The good oil: $20.5 million for rare Ferrari

A 1957 Ferrari Testa Rossa. Photo / Supplied

An anonymous buyer has paid a world record $20.5 million at auction for a rare 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa. The sale at Ferrari's HQ in Italy beats the previous high of $16 million paid by British radio host Chris Evans for a 1961 Ferrari California, once owned by Hollywood actor James Coburn. The record-setting, black 3-litre V12 Testa Rossa is one of 22 examples built. Another famous Ferrari that was expected to challenge the record failed to sell after bidding reached $16.5 million. The 330 P4 is one of only three built and was raced in Europe and the United States in the 1960s by New Zealand's Chris Amon.

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Wendy writes that her partner stopped on a broken yellow line in Newmarket to let her disabled 79-year-old mother get out of the car. "The disabled car space on the street was occupied, so he stopped behind it to let Mum out. He didn't get out of the car - and he didn't see the parking warden." The fine arrived in the mail - $60 for parking on a broken yellow line for 26 seconds, says Wendy. She rang the council to protest. "Their response was that this type of offence is of serious concern and the $60 fine would stand," she said. Wendy wonders what to do next, short of waving her mum's disability card under council's nose.

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More from the revenue-gathering file: an Auckland woman who got a $150 bluey for driving in a bus lane writes to say that council wallopers are "reviewing" her case. She protested the fine, saying she believed she had legitimate reason for being in the lane and "that under the circumstances I don't know what else I could have done". Many Aucklanders are similarly confused about bus, or special vehicle, lanes, judging by the letters to this newspaper.

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The British Government's scrappage scheme - a cash discount for trading in old clappers for newer, more fuel-efficient models - has begun to show early signs of metal fatigue. Mainstream carmaker Ford has told its dealers not to register any cars under the scheme until arrangements over "VAT and other things" have been resolved. Honda has said the same thing. The confusion includes whether the valued added tax of 15 per cent (Britain's GST) is added to the pre- or post-discount price of a car. Despite the misfires, buyers are apparently making full use of the scheme. Citroen sales from May 1 in Britain are up 30 per cent.

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Swedish carmaker Saab says it has picked three suitors for continued talks in its search for a new owner. It sought protection from creditors in February to buy time after its parent General Motors said it would cut ties with the brand by the end of the year after two decades of control. Saab has said it needs US$1 billion ($1.64 billion) in financing to see it through the crisis and has asked creditors to write off 75 per cent of the company's US$1.4 billion debt. Most of it is owed to GM, itself on the brink of bankruptcy. Saab sold 40-odd cars in New Zealand last year.

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The owner of a restaurant in Copley Township, Ohio, called police complaining that a customer was drunk and becoming a nuisance. The cops told Erik Salmons, 39, to behave himself and take a cab home. Salmons did - then decided he was insulted by the accusation and would drive to the police station and demand a breathalyser test to prove he wasn't drunk. He should have stayed at home, reports the Akron Beacon Journal.

alastair.sloane@nzherald.co.nz