Wheels: Wheelies: The Lavishly Expensive Roadster Edition

Courtesy of RM Auctions This 1967 Ferrari 330 GTS from RM Auctions’ Don Davis Collection sold for $1.9 million.

In which we bring you motoring news from around the Web:

• The Don Davis Collection filed across the block at RM Auctions last weekend, bringing in $21.2 million. Every one of the 64 cars in the collection was arguably beautiful, but among the standouts were a Pininfarina-bodied 1967 Ferrari 330 GTS, which sold for $1.9 million; a Scaglietti-bodied 1973 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Spider, which got nearly $1.7 million; a 1967 Toyota 2000GT that pulled in almost $1.2 million; and a 1965 Shelby Cobra that sold for just over $1 million. The 1988 Porsche 959 “Komfort” sold for $770,000, well over what was expected. Hoagy Carmichael’s 1958 Dual-Ghia convertible brought $418,000. Even a relatively plain-Jane 1950 Oldsmobile 88 Deluxe Club Coupe sold for $41,250. (Autoweek)

• In the manhunt for the Boston Marathon bombers, navigation technology in the Mercedes-Benz ML 350 they reportedly stole probably helped police find the Tsarnaev brothers when they carjacked a 26-year-old businessman’s car. After being forced to ride around with the two suspects for 90 minutes on April 18, the car’s owner escaped on foot and called the police. Mercedes-Benz USA then used the car’s Stolen Vehicle Location Assistance system to track its movements. That was what led the police to close in on and eventually stop Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev. (Automotive News)

• China appears to be putting a halt to the practice of slapping military license plates on civilian cars. Many luxury vehicles have been displaying the distinctive red-lettered tags of late, fueling public discontent with a government and military establishment seen as corrupt. The plates, often seen on luxury marques like BMW, Mercedes and Porsche, exempt owners from tickets, tolls, parking restrictions and other inconveniences that plague the lives of proletarian motorists. But the proles have spoken, and President Xi Jinping, bent on cleaning up the public perception of the government and the People’s Liberation Army, has ordered all nonmilitary vehicles with the special tags to re-register by Wednesday. (The Washington Post)

• After 19 years missing in action, Quentin Tarantino’s 1964 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu convertible was finally found by the police. The red muscle car was featured in Mr. Tarantino’s 1994 film, “Pulp Fiction,” as the car driven by John Travolta’s character, Vincent Vega. Law enforcement officials in Victorville, Calif., found two men who were apparently stripping the car. One of them said he had owned the car for decades, but an investigation of the vehicle identification number showed that it had not been registered since the 1990s and belonged to Mr. Tarantino. Authorities have not yet described the car’s condition. (The San Bernardino Sun)

Manuel Valdes/Associated Press Officer Jim Ritter speaks with Jonny Galvis in front of Ritter’s 1970 Plymouth Satellite police cruiser, in Seattle.

• Many Seattle residents may have noticed a not-so-new addition to the police department’s motor pool. Jim Ritter, a 30-year veteran of the force, has been making his rounds in a fully equipped 1970 Plymouth Satellite police cruiser, wearing a period-correct uniform. Part of the Seattle Metropolitan Police Museum’s small fleet of vintage cars, the vehicle was used by Officer Ritter as a community relations and educational tool. He talked his superiors into expanding its role when he noticed how much people liked the car, adding that even gang members asked about it. Among the other cars in the museum’s collection are a 1963 Plymouth Savoy, a 1970 Plymouth Fury, a 1976 Dodge Dart and a 1979 Dodge Aspen. (The Seattle Times)

• A car once used by Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Britain was sold on eBay on Monday evening. The 1939 Daimler DB18 Drophead Coupe, which Mr. Churchill used during election campaigns in 1944 and 1949, sold for $615,000 in the online auction. The car is thought to be the only one of its kind. Only eight of the 23 DB18 Drophead Coupes Daimler planned to build were produced. Of those, only four made it through the 1940 Blitz, when Daimler’s Coventry plant was destroyed in the bombing. One of those has since been scrapped, and nobody knows where the other two are. (The Philadelphia Inquirer)