Mistral Sports Racer

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1955 Mistral-Chevrolet

Offered by Bonhams | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 27, 2023

Photo – Bonhams

This Mistral sports special race car is sort of a descendant of the Microplas Mistral, which was a fiberglass body that was sold to re-body old British Ford sedans or even Triumphs. The Mistral body was licensed by Sports Car Engineering of Los Angeles in 1956 before they sold their company in 1958.

After this, the molds for the Mistral body were sold to Weltrex Plastics Limited in New Zealand. They produced about 10 Mistral bodies before winding up. This particular car was discovered in New Zealand a few years ago and restored in the US.

It’s powered by a 4.6-liter Chevrolet V8 making about 400 horsepower. It’s been outfitted with modern safety equipment in hopes of actually using it in modern historic events. Mistrals of any creation are rare birds, and this New Zealand edition is known to have been rare from the beginning. It has an estimate of $90,000-$120,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $62,720.

Chiron Profilee

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2022 Bugatti Chiron Profilee

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Paris, France | February 1, 2023

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

In an effort to actually produce the full planned run of cars, supercar manufacturers tend to keep pumping out new special editions that are “must haves” for collectors/people with too much money to keep for a short time before moving on to something else. Bugatti is no different, as there were quite a few different versions of the Chiron, despite production being limited to only 500 units across the board.

So Bugatti set out to create one, which they called the Profilee. It has some aerodynamic updates, including a pretty cool rear wing/spoiler thing in the center. It’s powered by the quad-turbocharged 8.0-liter W16 engine as the other Chirons are, with 1,479 horsepower available like the Pur Sport model. It got revised gearing and an increased redline, which enabled it to hit a limited top speed of 236 mph.

The Profilee never even made it to production, as the Chiron’s 500 units were spoken for before they got it finalized, so this was the only such example completed. RM is offering it on a bill of sale, presumably because it’s never been registered. I’d wish the buyer good luck, but they’re never going to drive it anyway. It’ll either get locked away somewhere or flipped at auction/sold privately about 18 months from now. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $10,866,247.

ZL1 Corvette

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1969 Chevrolet Corvette ZL1 Convertible

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Phoenix, Arizona | January 26, 2023

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

It can be tough to remember which Corvettes are supposed to be the king of them all. Around this time you had L88s, ZR1s, ZR2s, and ZL1s. The ZL1 was sort of a step up from the L88. It designated an aluminum-block 7.0-liter V8 with a aluminum cylinder heads, a redesigned crankshaft, improved connecting rods, revised pistons, and larger exhaust valves.

It required that you order a base Corvette – which was about $4,400 for a 1969 convertible. Then you had to add on the L88 option, which was just over $1,000. The ZL1 option could then be had on top of that for another $3,000. And that blacked out the options for A/C, power steering, a radio, a heater, and power windows. Pay more, get less.

But you also got more, horsepower anyway. Output was somewhere around 460 horsepower. Apparently only two were ever ordered, with this one being the only one delivered to a retail customer. RM estimates this one will bring between $2,6000,000-$3,000,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $3,140,000.

VW Hormiga

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1978 Volkswagen EA489 Hormiga

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | December 2022

Photo – Bring a Trailer Auctions

Functional. That’s what the design of this screams. Volkswagen developed the EA489 Basistransporter for “developing markets,” which I think is code for “third-world countries.” It was produced as a knock-down kit in West Germany and sold under a few names. Versions produced in Mexico between 1977 and 1979 were called the Hormiga.

The engine is a 1.6-liter flat-four located under the cabin. The air intake sprouts out of the roof like a bathroom vent, and the thing is front-wheel drive. Power for Mexican-market models was rated at 50 horsepower, and it was rated to carry about 2,200 pounds.

Never seen one of these? Hardly surprising, just 3,600 were built in Mexico, and even the limited number of examples produced for other markets were all used up and thrown away. This one has obviously been redone. You can read more about it here.

Update: Sold $21,250.

Testarossa

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1987 Ferrari Testarossa

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 14, 2023

Photo – Mecum

The Testarossa was the successor to the 512 BBi, and it was a pretty big step forward into the 1980s when it launched in 1984. It was also the most mass-produced Ferrari when it went out of production in 1996 (including the more limited 512 TR and F512 M variants). Over 9,900 were made all together.

It’s also one of the more iconic and instantly recognizable Ferraris. Synonymous with the ’80s, the cars are powered by a 4.9-liter flat-12 that made 380 horsepower in U.S.-spec trim. Early “monospecchio” cars are a little more outlandish with their single top-mounted rearview mirror. This ’87 model has more traditional mirrors on both sides.

It’s hard to beat a red Ferrari with enormous side strakes. This one has 30,000 miles, a recent belt service, and a Tubi Style exhaust. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $176,000.

Acura Daytona Prototype

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2022 Acura ARX-05 DPi

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | December 2022

Photo – Bring a Trailer Auctions

Honda Performance Development entered the prototype race car arena in 2007 in the American Le Man Series. They badged the cars as Acuras and HPDs, depending on the market in which they were running. The ARX-05 debuted at the 2018 24 Hours of Daytona.

This particular car was assembled by Wayne Taylor Racing in preparation for the 2022 running of the Daytona 24. It’s powered by a twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 making somewhere in the neighborhood of 600 horsepower.

2022 saw ARX-05s campaigned by Wayne Taylor Racing and Meyer Shank Racing, the former with Konica Minolta sponsorship as shown here. This car grabbed the pole at Daytona and won four races that season with drivers Ricky Taylor and Felipe Albuquerque. It’s now being sold by HPD themselves. There’s only a few days left to bid. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $563,000.

Senna LM

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2020 McLaren Senna LM

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Paris, France | February 1, 2023

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The McLaren Senna went into production in 2018 for the 2019 model year. They planned to make 500, and who knows if they actually have. The Senna is supposed to be a supercar, but it’s really a track car for the street. How many road cars come with a push-to-drink system?

Anyway, in 2020, McLaren Special Operations introduced the Senna LM, which is the “track-focused” version of the already fairly-track-focused Senna. It still has a twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8, but its been tweaked a bit to produce 814 horsepower. Body work is also shared with the base Senna, but with a few extra bits in carbon fiber and revised aerodynamics.

RM says that just 20 were produced and only seven in McLaren’s Papaya Orange. This is a European-market example, and it’s basically brand new with like 25 miles on it. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $1,778,214.

300SL Gullwing

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1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 14, 2023

Photo – Mecum

Kind of amazing we’ve never featured a “run-of-the-mill” 300SL Gullwing before. We’ve featured an alloy-bodied car, a race car, a roadster, and a 300 SLR race car. But here we have the classic road car. The W198 300SL. With gullwing doors.

Just 1,400 coupes were produced between 1954 and 1957, and they were powered by a 2,996cc M198 inline-six that featured Bosch mechanical direct fuel injection and was canted at an angle in the engine bay to keep it low. Output was rated at 240 horsepower. Top speed was about 145 mph depending on what axle ratio was optioned.

This car is finished in black over a green interior with plaid seat upholstery. It was restored in Canada and now has an estimate of $2,300,000-$2,500,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $1,650,000.

Consulier GTP

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1990 Consulier GTP

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 15, 2022

Photo – Mecum

Warren Mosler has been responsible for some pretty crazy cars over the years including this, the Consulier GTP. It was introduced in 1985 and produced until 1993, at which time it was re-branded as the Mosler Intruder and later the Mosler Raptor, which had some styling differences.

The GTP featured a rear-mid-engined layout with a turbocharged 2.2-liter Chrysler inline-four that, in this car, produced somewhere between 190 and 200 horsepower. It also had a fiberglass and foam monocoque chassis and a carbon-Kevlar body.

Mecum says that 83 of these were built, and the GTP also had racing success in IMSA. This one could probably stand to get some period wheels on it, but otherwise it’s an interesting piece of America’s supercar past. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $33,000.

Nuffield Oxford Taxi

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1949 Nuffield Oxford Taxi

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 4, 2022

Photo – Mecum

The Nuffield Organization was the umbrella company that owned Morris, Wolseley, Riley, MG, SU carburetors, and other concerns. It was set up in 1943 and was replaced in name by BMC in 1952. Wolseley (and Morris Commercial) designed a taxi for post-war use in London and introduced it in 1947.

It was initially produced as a Wolseley at their plant until mid-1949, when production shifted to a new Nuffield plant. Cars built there were actually badged as Nuffields – the only such car to wear that name (there were also Nuffield tractors). Power is from a 1.8-liter Morris Commercial inline-four rated at 15 horsepower.

Production bumbled along until 1953, when new BMC management preferred to keep the Austin FX3 in production instead, killing off the Nuffield Taxi after only 1,926 had been made (including Wolseleys). Only three are known to exist. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $15,400

Update: Sold, Bring a Trailer Auctions March 2023, $18,570