Tag Archives: eagle

American Eagle Touring

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1911 American Eagle Touring

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 11-12, 2018

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

There were a lot of car companies before 1920 that had the word “American” as part of their name. There was American, who was famous for their Underslung models, and then there were European marques like Austin, Fiat, and De Dion-Bouton, who all had American arms and thus named them separately.

What we have here is a one-off car built in 1911 by Martin Burzynski of Detroit, Michigan. He never wanted to produce cars and never even bothered setting up a company to do so. Instead, Burzynski had a patent on an aluminum-sidewalled tire with spring-loaded canvas and rubber treads. This car was built as a test vehicle for those tires.

Ultimately unsuccessful, this car only saw about 200 miles through the mid-1940s. It features a 60hp Wisconsin straight-six and a bunch of other off-the-shelf parts from other manufacturers. Perhaps the most interesting bit is that three of the original aluminum tires are included. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $242,000.

1972 AAR Eagle

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1972 AAR Eagle 7200

Offered by Motostalgia | Indianapolis, Indiana | June 12, 2015

Photo - Motostalgia

Photo – Motostalgia

Dan Gurney’s All American Racers (AAR) built some amazing Indy cars an F1 racers back in the day. This STP-liveried Indy Car looks amazing – and it’s not just the paint job. It represents classic Indy style. To borrow the old cliché, It looks like it’s going 200 mph just sitting there.

The engine is a turbocharged 2.6-liter Drake-Offenhauser straight-four making 750 horsepower. That is more than today’s Indy Cars. This particular car notched three wins with Wally Dallenbach in 1973 and it’s Indy history includes:

  • 1973 Indy 500 – 16th (with Graham McRae)
  • 1974 Indy 500 – 13th, DNF (with Bill Simpson)
  • 1975 Indy 500 – DNQ (with George Follmer)
  • 1976 Indy 500 – 23rd (with Billy Scott)
  • 1977 Indy 500 – DNQ (with John Martin)
  • 1978 Indy 500 – DNQ (with John Martin)
  • 1979 Indy 500 – DNQ (with Billy Scott)

Interestingly, this was also the very car that Roger Mears made his Indy Car debut in, finishing 6th at California in 1978. In total, 29 of these 7200s were built. This one has been completely restored and has been on display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum and the Riverside International Automotive Museum. It sold at an RM sale last August for $341,000 and is offered now with an estimate between $375,000-$435,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

AAR-Toyota Mk II GTP

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1990 AAR-Toyota Eagle HF89

Offered by Gooding & Company | Amelia Island, Florida | March 13, 2015

Photo - Gooding & Company

Photo – Gooding & Company

Last year we featured another AAR-Toyota Eagle IMSA GTP car but from 1992. This was a predecessor to that car. Dan Gurney’s All American Racers (AAR), which dates back to the 1960s, was tasked with taking Toyota to the top in IMSA in the late 1980s.

This car goes by a couple of names. Sometimes it’s referred to as the Eagle Mk II GTP and sometimes it goes by HF89 (for aerodynamicist Hiro Fujimori). And other times, because this car was built in 1990, it is called an HF90. The driver for most of this car’s competition history was Juan Manuel Fangio II. It won five races and was the first Toyota GTP car to top the podium.

It’s powered by a 680 horsepower turbocharged 2.1-liter straight-four. That is a lot of power from such a tiny engine, so it probably sounds insane. It’s probably also a lot of fun (if you’re experienced) and terrifying if you aren’t. This be-winged early-90s prototype racer can be yours for between $450,000-$550,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

S/N: 89T004

Update: Sold $660,000.

Update: Not sold, RM Sotheby’s Amelia Island 2019

AAR-Toyota Eagle GTP

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1992 AAR-Toyota Eagle Mk III GTP

Offered by Gooding & Company | Pebble Beach, California | August 15-17, 2014

Photo - Gooding & Company

Photo – Gooding & Company

We’ve featured some of Dan Gurney’s Eagles – mostly open-wheel cars. Well here is a GTP prototype AAR Eagle. It’s powered by a turbocharged Toyota 2.1-liter straight-four making 700-750 horsepower, depending on configuration. AAR and Toyota teamed up in the 80s for sports car racing and the Eagle Mk III dominated the 1992 IMSA GTP season. Between 1991 and 1993, they won 21 of 27 races. This is chassis #004 and its major wins are:

  • 1992 12 Hours of Sebring – 1st (with Juan Manuel Fangio II and Andy Wallace)
  • 1993 12 Hours of Sebring – 1st (with Fangio II and Wallace)

It also had 12 other victories and has been owned by Fangio II since it stopped racing. It is being offered for sale for the first time and should sell for between $700,000-$1,000,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $1,045,000.

Prototype Race Cars in Monterey

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Prototype Race Car Rundown

Offered during the Pebble Beach auction weekend | August 15-17, 2014

1995 Kremer-Porsche 962 K8 Spyder

Offered by Mecum

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

The K8 was an evolution of the Porsche 962. Porsche withdrew from the 1995 24 Hours of Daytona due to last minute rule changes. The Kremer brothers of Germany had been producing Porsche race cars since 1962 and they entered this “K8 Spyder” – which had been a Porsche 962 in a previous life. It uses a twin turbo 3.0-liter flat-six and only four were built. This car won the 1995 24 Hours of Daytona with drivers Jurgen Lassig, Christophe Bouchut, Giovanni Lavaggi, and Marco Werner. It also raced at Sebring and Le Mans that year without victory. It maintains its race-winning livery today. It should sell for between $900,000-$1,500,000. Click here for more.

Update: Sold $930,000.

1992 AAR-Toyota Eagle Mk III GTP

Offered by Gooding & Company

Photo - Gooding & Company

Photo – Gooding & Company

We’ve featured some of Dan Gurney’s Eagles – mostly open-wheel cars. Well here is a GTP prototype AAR Eagle. It’s powered by a turbocharged Toyota 2.1-liter straight-four making 700-750 horsepower, depending on configuration. AAR and Toyota teamed up in the 80s for sports car racing and the Eagle Mk III dominated the 1992 IMSA GTP season. Between 1991 and 1993, they won 21 of 27 races. This is chassis #004 and its major wins are:

  • 1992 12 Hours of Sebring – 1st (with Juan Manuel Fangio II and Andy Wallace)
  • 1993 12 Hours of Sebring – 1st (with Fangio II and Wallace)

It also had 12 other victories and has been owned by Fangio II since it stopped racing. It is being offered for sale for the first time and should sell for between $700,000-$1,000,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $1,045,000.

1984 Lola-Mazda T616

Offered by Russo & Steele

Photo - Russo & Steele

Photo – Russo & Steele

The Lola T600 was new for the Group C category in 1981. For 1984, it was updated to the T616. They teamed with BF Goodrich racing and Mazda to run these cars for the 1984 season. Russo & Steele is also offering the sister car for sale, too. The engine is a 300 horsepower 1.3-liter twin-rotor Wankel. Here’s a brief rundown of its competition highlights:

  • 1984 24 Hours of Daytona – 31st (with Jim Busby, Rick Knoop and Boy Hayje)
  • 1984 1000km Monza – 1st in class (with Busby and Knoop)
  • 1984 24 Hours of Le Mans – 12th, 1st in class (with Busby, Knoop and Hayje)
  • 1984 1000km Nurburgring – 2nd in class (with Busby and Peter Halsmer)
  • 1984 1000km Fuji – 3rd in class (with Busby and Halsmer)

The pair of cars were stored after 1984 until original drivers Knoop and Busby found them and restored them. You can buy them now and read more here (and check out the rest of Russo & Steele’s lineup here).

Update: Sold $132,000.

1998 Ferrari 333 SP

Offered by RM Auctions

Photo - RM Auctions

Photo – RM Auctions

The 333 SP is an interesting Ferrari. The Scuderia hadn’t gone sports prototype racing in a long time and with this car, they kind of still didn’t. Dallara designed the chassis (and built nine of the cars) and Ferrari never fielded a factory effort with the cars, instead selling them to privateers so they could campaign them.

The engine is a 4.0-liter V-12 making 650 horsepower. This is the most-successful 333 SP built, with the following achievements:

  • 1998 24 Hours of Daytona – 1st (with Arie Luyendyk, Mauro Baldi, Giampiero Moretti and Didier Theys)
  • 1998 12 Hours of Sebring – 1st (with Theys, Moretti and Baldi)
  • 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans – 14th (with Theys, Moretti and Baldi)

The car still has its MOMO livery (MOMO being the company Daytona winner Giampiero Moretti founded). It is one of 40 ultimately built (Ferrari built five in addition to Dallara’s nine. Michelotto built the rest). RM didn’t publish an estimate, but you can read more here.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $3,400,000.

 1970 Porsche 908/03 Spyder

Offered by Bonhams

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

The Porsche 908 was their prototype racer from 1968 through 1971. It replaced the 907 and preceded the 936. It’s basically a little wedge with two Batmobile-like fins out back. The engine is a 3.0-liter flat-eight making about 370 horsepower. It could top out around 180 mph. The /03 was the third evolution of the 908 and was made for 1970 and 1971 only. This car was never raced, instead used for extensive testing by the Porsche factory team. It is one of 13 908/03s built. This car, chassis #002, should sell for between $1,800,000-$2,300,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

AAR Eagle-Santa Ana

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1969 AAR Eagle-Santa Ana

Offered by RM Auctions |  Monterey, California | August 15-17, 2014

Photo - RM Auctions

Photo – RM Auctions

Here’s the last open-wheel car we’ll feature from Monterey. This car comes from AAR, Dan Gurney’s All American Racers. It was their car for 1969 and it uses a 5.2-liter Ford V-8. AAR built four of them, three of which raced at the Indy 500 that year. This one did not, although Gurney did run it in practice. The only racing this car has ever done is on the historic circuit and it has been in the same ownership for nearly a quarter of a century. It can be yours for between $125,000-$175,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $104,500.

An American F1 Car

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1966 AAR Gurney-Weslake Eagle Mk I

Offered by Gooding & Company | Monterey, California | August 17-18, 2013

AAR Gurney-Weslake Eagle Mk I

Dan Gurney is one of America’s best historical driving talents. He is one of few Americans to win a Formula One race – along with winning just about everything else imaginable in just about every kind of car. In the early 1960s he raced for a few teams but always wanted to race – and win with – a car that he designed himself.

With a little help from Carroll Shelby, Gurney secured funding to start his own race team in California: All American Racers (AAR). Their original goal was to build an Indy 500 winner but he also wanted to build an F1 car. He developed the cars simultaneously – the Ealge Mk I was intended for F1 and the Mk II for USAC. For engines, Gurney looked to Weslake in Britain who supplied him with a 3.0-liter V-12 that made 390 horsepower at 10,500 rpm.

This car was the second Mk I chassis built (the first chassis used a reliable but out-dated four-cylinder Coventry-Climax engine as the Weslake wasn’t yet available) and its race history consists of:

  • 1966 Italian Grand Prix – 17th, DNF (with Dan Gurney)
  • 1966 United States Grand Prix (at Watkins Glen) – 18th, DNF (with Gurney)
  • 1966 Mexican Grand Prix – 15th, DNF (with Bob Bondurant)
  • 1967 Brands Hatch International Race of Champions – 1st (with Gurney)
  • 1967 Monaco Grand Prix – DNQ (with Richie Ginther)
  • 1967 French Grand Prix – 11th, DNF (with Bruce McLaren)
  • 1967 British Grand Prix – 18th, DNF (with McLaren)
  • 1967 German Grand Prix – 22nd, DNF (with McLaren)

As you can see, this car suffered from a host of reliability problems. None of those DNFs were crash-related. Every one was a mechanical failure, with the exception of Gurney’s blistering win at Brands Hatch (which was not a Formula One-sanctioned race). Gurney would win an F1 race in one of his Eagles, just not this one.

After the ’67 season, AAR focused solely on USAC and this car was sold. It bounced between owners and continents and has been used in many historic events – including the Goodwood hillclimb with Gurney himself at the wheel.

It may not have been successful, but it is a beautiful Formula One car. The color, the big engine and that beak at the front of it – incredible. No pre-sale estimate is available but you can read more here and see the rest of Gooding’s lineup here.

Update: Sold $3,740,000

S/N: AAR 102