Tag Archives: 1999

Riley & Scott Mk III

Posted on by
Reply

1999 Riley & Scott Mk III Series 2

Offered by Bring a Trailer | December 2024

Photo – Bring a Trailer

Riley & Scott: Bob Riley and Mark Scott founded their racing car constructor in 1990. They sold out in 1999 to Reynard, who went bankrupt in 2001. Bob Riley resurfaced that same year with Riley Technologies.

Mk III: debuted in 1995 and was the most famous (of only a few) products the company would offer. Iterations of the Mk III would race through 2005. Just 17 of the original Mk III were built from 1995 through 1998. Just four Series 2 cars were built in 1999 before being replaced by the Mk III C.

This car: was acquired new by AutoExe Motorsport in Japan. It’s currently powered by a 6.0-liter Ford V8. The race history for this chassis is below, but after a 1999 Fuji Speedway crash, the car was rebuilt in-house by AutoExe with the goal of being at Le Mans in 2000 as the AutoExe LMP99. That didn’t happen. It later made its way to the U.S., where it is now being offered.

Competition history: (chassis LMP-021)

  • 1999 12 Hours of Sebring – 35th (with Yojiro Terada and Franck Freon)
  • 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans – 40th, DNF (with Terada, Freon, and Robin Donovan)
  • 1999 1000km Fuji – DNF (with Terada, Freon, and Kaichi Satou)

Quattroporte Evoluzione

Posted on by
Reply

1999 Maserati Quattroporte Evoluzione

Offered by Historics Auctioneers | Bicester, U.K. | September 23, 2023

Photo – Historics Auctioneers

The Quattroporte nameplate has been around with Maserati since the early 1960s. Each generation looked completely unlike the last, and the Marcello Gandini-styled fourth generation went on sale in 1994. It was angular and boxy, which was Maserati’s styling theme for the ’90s.

Maserati was also not a major volume player during the decade, even though they had been recently taken over by Fiat prior to this car launching. In 1997, Ferrari took a 50% stake in Maserati and helped them freshen up, which is where the Quattroporte Evoluzione came from. Power is provided by a twin-turbocharged 3.2-liter V8 good for 330 horsepower. Two V6s were also offered.

Production ended in 2001, with just 2,400 examples built, and only 730 of those were Evoluzione cars. They are quite rare and have also aged very well. This right-hand-drive example has an estimate of $16,000-$22,000. More info can be found here.

Update: Sold $19,932.

Panoz LMP-1 Roadster S

Posted on by
Reply

1999 Panoz LMP-1 Roadster S

Offered by Bonhams | Carmel, California | August 18, 2023

Photo – Bonhams

The insane front-engined Panoz Esperante GTR-1 put Panoz on the map, and once that class was eliminated from FIA GT competition, Panoz re-tooled and came up with the LMP-1 Roadster S. Then they also founded the ALMS so they had somewhere to race it in the U.S.

It looks like an open-cockpit GTR-1, and it kind of is. They were powered by a 6.0-liter Ford-based Elan V8 that made 620 horsepower. This particular car is without an engine. It is chassis #002, and its competition history includes:

  • 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans – 11th (with Johnny O’Connell, Jan Magnussen, and Max Angelelli)
  • 1999 Petit Le Mans – 5th (with O’Connell, Magnussen, and Memo Gidley)

Those are some grade A late-90s/early-00s endurance racing names. These Panoz prototypes are LOUD – you know, when they have an engine. And this one would be welcome at most historic racing events. It has an estimate of $350,000-$550,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $428,500.

Marcos Mantaray

Posted on by
Reply

1999 Marcos Mantaray 4.6

Offered by Historics Auctioneers | Datchet, U.K. | July 22, 2023

Photo – Historics Auctioneers

It’s kind of amazing Marcos was still turning out sports cars in the late 1990s. They were like a smaller version of already-small TVR. Founded in 1959, the company really hit their stride in the late ’60s – and that basic design would continue on in updated form for the next 30 years.

The Mantaray was the replacement for the Mantara and went on sale in 1997. Two Rover V8s were offered, with the larger being the 4.6-liter unit this car has. Turbo fours could also be had. Just seven were built with this engine out of a total production run of about 27 cars.

This big-motor sports car has been with the current owner since 2005. It’s got under 15,000 miles and also has an estimate of $19,000-$25,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $21,961.

Diablo VT Roadster

Posted on by
1

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.

TVR Tuscan Challenge

Posted on by
Reply

1999 TVR Tuscan Challenge

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Silverstone, U.K. | August 26-27, 2022

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

The first TVR Tuscan was a car built in the 1960s. It was essentially a V8- (or V6)-powered version of the Grantura. The name was reused on the somehow more-wild Tuscan Speed Six of 1999-2006. In the intervening years, a Tuscan Challenge one-marque racing series took place.

Beginning in 1989, the Tuscan Challenge spec race car ran in a single-make series put on by TVR. The last season was around 2006. The cars resembled the early-1990s Griffith and Chimaera but actually debuted before either car. It’s somewhat unclear how many race cars were built in 1989 and later updated and modified, or how many they continued to build new over the next decade. This one was built new by TVR in 1999.

It’s powered by a either a 4.4-liter or 4.5-liter V8. Race wins for this chassis totaled four in the 1999 season and three the following year in which it took second in the championship. It now has an estimate of $79,000-$91,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

Williams FW21

Posted on by
Reply

1999 Williams-Supertec FW21

Offered by Bonhams | Monaco | May 13, 2022

Photo – Bonhams

Coming off of back-to-back CART championships, Alex Zanardi was on quite the hot streak going in to 1999. Williams, who won the constructor title in F1 in 1997, was also a hot commodity. But the pairing of the two never really led to anything. Zanardi drove just one season for Williams, 1999, finishing only six of 16 races.

It wasn’t all the car. Teammate Ralf Schumacher had three podiums and finished in the top five 11 times. The FW21 was powered by a year-old Renault 3.0-liter V10 that was branded “Supertec” after Renault pulled out of F1 at the end of 1998. The competition history for this chassis (#05) consists of (all with Zanardi):

  • 1999 San Marino Grand Prix – 11th
  • 1999 Monaco Grand Prix – 8th
  • 1999 Spanish Grand Prix – 19th, DNF
  • 1999 Canadian Grand Prix – 12th, DNF
  • 1999 French Grand Prix – 14th, DNF
  • 1999 British Grand Prix – 11th
  • 1999 Austrian Grand Prix – 19th, DNF
  • 1999 German Grand Prix – 14th, DNF
  • 1999 Hungarian Grand Prix – 22nd, DNF
  • 1999 Belgian Grand Prix – 8th
  • 1999 Italian Grand Prix – 7th
  • 1999 European Grand Prix – 19th, DNF
  • 1999 Malaysian Grand Prix – 10th
  • 1999 Japanese Grand Prix – 24th, DNF

It’s unclear the history of the car after that race in Japan, but it’s being offered as “last raced.” The pre-sale estimate is $110,000-$165,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $443,352.

Prost F1

Posted on by
Reply

1999 Prost-Peugeot AP02

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Le Castellet, France | November 19, 2021

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Alain Prost won four Formula One World Championships before tossing his hat into the F1 ownership ring. He purchased the Ligier F1 team in 1997, just before the season started, and rebranded it Prost Grand Prix. The following year, the team secured a deal to be supplied with factory Peugeot engines.

The AP02 was 1999’s car, and it was powered by a 3.0-liter Peugeot V10 making about 785 horsepower and revving to 17,000 rpm (!). The team had a decent 1997 season, a poor 1998 season, and an okay 1999 season. Things went south quickly thereafter, and it was all over after the 2001 season. The assets of Prost (and Arrows engines) were bought by a group called Phoenix Finance, but they never made it to the grid.

The competition for this chassis, 03, included:

  • 1999 Australian Grand Prix – 15th, DNF (with Olivier Panis)
  • 1999 Brazilian Grand Prix – 6th (with Panis)
  • 1999 San Marino Grand Prix – 13th, DNF (with Panis)
  • 1999 Monaco Grand Prix – 13th, DNF (with Panis)

It was used as a test car after that. It now wears the team’s 2000 paint scheme and 2001 sponsor livery. The engine is not currently installed, but is included, along with the gearbox. You can read more about it here and see more from this collection here.

Update: Sold $195,332.

Chimaera 4.5

Posted on by
Reply

1999 TVR Chimaera 4.5

Offered by Brightwells | Online | December 10, 2020

Photo – Brightwells

The Chimaera was TVR’s “tourer.” It was intended for long-distance cruising and was sold between 1992 and 2003. Now, TVRs don’t have the world’s greatest reputation for reliability (so take “long-distance” with a grain of salt), but the intent was still there. Also, who cares. TVRs are awesome. And this one has over 90,000 miles, so take that, reliability skeptics.

There were a number of different power levels of Chimaera offered. We’ve featured a 4.0-liter example previously, and this one is two steps up. The 4.5 is powered by a 4.5-liter Rover V8 rated at 285 horsepower. Top speed was supposed to be 160 mph.

All Chimaeras were drop-tops, and only one model was slotted in above the 4.5. This example is finished in Canyon Red over Biscuit leather. It is expected to sell for between $13,500-$16,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $14,903

Shelby Series I Prototype

Posted on by
Reply

1999 Shelby Series I Prototype

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Phoenix, Arizona | January 17, 2020

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The Shelby Series 1 was a legitimate, home-grown American sports car. It was the first Shelby-branded car to start from a clean-sheet design. They managed to produce just 249 examples – all in 1999.

Power is from a 4.0-liter Oldsmobile Aurora V8. That may sound lame, but remember that engine was also the basis for Olds’ Indy car engine around this time. Power in the Series 1 production cars was rated at 320 horsepower, and a top speed of 170 mph was reported.

This is actually a pre-production prototype and demonstration car. A couple of these prototypes were built. Later on, after the Series 1 program went bust, a Series II was introduced, but never advanced beyond the prototype stage. At no reserve, this car is expected to fetch $120,000-$150,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $91,840.

Update: Sold, Mecum Indy 2020, $115,500.