bit sticky.
It’s not very often that you get to see a car as special as an AC Ace so it’s exciting to see one up close in the workshop.
Bugatti Chiron Profilée – Breaking Auction Records
February 3, 2023
There always seems to be a story floating around the automotive industry of another record being broken for the most expensive car, the rarest car, and so on. However, every now and again, a truly staggering amount of money is paid for an exceptionally rare car…and that’s exactly what happened recently.
The Car
The Bugatti Chiron Profilée is a one-of-one hypercar.
Bugatti had planned to make a very limited number of special edition Chirons called the Profilée. This was going to be a slightly tamer version of the Pur Sport making it better suited to road driving as opposed to racing it around a track.
In the end though, the Chiron Profilée was never to be. As Bugatti had set a limit of only producing 500 Chirons, they proved to be popular enough to reach this threshold before the Profilée could be brought into existence.
That is with the exception of one Bugatti Chiron Profilée that was made as a prototype of sorts. This Profilée is the only one ever to exist. Despite being based on the Pur Sport, the Profilée has a long list of features that are unique to this one particular vehicle including its suspension and steering tune.
The top speed is 236mph which is actually slower than the standard Chiron which can reach speeds of up to 261mph. That being said, the Profilée can go from 0 – 186mph in 12 seconds so it is by no means a slouch!
The Price
RM Sotheby’s hosted the auction in Paris where this one-of-a-kind car was up for sale.
The bidding at the invite-only auction was said to be an “extended contest between a number of collectors in the room, on the telephones, and via the internet” but, eventually, the winning bid was placed and the new owner of this entirely unique car had paid €9,792,500 (approximately £8.7 million).
To put that into perspective, the Bugatti Chiron Profilée now holds the record for the most expensive new vehicle ever bought (zero owners on the registration document).
The pre-sale estimate for the Profilée was €4.2 million to €5.5 million so the bidding war certainly appears to have been pretty intense.
The End Of An Era?
Although Bugatti has not officially confirmed their plans for the future, they have appeared to hint that the Profilée could be the last of the W16 series.
If this is confirmed at a later date, the Chiron Profilée seems a fitting swan song for this thunderous engine.
Either way, a new record has been set, the one-of-one Bugatti Chiron Profilée is the most expensive new car ever sold at auction. That’s a record that will take a very special car to beat!
Talking Classics With The Bad Blonde
February 3, 2023
Caitlin Shook, better known as The Bad Blonde, has been around cars all her life. She regularly shares the interesting history that so many cars have on her YouTube channel. She also spends a lot of time in the workshop at her family’s automotive business – Shook Enterprises.
We recently had a conversation with Caitlin about her love of cars, her projects and lots more.
Tell us about The Bad Blonde.
I am a lucky gal with a love of cars and their stories.
Where did your love of cars come from?
I was blessed to be born into a car family!
My dad is a mechanic, my brother is a mechanic, my uncle is a mechanic (insert Mona Lisa Vito voice)… Everyone in my family has their own unique fondness for cars. We have an MGTD to thank for that.
My father, Steve Shook, first car was an MGTD, back then finding a mechanic able to work on imports was infrequent. Also, he definitely didn’t have the money to pay a mechanic, so he worked on his MGTD himself. He would spend his youth working at motorcycle shops and on cars in his backyard until he and my mother decided to buy a turn-of-the-century building in downtown Corpus Christi, Texas. That building would become a living breathing entity within our family, it would become Shook Enterprises.
What cars are Shook Enterprises currently working on?
We work on everything! From Toyotas to Lamborghinis! A few favourites on the lifts this week are; Jaguar Xk120, Bentley Continental, Porsche 356, 50th Anniversary Lotus Esprit, and a neat little Austin-Healey kit car.
We obviously love classic cars, what classics catch your eye the most?
I am a lover of all. I don’t think there is a classic car I couldn’t find something interesting about. I grew up around European imports which sparked my love. One of my favourite car shows is the Little Car Show in Pacific Grove during Monterey Car Week. All engines under 1600cc are welcome. Many are the cars I grew up seeing in our mechanic shop. They are the everyday man’s collectors, Triumphs, MG cars, Austin-Healeys, 356s, BMW Isetta, Mini Coopers etc…
What do you think the future has in store for the automotive industry?
Hoping it goes more in the fun direction and less so in the bean-counting direction.
Do you have a dream restoration you’d love to take on?
I would just like to finish my Porsche 912e finally! Haha, that car is my Albatross. Kidding but not. I’ve had that car since I was 15 years old and it’s been with me ever since.
My dream restoration would be to get my dad’s XK120 which I fell in love with as a kid up and running. Seriously, it was love at first sight when I saw the XK120 at the age of six or eight.
What do you enjoy most about what you do?
There is always such an interesting human element and story behind each car. I have a blast reading about them and then sharing their story.
Of all the car history you’ve shared, which story stands out the most?
JEEZZZ… That is absolutely hard to narrow down! I love that the Dodge Brothers were such rascals, I am furious that Preston Tucker’s advancements from his Tucker 48 weren’t available to the world because of the Big Three and their government lobbyists, I am fascinated by the twists and turns of the story of the commuter car the Dale, I love that the Citroen factory workers sabotaged occupying Nazi forces by lowering the notch on the oil dipstick, it blows my mind that Dr. Ferdinand Porsche was at one point the chauffeur of Franz Ferdinand… Feels like there is no end to the interesting world of automotive history!
What’s next for you?
Fingers crossed, I keep doing what I’ve been doing! My sister, mother, and I are in the process of turning a warehouse into a bar/lounge, The Annex. We’ve had this building for years, I spent many a summer day sanding down my Porsche 912e in this building as a teenager and it means a lot to turn it into an enterprise I’ve been dreaming about for quite some time.
Both my sister and I started off in the food/bev industry when we were 16, and we’ve both dreamed of having a spot of our own. Can’t wait! Naturally, we have an industrial theme and vintage automotive theme. My mother is painting two huge murals inspired by early Monaco GP race posters. She is doing a fabulous job with them.
Where can people find out more about The Bad Blonde?
I (try) to post daily on The Bad Blonde Cars IG, Youtube, and Facebook. Folks can also find recordings from the Bad Blonde Radio show, a talk radio show that my brother and I do every week, on Spotify or 1440keys.com
Enjoyed Talking Classics With The Bad Blonde?
Take a look at the entire Talking Classics series for more interviews with other influential people.
