Didn’t know this one existed. There were quite a few Diablo variants, but roadster models were only available as a VT. Or were they? This is one of apparently two SV roadsters built, which means it is one of only two rear-wheel-drive Diablo roadsters (the VTs had four-wheel drive).
The SV featured a power bump over the standard Diablo. It’s 5.7-liter V12 was rated at 510 horsepower, which was more than the base car or VT. This one is finished in bright yellow with black graphics that makes it impossible to mistake what it is. The color-coordinated wheels and rear wing are a nice touch.
The car is offered as part of Sotheby’s “sealed” program, which is just another weird venue to purchase a car. Unclear why it is being offered that way. But who knows. No estimate is available, but you can read more about it here.
Offered by H&H Classics | Duxford, U.K. | October 20, 2022
Photo – H&H Classics
The Elise is one of the most vaunted cars to be produced by Lotus… ever. The Series 1 launched in 1996 and remained in production until 2001. It was never sold in the United States (the Series 2 was). It was a light car – just under 1,600 pounds – with a fiberglass body and an aluminum chassis. It’s pretty much the direct descendent of the Lotus Seven.
The base model was powered by a mid-mounted 118-horsepower, 1.8-liter Rover inline-four. A five-speed manual was the only gearbox option, and all cars featured a targa roof. This car has small hidden upgrades, like S2 suspension and upholstery.
These cars are very active track day participants and are still used regularly. So whether or not they have officially become collectable is debatable, but I think these early cars are just on the cusp of it. This one has 28,000 miles, and that mileage is likely to be kept very low by future owners. It should sell for between $27,000-$29,000. Click here for more info.
Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Lincolnshire, Illinois | October 29, 2022
1996 Lola T96/00
Photo – RM Sotheby’s
We’ve talked about the Newman/Haas sale before (but we may have forgotten to say what a shame it is). Anyway, let’s jump into the cars. This is the era. The black Havoline/Kmart-liveried Michael Andretti cars. The pinnacle of CART.
This car, chassis HU 14, is a Lola T96 (we’ve featured a T95 before). It is currently without an engine, but in period had a Ford-Cosworth V8. The competition history here includes:
1996 Milwaukee Mile – 1st (with Michael Andretti)
1996 Road America – 1st (with Andretti)
1996 Molson Indy Vancouver – 1st (with Andretti)
Michael also used it in five other races that year on his way to second in the championship. It’s being sold without reserve. Click here for more info.
Update: Sold $70,000.
1997 Swift 007.i
Photo – RM Sotheby’s
For the 1997 season of the CART PPG World Series (man, remember those TV graphics?), Newman/Haas switched from Lola to Swift as a chassis manufacturer. Swift Engineering is based in Southern California and supplied chassis to Newman/Haas for a few years.
This 007.i would’ve been originally powered by a Ford-Cosworth V8 but is currently sans motor. The team used six examples of the 007.i in the ’97 season, four of which are in this sale at no reserve. Competition history for this one, #005, includes:
1997 Surfers Paradise – 3rd (with Michael Andretti)
1997 Gateway – 11th (with Andretti)
1997 Mid-Ohio – 8th (with Andretti)
1997 Molson Indy Vancouver – 18th (with Andretti)
He also used it in two other races that year. It’s now selling at no reserve. Click here for more info.
Update: Sold $53,200.
1998 Swift 009.c
Photo – RM Sotheby’s
Newman/Haas continued with Swift into the 1998 season, which saw drivers Michael Andretti and Christian Fittipaldi doing most of the driving. This chassis, #004, would’ve been originally equipped with a Ford/Cosworth V8, but it is currently just a roller.
This car competed in seven of the season’s 19 races, including:
1998 Rio 400k – 5th (with Michael Andretti)
1998 Michigan – 6th (with Andretti)
1998 Road America – 18th (with Andretti)
It’s selling at no reserve. Click here for more info.
Update: Sold $39,200.
2000 Lola B2K/00
Photo – RM Sotheby’s
So I know I said “cars of the late-1990s” but 1. we’ve already featured Newman/Haas’s 1999 entry, the Swift 010.c and 2. 2000 was very much a part of the late 1990s.
The team switched back to Lola chassis for the 2000 season after a few years with Swift. They still employed both Michael Andretti and Christian Fittipaldi this year. Their engine supplier was Ford/Cosworth, with an XF V8. This car has no engine at the moment.
This car, chassis HU 07, competed in 12 of 20 races that year, including:
2000 Homestead-Miami – 7th (with Christian Fittipaldi)
Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 18-20, 2022
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
This was Ferrari’s 1998 F1 contender. It was very similar to 1997’s F310B, which itself was an evolution of 1996’s F310. The main differences between 1998 and 1997 were a narrower track and redesigned sidepods.
Ferrari supplied their own 3.0-liter V10, which made about 805 horsepower in this application. The season’s drivers were Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine, and the competition history for this particular chassis, 187, includes:
1998 Canadian Grand Prix – 1st (with Michael Schumacher)
1998 French Grand Prix – 1st (with Schumacher)
1998 British Grand Prix – 1st (with Schumacher)
1998 Italian Grand Prix – 1st (with Schumacher)
Not bad. Unfortunately, Mika Hakkinen’s McLaren was still too strong, and Schumacher ended up second in the World Championship. Ferrari also took second place in the constructors race. Ferrari sold this car late the following year to a private owner.
Race-winning cars from former world champions are hard to come by, especially with their engines intact. The price reflects it here: the estimate is $6,000,000-$8,000,000. Click here for more info.
Offered by Oldtimer Galerie | Toffen, Switzerland | March 26, 2022
Photo – Oldtimer Galerie
Mega is a French brand of microcar. In the past they built “regular-size” vehicles and even a supercar. The brand is controlled by Aixam, a major manufacturer in the realm of European city cars. Aixam-Mega offers a number of vehicles currently.
The Club was produced through the 90s, about 1992 through 1999. This particular car is powered by a 1.4-liter inline-four good for 75 horsepower. It’s got four-wheel drive, composite bodywork, a removable roof and doors, and some Citroen AX-based underpinnings.
I have no idea how many of these were built, and good luck Googling “mega club” and getting any relevant results. The pre-sale estimate is $6,000-$7,000. Click here for more info.
Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Birmingham, U.K. | November 13, 2021
Photo – Silverstone Auctions
Silverstone calls this the “holy grail” of STis, and they aren’t really wrong. The 22B is one of those legendary hot Japanese cars of the 1990s, even though it’s a lot less famous than a Supra or a Skyline GT-R.
The 22B was born out of Subaru’s World Rally success, as it started out as a WRX STi turned into a widebody coupe with the addition of flared fenders. Engine size increased, and the turbocharged 2.2-liter flat-four produced 276 horsepower. An adjustable wing pulled straight from the WRC car was added out back. The car was built to celebrate Subaru’s 40th anniversary and their third straight WRC championship
In all, just 426 were built, 16 of which were delivered new to customers in the U.K. This one was first owned by the guy who developed the Colin McRae rally video games, and it now has less than 16,000 miles. The pre-sale estimate is $315,000-$385,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
Giancarlo Minardi’s Formula One team first appeared on the grid in 1985. In their first 46 races, the team saw at least one car running at the finish only eight times. While they were more reliable in later years, they weren’t much more successful. The team’s best finish was fourth, which happened three times. But they did have a pretty loyal fanbase. The team lasted through the 2005 season, and their new owners rebranded the team as Toro Rosso for 2006.
The M198 was their chassis for the 1998 season, which saw drivers Shinji Nakano and Esteban Tuero on the team. This chassis was the first one built, and it is powered by a 3.0-liter Ford Zetec-R V10 that made about 710 horsepower. The competition history for this chassis includes:
1998 Australian Grand Prix – 16th, DNF (with Shinji Nakano)
1998 Brazilian Grand Prix – 21st, DNF (with Nakano)
1998 Argentine Grand Prix – 13th (with Nakano)
After that, the car was refinished in the team’s 1999 livery and used as a show car. It still wears that scheme today. Since 2011, the car has been restored and used at events. It’s now for sale with an asking price of about $579,000. Click here for more info.
Offered by Brightwells | Leominster, U.K. | March 17-April 1, 2021
Photo – Brightwells
“I want a Jaguar Mark II but I don’t want it to be an unreliable nightmare. Also, I want it to be a hatchback and look like a crappy hatchback, from the side.” Well then do I have the car for you. The Viewt is the car that put Mitsuoka on the map. It’s basically a re-worked Nissan Micra (or March) that is supposed to look like a Jaguar Mark II from the front.
This first-gen example is based on the 1992-2003 K11 generation of the Nissan Micra. Most Viewts were four-door sedans, but it looks like someone convinced them to tack their front end on a hatchback. Power is from a 1.0-liter inline-four that produced 54 horsepower when new.
The Viewt is technically still in production but on an updated Nissan platform. Over 12,000 have been produced thus far, a very small percentage of which I believe to be two-doors. This relatively low-mile example should sell for between $4,000-$7,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
The Turbo R is based on the 933-generation of the Porsche 911, which was produced between 1994 and 1998. The 993 was the last air-cooled variant of the 911. And it’s Turbo model was a beast. That’s where the Turbo R gets it start.
Ruf took the 993 Turbo’s twin-turbocharged 3.6-liter flat-six and tweaked it to put out 490 horsepower (about 88 more than stock). It also got a revised suspension and a Ruf body kit and wheels. An integrated roll cage was helpful if things went wrong on the way to the Turbo R’s 204-mph top speed. This example has all-wheel drive.
The Turbo R was only produced in 1998, and just 14 were built. A 993 Turbo S can bring upwards of $300,000. This should easily sail into that range. You can read more about it here and see more from this sale here.
Offered by Aguttes | Sochaux, France | September 20, 2020
Photo – Aguttes
At first, I thought that, after PSA’s acquisition of Opel, the company was shedding itself of part of its heritage collection. Brightwells is selling off part of Vauxhall’s heritage collection, and now we have this sale of Citroen and Peugeot prototypes and old cars, all from Peugeot’sMuseee de l’Aventure. That collection houses over 450 vehicles, with just 130 on display. So it appears that they are just thinning the herd.
We’ve actually featured one of Sbarro’s Berlingo-based creations before. This is another. Whatever is under the hood is not stated, but it’s almost certainly an inline-four of between 1.4 and 2.0 liters in displacement.
This prototype is described as a leisure vehicle for windsurfers. Which is a very specific demographic. The interior is bizarre, it has no roof, and it has no doors. Remember when companies made concept cars with no relevant production details? This car carries a pre-sale estimate of $16,500-$21,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
