At the RM Sotheby’s Andrews Collection sale, this 1934 Packard Twelve coupe by Dietrich set a new world record for Packards at auction, hammering down at $4.18 million. Get all the latest auto industry news in the Executive Briefing.
Today’s headlines:
+ Pioneering female sportswriter, race driver, and automotive journalist Denise McCluggage has passed away at 88. Obituary by Steven Cole Smith at Motorsport.com.
+ Fiat Chrysler Automobiles reported a $2.6 billion profit for its FCA US LLC division in the first quarter, $2.3 billion of the amount in a deferred tax benefit from the buyout. More at The Detroit News.
+ Volkswagen has denied a request by the United Auto Workers to be recognized as the sole bargaining unit at the Chattanooga, Tennessee plant, stating it will continue to work with multiple organizations. More at Bloomberg.com.
+ Foreshadowing Buick product plans, General Motors has copyrighted the names Avenir, Regal Sport Touring, and Lacrosse Sport Touring. More at Motor Trend.
+ NASCAR star Kyle Busch, injured in a crash at Daytona in February, could return to his seat at Joe Gibbs Racing earlier than expected, perhaps this month at Charlotte. More at Racer.
+ Porsche has opened a new $100 million Experience Center and headquarters facility adjacent to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. More at Autoblog.
+ Tesla Motors has acquired Michigan-based Riviera Tool, a supplier of stamped metal parts to the electric car maker, for an undisclosed price. More at the Detroit Free Press.
+ Millwright Donald Megge, 53, was killed at the Chrysler Fiat North Jefferson Avenue plant in Detroit, reportedly crushed by moving machinery. More at My Fox Detroit.
+ The McLaren-Honda Formula One team has adopted a new paint scheme, dropping the familiar chrome look in favor of a graphite-gray layout. More at Yahoo! Sport UK.
+ The one-day, single-collection RM Sotheby’s Andrews Collection auction in Fort Worth, Texas generated nearly $54 million in total sales. More at Sports Car Digest.
For the previous Executive Briefing from May 4, click here.
As a matter of coincidence, I had been studying the competition history of Briggs Cunningham on Wednesday and noticed Denise McCluggage as one of his drivers. I had read her columns in AutoWeek and wondered if she was still among the living. I’m too young to have seen much of her racing career but she knew how to tell a story.
Ms. McCluggage will not soon be forgotten.
The article paints her as modest, and I’m sure she usually was. But I remember somewhere reading a story about an incident, maybe a couple decades, at some karting track and telling some young fellas that she could beat their pants off. Not knowing who she was, I’m sure they laughed about it until it happened.