Adam Carolla’s enthusiasm for getting Paul Newman’s automobiles hit a new level recently during Monterey’s Car Week, when he spent $4.4 million on the 1979 Porsche 935 Newman drove in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
“I bought, in my mind, the Holy Grail of vehicles,” Carolla informed listeners of his The Adam Carolla Show podcast.
Newman, along with co-drivers Dick Barbour and Rolf Stommelen, ripped this 935 to a class win and second-place-overall finish at Le Mans in 1979. The vehicle likewise campaigned in 71 other races, having a win at the 1981 24 Hours of Daytona and the 1983 12 Hours of Sebring. It’s likewise the first and only Apple vehicle, since Apple Computer festooned it in racing livery the in year of 1980. That wasn’t the most successful season for a formerly podium-worthy automobile, however, that may describe why Steve Jobs pulled the logos off the 800-horsepower, turbocharged flat-six automobile.
After sending a bid of $4.4 milillion, a phone bidder can be found in at $4.5, though it turned out the phone quote was incorrectly applied and thus marked down. That left Carolla as the winner of one of the finest Newman race vehicles ever.
