Monthly Archives: November 2008

But a multi-million pound auction today will see the credit crunch well and truly bucked with investors expected to spend up to £15 million on classic cars. Rival auction house Bonhams managed to sell 70 per cent of lots at a collectors’ car auction in Goodwood last month. Other cars with celebrity connections include a 1953 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible State Limousine, estimated at up to £120,000, ordered new for the Royal House of Belgium and used in the royal wedding of Prince Albert II and the Princess Paolo. Chelsea and England footballer Frank Lampard was also spotted eyeing up a 1963 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder with an estimated auction price of £3,000,000-£3,600,000. read more  Read more... (127 words, estimated 30 secs reading time)

Activist hedge fund Jana Partners is among the many institutional investors having a rough time this year, but the highly regarded fund has managed to avoid the sharp losses seen by some of its competitors. Jana Partners is run by Barry Rosenstein, who cut his teeth working for Asher Edelman, who along with Carl Icahn was reportedly the inspiration for Oliver Stone’s fictional Wall Street corporate raider Gordon Gecko. Pro portfolio performance is based on institutions’ top-15 holdings as disclosed in quarter-end filings with the SEC. Pro performance does not take into account additional holdings beyond the top 15 nor does it include positions that are not required to be disclosed by the SEC. read more  Read more... (126 words, estimated 30 secs reading time)

Organizers are expecting more than 3,500 customized sports cars, older street rods and vintage cars, along with their owners and families, to descend on Panama City Beach for seven days this year, an expansion from last year’s four days. The gathering will feature a parade through Pier Park and culminate in a large gathering at Frank Brown Park from Friday to Sunday, complete with entertainment and more than 100 vendors. The family-oriented event has grown each year from 500 cars in 2005, said organizer Robert Rakes Parrish, a self-confessed custom-car fanatic from Ripley, Miss. Parrish said the atmosphere of the Beach goes perfect with the nostalgic look back at vintage cars from the ’50s and ’60s – a feeling of surf boards strapped to the roof and ’50s music in the air. Concerts and other events will be held all week at hotels such as the Holiday Inn SunSpree Resort, Sandpiper Beacon Beach Resort and By the Sea Resorts. The entertainment will include a concert Thursday at the Marina Civic Center in Panama City by ’60s groups Herman’s Hermits and The Buckinghams, Parrish said. read more  Read more... (196 words, estimated 47 secs reading time)