Lancia 037 Group B

Posted on August 4, 2019 by classiccarweekly

1983 Lancia 037 Rally Group B

For Sale at 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.

October 2017 Auction Highlights, Pt. II

Posted on October 28, 2017 by classiccarweekly

We’re leading off with another Bonhams sale. This one, The Zoute Sale, was held in Belgium. The top sale was the Mercedes-Maybach G650 Landaulet for $1,404,840 (and the Aston Martin DB AR1 failed to meet its reserve). We’ll give Most Interesting to this 1928 Rally ABC Sports that sold for $168,288. Click here for more results.

Photo – Bonhams

Next up, another sale from Mecum, this time from Chicago. The top sale here was a 1967 Chevrolet Corvette 427/400 Convertible that brought $115,000.

Photo – Mecum

A previously-featured Stellite sold here for a frustrating $3,500 (frustrating because I should’ve bought it. Attention new owner: I’ve give you $4,500 for it). Click here for everything else.

Artcurial held an all-Mercedes-Benz sale (or at least, an all-Daimler AG sale) at the Mercedes-Benz Center in Rueil-Malmaison, France. The ’68 600 Pullman Limousine we featured failed to sell. The top sale was this 1961 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster for $1,670,228. Click here for complete results.

Photo – Artcurial

Next up, Brightwells’ Modern Classics sale. We featured an Evante Mk II that failed to sell. The top sale was this 1987 Ford Sierra RS Cosworth for $51,304. All of their other lots can be found here.

Photo – Brightwells

Finally, Silverstone Auctions’ Porsche sale. We didn’t get to feature anything from this sale, but this 1998 Porsche 911 Turbo S brought the most money: $333,913. Click here for complete results.

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

1929 Rally

Posted on October 12, 2015 by classiccarweekly

1929 Rally Type ABC

Offered by H&H Classics | Duxford, U.K. | October 14, 2015

Photo – H&H Classics

Automobiles Rally is a little known marque from the Parisian suburbs. It was founded in 1921 by Eugene Affovard Asniere. Cycle cars were the first models the company produced before turning to sporty, low-chassis sports cars. The depression hit the company hard and they closed their doors in 1933.

The Type ABC was introduced in 1927 and lasted through the end of the company. They were the sports models and were campaigned by the factory in races such as the Mille Miglia. Three engines were offered (with a supercharger option on any of them). This car uses a naturally-aspirated 1.1-liter straight-four (the smallest of the three) making about 30 horsepower. Top speed was about 84 mph.

The “ABC” was a sort of abbreviation for the French word meaning “lowered.” These low slung cars are quite sporting and rarely seen. Legend is that MG bought one back in the day for competitive research. This numbers-matching example is quite nice and should bring between $120,000-$150,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $125,910.