430 Scuderia

2008 Ferrari 430 Scuderia

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | Online | December 2024

Photo – Bring a Trailer

Ferrari’s F430 was the follow up to the 360 Modena. The Modena had a limited-edition track-focused variant called the Challenge Stradale, and for the F430 generation, that track-focused car was called the 430 Scuderia. That’s right, they dropped the “F” for some reason.

In Scuderia trim, the 4.3-liter V8 makes 503 horsepower, which is 20 more than the standard F430. It was offered for 2008 and 2009 only and even spawned a convertible variant, the even-more-expensive Scuderia Spider 16M.

This car has 26,000 miles and a paddle-shifted gearbox. It is finished in Bianco Avus with black stripes and gold wheels. This bidding on the car is already up to $200,000 at the time of this writing, and there are still a few days to go. Click here for more info.

Lotus Europa S

2008 Lotus Europa S

Offered by H&H Classics | Duxford, U.K. | June 14, 2023

Photo – H&H Classics

The original Lotus Europa was a mid-engined GT car from the 1960s and ’70s. Lotus revived the name for a two-seat coupe in 2006. It was sort of a replacement for the Esprit, but was not sold in the U.S. Think of it as a more friendly Elise that bridged the time gap between the Esprit and the Evora.

Power is from a turbocharged 2.0-liter GM inline-four that made 197 horsepower. Mounted behind the passenger compartment, the engine was paired with a six-speed manual gearbox. The base car was the Europa S. An SE trim was also offered, and this one was so backdated by the factory. That added a revised turbo and other engine tweaks that boosted output to 222 horsepower.

Between 2006 and 2010, just 458 examples of the Europa S were produced. This right-hand-drive example has almost 23,000 miles and has a presale estimate of $30,000-$35,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $31,823.

Saleen S7-R

2008 Saleen S7-R

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Le Mans, France | June 9, 2023

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Boutique supercar manufacturers sometimes (and rightly so) feel the need to prove their cars at the track. It doesn’t happen all that often anymore, as the cost of entry with a halfway-decent GT-class entry at Le Mans is usually prohibitive for start ups. But that didn’t stop companies like Lister, Spyker, Saleen, and others from giving it a go.

Saleen’s S7 was sold between 2000 and 2009. The racing variant, the S7-R (and not the S7 LM, which is a re-launched road car) was produced until about 2008. Initial cars were built by Ray Mallock Ltd before Saleen took over production, with the final prep work being done by Oreca. This is the final of 23 example built, and it is powered by a 7.0-liter V8 that made 600-760 horsepower depending on the state of tune.

The competition history for this chassis,082, includes:

  • 2009 1000km Nurburgring – 23rd, 1st in class (with Roland Berville, Sebastien Dumez, Laurent Groppi)
  • 2010 1000km Spa – 31st (with Gabriele Gardel, Patrice Goueslard, and Fernando Rees)
  • 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans – 13th, 1st in class (with Berville, Gardel, and Julien Canal)

After that, the car remained with its campaigner: French racing team Larbre Competition. And that’s who is selling it. You can read more about it here.

Update: Sold $1,421,287.

Ginetta G50

2008 Ginetta G50

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Coventry, U.K. | February 24, 2023

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

Ginetta Cars has been around since 1958, and since that time the company has produced all manner of road and racing cars, with an emphasis in the last decade or two on the racing side of the business. The G50 was developed as a GT4 class racing car and was produced from 2008 through 2014.

Developed in less than six months, the G50 was eligible for a one-make series and was also competitive in the British GT Championship. Power is from a 3.5-liter V6 sourced from Ford, and it developed between 300 and 355 horsepower depending on spec and the tune.

This one has all the stuff you’d need to go racing, including air jacks, a carbon-fiber rear wing, a fire-suppression system, and two sets of wheels. The current owner bought this car just to learn to drive at Spa, but never got the chance. Now it can be yours, likely for between $30,000-$36,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

Alfa 8C Competizione

2008 Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | May 5, 2022

Photo – Bring a Trailer Auctions

Alfa Romeo may not be crushing it in the U.S. right now, but this car is proof that they can still put out some stunners, despite what the sales numbers show. To be fair, in this car’s case, they only built 500 of them, with orders for almost triple that.

Styling was done in-house at Alfa and was supposed to invoke the company’s classic models of the 1950s and ’60s. It’s a success. It took its name from the 1930s 8C, Alfa’s pre-war masterpiece. The car is powered by a Ferrari/Maserati 4.7-liter V8 that was rated at 444 horsepower. And it sounds amazing.

Colors were all over the board, but most appear to have been finished in red. It still looks good in black, and pretty much any other color you could lather it in. Bidding is already at $175,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $351,000.

ETV Coupe

2008 ETV Coupe

Offered by Bonhams | Bicester, U.K. | March 20, 2021

Photo – Bonhams

ETV is an acronym for Extra-Terrestrial Vehicle, and this car was built by Mike Vetter of MTV Concepts in some altered state of mind, somewhere in the US. It looks like something from Minority Report.

It has batwing-style doors, two a 2+2 seating arrangement, and some wild styling. The big scoops behind the doors are a little misleading because this thing is front-engined. That’s right, a 1.6-liter inline-four from a Chevrolet Aveo is stuffed up front under the dashboard.

I have no idea what is in back or how you even get to the tiny rear seats. The photos aren’t much help. Apparently it has front and rear parking cameras and an air ride suspension – neither of which work because it’s been on museum display for some time.

A quick search will return a few photos of the ETV in different colors, which would lead you to believe there are a couple of them out there. This one is expected to sell for between $11,000-$17,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Withdrawn.

Gumpert Apollo

2008 Gumpert Apollo

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Paris, France | February 13, 2021

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Roland Gumpert previously worked for Audi Sport and founded his own company in Germany in 2004. The next year the company launched the Apollo supercar. Production would continue until Gumpert’s bankruptcy in 2013. In 2016, the remnants of the company were acquired by a business out of Hong Kong that also owns the rights to the De Tomaso brand. Apollo Automobil (the new company) can offer parts assistance for exiting Apollos and are working on their own new models.

The Apollo is powered by an Audi-sourced twin-turbocharged 4.2-liter V8 rated at 641 horsepower. This was the base model, and it would do 223 mph and 60 in 3.1 seconds. Two more-powerful variants were also offered. This particular car was used as a factory demonstrator and was sold new in Italy. At a 2013 track day at Monza, it experienced a rear-wheel hub failure and crashed into the pit wall. Unfortunately this coincided with Gumpert’s bankruptcy, so the car was unable to be repaired at that time.

But once Apollo Automobil sprang up, a complete overhaul (RM calls it a “restoration”) was performed, wrapping in 2017. This is the 20th Apollo built, although I have no idea how many were built in total (it’s at least 40). You can see more about this one here, and more from RM here.

Update: Not sold.

Toyota TF108 Roller

2008 Toyota TF108

Offered by Bonhams | Paris, France | February 6, 2020

Photo – Bonhams

Toyota competed as a constructor in Formula One between 2002 and 2009. And it did not go well. Despite dumping an untold fortune into the endeavor, they never won a race. They finished second five times, however, including once in 2008 using a TF108 chassis.

Not this chassis, though, because it is an engine-less show car. It was the fifth TF108 chassis built and, had it been a race car, it would’ve been powered by a 2.4-liter V8. Toyota’s 2008 drivers were Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli.

This show car is from Toyota’s penultimate year in F1 and would be a cool piece in any collection. It would also make for a great simulator base. It is expected to fetch between $67,000-$89,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $90,823.

Spyker C8 Laviolette

2008 Spyker C8 Laviolette

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Paris, France | February 5, 2020

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

A silver Spyker with an orange leather interior. Yep. I’ll take two. The Laviolette version of Spyker’s C8 was introduced in 2001, a year after the original Spyder was released. What differentiated the cars were their roofs.

The Laviolette features a fixed roof with a built-in air intake to feed the rear-mounted 4.2-liter Audi V8. Power was rated at 395 horsepower. The original short-wheelbase Laviolette was produced up until 2009, and this is one of the final examples of the model.

It was also an ex-factory demonstrator. With three owners since new, including Spyker themselves, this one will hopefully find a new home at RM’s Paris sale. More info can be found here, and more from this sale is available here. Also, just because it is so damned pretty, the interior of this car:

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Update: Sold $267,386.

Tramontana GT

2008 Tramontana GT

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 3-13, 2019

Photo – Mecum

This car is proof of two things. First, that it actually exists, as it certainly falls into the category of cars whose actual production seems dubious at best. But here it is! And second, it’s proof that marketing departments write Wikipedia pages (I know, I’ve been a part of a team doing it). Why? Well, the contradictory Wiki article for Tramontana says they built 12 of these per year. Mecum says this is one of eight built, which sounds much more accurate.

The Tramontana was built in Spain and debuted at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show. Production started in 2007, and this is a 2008 GT model. There were later R and XTR variants. Production has wrapped and they’ve moved on to another model altogether (supposedly).

When I first saw this I thought it was a kit car based on a 4-wheeler, probably powered by a turbo four or even an LS V8. But no, this incredibly ridiculous car featuring two seats – one behind the other – is powered by a twin-turbocharged 5.5-liter V12…! The styling is supposed to be a combo of F1 car and jet fighter, and it sort of succeeds in that endeavor. I just hope that the car has been wrapped and that is not the actual paint job.

Performance numbers are absolutely supercar territory –  888 horsepower propels it to 60 mph in 2.8 seconds on the way to a 217 mph top end. It’s a legitimate, badass, low-run supercar from Spain, though I’m not sure about its road-legality in the U.S. (might be a “Show and Display” car). It deserves big bucks at Mecum next month. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $185,000.