1962 Kurtis Aguila

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Amelia Island, Florida | March 12, 2016

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

Kurtis Kraft built some legendary race cars in the 1950s. Frank Kurtis won multiple Indy 500s with his chassis and they dominated the dirt track circuit in their day. Unfortunately, his designs didn’t necessarily keep up with the times and orders for Kurtis race cars dwindled as the 1960s began.

A rich Texas racer contacted Kurtis in the early 60s with the idea of turning an open-wheel car into a sports car and wiping the competition off the map with it. Kurtis countered that he could build him a car that, with removable fenders, could compete successfully in both open-wheel and sports car competition.

This Aguila is powered by a 5.4-liter Chevrolet V-8 making an estimated 350 horsepower. It has disc brakes and will seat two (find another open wheel car that can fit two across). It had a brief privateer career before the dawn of rear-engined cars rendered it obsolete by 1965.

With known ownership history and a nice, well-maintained restoration, this one-off has the special distinction of being one of the final cars built by Frank Kurtis. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $423,500.