Tag Archives: auctions

CLK GTR GT1

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1997 Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR GT1

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | March 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

This is, ostensibly, the racing variant of Mercedes’ C208 CLK-Class. Except that the true racing variant of the C208 was the CLK DTM. The GTR was an entirely different animal, sharing just the “CLK” name and a loose interpretation of the front grille and headlights. The CLK GTR was so extreme that it had to be homologated as its own thing, of which 20 road-going coupes and six roadsters were built. They were the most expensive new cars in the world when they were sold in the late ’90s/early ’00s.

The racing versions were pretty special as well. Initially campaigned in the 1997 FIA GT Championship, the cars proved somewhat successful and were replaced by the CLK LM by the 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans and later by the doomed CLR for 1999.

Power is provided by a 6.0-liter V12 that made 600 horsepower, and the competition history for this chassis (004) includes:

  • 1997 FIA GT 4 Hours of Nurburgring – 1st (with Bernd Schneider and Klaus Ludwig)
  • 1997 FIA GT 4 Hours of Spa – 2nd (with Schneider and Alexander Wurz)
  • 1997 FIA GT 1000km Suzuka – 7th (with Schneider, Wurz, and Aguri Suzuki)
  • 1997 FIA GT 3 Hours of Sebring – 1st (with Schneider and Ludwig)

It was sold by Mercedes-Benz to its current and only private owner in 2015. It’s a pretty big deal from a golden era of GT racing – this car competed against McLaren F1 GTRs and Porsche 911 GT1s, etc. The action closes on this one in two days. Find out more here.

March-Alfa Romeo

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1990 March-Alfa Romeo 90CA

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Coral Gables, Florida | March 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

March Engineering built their first CART open-wheel race car in 1981 after being around Formula One since 1970. The 1990 90CA would be their last chassis to compete at Indianapolis. Only three 90CA chassis were built.

Two of them were powered by Alfa Romeo engines for that year’s 500. It was a turbocharged 2.65-liter V8 that made about 700 horsepower. The competition history for this car, 90CA-001, includes:

  • 1990 Indianapolis 500 – 13th (with Al Unser)

For the rest of the season the car was campaigned by Roberto Guerrero in various races, also for Patrick Racing. This car represents the last time either March or Alfa Romeo competed at Indy. And it was driven by one of the best ever at the Speedway. The estimate here is $80,000-$120,000. Click here for more info.

Ferrari 365 California

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1967 Ferrari 365 California

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Coral Gables, Florida | March 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Here’s one of very few classic Ferraris we haven’t been able to feature in the last… 13 years! And there’s a good reason for that: there aren’t many of them. The 365 line of cars replaced the 330 line as well as the 500 Superfast. The 365 California was the first in the line, and it was the direct replacement for the Superfast. The later 365 GT 2+2 would replace the 330 GT 2+2 and be much more common.

The California rode on the 500 Superfast chassis and wore bodywork by Pininfarina. Power was from an enlarged version of the 330 GT’s V12 that now displaced 4.4 liters and made 320 horsepower. Just 14 were produced.

This one was sold new in California and has been with its current owner since 2006. They do not change hands often, and when they do they command a premium. The estimate here is $4,000,000-$4,500,000. Click here for more info.

Countach 5000 QV

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1988 Lamborghini Countach 5000 QV

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Coral Gables, Florida | March 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Here’s another Countach. This one is the followup to the LP500 S, and it’s called the 5000 QV, for quattrovalvole. Produced from 1985 until 1988, it was the last Countach variant to really stick mostly to the original styling before Horacio Pagani updated it for 25th Anniversary Edition duty. 610 were built.

Yes, the 5000 QV was boxier than the original LP 400. It had big wheel arch flares, impact bumpers for the U.S. market, and the big V-shaped rear wing, which was optional. There was also an optional front wing… which is one of the most insane ’80s automotive touches there was.

Power is from a 5.2-liter V12 with four valves per cylinder (hence the “QV”) that made 414 horsepower in U.S.-market trim with Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection. This car has been converted to European-spec, with six downdraft Weber carburetors. When new, cars equipped like this made 449 horsepower. This car was first titled in 2018 and has less than 1,000 miles. It also has an estimate of $850,000-$950,000. More info can be found here.

Group A Peugeot 309 GTi

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1987 Peugeot 309 GTi 16V Group A

Offered by Iconic Auctioneers | Stoneleigh Park, U.K. | February 2024

Photo – Iconic Auctioneers

The 309 was a boxy, boring small three- or five-door hatchback sold by Peugeot between 1985 and 1994. The French have a long history of making the most of boring cars, and Peugeot did that here, selling a GTi version, which was a hot-ish hatch.

The road car shared its powertrain with the 205 GTi, one of France’s best hot hatches. It had a 1.9-liter inline-four making 158 horsepower. Not bad. This car was built in 1988 as a Group A rally car for the British Rally Championship. Peugeot then ran the car themselves for 1989 and 1990.

Come 1991, the Peugeot team boss wanted to showcase a young driver, future WRC champion Richard Burns, and entered him in the WRC RAC Rally, where he and his co-driver finished 16th as the top two-wheel-drive car.

The car remained in storage with Peugeot until 1998, at which point it was sold to a privateer. Burns found out about the car and acquired it for his own collection. Now it’s being sold from said collection with an estimate of $88,000-$100,000. More info can be found here.

6C 2300 B Turismo Cabriolet

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1937 Alfa Romeo 6C 2300 B Turismo Cabriolet by Pinin Farina

Offered by Gooding & Company | Amelia Island, Florida | February/March 2024

Photo – Gooding & Company

Alfa’s 6C 2300 model was short lived compared to the 2500 model that followed. It was in produced from 1934 through 1938. In that time, the company turned out just 760 examples, with the “B” variants coming into the line in 1935.

These 2300 B variants still used the same 2.3-liter DOHC inline-six that produced 70 horsepower on this single-carburetor unit. This long-chassis Turismo model wears one-off coachwork by Pinin Farina.

The car was later on display at the 1938 International Motor Show in Berlin and then spent decades in Switzerland and later France and Italy. It is one of 81 Turismo cars built between 1936 and 1937, and it was restored in the 1990s. The estimate here is $900,000-$1,200,000. Click here for more info.

Chevron B31

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1975 Chevron B31

Offered by Iconic Auctioneers | Stoneleigh Park, U.K. | February 2024

Photo – Iconic Auctioneers

Chevron‘s B31 was a sports prototype race car that initially competed in the 1975 European 2-Litre Championship. It was an evolution of the 1973 B26 and was actually entered in high-level competition through 1990. Which is an insanely long time to keep a race car around.

This car previously was fitted with a Cosworth DFV but has since been taken back to its as-designed 2.0-liter Hart DOHC inline-four that was rated at 290 horsepower. It has a Hewland five-speed manual gearbox and fiberglass body work.

It is the fifth of six B31s built in 1975. It has a Martini livery and won a historic championship in 2013. It now has an estimate of $125,000-$150,000. Click here for more info.

Niclausse Landaulette

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1907 Niclausse Type S Landaulette by Binder

Offered by Gooding & Company | Amelia Island, Florida | February/March 2024

Photo – Gooding & Company

Here’s another Niclausse. Like the one we featured a week ago, this car is coming out of the Mullin collection and was acquired by them in 2007 from the family of the original Spanish owners. It was the 247th car registered in Barcelona.

The Type S is powered by a 2.4-liter inline-four rated at 12/16 taxable horsepower. This is another Binder-bodied car. Potentially a double order for the original owning family, with this being the city car and the big tourer being for the country.

For a collection so well known for its extravagant coachbuilt French classics from the 1930s, the Niclausse – a pair of them at that – seems like such an unlikely thing to be shown side by side. But I guess if you have a line on two one-owner, unrestored almost-unheard-of brass-era cars, you grab them. This one has an estimate of $50,000-$75,000. Click here for more info.

Countach LP400 S

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1981 Lamborghini Countach LP400 S

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Coral Gables, Florida | March 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The first Lamborghini Countach was the LP400, which was produced from 1974 through 1978. These were the cleanest of all of the models – the sleekest. Beginning in 1978, the LP400 S was the only Countach you could buy, and it had fiberglass wheel arch extensions and an optional V-shaped rear wing.

The 3.9-liter V12 carried over but lost some oomph, producing 350 horsepower, which was down 20 from the earlier model. The LP400 S was produced in three series until 1982, with this car here being a Series II model. That means it had a lower ride height and smooth-face concave wheels. 105 Series II cars were built, making it the most common LP400 variant.

Just 237 LP400 S cars were built in total. This one has had five owners and was refreshed in 2022. It now has an estimate of $700,000-$800,000. Click here for more info.

NSX-R

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1996 Honda NSX-R

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Coral Gables, Florida | March 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The Honda NSX, sold in the U.S. as an Acura, went on sale for the 1991 model year. It famously had Ayrton Senna as one of its development drivers. It didn’t take long for Honda to want to up the ante a bit over the standard road car.

One year, to be exact, before they brought out the NSX-R, a hardcore version of the NSX. Weight was the name of the game, and they stripped 265 pounds out of the car via the sound deadening, A/C, stereo, and traction control. It got a competition suspension, a revised final drive ratio, and a balanced crankshaft.

Otherwise, the 3.0-liter V6 was unchanged. In manual-transmission setup it made 270 horsepower. Production ended in late 1995, with this being among the last of the 483 units built. All were badged as Hondas, and none were sold new in the U.S. This car has less than 12,000 miles and has an estimate of $450,000-$550,000. Click here for more info.