Lanchester LE27

1945 Lanchester LE27 All-Weather Tourer by Vanden Plas

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Broadway, U.K. | August 4, 2023

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

The Lanchester brothers were some of the earliest Britons to start working on cars. They took a big swing in 1928 on a new luxury car, but it would be their undoing, and the company was acquired by Daimler in 1931.

Daimler pretty quickly started selling badge-engineered Lanchesters that were just Daimlers with Lanchester badges on them. There was a Maharaja in India who was a big Lanchester fan, and at the end of World War II, he wanted to get his hands on some new cars after a few dry years.

In 1946, Daimler introduced their DE27, and for the Maharaja, four Lanchester versions were commissioned and dubbed LE27. These were powered by a 4.0-liter inline-six. Two of the four were bodied by Vanden Plas in all-weather tourer form, including this car here, which returned to the U.K. around the 1980s. It was restored in the 2000s/2010s in its original colors.

This one has an estimate of $50,000-$65,000. More info can be found here.

Update: Sold $57,861.

Lanchester Straight Eight

1929 Lanchester 30HP Straight Eight Landaulette

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Broadway, U.K. | August 4, 2023

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

After World War One, Lanchester decided to focus on building one great model at a time. Their cars were expensive and cross-shopped against the likes of Rolls-Royce. In 1928 they introduced the 30HP Straight Eight, the last car designed by company co-founder George Lanchester.

It was powered by a 4.4-liter inline-eight rated at 30 horsepower. This car is bodied as a landaulette, with a rear convertible portion for the passengers. The timing of this grand car was not great, and the economic downturn spoiled the party. Just 126 were produced before Lanchester was sold to Daimler in 1930.

Restored years ago, this car represents an opportunity to acquire a car that is rarely seen. And it’s already ready to use. The estimate is $36,000-$44,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

Sierra RS Cosworth

1986 Ford Sierra RS Cosworth

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Northampton, England | May 20, 2023

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

The Sierra was kind of a remarkable car for Ford of Europe. It was the sort of new-age family car for Europe, much like the Taurus would be in the U.S. But instead of the hotted-up SHO models, Europe got the Cosworth-powered RS.

The Sierra RS debuted at the 1985 Geneva Motor Show and was intended to homologate the Sierra for Group A Touring Car racing. The road cars featured a turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four that made 201 horsepower. The Cosworth engine was only available in two-door Sierras that had some body tweaks, including that high-mount rear spoiler.

In all 5,545 were sold, including 500 of the RS500 version. This example remained with a French owner for over three decades and has under 50,000 miles. It has an estimate of $70,000-$82,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

Merak SS

1980 Maserati Merak SS

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Northampton, England | May 20, 2023

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

The Merak was sort of like the Bora’s baby brother. In fact, the whole front section (just about everything forward of the doors) is lifted directly from the Bora. The Merak has twin chrome bumpers up front if you want visual cues. It also has a vertical rear window, flying buttress C-pillars, and a vented engine cover.

But, perhaps, the biggest difference between the two cars is the cylinder count. Unlike the V8-powered Bora, the Merak is powered by a 3.0-liter V6, that in SS specification, made 217 horsepower.

They made about 1,000 SS cars between 1975 and 1983. Quite a few are in basket case territory today, but this one has had a “recent” mechanical overhaul and a cosmetic refresh. It has an estimate of $50,000-$55,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $48,194.

Cerbera Speed 12

2000 TVR Cerbera Speed 12

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Sywell, England | May 20, 2023

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

Holy grail territory right here. As far as 1990s (and early 2000s) unobtanium supercars go, they don’t get much harder to come by than this. And that’s because it is the only one ever completed. The basic road-going Cerbera is already a pretty outlandish car. But TVR turned it up to 11… er 12, with this one.

The idea for this car first surfaced in 1996 with the Project 7/12 concept. It was aimed at GT1 competition. By 1998, the first race car was ready. Now called the Speed 12, the car competed in a few British GT Championship races. In 2000, a GT2 racer was completed, and TVR started taking orders for the road-going version.

Then Peter Wheeler, the head of TVR, drove one of the prototypes and realized it was too insane – even for TVR – to sell to the public. That’s because the car was powered by a 7.7-liter V12 that made around 840 horsepower. TVR’s with fewer cylinders and much less power are known to be handfuls.

So TVR dismantled all of the prototypes, except one. Over the next few years it was upgraded with all of their racing know-how, including the engine. It was purchased by the current owner in 2010 and has been kept in ready-to-go condition by a former TVR mechanic. Silverstone hasn’t put an estimate on it, but you can read more here.

Update: Sold $736,235.

Ginetta G50

2008 Ginetta G50

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Coventry, U.K. | February 24, 2023

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

Ginetta Cars has been around since 1958, and since that time the company has produced all manner of road and racing cars, with an emphasis in the last decade or two on the racing side of the business. The G50 was developed as a GT4 class racing car and was produced from 2008 through 2014.

Developed in less than six months, the G50 was eligible for a one-make series and was also competitive in the British GT Championship. Power is from a 3.5-liter V6 sourced from Ford, and it developed between 300 and 355 horsepower depending on spec and the tune.

This one has all the stuff you’d need to go racing, including air jacks, a carbon-fiber rear wing, a fire-suppression system, and two sets of wheels. The current owner bought this car just to learn to drive at Spa, but never got the chance. Now it can be yours, likely for between $30,000-$36,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

Warwick Mk II

1961 Warwick-Ford Mk II

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Warwickshire, England | February 24-26, 2023

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

This is an interesting race car. In the mid-1950s, some F1 teams dropped streamliner bodies over their F1 cars at high-speed tracks. Mercedes is perhaps the most famous to have done it, but the results were real. Covering the wheels decreased drag and increased speed. Eventually they were banned.

This body was used on Jack Brabham’s 1959 French Grand Prix car, which was a Cooper. The car got airborne in practice, so the pulled it off and ran the car as a typical open wheeler. Engineer John Moore spotted the body years later in the Cooper workshop.

He designed a racing car around it that could be easily converted to full-bodied sports car or an open single seater. It won the 1962 Monoposto Championship in the U.K. The car remained in competition into 1970 before it was retired. It was then partially restored around 1990, competing in historic events into the 2010s. Two Ford inline-fours accompany the car. No pre-sale estimate is yet available, but you can read more about it here.

Update: Sold $34,273.

Turner 803

1957 Turner 803

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Birmingham, U.K. | November 12-13, 2022

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

Turner Sports Cars was founded by Jack Turner in Wolverhampton, England, in 1951. The company stuck around for 15 years, building turn-key and kit cars featuring fiberglass bodywork that could be paired with Austin, Triumph, and Ford mechanicals.

The 803, also known as the A30, was the first Turner product. It utilized a ladder frame and the engine, transmission, and suspension from an Austin A30. Most of these had 803cc Austin inline-fours, but this car got 948cc unit from the Austin A35. This car was actually the prototype for the Turner 950 Sports, which would duplicate its drivetrain setup when it went on sale shortly after this car was produced.

This car was restored in the 1990s and had a successful vintage racing career thereafter. It’s now got a pre-sale estimate of $23,000-$34,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $22,285.

TVR Tuscan Challenge

1999 TVR Tuscan Challenge

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Silverstone, U.K. | August 26-27, 2022

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

The first TVR Tuscan was a car built in the 1960s. It was essentially a V8- (or V6)-powered version of the Grantura. The name was reused on the somehow more-wild Tuscan Speed Six of 1999-2006. In the intervening years, a Tuscan Challenge one-marque racing series took place.

Beginning in 1989, the Tuscan Challenge spec race car ran in a single-make series put on by TVR. The last season was around 2006. The cars resembled the early-1990s Griffith and Chimaera but actually debuted before either car. It’s somewhat unclear how many race cars were built in 1989 and later updated and modified, or how many they continued to build new over the next decade. This one was built new by TVR in 1999.

It’s powered by a either a 4.4-liter or 4.5-liter V8. Race wins for this chassis totaled four in the 1999 season and three the following year in which it took second in the championship. It now has an estimate of $79,000-$91,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

Dort Model 5

1916 Dort Model 5 Touring

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Broadway, U.K. | August 5, 2022

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

Flint, Michigan’s Dort Motor Car Company was founded by Billy Durant and Dallas Dort in 1886. The company started out building carriages and at one point was the largest such builder in the country. Dort made a late switch to motorcars, and that’s mostly because Durant had founded General Motors in 1908 and remained as part owner of Dort until 1914.

Once he left Dort, the company was free to basically compete against him. So the first Dort cars rolled out for 1915. The first two years of production consisted of this: the Model 5 Touring. They sold 9,000 of them by the end of 1916. Power is from a 2.7-liter Lycoming inline-four rated at 17 horsepower.

The cars cost $695 when new, over $200 more than a Model T. The last Dorts were sold in 1924, and Dallas Dort died the following year. This car is one of two Dorts in the U.K. and has a pre-sale estimate of $12,000-$18,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $11,005.