Lancia Delta S4 Group B

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.

Lancia Montecarlo Group V

1981 Lancia Montecarlo Turbo Group V

For Sale by Girardo & Co.

Photo – Girardo & Co.

The Lancia Beta was a front-engine, front-wheel-drive coupe introduced in 1972. Lancia really switched things up in 1974 with the Beta Montecarlo, a rear-engined, rear-wheel-drive coupe or targa. It shared very little with other Betas, and by 1980 they dropped the “Beta” part of the name, and it was thereafter known as just the Montecarlo. The targa model was sold as the Scorpion in the U.S. in 1976 and 1977.

The Montecarlo Turbo was a racing variant built to compete in the FIA’s Group 5 class. This silhouette race car shared the road car’s center body section and engine block, and that’s about it. Power is from an Abarth-sourced turbocharged 1.4-liter inline-four that was good for 460 horsepower.

The specific competition history for this chassis is not clear, but the program was a success overall, leading Lancia to continue on with the LC1 and LC2 prototype racers. You can read more about this car here.

Lancia LC1

1982 Lancia LC1

For Sale by Girardo & Co.

Photo – Girardo & Co.

This car is the predecessor of the Lancia LC2 we features last week. It debuted in 1982 to contest the World Endurance Championship, which was held under the FIA’s Group 6 regulations.

The chassis for this car was designed by built by Dallara (by Mr. Dallara himself at that). It wears a Kevlar and carbon body and is powered by a turbocharged 1.4-liter Lancia-Abarth inline-four capable of 450 horsepower.

Only four examples of the LC1 were built. The competition history for this car, chassis #2, includes:

  • 1982 1000km Nurburgring – 1st (with Teo Fabi, Michele Alboreto, and Riccardo Patrese)
  • 1982 24 Hours of Le Mans – 36th, DNF (with Fabi, Alboreto, and Rolf Stommelen)

That Nurburgring victory was the highlight for the entire LC1 program, and the car is now presented in its original Martini livery. You can read more about it here.

Lancia LC2

1983 Lancia LC2

For Sale at Girardo & Co

Photo – Girardo & Co.

The World Sportscar Championship produced some pretty awesome race cars in the 1980s, including this, the Lancia LC2. Group C was where all the big dogs played during this era. The LC2 was Lancia’s factory-backed entry between 1983 and 1986.

The fun part about this car is that it is actually Ferrari-powered. It’s got a twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V8 that can be boosted to over 800 horsepower. Group C cars are not for the faint of heart. Only seven LC2s were built, six of which wore a factory Martini livery like this one. The competition history for this chassis, which was the first one built, includes:

  • 1983 24 Hours of Le Mans – 34th, DNF (with Alessandro Nannini, Paolo Barilla, and Jean-Claude Andruet

This is the LC2 that later spent time in the Blackhawk Museum. It’s now available by Girardo & Co. with a price available upon request. You can read more about it here.

December 2019 Auction Highlights

Not a lot of action in December, but Mecum did wrap up a sale in Kansas City that saw this 2005 Ford GT sell for $247,500. Gotta love it when the consignor of this car couldn’t be bothered to provide halfway decent photos (these are extremely pixelated). Hopefully, the car fared better during that ownership than the pictures show.

Photo – Mecum

The Graham Series 97 we featured sold for $22,550. More results can be found here.

Bonhams’ Bond Street sale saw the Alfa Romeo we featured fail to sell, though the 550 GTZ Barchetta brought $769,393. The overall top sale was $3,167,224 for this 1961 Aston Martin DB4GT Lightweight. Complete results can be found here.

Photo – Bonhams

Into 2020 we go with Mecum’s Kissimmee sale. No surprises here that the top sale was the Bullitt Mustang for $3,740,000. The Duesenberg we featured from this sale sold for $522,500. Not too far behind that was the Dodge Charger Daytona that sold for $346,500. I think we have to award Most Interesting to the 1968 Challenger 2 land-speed record streamliner that sold for $561,000.

Photo – Mecum

The Chrysler Prowler we featured sold for $27,500. The L88 Corvette did not sell. Complete results can be found here.

BH Auction had its first sale of 2020 in January, and the Lotus 88B we featured is still available. The top sale was this 1987 Ferrari F187 that sold for $1,717,578. More results are available here.

Photo – BH Auction

Finally, we have Bonhams in Scottsdale, where the top reported sale was a Ferrari we featured a while back, a 1951 212 Inter Cabriolet for $1,930,000. Leading the way among our feature cars was the 1901 Winton at $142,800. This 1955 Lancia Aurelia B24S Spider America brought $810,000 and is awarded Most Interesting, mostly because it’s beautiful in this color.

Photo – Bonhams

The other Winton brought $140,000, and the Boyer and a previously-featured Kurtis failed to sell. More results from this sale can be viewed here.

Vignale Aurelia B52 Spider

1953 Lancia Aurelia B52 Spider by Vignale

For sale by Girardo & Co.

Photo – Girardo & Co.

The Aurelia is a very historic nameplate in Lancia’s past, yet it was produced in fairly limited numbers between 1950 and 1958. Only 18,201 were built in total across all body styles. They revised the chassis over the years during the various series of Aurelias built.

The B50 was the less-pedestrian version, and they make up a very small percentage of Aurelia production. Offered as a bare chassis to coachbuilders, B50s would turn up with some fantastic coachwork. In 1952, Lancia updated the chassis to B52 specification, and they built 98 examples through 1953.

Power is provided by a 1.8-liter V6 – the Aurelia was the first mass-produced car with a V6. This example was bodied by Vignale and debuted at the Brussels Motor Show, where it may have caught the eye of the Belgian royal family…

It remained in Belgium through 2007 and was later restored to its motor show stand-livery. It was shown at Villa d’Este in 2016 where let’s be honest, a car like this absolutely belongs. This right-hand drive example is one of 12 B52s built in 1953. You can read more about it here.

Lancia 037 Group B

1983 Lancia 037 Rally Group B

For Sale at Girardo & Co.

Photo – Girardo & Co.

Lancia, though a shell of its former self, has produced some cool cars over the years. Perhaps none more so than the 037 (yes, I include the Stratos in that assessment). The car was essentially a purpose-built rally car meant to dominate Group B – but the company had to build road cars in order to satisfy the FIA’s homologation requirement.

So Lancia built 207 of the road cars. Requirement satisfied. And then they dominated Group B, winning the 1983 WRC constructor’s title. It also won three consecutive European Rally Championships (’83-’85). The 037 holds the distinction of being the last rear-wheel-drive car to win the World Rally Championship.

Power is provided by a mid-mounted, supercharged 2.1-liter inline-four that makes 325 horsepower. This car has such a great, hunkered-down look. And check out photos from the rear. You can almost hear it barking. A competition car from birth, the race history for this chassis includes:

  • 1983 Targa Florio – 2nd (with Carlo Capone)
  • 1983 Rally Sanremo – DNF (with Andrea Zanussi)
  • 1984 Rally Sanremo – 4th (with Fabrizio Tabaton)

This car competed in WRC events (the last two above), as well as other rounds of the European Rally Championship. It competed with multiple different teams and wore a few different racing liveries over the years. The Olio Fiat livery it wears today has been there since 1984. Oh, and this car is currently road registered in Monaco, so there’s that added bit of insanity.

A note on these cars… it would appear that Girardo & Co. is the world expert in the Lancia 037. A quick browse of their “sold” history shows three (!) 037 rally cars and four road cars. I think the only people to have sold more 037s was Lancia themselves. So I guess you can’t go wrong here. You can check out more on this car here.

April 2019 Auction Highlights

We’re already in April, and we start as we often do: with a leftover from the month before. In this case, it is Leclere-MDV’s sale. We didn’t get to feature anything, but the top sale ended up being this 1989 Porsche 911 Speedster for $248,014. Click here for more results.

Photo – Leclere-MDV

And on into April we move, with Mecum’s Houston sale. This 2014 Ferrari F12berlinetta brought the most money: $203,500. More results are available here.

Photo – Mecum

The top seller at Bonhams’ Goodwood sale was this 1964 Aston Martin DB5 that has been updated to Vantage spec. It sold for $832,103.

Photo – Bonhams

Feature cars that failed to find new homes included the Miller Shooting Brake, the Bristol 403, the Larrousse F1 car, and the Trumbull cyclecar. Those that sold were led by the Columbia Electric Phaeton, which sold for $76,661, while the Adams Two-Seater brought $22,547. Click here for complete results.

Onward to Brightwells’ Bicester sale. No feature cars here, unfortunately, but this 1924 Lancia Lambda Series 3 was the top seller at $146,522. More results can be found here for a time.

Photo – H&H Classics

Finally, we remain in Europe and move to Germany for the RM Sotheby’s Techno Classica sale in Essen. A few no-sales to get out of the way: the Italdesign Zerouno and the Wendler Mercedes. The #1 seller was $2,542,848 paid for this 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Cabriolet A by Sindelfingen.

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Sales included a previously-featured Morgan Aero SuperSports for $99,853 as well as the Voisin for $310,103 and the Monteverdi sedan for $197,113. Click here for everything else.

October 2018 Auction Highlights, Pt. II

We’re starting off our second October auction rundown with one of Bonhams’ most interesting sales of the year: their sale at the Simeone Foundation Museum in Philadelphia. Even with a bunch of weird old classics on hand, the top sale was still a 1970 Ferrari 365 GT 2+2 for $215,040.

Photo – Bonhams

The Paige Daytona Speedster we featured sold for $84,000 and the Breese Paris Roadster $78,400. Click here for more results.

H&H Classics held a sale in October, and the Honda S800 we featured sold for $17,615. The overall top seller – by a very wide margin – was this 1929 Bentley 4.5-Litre Le Mans-style Tourer for $1,115,638. Click here for final results.

Photo – H&H Classics

Next up, Leclere-MDV in Paris. We featured an Alpine A110 1300 S that sold for a strong $105,158. The overall top sale was $286,795 for this 1990 Lancia Delta HF rally car and full results can be found here.

Photo – Leclere-MDV

Onward to Osenat’s Automobiles de Collection sale where the Matra Murena we featured failed to find a new home. The catalog here was on the smaller side and the top sale was this 1972 Land Rover Range Rover for $45,067. Click here for more results.

Photo – Osenat

Finally, we stay in Europe for Brightwells’ Bicester Classic & Vintage sale. The Frazer Nash we featured ended up being the top seller, bringing $265,436. That means we get to award Most Interesting. We’d like to hand that to a Soviet SA-6 SAM missile that was included for some reason but will stick with cars, particularly this 1934 Humber Sniper 80 Golfer’s Coupe that brought $41,609. Click here for all of the results from this sale.

Photo – Brightwells

October 2017 Auction Highlights, Pt. III

October was a busy month. This is our third results rundown and we start with Barrett-Jackson in Las Vegas. There wasn’t any time to feature anything from this sale, but the biggest money went to this 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder for $1,760,000. Click here for more results.

Photo – Barrett-Jackson

Across the ocean we go to our next sale, Osenat in France. We didn’t get to feature anything, but the top sale was this 1968 Lancia Flaminia Coupe for $97,518. Click here to see the rest of their lots.

Photo – Osenat

Let’s stay in France for Leclere’s Parisian motorcars sale. Again, we lacked a feature car here but the biggest money went to this 1982 Renault 5 Turbo privateer rally car for $197,358. The rest of their sales can be found here.

Photo – Leclere

Brightwell’s Bicester Classic & Vintage Cars sale was held in October and we were able to feature three cars from this one. Of those three, the Autovia sedan brought the most at $98,463. The top sale overall was $160,167 for this 1976 Ferrari 308 GTB.

Photo – Brightwells

The Friswell we featured sold for $31,508 and the Calthorpe beat its estimate, bringing $27,569. Everything else can be found here.

And finally, Bonhams in Padua, Italy. Our lone feature car, the Abarth Monomille GT, sold for $120,111. The top sale overall? This 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster for $1,040,968. Click here for complete results.

Photo – Bonhams