Own Paul Walker’s Porsche 911 2.7 RS, VW Bus Festival returns, Raptor R bounds into six figures

Paul Walker’s 1973 911 RS could bring a furious price

Intake: Monterey Car Week has added another star car to its auction roster. A 1973 Porsche 911 2.7 RS previously owned by Paul Walker is going under the hammer with Mecum Auctions, and, based on past sales of Walker’s motors, it’s likely to fetch a pretty premium. Built in 1973 the yellow, duck-tailed Porsche was bought by Walker online and unseen, as he told Jay Leno on The Tonight Show in 2011. It comes with the Touring package and a refurbished black-and-white interior by Autobahn Interiors of San Diego. The Porsche’s odometer shows 93,774 km and the drivetrain and suspension was refreshed by Jerry Wood Enterprises in California. Remember this is one of just 1580 RS models built—and the only one owned by Walker, of course.

Exhaust: Hagerty U.K. analyzed sales of Walker’s 20 cars, bikes, and trucks over the last two years and concluded that, on average, cars that have has his name on the pink slip fetch 331 percent more than equivalent vehicles. Our valuation guide puts a #2 (Excellent) condition RS at $960,000. Could Walker’s name double that figure? — Nik Berg

Mercury Milan Voga Concept surfaces on the auction block … again

Intake: The Mercury Milan has its fair share of fans ’round these parts, so we’re thrilled that the Milan Voga concept has resurfaced. First introduced at Miami Fashion Week by Roselyn Sanchez (from TV’s Without a Trace) the 2006 Milan Voga Concept was designed by Camilo Pardo (father of the 2005 Ford GT) and sported a host of mostly cosmetic upgrades: stainless steel roof, suspension lowering, 20-inch HRE wheels, blue chrome-effect paint job, chrome-plated grilles, and a custom leather interior with blue chrome-effect trim. The seller states this is one of two examples made, though there’s no word on whether this one famously sold on eBay and was delivered by Sanchez to the lucky winner in September 2006, with all proceeds going to charity.

Exhaust: The Mercury brand was in trouble by this point, and made a last-ditch effort at relevance by pivoting to appealing more to women. While it’s an ironic twist of fate from its “Man’s Car” promotions in the late 1960s, Mercury made a valiant effort: Jill Wagner was its national spokesperson, and the most expensive Voga editions (Milan, Sable, Mariner) were aimed squarely at Latin women. Because if the F-150 Lobo was a big deal for Hispanic men … — Sajeev Mehta

Will you be joining 100,000 van fans at the VW Bus Festival?

Intake: VW has announced plans for the world’s biggest gathering of its camper vans and microbuses. The VW Bus Festival will take place in Hanover, Germany from June 23–25, 2023—a full 16 years since the last “Bulli Festival” in 2007. The three-day party will celebrate buses of all ages, from the first T1 of 1949 to the latest Multivan hybrid, and the all-electric ID.Buzz. There will be camping space for 6000 buses, live music, food trucks, parts stores and much more. Tickets go on sale on August 18.

Exhaust: Van fans can look forward to three days of efficient fun organized by VW Commercial Vehicles, and many VW clubs have already put towels on the sun loungers booked their places, so if you’re big on buses you’d better get in quick.  — NB

Stellantis axes Chinese joint venture for Jeep

Intake: Problems between Stellantis’ Jeep brand and Guangzhou Automobile Group in China appear to be rocky, with Stellantis announcing that its agreement with GAC, with which it had a joint venture to make and sell Jeeps in China, was being terminated. Stellantis had been negotiating to purchase a majority stake in GAC, and those negotiations slowed to a crawl. And now Jeep wants out completely, planning to sell imported Jeeps in China on its own, in part because the partnership has been, thus far, a money-loser since it started in 2010. In January, Stellantis issued a statement that it planned to increase its ownership share in GAC from 50 to 75 percent pending government approval. But later that day, says the Wall Street Journal, GAC said it had learned of the news from Stellantis’ website and that it “deeply regrets that this release is not agreed by us.” Apparently this lack of agreement has continued, and Stellantis will go its own way in China when it comes to selling imported electrified Jeep models.

Exhaust: Chinese automakers are very interested in taking, less interested in giving, including giving up controlling interest in their company. Says the Wall Street Journal: “Foreign car makers have struggled to grow their joint ventures with Chinese auto manufacturers. Local brands have blossomed instead and have been taking an increasing share of the market.”  — Steven Cole Smith

Ford’s Raptor R bounds into the six figures

Intake: Ford has opened the order books for the 700-hp F-150 Raptor R, and as a result has revealed the price: $109,145, including shipping. For comparison, the regular, EcoBoost-powered Raptor starts at $70,555, and the Tremor starts at $54,120. The only comparable pickup to the R, the 702-horsepower Ram TRX, starts at $78,890, or $80,835 with shipping. Both trucks are well-equipped in base form, but the TRX has a much longer list of add-ons than the already loaded Raptor R (the Mopar beast requires $10,295 if you want the 19-speaker stereo, a head-up display, a digital rearview mirror, and ventilated front seats). The TRX has a 6.2-liter supercharged Hemi V-8 rated at 702 horsepower. The Raptor R has a 5.2-liter supercharged V-8 with the aforementioned 700 horsepower. The regular Raptor has a 3.5-liter turbocharged V-6 with 450 horsepower. The TRX wins the horsepower war, but it’s considerably heavier than the Raptor R. Bottom line: Both trucks are real, real fast.

Exhaust: Option out the base TRX to make the equipment level match the Raptor R’s, and that nearly $30,000 price gap—almost enough to buy a base F-150 model—shrinks considerably. Still, we’re looking at about a $15,000 difference between the two trucks with comparable equipment, which is a lot of gasoline. Premium, please. Expect your Raptor R somewhere around September. —SCS