De Tomaso Guara Barchetta

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1995 De Tomaso Guara Barchetta

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | December 2022

Photo – Bring a Trailer Auctions

Alejandro de Tomaso had been designing and producing sports cars under his name since the 1960s. And the last car he put into production was the Guara in 1994. When production ceased 10 years later, only about 50 had been made across three body styles that included a coupe, spyder, and this, the barchetta.

The Barchetta had no windshield and no top. It looked eerily similar to the Maserati Barchetta race car of the early 90s. This isn’t all that surprising considering De Tomaso owned Maserati until 1993 and just repurposed the design for an exotic road car.

The Guara is powered by a 4.0-liter BMW V8 that made 279 horsepower. Later cars got supercharged Ford V8s (although not a shocking bump in power). This particular one looks to be still pretty much in the wrapper and is one of 10 barchettas built. You’re probably gonna want a full-face helmet to drive it – if you drive it. It doesn’t appear that any of its owners have thus far. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $230,000.

’96 Aston Vantage

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1996 Aston Martin Vantage Coupe

Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | December 16, 2022

Photo – Bonhams

The Aston Martin Virage debuted in 1989 at a low point for Aston Martin. These were pretty exclusive cars, with about 40 made on average each year. In 1993, the Vantage showed up, wearing pretty much the same bodywork but with a twin-supercharged 5.3-liter V8. Output was rated at 550 horsepower. This thing was a monster in the early 1990s.

Top speed was around 191 mph. The craziest part was this was the base Vantage. There were more extreme versions than this. Meanwhile Ford took over Aston and put the DB7 into production with an inline-six. It’s like it was from a different company than whoever created this thing.

Just 280 examples of the Vantage coupe were produced. A true supercar with grand touring proportions, this Vantage carries an estimate of $75,000-$125,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $124,424.

DeLorean

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1981 DeLorean DMC-12

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 13, 2022

Photo – Mecum

Maybe not the world’s most exciting car, but definitely one of the most recognizable. John DeLorean’s DeLorean Motor Company built about 9,000 of the “DMC DeLorean” (commonly called the DeLorean DMC-12, despite what DeLorean zealots will scream at your face) in Northern Ireland, of all places, before the whole thing blew up. Model years 1981, ’82, and ’83 were covered.

It has stainless steel bodywork, gullwing doors, and a rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout. Power is provided by a 2.85-liter V6 produced by PRV – Peugeot/Renault/Volvo, three companies really known for their reliable engines. Output was rated at 130 horsepower, which was not enough to make this exotic two-door really move that fast. It hit 60 mph in 10.5 seconds.

The other thing about these is that none actually have any miles on them. I mean, they might, but they all mysteriously have only a few thousand miles. This one shows 5,900 miles. Which is more believable than most. They’re funky, and people will always want them. And rightfully so: it is one of the coolest cars of the ’80s. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $77,000.

BMW 327

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1939 BMW 327 Sport Cabriolet

Offered by Oldtimer Galerie Toffen | Gstaad, Switzerland | December 29, 2022

Photo – Oldtimer Galerie Toffen

BMW’s ultimate pre-war car was the 328, which was a Mille Miglia-winning sports car powered by a legendary inline-six engine. A similar car, launched in 1937, was the 327. It was less sporty and more grand tour-y.

It was also powered by an inline-six. In this car, it was the 2.0-liter M78 unit, which made about 54 horsepower. There was a 327/8 version that got the 328’s engine, which was good for a bump to 79 horsepower.

The 327 was available in cabriolet or coupe form. After WWII, production continued in the form of the EMW 327, and they were available until 1955 (!). This car is one of only 1,124 pre-war cabriolet examples produced. Delivered new to Zurich, it was restored within the last five years. It now has an estimate of $133,000-$144,000. Click here for more info.

Dino 246 GT

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1971 Dino 246 GT

Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | December 16, 2022

Photo – Bonhams

If I call this a Ferrari, I annoy purists who insist it was never sold as a Ferrari, which is true. If I don’t call it a Ferrari, I get eye rolls from everyone who agrees that, even though they were badged as “Dinos” in the 1970s, they are, for all intents and purposes, Ferraris. This is also true.

A third truth is that these are beautiful cars that were underappreciated for a long time. I think of it like 911 owners who look down upon Boxsters… presumably because they cost less yet are just as capable with, perhaps, a better overall balance.

The Dino 246 was sold between 1969 and 1974, available in closed-coupe GT form or targa-top GTS form. There were 2,295 closed coupes built, which outnumbered the open cars by about a thousand. Power is from a 2.4-liter V6 rated at 192 horsepower.

This was a British-market example when delivered new in Rosso Chiaro over black. It was restored in the 2000s and now has an estimate of $305,000-$370,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $329,154.

Chiron Sport

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2019 Bugatti Chiron Sport

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Miami, Florida | December 10, 2022

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The Chiron is the last of its kind. The last full-out gasoline-burning chaser of speed. It debuted in 2016 and followed up on the Veyron with a version of that car’s quad-turbocharged 8.0-liter W16. In 2018, Bugatti introduced the Sport variant, which is said to be “track-focused.” It’s like 40 pounds lighter than the base Chiron, which already weighed 4,400 pounds. Hard to think anything that heavy really belongs on a track.

But I guess, if you have to overcome some heft, an output of 1,480 horsepower would help do the trick. This was the same output as the base car. You were basically paying an extra $400,000 for the Sport, which brought some carbon-fiber bits, a stiffer suspension, and a torque vectoring system.

This is one of 60 Chiron Sports built. Well, Bugatti said they would build 60, but who knows if they actually did. What’s fun is that you can forget zero-to-60 times and instead note that it will hit 100 mph in 4.4 seconds, which is crazy. The pre-sale estimate is $3,000,000-$3,500,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $3,305,000.

SLR McLaren 722 S

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2009 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren 722 S Roadster

Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | December 16, 2022

Photo – Bonhams

The SLR McLaren was Mercedes-Benz’s halo car produced between 2004 and 2009. It was actually developed in conjunction with McLaren, and various variants were produced after the initial coupe. These included the 722, a high-performance coupe, the Roadster, a drop-top version of the base coupe, and this, the 722 S Roadster, the hot convertible.

It debuted in Frankfurt in 2007, and just 150 were built. Power is provided by a supercharged 5.4-liter V8 that made 641 horsepower in 722 spec. Top speed for the roadster was a remarkable-for-a-convertible 208 mph.

This one-owner car has only covered about 60 miles since new. It’s finished in Sienna Pearl and features lightweight wheels, a revised suspension, and some design tweaks over the base car. The pre-sale estimate is $490,000-$735,000. These cars are still very expensive, which, frankly, I don’t quite understand. But anyway. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $854,283.

The Best DB7

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2000 Aston Martin DB7 Vantage Volante

Offered by Aguttes | Paris, France | December 14, 2022

Photo – Aguttes

Dream spec. Fact: the Aston Martin DB7 is one of the best-looking cars of all time. And when they dropped a V12 under the hood and tweaked the styling a bit, they really ended up with a winner. Add on top of that the fact that this one is a drop top finished in Almond Green with over a beige and green interior… perfection.

The Vantage-specification DB7 went on sale in 1999 and featured a 5.9-liter V12 (as opposed to the earlier DB7’s straight-six) that made 420 horsepower. This manual-transmission car was capable of 60 mph in five seconds when new.

Having covered less than 10,000 miles since new, this Volante is a keeper. It has a pre-sale estimate of $73,000-$94,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

Alfa 8C Spider

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2009 Alfa Romeo 8C Spider

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | Online

Photo – Bring a Trailer Auctions

Alfa Romeo resurrected the 8C nameplate for its return to North America. It was to be a halo car – one that sits atop all others in their model line. The 8C Competizione, the coupe version, was produced in limited numbers between 2007 and 2009. Just 500 were built.

The Spider was even rarer. Only about 329 were built between 2008 and 2010 (even Alfa is not super forthcoming about the exact number, it seems). It shared the coupe’s Ferrari/Maserati 4.7-liter V8 that made 444 horsepower. Styling was done in-house at Alfa Romeo, and the result is stunning. Both the coupe and spider are fantastic-looking cars.

This particular Spider is one of not-all-that-many that were destined for the U.S. It no-sale’d on BaT earlier this year at $289,000. With 10 days left on the auction as of this writing, bidding this time around is already at $260,000. So we’ll see if it surpasses March’s bidding, and if so, if it’s enough to find a new home. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $263,000.

Diablo VT Roadster

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1999 Lamborghini Diablo VT Roadster

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Phoenix, Arizona | January 26, 2022

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The VT Roadster is one of the ultimate cars of the 1990s. RM calls it an example of Lambo’s “first production convertible,” which is kind of a half truth. One, it’s not really a convertible as it’s more of a targa. And Lambo had done targas before, namely the Jalpa and Urraco. But the difference is that the Diablo had an electronically retractable carbon-fiber roof panel, whereas the two earlier cars had a lift-off removable top panel.

At any rate, this facelifted Diablo features faired-in headlights instead of the earlier model’s pop-up units. It’s also powered by a 5.7-liter V12 rated at 529 horsepower. It also has four-wheel drive with front and rear limited-slip differentials.

Something like 100 of these roadsters were made for the facelifted model. The car could hit 200 mph and achieve sixty in under four seconds. As popular as these were 20-25 years ago, they seem few and far between today. Check out more about this one here.

Update: Sold $456,000.