The Story of a Man who Bought the Rights to the Auto Avio Construzioni Name Only to be Sued by Ferrari

As we’ve already mentioned in our tribute to Enzo Ferrari, the founder of one of the most iconic brands in the world initially worked for Alfa Romeo. As the story has it, in 1939 he left the Milanese carmaker, but part of the agreement was that he could not manufacture any vehicles under his name for four years – so he used the Auto Avio Construzioni brand instead.
The years passed by and following the end of WWII, Enzo Ferrari finally founded his own brand and produced its first car, the 125. The rest, as they say, is history – or so we thought until Laurent Miller sent Carscoop an email describing his story that has to do with the Auto Avio Construzioni brand name and his legal quarrel with Ferrari.
Muller's involvement began in 2004 when he claims to have bought the right to the Auto Avio Construzioni trademark with plans to build a bespoke Ferrari F430 fitted with a V12 engine instead of the regular model's V8 powerplant.





In May 2008, Muller gave an interview to French magazine Sport Auto revealing details about his company's project. However, Ferrari immediately stepped in and filed a lawsuit against him, putting a stop to the any projects related to its models until the issue was resolved.
Muller told Carscoop that he tried to reach an agreement with the Italian company but said Ferrari "wouldn’t even speak" to him as the automaker insisted it had the sole rights to the Auto Avio Costruzioni name since it was Enzo Ferrari’s property.





Notably, this isn't the first time we've heard about Ferrari's legal team picking a fight. In 2008, Ferrari made headlines when it threatened to take legal actions against a UK man that wanted to turn his 360 Modena into a stretch limousine.
But back to Muller, after Ferrari blocked his plans, he decided to make use of the Auto Avio Construzioni trademark to create a one-off Alfa Romeo 159 he bought from the collapsed Greek car market.
Among other modifications, the Auto Avio Construzioni team upgraded the sport sedan's 1.8-liter turbocharged inline four boosting output from 200HP and 340Nm to 240HP and 370 Nm, while also painting the body in a two-tone finish.

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1980 Ferrari Pinin Four-Door Sedan Concept up for Grabs

One of the most unique concept studies to come out of the Pininfarina studio in the 1980s, the Ferrari Pinin, is heading to the auction block. Designed to celebrate the 50th anniversary ofPininfarina and named after the founder of the company, Battista ‘Pinin’ Farina, the first-ever Ferrari sedan made its world premiere at the 1980 Turin Motor Show in Italy.
The styling of the low-slung, sharp looking sedan was the work of Diego Ottina under the direction of Leonardo Fioravanti, the man responsible for the designs of the Dino, Daytona, the P5 and other Ferrari models.
The futuristic design continues inside with a rather minimalistic look for the dashboard and instrument panel. Saddle tan Connolly leather wraps most surfaces, while Pininfarina fitted the car with an array of electronic to controls all the passenger comfort features.





Although the concept was well received by the public, Ferrari never put the Pinin into production. Nevertheless, certain styling cues such as the high belt-line can be found on later models designed by Pininfarina such as the Peugeot 405.
After the Turin presentation, the four-door Ferrari continued its motorshow appearances until 1981 when it was put in storage. The concept later on changed hands when Pininfarina sold it to Jacques Swaters, the head of the Ecurie Francorchamps Belgian racing team and a personal friend of Enzo Ferrari. In 2008, Mr. Swaters sold the Pinin to its current owner at RM’s Ferrari –Leggenda e Passione Auction.
While the Pinin was originally a static concept, the current owner of the car enlisted the services of Oral Engineering to transform it to a fully functional prototype.



With the help of Mauro Forghieri, a former Ferrari Technical Director, the Pinin was fitted with a 4.9-liter horizontally-opposed 12-cylinder engine with Weber carburetors and a double overhead camshaft with four valves per cylinder, rated at 360-horses and sourced from the Ferrari 512 BB.
A specially adapted five-speed gearbox from the Ferrari 400GT transfers power to the rear wheels. Other changes included the strengthening of the chassis, the addition of a fuel tank plus new suspension and brakes.



The 1980 Ferrari Pinin will go under the hammer at the forthcoming RM Auction in London, England on October 26, where it is expected to fetch somewhere between £480,000-£550,000 or about US$742,000 to US$850,000.
Photo Credits: Dirk de Jager for RM Auctions

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Steam Punk: World’s Oldest Working Car to be Auctioned Off in October

At 127 years, the 1884 De Dion Bouton Et Trepardoux Dos-A-Dos or “La Marquise” is the world’s oldest running motor car. It’s a steam-powered quadricycle built by toymakers Georges Bouton and Charles-Armand Trepardoux with the financial backing of the Comte Di Dion in 1884.
It’s 9 feet (2.7 metres) long, weighs 2,100 pounds (953 kilograms), has solid axles front and rear and dos-a-dos (back-to-back) seating for four.





It’s self-stoking / self-watering upright boiler that can generate steam in just 45 minutes, with a top speed of 37 mph (60 km/h) and a range of 20 miles (32 kilometres). The boxy structure around the boiler holds coke or coal and there’s a 40 gallon (151 litres) water tank under the seats.
In 1889, it cost 4,400 francs (US$850 / €630) back when the average wage was about 1,800 francs a year, though now it’s expected to fetch nearly as much as a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport.
This particular example was sold to Henri Doriol in 1906, who kept it in the family for 81 years before auctioning it off in 1987. It was bought by Tim Moore, a member of the British Veteran Car Club who had it running within a year.





Since then it’s participated in numerous concours and classic drives and picked up awards at Pebble Beach, Goodwood and others. It’s all fully documented and is a reluctant sale on the part of Mr. Moore, who couldn’t bring himself to leave it to only one of his two children:
“I can’t cut it in half but it’s been a real wrench putting the papers together. I’m a very reluctant seller.”
Only about 30 “La Marquise” were built and only 4 or 5 of them were quadricycles like this one. It will be on the auction block at RM Auctions, Pennsylvania on October 7 and it's expected to fetch between US$2 to $2.5 million (€1.5 to 1.9 million).





By Tristan Hankins
Story References , Photo Credits: RM Auctions

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