The M21 was a Formula Two race car built by McLaren for the 1972 season. Jody Scheckter, who owns this car, won a single race in the M21 in London, but the car largely struggled with technical issues.
The original M21 was wrecked in the 1970s. There were two Formula Atlantic versions of the car in existence, so a couple of guys realized they had enough parts to build three M21 cars in the 1990s. One of which used a spare monocoque and the other two used existing cars, one of which was privately owned and one that was owned by McLaren.
None of them had chassis plates, but McLaren offered up some new ones that identified the cars as M21s. This is one of the three and it was sort of built for Scheckter in the ’90s. It has a Cosworth inline-four and an estimate of $140,000-$215,000. More info can be found here.
Offered by H&H Classics | Buxton, U.K. | April 2024
Photo – H&H Classics
The Marcos GT, the basic shape of which carried over long after the model went out of production in 1990, was first introduced in 1964 in 1800 GT form. By 1967 a smaller displacement 1600 GT version was introduced. Then, two years later, they made the available engine bigger, with the Marcos 2 Litre.
The 3 Litre model debuted in ’68 with a Ford V6. In 1971, Marcos produced 12 examples with a Triumph 2.5-liter inline-six and sold them as the 2.5 Litre. That’s what this is. A rare bird indeed. Output was rated at 150 horsepower. All of these engines were originally intended for the company’s new Mantis model. But they were leftover, thus the shoehorning into the GT.
This example was upgraded under current ownership and has just under 80,000 miles. The pre-sale estimate is $17,750-$20,250. Click here for more info.
Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 2024
Photo – Mecum
The Shopper is barely a microcar, it’s almost more of a mobility scooter – the kind you find at the grocery store. It has a single seat and is usually equipped with a small basket behind the seat to place your goods. This one has been retrofitted with a metal basket and Coke graphics everywhere.
Norsjo M.V.A.B. of Forshaga, Sweden, built the prototype Shopper in 1962, and they remained on sale for a few decades afterward. The front canopy here tilts to the side, and power is provided by a 47cc two-stroke single that could push this three-wheeler to about 35 mph.
These aren’t very common, especially in the U.S. This one doesn’t have a title but does seem to have a reserve, which is kind of odd. Click here for more info.
Simply, this car exemplifies great, classic, Italian styling. It is among the handsomest grand tourers of the era, with styling penned by Giorgetto Giugiaro at Ghia. The first Ghibli debuted at the 1966 Turin Motor Show with power from a 4.7-liter V8.
The SS variant arrived in 1969 with a 4.9-liter V8 rated at 330 horsepower. Convertibles also arrived in ’69. This coupe was originally a different color but was repainted blue in 2007. It also has a light beige interior and a modern stereo. It’s made to be used.
In all, 1,170 Ghibli coupes were produced through 1973. Just 425 of those were SS coupes powered by the 4.9-liter engine. This one has a few days left, and you can view more about it here.
Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Cernobbio, Italy | May 20, 2023
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
Big-time Ferrari prototype sports racers don’t change hands very often. At least not publicly. The 312 PB was a Group 6 prototype race car built and campaigned between 1971 and 1973. Fun fact, this car was technically called the 312 P, but Ferrari also had an older 312 P, so it’s been retroactively dubbed “PB.”
Another fun fact is that these cars took so much focus from Ferrari that their Formula One program had begun to suffer. So after the 1973 sports car season, they walked away from prototype racers to focus on F1 again. So this was sort of the last of the line for a while.
The car is powered by a 3.0-liter flat-12 that made 460 horsepower. It’s unclear how many were produced, but the catalog says this chassis, 0886, is one of six used as works racers during the 1972 season. Its competition history includes:
1972 1,000km of Buenos Aires – 1st (with Ronnie Peterson and Tim Schenken)
1972 12 Hours of Sebring – 2nd (with Peterson and Schenken)
1972 1,000km of Monza – 3rd (with Peterson and Schenken)
1972 1,000km Nurburgring – 1st (with Peterson and Schenken)
This car was then present at the Monterey Historics as early as 1975. Ferrari won the sports car manufacturer’s championship in ’72, with a huge helping hand from this chassis. It now carries a massive estimate of $15,500,000-$19,750,000. Click here for more info.
Offered by Aguttes | Neuilly, France | April 27, 2023
Photo – Aguttes
This is a car with a great story. Alain de Cadenet was an English racing driver (and later pretty awesome TV presenter if you like old cars). He raced at Le Mans 15 times, including with cars of his own design. In 1971, he ran Le Mans in a Ferrari 512M. The next year he tried to buy a Ferrari 312 PB, which the company refused to sell to a privateer, as it was based on their F1 car and thus too extreme for an “amateur.”
So he thought of something else. De Cadenet owned a Brabham BT33 F1 car himself, a car which he entered in two 1971 F1 races for his friend and endurance racing co-driver, Chris Craft. So he asked Brabham if they could turn it into a full-bodied sports racing prototype. Bernie Ecclestone, who had just bought Brabham, pointed de Cadenet to a young designer named Gordon Murray.
Over the course of six weeks, Murray designed this. But it needed a new engine – so de Cadenet went to McLaren and bought Bruce McLaren‘s 1968 Belgian Grand Prix-winning Cosworth DFV (as one does). Then he convinced lubricant manufacturer Duckhams to sponsor the whole ordeal. And by June, they were on the grid at Le Sarthe. The competition history includes:
1972 24 Hours of Le Mans – 12th (with Alain de Cadenet and Chris Craft)
1973 24 Hours of Le Mans – 45th, DNF (with de Cadenet and Craft)
1974 24 Hours of Le Mans – 26th, DNF (with Craft and John Nicholson)
For the ’73 race the car received longtail bodywork by Murray, and in 1974, with de Cadenet sidelined with an injury and the Duckhams sponsorship deal over, the car raced as a de Cadenet LM72. Which is pretty awesome, even if he didn’t get to drive it.
The car was restored in 2002 to how it competed in 1972, including with a 3.0-liter Cosworth V8. In period, it also competed in Interserie and Can-Am events. More recently, it’s been active at the Le Mans Classic. The estimate now is $1,600,000-$2,750,000. Click here for more info.
This is an intriguing one. Zagato has dabbled in microcar design over the years, including with the Zele, which they made about 500 of in the mid-1970s. The weird part here is that the auction catalog lists this as a 1989.
But it sure doesn’t look very 1989. Zagato actually debuted the Milanina concept car at the Milan International Fair in 1972. It is unclear how many were built aside from the prototype. They certainly weren’t still making them in 1989.
It’s an electric car reminiscent of the later Ligier JS4. It’s a mystery, but an interesting one. The estimate is $15,000-$20,000. Click here for more info.
Offered by Oldtimer Galerie Toffen | Toffen, Switzerland | October 16, 2021
Photo – Oldtimer Galerie Toffen
AEBI can trace their roots back to 1883 when Johann Ulrich Aebi set up a workshop to build farming equipment. The company remains Swiss today and continues to produce agricultural equipment.
The company’s first Transporter model was the Tp 1000, and it went on sale sometime around 1960. Approximately 10 years later, that initial model was replaced by this, the TP20. Yes, it’s an agricultural vehicle, but it’s also a truck and has the ability to be road-registered. AEBI continues to build versions of the transporter today.
This truck is powered by a 1.3-liter inline-twin that is air-cooled and made 28 horsepower when new. Apparently this this is geared to that it can hit about 15 mph. Maybe it’s not that road-friendly after all. This one was not registered until it was repainted by a previous owner. It has not been on the road since 2004, and it’s expected to sell for between $4,000-$5,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
Offered by Brightwells | Leominster, U.K. | June 23, 2021
Photo – Brightwells
The Reliant (and later, Middlebridge) Scimitar GTE was a two-door shooting brake wagon/sports car. Initially – in 1964 – there was a two-door Scimitar coupe, but that evolved into the GTE wagon-ish sort of thing in 1968. Production of various models continued through 1990. They were all front-engine and rear-wheel drive.
Except for this one. It still has the same fiberglass body as other Scimitars, but it also has a four-wheel-drive system from FF Developments, a company that worked with developing such systems, including for a Formula One car (via its predecessor company, Ferguson Research).
Power is from a 3.0-liter Ford V6. This car remained with FF Developments until one of the engineers working on it managed to buy it. From there it passed to another owner, eventually ending up in the Jaguar Land Rover collection, cars from which were sold a few years ago (including this one). The current owner bought it then and has brought the thing back to life. It’s now selling at no reserve. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Stoneleigh Park, U.K. | May 22, 2021
Photo – Silverstone Auctions
With the Mexico, Maserati entered a new arena: the four-seat coupe. It’s not a 2+2; you can put actual humans back there. The model was launched in 1966 with styling by Vignale, and 485 were built through 1972.
Two differed engine choices were available, and this car has the larger 4.7-liter V8 (there was also a 4.2 offered beginning in 1969). The 4.7 was rated at 290 horsepower and could push the car to 155 mph.
This car is one of six right-hand-drive 4.7-liter examples (of the 175 fitted with that engine in total). It was to be delivered new to Australia, but the order was canceled and it was actually kept in Italy as a RHD car until 2006. It was restored later in the 2000s and is now expected to bring between $123,000-$137,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
