Tag Archives: race cars

Mario Andretti’s Hawk-Ford

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1965 Brawner Hawk-Ford Indy Car

Offered by Mecum | Indianapolis, Indiana | May 13-21, 2022

Photo – Mecum

Clint Brawner was a race car designer and mechanic who worked on the front-engined Indy roadsters before he built this, the rear-engined Hawk. Hawks were all over the American open-wheel grid from 1965 into the early 1970s.

This particular car is powered by a 4.2-liter Ford DOHC V8 with Hilborn fuel injection paired with a two-speed Halibrand gearbox. It carries the Dean Van Lines Special livery that Mario Andretti ran in his rookie year at the Indy 500. The competition history for this chassis includes:

  • 1965 Indianapolis 500 – 3rd (with Andretti)
  • 1965 Hoosier GP at IRP – 1st (with Andretti)
  • 1966 Indianapolis 500 – 18th, DNF (with Andretti, from pole)

That ’65 win at Indianapolis Raceway Park was Mario’s first Indy Car victory. He won a total of nine races in this car as well as the 1965 and 1966 USAC Champ Car championships. It’s being offered out of Ray Evernham’s personal collection. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $2,200,000.

Snowberger-Offy

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1956 Snowberger-Offenhauser

Offered by Mecum | Indianapolis, Indiana | May 13-21, 2022

Photo – Mecum

Russ Snowberger competed in 15 Indianapolis 500s as a driver between 1928 and 1947 with one pole position and a best finish of fifth (two years in a row). He was the king of the “junk formula” that debuted in the 1930s that required stock-ish engine blocks.

He built and entered some of his own cars, including this Hupmobile-powered roadster. After his career as a driver ended, he became the chief mechanic for the Federal Engineering racing team based in Detroit. This lasted until 1961 and included prepping this Federal Engineering Detroit Special in 1956.

The chassis is based on a Kurtis 500C, and it’s powered by a 4.2-liter Offenhauser inline-four. No specific competition history is listed, but it was driven in period by Tony Bettenhausen, George Amick, Billy Garrett, and Tom Pistone. It’s currently owned by Ray Evernham, who is thinning his collection a bit at Mecum in Indy. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $220,000.

Williams FW21

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1999 Williams-Supertec FW21

Offered by Bonhams | Monaco | May 13, 2022

Photo – Bonhams

Coming off of back-to-back CART championships, Alex Zanardi was on quite the hot streak going in to 1999. Williams, who won the constructor title in F1 in 1997, was also a hot commodity. But the pairing of the two never really led to anything. Zanardi drove just one season for Williams, 1999, finishing only six of 16 races.

It wasn’t all the car. Teammate Ralf Schumacher had three podiums and finished in the top five 11 times. The FW21 was powered by a year-old Renault 3.0-liter V10 that was branded “Supertec” after Renault pulled out of F1 at the end of 1998. The competition history for this chassis (#05) consists of (all with Zanardi):

  • 1999 San Marino Grand Prix – 11th
  • 1999 Monaco Grand Prix – 8th
  • 1999 Spanish Grand Prix – 19th, DNF
  • 1999 Canadian Grand Prix – 12th, DNF
  • 1999 French Grand Prix – 14th, DNF
  • 1999 British Grand Prix – 11th
  • 1999 Austrian Grand Prix – 19th, DNF
  • 1999 German Grand Prix – 14th, DNF
  • 1999 Hungarian Grand Prix – 22nd, DNF
  • 1999 Belgian Grand Prix – 8th
  • 1999 Italian Grand Prix – 7th
  • 1999 European Grand Prix – 19th, DNF
  • 1999 Malaysian Grand Prix – 10th
  • 1999 Japanese Grand Prix – 24th, DNF

It’s unclear the history of the car after that race in Japan, but it’s being offered as “last raced.” The pre-sale estimate is $110,000-$165,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $443,352.

Grand Prix Masters Reynard

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2005 Reynard-Cosworth 2KI

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monaco | May 14, 2022

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Grand Prix Masters was a short-lived racing series intended for retired Formula One drivers to compete in what were essentially re-bodied Champ Cars. The series held one race in its first “season” in 2005 and two the following year. All of the cars were Reynard 2KI chassis.

They featured a Cosworth-derived 3.5-liter V8 that made more than 650 horsepower (the engine was actually built by Nicholson McLaren). This particular chassis is owned by Nigel Mansell, who actually won two of the three races ever contested in the series in this car. The complete Grand Prix Masters competition history for this chassis includes (all with Mansell):

  • 2005 Kyalami South Africa – 1st
  • 2006 Losail Qatar – 1st
  • 2006 Silverstone England – 15th, DNF

So, pretty dominant. Although with that DNF, it allowed Eddie Cheever to technically win the championship. Since then, the car has been on display, so it needs a mechanical freshening. It’s being sold at no reserve. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $60,614.

Gordini Type 18S

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1950 Gordini Type 18S

Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | March 18, 2022

Photo – Artcurial

Amedee Gordini started out as a tuner, mostly of Renault products. He eventually got his company into both motorsports (there was a Formula One team at one point) and into sports car production. All of this before Renault acquired the company in 1968.

This Type 18S is one of two produced, and it is powered by the only supercharged Gordini engine, which is a 1.5-liter inline-four. Output was rated somewhere around 175 horsepower. This Simca-based factory race car had the following competition history:

  • 1950 24 Hours of Le Mans – 41st, DNF (with Juan Manuel Fangio and Jose Froilan Gonzalez)

Other famed names to have raced this car in period include Jean Behra and Maurice Trintignant during a competition period that lasted through 1958. The car now has an estimate of $875,000-$1,750,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $1,124,566.

Bandini Siluro

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1953 Bandini 750 Sport Siluro

Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | March 18, 2022

Photo – Artcurial

The Siluro: the most famous of all Bandini models. The cars were produced in 1100 and 750cc form, the former between 1947 and 1949, and the latter between 1950 and 1956. The 750cc Siluro won multiple SCCA championships and saw racing success on both sides of the Atlantic.

The 747cc inline-four was a modified Crosley unit capable of pushing out 71 horsepower. Bodywork varied car to car, but it followed general trends over the years. For example, 1953 cars received fenders that blended into the body in lieu of more cycle-style fenders or cars that were fender-less altogether.

This car arrived in the U.S. prior to 1957 after having raced in Italy. It later returned to Italy where it was acquired by the Bandini family and restored. It’s been a part of three historic Mille Miglias and now carries an estimate of $285,000-$400,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Guyot Grand Prix

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1925 Guyot Special GS25

Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | March 18, 2022

Photo – Artcurial

Albert Guyot was an early gearhead. By 1905 he ran a Gladiator and Delage garage in France and later turned to driving race cars. He competed in five Indianapolis 500s between 1913 and 1926, with four top 10 finishes, the highest being third in 1914.

He also ran races in European Grands Prix. He drove a Duesenberg in the 1921 French Grand Prix. Rolland-Pilain hired him the next year to design their Grand Prix car. After that, he started designing his own car, the GS25, seen here. It appeared for the 1925 season. It’s powered by a supercharged 2.0-liter inline-six that featured a valve-less aluminum design. Horsepower was rated at 125.

The competition history for this car includes:

  • 1925 Italian Grand Prix – 14th, DNF (with Guyot)

After that, it entered in Formula Libre events, remaining in competition until 1948. A restoration happened circa 1980, with mechanical freshening happening more recently. This one-off Grand Prix car carries an estimate of $420,000-$535,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Bandini 750 Saponetta

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1957 Bandini 750 Sport Internazionale Saponetta

Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | March 18, 2022

Photo – Artcurial

Ilario Bandini’s little car company was founded in 1946 and was pretty popular in the 1950s, taking SCCA class championships in the middle of the decade. They built a number of models over the years, some as late as the 1990s, and it seems that very few were all that similar.

This particular car features a streamlined body and similar mechanicals to the company’s 750 Siluros. The engine is a 747cc inline-four that made 68 horsepower when new. A total of nine Bandini Saponettas were built. The competition history for this chassis includes:

  • 1957 Mille Miglia – DNF (with Carlo Camisotti and Giovanni Sintoni)

Bandini himself campaigned this car for years thereafter, selling it in the late 1960s. It was restored in the late 1990s/early 2000s and has been used in the Mille Miglia Storica. It now carries an estimate of $675,000-$1,000,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $707,815.

Ginetta G55 GT4

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2016 Ginetta G55 GT4 SuperCup

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Hendon, U.K. | March 5, 2022

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

Ginetta is interesting. They’ve been around since the 1950s and have produced all manner of road and sports racing cars. But even the racing cars, especially the ones back in the day, were either prototype-ish or could double as road cars.

But not this. The G55, which looks like a two-door sports car that has been fitted with a track package, is actually a purpose-built race car. There is no road-car variant. Based on the G50, it was introduced in 2011 and is built to FIA GT3 specs. They also compete in a one-mark racing series, the Ginetta GT Supercup. The GT4 version, shown here, is destined for the Supercup and not GT3 racing.

While this car was built in 2016, it has been updated to 2022 spec. The GT4 version is powered by a 3.7-liter Ford V6 making 355 horsepower. It’s a race-winning car that comes with a spares package. The pre-sale estimate hasn’t been release, but you can read more about it here. Check out more from this sale here.

Update: Not sold.

March 881

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1988 March-Judd 881

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Hendon, U.K. | March 5-6, 2022

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

The March Racing Team was founded in 1969 and appeared on its first F1 grid the following year. They took a few breaks over the years, returning to F1 in 1987 after a four-year absence. For 1988 they had a young new designer on staff. That guy was Adrian Newey, and this was the first Formula One car he designed.

The team was branded as Leyton House March Racing for 1988 (they would race under the Leyton House Racing name in 1990 and 1991 before the March name returned for the team’s final year in ’92). The car features a naturally aspirated 3.5-liter Judd V8. The complete race history for this chassis is not known, but the team’s drivers were Mauricio Gugelmin and Ivan Capelli, the latter of whom is said to have run this car at the Japanese Grand Prix in 1988 where he qualified fourth and DNF’d.

The 881 was kind of a success, scoring a decent number of points and achieving two podiums in 1988. It was also used by the team for the first two races of the ’89 season. No pre-sale estimate is yet available, but you can read more here and see more from this sale here.