Sbarro Espera Genesis

Posted on September 4, 2018 by classiccarweekly

2008 Sbarro Espera Genesis

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | London, U.K. | September 5, 2018

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Franco Sbarro’s automotive design school is located in Belfort, France, and has been responsible for some pretty wild concept cars. Basically, you go to design school and your final class project is to build a car that Sbarro takes to the Geneva Motor Show.

This was built by the class of 2007-2008, and here was the car from the year before. This one is powered by a V6 from Peugeot and has no top, no windshield, and no rear-view mirrors. It could be a great track toy or, if you’re European, eventually road-registered with enough effort. Design cues range from hot rod, to F1 car, to KTM X-Bow, to Plymouth Prowler, to Polaris Slingshot. And this car pre-dates two of those.

This one-off is expected to bring between $19,000-$25,000 at auction. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $10,401.

1992 Maserati Barchetta

Posted on September 3, 2018 by classiccarweekly

1992 Maserati Barchetta

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | London, U.K. | September 5, 2018

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The Maserati Barchetta was a purpose-built race car from Maserati intended to compete in a one-make racing series, the Grantrofeo Monomarca Barchetta Maserati. They only built 17 of these and they went to well-heeled semi-professional drivers who competed against each other at tracks around Europe, but mostly in Italy. The series ran in 1992 and 1993 only.

All Barchettas are powered by a twin-turbo 2.0-liter V6 good for 315 horsepower. They’re very light, with fiberglass and carbon fiber bodies. The whole thing really wasn’t much of a success and Maserati wasn’t exactly flying high in 1992 to begin with.

They tried to make a road car variant, but only one prototype was built, although some of these are currently road-registered in Europe. The project sort of lived on briefly as the similar-looking De Tomaso Guara, but they had a slightly different body and engine. This particular chassis finished 4th in the first year of the Championship and you can read more here and see more from RM Sotheby’s in London here.

Update: Not sold.

August 2018 Auction Highlights, Pt. I

Posted on September 1, 2018 by classiccarweekly

Before we get to August, we have another one from July: Silverstone Auctions’ Silverstone Classic Sale. The top sale was this 1958 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster for $1,127,595.

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

The TVR Sagaris failed to sell, but the Rinspeed R69 sold for $73,699 and a previously-featured Lola F1 street car brought $69,277. More results can be found here.

First up in August is Mecum’s Harrisburg sale and, big shocker, a 2006 Ford GT was the top sale. It went for $302,500. A previously-featured Continental Mk II failed to find a new home at this sale as well. Full results can be found here.

Photo – Mecum

And now we’re into Monterey… starting with Bonhams. The Mayfair 540K brought $3,277,500 but was eclipsed for top sale honors by this 1948 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Competitzione that went for $3,525,000.

Photo – Bonhams

The Talbot-Lago Coupe de Ville brought $962,000 and the Delahaye failed to sell. Other no-sales included the Simplex Crane and the 1913 Mercedes Phaeton. The 1934 BMW Roadster sold for $134,400 and the wonderful Fina Sport sold for $775,000. Click here for more results.

We’ll cover Gooding & Company next. The amazing SSJ Duesenberg sold for $22,000,000 – the most expensive American car ever to trade hands at auction and easily the top seller at this sale. Other big-ticket items included the Porsche RS Spyder at $4,510,000 and the 1966 911 Spyder for $1,430,000. Most Interesting goes to this 1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona NART Spider by Michelotti that sold for $572,000.

Photo – Gooding & Company

A previously-featured Maserati sold again here for $797,500. The Gulf-Mirage GR8 and the Derham Duesenberg failed to sell. Click here for complete results.

And finally, for now, RM Sotheby’s in Monterey. The Le Mans podium-finishing GT40 brought an impressive $9,795,000 – but that was far, far from the biggest sale of the day. Even the $21,455,000 Aston Martin DP215 didn’t come close. No, the honor goes to the much-hyped Ferrari 250 GTO that managed $48,405,000. That cleared the last 250 GTO to change hands by a cool $10 million.

We’ll give Most Interesting to this two-tone 1939 Lagonda V-12 Drophead Coupe that brought $307,500.