Tag Archives: corsa

Lancia Delta S4 Group B

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1985 Lancia Delta S4 Corsa Group B

For Sale by Girardo & Co.

Photo – Girardo & Co.

The Lancia Delta is a car closely associated with rallying. The first-generation of the Delta was built from 1979 through 1994, and there were a number of variants of this five-door hatchback, including sporty ones.

The Delta S4 is related to the standard Delta hatchback mostly in name only. It was a mid-engined, all-wheel-drive near-supercar designed with one purpose in mind: to win in Group B rallying, which of course was the pinnacle of rallying when it was introduced in 1982. Group B was a little too extreme, and the FIA dialed back the regulations after 1986.

Power is from a supercharged and turbocharged 1.8-liter inline-four good for 550 horsepower. Sixty arrived in 2.5 seconds. This thing is a beast, even by today’s standards. And don’t forget: they built 200 road-going versions.

This car is chassis #208 and was a works Lancia Martini test car before being sold to a partner team. The car actually wears the Jolly Club team’s ToTip livery and is wrapped in a Martini livery. This is one of the most serious Group B cars, and it can now be yours. Click here for more info.

Molzon Concept Corsa

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1968 Molzon Concept Corsa GT38

Offered by Bonhams | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 18, 2018

Photo – Bonhams

This aggressive-looking one-off was the pride and joy of former General Motors designer William Molzon. Molzon worked at GM under Larry Shinoda and wanted to create a sports car that was designed with both the design and engineering in mind from the get-go.

In 1963 he started his effort. The chassis is light, built using one-inch steel tubing. The engine is a race-modified 2.7-liter flat-six tuned to produce 200 horsepower. The body is fiberglass and it was hand-laid by Molzon over a Styrofoam base. The transmission is from a first-generation Porsche 911.

Weighing in at about 1,100 pounds, it’s about as nimble as things came in the 1960s. And it looks loud too, like it barks (in fact, it almost has a dog-like stance). But few people probably know just how loud it is – this car has only covered 959 since new. Molzon kept the car for 50 years, just recently departing with it earlier this year. Featured in Road & Track in 1970, the Molzon Concept Corsa GT38 should bring between $100,000-$125,000 in Scottsdale 2018. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $41,800.

Maseratis in Monterey

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Maseratis in Monterey

1959 Maserati 3500 GT Spyder by Frua

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 18-19, 2017

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

We did this a few years ago when there was an abundance of Maseratis on offer during the Pebble Beach auction weekend. It turns out there’s quite a few nice examples being offered this year as well. And there’s nowhere near enough time to feature them all.

This is a 3500 GT, a model produced between 1957 and 1964. It was the company’s first successful GT road car and, really, the first successful production car that Maserati launched. It’s powered by a 3.5-liter straight-six making 217 horsepower with the three Weber carburetors as configured in this car. Introduced as a coupe, coachbuilder Frua designed a single convertible to show the company that a Spyder was a good idea.

As good looking as it is, Maserati chose Vignale’s design instead and that car become the series production 3500 Spyder. That makes this a one-off – and one of only five 3500 GT chassis bodied by Frua. The current restoration was freshened in 2000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $605,000.

1956 Maserati A6G/54 Berlinetta by Zagato

Offered by Gooding & Company | Pebble Beach, California | August 18, 2017

Photo – Gooding & Company

This car looks loud… like a muffler-less, high-revving car with a heavy clutch. Sort of like a race car with a road car body. Which is kind of what it is. Maserati’s A6G/54 was a road car based on the A6GCS race car and was available between 1954 and 1956. The’re powered by a 160 horsepower, 2.0-liter straight-six.

The aggressive body here is by Zagato, one of only 21 of this model bodied by the coachbuilder. Of those 21, they are broken down by three different variations on this body style. And they were only built in ’55 and ’56. This example was raced in its day and restored recently with it debuting at the 2014 Villa d’Este. It’s rare and should bring between $4,000,000-$5,000,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Gooding & Company.

Update: Sold $4,400,000.

1968 Maserati Mistral 4000 Spyder by Frua

Offered by Bonhams | Carmel, California | August 18, 2017

Photo – Bonhams

The Mistral was a 2-door Maserati GT car that was built between 1963 and 1970. It replaced the 3500 GT and was replaced by the Ghibli. It’s the perfect 1960s Maserati tourer, a competitor to the likes of the Aston Martin DB6.

Pietro Frua designed the Coupe and the Spyder variants. The Spyders were much rarer, with only 120 built to the Coupe’s 828. There were also three engine choices offered and we’ve already featured a Mistral Spyder with the smallest engine. But the car you see here has the largest: a 4.0-liter straight-six making 265 horsepower. Only 37 of the Spyders were the 4000 model, making it the rarest version of the Mistral.

Restored to as-new condition (with the addition of a second fuel pump), this car has covered 7,000 miles since completion. It is expected to bring between $750,000-$900,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

1964 Maserati 5000 GT Coupe by Michelotti

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 18-19, 2017

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The 5000 GT was an extremely rare Maserati offered in Coupe-only form between 1959 and 1964. It wasn’t even a car the company planned on building: the Shah of Persia liked the 3500 GT but requested Maserati build him one with a modified version of the engine from the 450S race car. So Maserati capitulated, stuffing a 4.9-liter V-8 engine making 325 horsepower under the hood.

Each car was specially built by leading coachbuilders of the day. Designer Giovanni Michelotti built this example for famed American sportsman Briggs Cunningham. Cunningham requested a 5000 GT that resembled the 450S and the result was something that resembled no other 5000 GT (nor any other Maserati). It almost looks like a custom Ferrari of the era.

The restoration dates to the early-1990s. It’s pretty special, and as a one-off version of a production car that only ever saw 33 examples built, it should bring big bucks. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $1,017,500.

Update: Not sold, RM Sotheby’s Monterey 2019.

2007 Maserati MC12 Corsa

Offered by Mecum | Monterey, California | August 16-19, 2017

Photo – Mecum

The MC12 is the coolest Maserati of the last 25 years – easily. The car was designed around the underpinnings of the Ferrari Enzo. But unlike Ferrari, who doesn’t take their halo cars to the track, Maserati’s entire aim with this project was to return to the FIA GT Championship. Production of road cars began in 2004 and they had to homologate 50 of them to go racing, which they did by the end of 2005.

And racing they went. And it was pretty a successful endeavor – or successful enough that some customers demanded their own track version. So after the 50 road cars were built, Maserati constructed 12 “MC12 Corsa” examples that were track-only versions of their supercar. It’s powered by a 6.0-liter V-12 making 745 horsepower – pretty much the same powerplant from the factory-backed MC12 GT1 race car. These cost nearly $1.5 million when new. We’ll see what it brings in a couple of days. Click here for more info and here for more from Mecum.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $1,700,000.

Lancia Epsilon

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1912 Lancia Tipo 58 20/30HP Epsilon Corsa

Offered by Coys | London, U.K. | December 2, 2014

Photo - Coys

Photo – Coys

Lancia models have always had Greek letters for their series names. The Epsilon was an early example of this naming convention. The company was founded in 1906 by Vincenzo Lancia in Turin. The Tipo 58 Epsilon entered production in 1911 and lasted through 1912.

The engine is a 4.1-liter straight-four making 60 horsepower. It was available in four different chassis configurations that offered a wide variety of body styles. In all, only 312 Epsilon chassis were built. Only two are known to exist: this one, and one on permanent display at the Schlumpf Collection.

This was originally built as a race car (as seen)and was actually a Lancia factory entrant at the 1913 Targa Florio. The car was discovered in storage and Lancia finally sold it in 1970. It was then restored and is now considered the oldest functioning Lancia in the world and the only surviving Lancia racing car from this era. It’s pretty impressive and should bring between $235,000-$275,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Coys.

Update: Sold $266,875.

The 9th Ferrari Built

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1948 Ferrari 166 Inter Spyder Corsa

Offered by RM Auctions | Monaco | May 12, 2012

The Ferrari 166 Inter was among the first models produced by the company. This particular example was the ninth Ferrari built – of all models (the sixth 166). It is an extremely early car that is preceded mostly by competition cars. It has a coachbuilt body by Carrozzeria Fontana of Padua, which is near Venice. Only 37 of these cars were built.

The 166 Inter was a competitive model from the get-go, with this car winning the 1949 Italian Hill Climb Championship. Here is a brief (and not in any way complete) rundown of it’s competition history:

  • 1948 Pescara Grand Prix – 2nd (with Count Bruno Sterzi)
  • 1948 Coppo d’Oro – 9th (with Sterzi and Enzo Monari)
  • 1949 Italian Hillclimb Championship – 1st (with Giovanni Bracco)
  • 1949 Mille Miglia – unknown result (with Bracco and Umberto Maglioli)
  • 1949 Grand Prix di San Remo – 6th (with Bracco)
  • 1950 Targa Florio – abandoned (with Giannino Marzotto and Marco Crosara)
  • 1950 Mille Miglia – 9th (with Count Vittorio Marzotto and Paolo Fontana)
  • 1951 Grenzlandring – 2nd (with Franco Comotti)
  • 1951 Grand Prix di Modena – 6th (with Frolian Gonzalez)
  • 1955 Targa Florio – unknown result (with Francesco Matrullo)

This car was entered in many other races and hillclimbs with various other drivers. The body that is on the car now was introduced to the car in 1950 by the then-owners, the Marzottos. The ‘722’ on the door was first given to the car for the 1950 Mille Miglia, when it was driven by the car’s owner and the designer of the car’s body.

The engine had been swapped and upgraded over the years, but when the car was discovered in Rome in 1970, a 190 horsepower V-12 166 engine was pulled from an ex-Marzotto Ferrari Formula 2 car and installed when it was restored in 1977. It was restored again, with the final pieces being finished in 2012, including a “preservation” of the 1950 Fontana body.

This is a storied example of the early days of Ferrari. It’s fresh and eligible for just about any historic event you wish to partake in. The pre-sale estimate is €1.100.000 – €1.800.000 or $1,440,000-$2,350,000. For the complete catalog description, with a more in depth history, click here. And for more on RM in Monaco, click here.

Update: sold $1,307,950.

Abarth TC Race Car

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1967 Fiat Abarth TC Berlina Corsa

Offered by Bonhams, Scottsdale, Arizona, January 19, 2012

This is the ultimate hot-hatch – with the exception that the rear hatch is in the always-open position and beneath it is a 1050cc Abarth four-cylinder engine making about 110 horsepower. This car could take down much bigger and more powerful cars. That much power pushing this little weight makes for an incredibly tossable and fun race car.

And this car is race ready. Buy it and go. That little Abarth scorpion logo is good for a few seconds off your lap time. This car was discovered rotting in a backyard in California in 1997 and period-correct Abarth parts were sourced in order to complete the rebuild.

Bonhams’ pre-sale estimate is $50,000-$70,000. More info here with more on the sale here.

Update: Sold $46,800.

Update: Sold, Bonhams Monterey sale 2012, $30,475.

Update: Sold, RM Arizona 2014, $46,750.

Update: Sold, Bonhams Scottsdale 2019, $16,800.