Tag Archives: race cars

Miller 91

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1927 Miller 91

Offered by RM Auctions | Amelia Island, Florida | March 14, 2015

Photo - RM Auctions

Photo – RM Auctions

Harry Miller was a racing genius. He was inventive and his cars dominated at Indy for a couple of decades in the early years of racing there. He was one of a handful of major, early names whose sole business purpose was to build race cars. He had no intentions of building road cars. When his company went bankrupt in 1933, everything was bought up by Fred Offenhauser, whose name would appear on cars at the Brickyard into the 1980s.

The Miller 91 was designed to meet AAA’s new rule for 1926 that limited engine capacity to 91 cubic inches (1.5-liters). This car does have an original Miller 91 engine – a 1.5-liter supercharged straight-four making between 155-250 horsepower (read more at RM’s site to found out about this huge range).

Only 12 or 13 rear-wheel drive Miller 91s were built. The current owner of this car acquired an original Miller 91 chassis and went about sourcing an actual Miller 91 engine, and gearbox – two extremely rare pieces as everything was made in-house in limited numbers – perhaps only about 15.

This car was never raced in period (at least not in this form… the original chassis may have a history, but it is unknown what it was used for). These old Indy cars almost never come up for sale so this is an awesome opportunity regardless of this car’s history. It should sell for between $600,000-$750,000. Click here to see more from this sale.

Update: Sold $770,000.

Maserati 200 SI

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1956 Maserati 200 SI

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

Photo - Gooding & Company

Photo – Gooding & Company

This is a special Maserati. It was the first 200S chassis produced and was a factory race car for all of its early life. At the end of 1956, the car returned to the factory to be turned into a 200 SI – which meant it now met requirements for FIA sanctioned races due to slight mechanical changes.

The engine is a 195 horsepower 2.0-liter straight-four. Immediately after transformation in SI form, it was sold to a privateer in Venezuela. Some of the highlights of this car’s competition history includes:

  • 1955 Targa Florio – DNF (with Giovanni Bracco)
  • 1956 Mille Miglia – DNF (with Luigi Bellucci)
  • 1956 Gran Premio di Napoli – 1st (with Bellucci)
  • 1956 Gran Premio di Bari – 1st (with Jean Behra)
  • 1956 Rheinland-Pfalz Preis Nurburgring – 2nd (with Stirling Moss)

Look at some of those names. This car was driven by some of the world’s best. Luigi Villoresi drove this car in the final race of his career. In one race in Havana, Stirling Moss outran a more powerful, six-cylinder Maserati 300S. The car was once owned by Jim Hall, founder of Chaparral and has spent extensive time in a Japanese collection.

The car is completely operable and organizers of historic events would love to have this thing show up. Only 28 200S cars were built and the 200 SI was only built for 1957 (except for this factory development car) before being replaced by the 250S in 1958. This is an exceptional car and it won’t come cheap. Read more here and check out more from Gooding & Company in Amelia Island here.

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

Jaguar XJR-9

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1988 Jaguar XJR-9

Offered by RM Auctions | Amelia Island, Florida | March 14, 2015

Photo - RM Auctions

Photo – RM Auctions

We’ve featured other members of Jaguar’s legendary XJR race car line in previous posts. Here is yet another. It’s an XJR-9, the fifth in the line of awesome race cars that Jag produced in the late 1980s through the early 1990s. The XJR-9 was the first of the series that was intended for both the World Sportscar Championship (Group C) as well as IMSA GTP.

This car is powered by a 6.0-liter V-12 making an estimated 670 horsepower. This particular chassis is a successful one with its competition history including:

  • 1988 24 Hours of Daytona – 26th (with Jan Lammers, Danny Sullivan, and Davy Jones)
  • 1988 12 Hours of Sebring – 7th (with Lammers, Sullivan, Jones, and John Neilson)
  • 1989 24 Hours of Daytona – 2nd (with Lammers, Neilson, Price Cobb, and Andy Wallace)
  • 1989 12 Hours of Sebring – 2nd (with Neilson and Cobb)
  • 1990 24 Hours of Daytona – 1st (with Jones, Lammers, and Wallace)
  • 1990 12 Hours of Sebring – 3rd (with Jones, Lammers, and Wallace)

So there you have it – this is the winner of the 1990 24 Hours of Daytona. It was a successful Tom Walkinshaw Racing team car for its entire racing life. It remained in the TWR museum until 2003 and was restored in 2006. The Castrol livery is a really good racing livery. Read more here and see more from this sale here.

Update: Sold $2,145,000.

Footwork FA15

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1994 Footwork-Ford FA15

Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | February 6, 2014

Photo - Artcurial

Photo – Artcurial

Arrows Grand Prix International was formed in 1977 by Franco Ambrosio, Alan Rees, Jackie Oliver, Dave Wass, and Tony Southgate. “Arrows” was a play on the first letters of their last names. The made their race debut in 1978. In 1990, the team received a large investment from Japanese businessman Wataru Ohashi and his logistics company, Footwork Express.

For 1991, the team was actually renamed from Arrows to Footwork Arrows. They competed under the “Footwork” name from 1991 through mid-1996, so technically, even though the catalog description here lists this as an Arrows, it’s actually a Footwork car. The engine is a Ford-Cosworth 3.5-liter V8. The car was a relative backmarker and this example (of the two built) was campaigned by Gianni Morbidelli. The only finishes of this car are:

  • 1994 German Grand Prix – 5th
  • 1994 Belgian Grand Prix – 6th
  • 1994 Portuguese Grand Prix – 9th
  • 1994 European Grand Prix – 11th

The other 12 races were DNFs, although Christian Fittipaldi fared better in the sister car, enough to take Arrows to 9th in the constructor standings at the end of the year. At any rate, if you want an easy-to-use late-model F1 car for fun, this one will run you between $80,000-$150,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $209,119.

Borgward Rennsport

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1958 Borgward 1500 Rennsport

Offered by Bonhams | Paris, France | February 5, 2015

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

The story of Carl F.W. Borgward is a really interesting (and heartbreaking) one. His companies definitely built some interesting cars but they were all closed down for financial reasons that may or may not have been valid.

The story of Borgward racing started as a racing project from a privateer team but morphed into a factory effort after the privateers took some victories. Borgward reworked the engine from the Hansa 1500 and dropped it into an ever-evolving chassis and went racing. The engine underwent development from it’s 1952 racing debut and by 1956 the 1.5-liter straight-four was putting out 150 horsepower, thanks to 16-valve fuel injection.

This particular car was constructed using spare parts left over from Borgward’s racing program, which was on the decline after 1956. The car was assembled in 2009 and completed in 2013. So it’s sort of new but uses all period parts and looks really cool. At any rate, reproduction or not, it should still command an impressive $300,000-$410,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams.

Update: Sold $256,698.

STP Turbine Indy Car

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1968 Lotus 56

Offered by Barrett-Jackson | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 17, 2015

Photo - Barrett-Jackson

Photo – Barrett-Jackson

In 1967, Andy Granatelli entered the turbine-powered STP-Paxton Turbocar in the Indianapolis 500. The car nearly won the race at the hands of Parnelli Jones but a transmission bearing failure with eight laps to go ruined those plans.

Team Lotus took note of this impressive performance and they designed the Lotus 56 around a modified version of the Pratt & Whitney ST6B used in the Turbocar. The STN 6/76 made 500 horsepower in the 56. This car also has four-wheel drive.

So it dominated qualifying, with Joe Leonard taking the pole in one of three 56s entered for the race (a fourth was built, but was destroyed in Mike Spence’s fatal crash in testing). This car was raced by Graham Hill in the ’68 500. He crashed in turn two on lap 110, resulting in a 19th place finish. None of the 56s finished the race, but Joe Leonard was leading with nine laps to go when his fuel pump broke.

This car was owned by Richard Petty for many years and it has been restored to working, race-day condition. For the past year, it’s been on display on at the Speedway Museum in Indy. It’s an awesome piece of machinery and Indianapolis 500 history. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Barrett-Jackson’s lineup.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $1,200,000.

Update: Not sold, RM Sotheby’s Monterey 2016.

Ferrari 641/2

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1990 Ferrari 641/2

Offered by Gooding & Company | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 16, 2015

Photo - Gooding & Company

Photo – Gooding & Company

The 1990 Formula One season was packed with legendary drivers: Senna, Prost, Piquet, and Nigel Mansell, who drove this very Ferrari. The 641 was a development of the 640, which was used the season prior.

It’s  powered by a 3.5-liter V-12 making an estimated 685 horsepower at an ear-splitting 13,000 RPM. The racing history for this chassis includes:

  • 1990 German Grand Prix – 19th, DNF (all races with Mansell)
  • 1990 Portuguese Grand Prix – 1st
  • 1990 Spanish Grand Prix – 2nd
  • 1990 Japanese Grand Prix (site of the infamous Senna/Prost debacle) – 14th, DNF
  • 1990 Australian Grand Prix – 2nd

So this is a race winning Formula One car that had three podiums in five races and was raced by one of the sports legendary champions. It was used in the second-half of the season, presumably hence the “/2” (indicating updates on the car). This is one of seven or eight 641 chassis built and a handful are in private hands. It would be a most fun track day car, if you have the means. It should sell for between $800,000-$1,100,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Gooding’s lineup.

Update: Sold $990,000.

Cadillac LMP

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2000 Cadillac Northstar LMP

Offered by Barrett-Jackson | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 17, 2015

Photo - Barrett-Jackson

Photo – Barrett-Jackson

What you’re looking at is essentially General Motors’ only foray into the wild world of modern prototype racing. Between 2000 and 2002, under the guise of the Cadillac brand, GM took on the otherworldly Audi R8, among others.

The Northstar LMP (named for Caddy’s Northstar V8 engines) was built from the ground up by Riley & Scott. A version of the Northstar V8 was situated behind the driver – a twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8 making 650 horsepower. The competition history for this Cadillac factory team chassis includes:

  • 2000 24 Hours of Daytona – 14th (with Eric van de Poele, Wayne Taylor, and Max Angelelli)
  • 2000 12 Hours of Sebring – 6th (with van de Poele, Taylor, and Angelelli)
  • 2000 24 Hours of Le Mans – 21st (with Franck Lagorce, Butch Leitzinger, and Andy Wallace)
  • 2000 Petit Le Mans – 8th (with Lagorce, Leitzinger, and Wallace)

GM cancelled the program after 2002 to focus on their very successful Corvette racing program. These pop up for sale now and then, but only seven were built (two are in this sale). I remember hearing once that GM stripped most of the electronics out of these things before releasing them into the wild… so you can buy it, but it might be hard to use on a track day. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $104,500.

Echidna

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1959 Echidna

Offered by Russo & Steele | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 14-18, 2015

Photo - Russo & Steele

Photo – Russo & Steele

Sports car racing in the United States in the 1950s saw the development of quite a number of one-off and limited-production specials. The Echidna was the brainchild of Ed Grierson, Bill Larson, and John Staver. The cars were built in Hibbing, Minnesota.

They were campaigned in SCCA C- and B-Modified and were powered by 5.6-liter Chevy V-8s making 360 horsepower. They were beasts on the track, competing against Ferraris, Maseratis, and Jaguars. An Echidna won the ’59 B-Modified Championship and they had a great racing record.

Only two or three Echidnas were built and they were popular and quick in their day, besting some of the best purpose-built racers that Europe had to offer. It’s perfect for vintage racing today. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Russo & Steele’s Scottsdale lineup.

Update: Sold $162,800.