Tag Archives: silverstone auctions

Dino 246 GTS

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1974 Dino 246 GTS

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Sywell Park, U.K. | June 5, 2021

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

So, technically, Dino was a separate marque from Ferrari. This car does not have any Ferrari badging. Instead, that little yellow rectangle up front says “Dino” – which was the name of Enzo Ferrari‘s son who died in 1956. Three road cars were produced under the Dino marque, including the 206 GT/S, the 246 GT/S, and the 308 GT4. Even still, they are still generally referred to as “Ferrari Dino”s.

The 246 looked very similar to the 206 it replaced when it launched in 1969. It was the first “Ferrari” produced in massive numbers – 3,761 were made between the GT coupe and the GTS targa. Power is from a mid-mounted 2.4-liter V6 rated at 192 horsepower when new (in Europe… U.S.-spec cars had less power).

The GTS was sold between 1971 and 1974, and 1,274 were made. This right-hand-drive example is one of 72 finished from the factory in Nocciola Metallizzato. Two rare, sought-after options included Daytona-style seats (“chairs”) and Group 4-style fender flares (“flares”). This one has the standard seats, but it does have the flares. The pre-sale estimate (or “guide price” in Silverstone-speak) is $530,000-$600,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $536,485.

Maserati Mexico

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1972 Maserati Mexico 4.7

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Stoneleigh Park, U.K. | May 22, 2021

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

With the Mexico, Maserati entered a new arena: the four-seat coupe. It’s not a 2+2; you can put actual humans back there. The model was launched in 1966 with styling by Vignale, and 485 were built through 1972.

Two differed engine choices were available, and this car has the larger 4.7-liter V8 (there was also a 4.2 offered beginning in 1969). The 4.7 was rated at 290 horsepower and could push the car to 155 mph.

This car is one of six right-hand-drive 4.7-liter examples (of the 175 fitted with that engine in total). It was to be delivered new to Australia, but the order was canceled and it was actually kept in Italy as a RHD car until 2006. It was restored later in the 2000s and is now expected to bring between $123,000-$137,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Falcon Mk II

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1965 Falcon Mk II

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Online | March 27, 2021

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

Falcon Shells produced kit cars and fiberglass sports car bodies in England between 1956 and 1965. The Mk II was, well, their second model, and it was a take on the Ashley, which company founder Peter Pellandine produced before starting Falcon.

The model was on sale from the get-go, as the company introduced a hardtop in 1957. The Mk II was really just a body that you’d buy and fit to the chassis of your choice. Their next car, the Competition (or Mk III) was sold as a full kit.

This one is based on a Ford Prefect and is powered by a 1.2-liter inline-four. It’s a cool piece of 50s sports racing history and should sell for between $35,000-$42,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Renault Clio V6

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2002 Renault Sport Clio V6 Phase 1

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Online | March 5-6, 2021

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

In the 1980s, the French were doing some crazy stuff with their hatchbacks. Renault and Peugeot produced some monsters. Twenty years later, Renault decided to go crazy again and produced probably the coolest hot hatch of the 21st Century (yeah, I said it).

The second-generation Clio went on sale in 1998 and somehow lasted through 2012. It was available as a three- or five-door hatchback and a four-door sedan. Some of them actually looked okay for what they were, but they were all largely sad in the power and front-engined, front-wheel-drive departments.

In 2001, Renault designed a mid-engined, rear-wheel-drive version of the Clio (okay, it was a pretty different car, but shared the name and corporate face). It was based on the Clio V6 Trophy race car of 1999 and was powered by a 2.9-liter, 24-valve V6 located in the rear hatch area, like the Renault 5 Turbo.

This is a “Phase 1” example, meaning output was rated at 227 horsepower and that the car was actually assembled by Tom Walkinshaw Racing in Sweden. Later cars were built by Renault themselves and made more power. Top speed was 146 mph. Only 1,513 Phase 1 cars were built through 2003.

These cars will only appreciate with time, and once they are eligible for U.S. import, I expect them to be grabbed up and hard to get for a good price. Check out more about this RHD example here, and see more from Silverstone here.

Update: Sold $41,240.

DAM/TPR 4100

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1987 DAM 4100

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Online | November 13-14, 2020

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

Group B rallying was one of the best classes of motorsport since… well, since motorsports. In the 1980s, there were some outrageous rally cars, and one such example was the MG Metro 6R4. Badged as a derivative of the frumpy Austin/MG Metro front-wheel-drive hatchback, the 6R4 was a rear-mid-engined four-wheel-drive monster powered by a naturally aspirated 3.0-liter V6 capable of over 400 horsepower.

There were 220 examples of the 6R4 built, 20 of which were high-level competition cars. The other 200 were Clubman cars, which were sold to the public. Many of them ended up in the hands of privateer rally drivers. So what is this car then?

Well, Tony Pond was a works Austin-Rover rally driver. One of the team engineers was a man named David Appleby. When Austin-Rover (MG) pulled out of rallying in 1987, Pond and Appleby set up shop updating Clubman cars. Thus, the DAM/TPR 4100 was born.

This is the prototype. Pond and Appleby parted ways shortly after this car was built, but Appleby soldiered on without Pond and ended up producing 5-10 examples. Power is from a Cosworth-derived 2.5-liter V6 rated at 295 horsepower at an impressive 10,250 rpm. It’s got four-wheel drive, too.

This is like a cottage industry British supercar from the 90s (even though it was built in the late 1980s). It’s a car that never appears at public sales (or in public generally). The estimated price reflects it. The estimate is $190,000-$215,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold. Silverstone actually says sold for an “undisclosed amount,” which is about the sketchiest thing I’ve ever seen on an online auction.

Update II: Sold, Silverstone Auctions, March 2021, $124,501.

Renault 5 Turbo Touring Car

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1987 Renault 5 Turbo Supertouring

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Online | November 14, 2020

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

The Renault 5 Turbo was the coolest hot hatch of the 1980s. The rally car variants are legendary. But I don’t think I’ve seen an R5 Turbo that I’ve wanted more than this one. It was built as a touring car for the French Supertouring Championship, which was a series that existed between 1976 and 2005.

Only six R5 Turbos were converted to this spec in 1986. Half of those were updated in 1987 (including this car) with a wider track, a lowered suspension, and a revised 1.4-liter stroker version of the turbocharged inline-four. Output was 410 horsepower. The other two updated versions have been retained by Renault.

This car had two race wins during the 1987 season, and it was also the championship-winning car. It was sold after the season to a hillclimb driver who managed to finagle factory support for his privateer effort. It broke after it was “out of warranty,” so he refinished it in its Supertourisme livery and lent it to the Prince of Monaco for display in his collection. It’s since been refreshed and now carries a pre-sale estimate of $390,000-$450,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

August 2020 Auction Highlights

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The auction world started picking up steam in August, with most houses turning to online or partial-in-person sales. First up is Silverstone Auctions, where this 1972 Lamborghini Miura SV sold for $2,503,366.

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

The one-off RA4 Vanguard failed to sell, but the Zenos brought $26,506 and the Benova $41,231. More results are available here.

Next up is Gooding & Company, a sale from which we featured two cars. Both sold. The Duesenberg brought $1,012,000, and the VLF sold for an undisclosed amount, WHICH IS LAME. You should assume they paid $15,000 for it, and then refuse to buy it from (presumably) whoever is about to try and flip it for an insane profit (based off of that $15,000 number). The top sale was this 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB Long Nose for $3,080,000. Go here for more results.

Photo – Gooding & Company

Bonhams’ “Quail” sale was held in Los Angeles this year. The cars with the four largest estimates all failed to sell (including the Offener Tourenwagen), leaving this 1959 Porsche 718 RSK Spyder atop the heap at $2,232,500.

Photo – Bonhams

The Grid-Porsche didn’t seller either. The Adams Probe sold for $184,800, and the Mason Tourist King brought $201,600, which seems strong. Check out the other cars that sold here.

RM’s Monterey sale also shifted to the internet (they called it “Shift/Monterey”). The top sale was a 2001 Ferrari 550 GT1 Prodrive for $4,290,000.

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

To start, a BMW M1 Procar we featured a while back sold here for $913,000. The Duesenberg from this sale sold for $781,000, and the Fiat Wonderful Coupe brought $181,500. All of our feature cars actually sold, which I guess means they were well-selected. The Ferrari 365 GT 2+2 sold for $176,000, the Edwards America convertible $148,500, and I’m pretty sure a previously-featured Fiat 1100 Allemano cabriolet sold for $158,000. Complete results are available here.

H&H had another online sale this month, and two of the cars we featured from last month failed to sell again (see: Willys-Knight and Renault). The good news is that the Hupmobile found a new home for $32,396. The top sale was actually this 2007 Jaguar XKR (with crazy low mileage) for $36,814. More results can be found here.

Photo – H&H Auctioneers

Finally, the FAM cabriolet prototype was withdrawn from the otherwise all-motorcycle Bonhams auction.

RA4 Vanguard

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1954 RA4 Vanguard

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Online | July 31-August 2, 2020

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

So no, this isn’t an Auto Union Grand Prix car, despite its looks. In fact, it was built a full 20 years after those cars dominated the European Grand Prix circuit. The “RA” cars were racing specials built by Hector Green and Jack Brewer in New Zealand between the end of WWII and the mid-1950s. Their first car kept evolving, and in 1951 they decided to replace it.

The RA4 Vanguard was the replacement, and its design and construction were heavily influenced by the pre-war Auto Unions. That’s because its builders consulted a then-declassified British intelligence document that investigated the construction of the German Grand Prix cars of the 1930s. Intriguing stuff.

Power is from a rear-mounted 2.1-liter inline-four from a Standard Vanguard that was supercharged and fitted with dual SU carburetors. Horsepower, when the car was running on methanol, was approximately 200. Wow.

The car competed regularly in New Zealand beginning in 1951 through about 1954. It’s been invited to the Goodwood Revival and has been owned by its current caretakers since 2017. Only five or six RA specials were built. You can read more about this one here and see more from this sale here.

Update: Not sold.

Update: Sold, Bonhams Goodwood 2021, $57,739.

Zenos E10

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2016 Zenos E10 2.3 R Roadster

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Online | July 31-August 1, 2020

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

Zenos Cars was founded in 2012 by Ansar Ali and Mark Edwards in Norfolk in the United Kingdom. They announced their first car, the E10, in 2013, and it was a lightweight mid-engine sports car. Production started in 2015, but the following year the company had some financial problems and everything stopped by 2017.

There was a base E10, the turbocharged S model, and the even-more-powerful R model. This is an example of the latter, and it is powered by a turbocharged 2.3-liter Ford EcoBoost inline-four that was rated at 350 horsepower. That engine went into a car that weighed about 1,600 pounds dry. That combo was good for a sprint to 60 mph in about three seconds, and it topped out around 150 mph.

Silverstone is offered two Zenos cars at this sale: this car and a base roadster. Neither car has ever been registered, and they are essentially brand new. Due to the company’s financial problems, I sort of want to think that these were two leftovers or demonstrators that are being liquidated. But that’s just conjecture. What is cool is that Zenos built over 100 examples of the E10, making it a legitimate production sports car. Here’s your chance to get one of the last new examples. It will sell at no reserve. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $26,506.

Benova Sports

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1927 Benova B3 Sports

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Online | July 31-August 1, 2020

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

Benjamin was a car company founded in 1921 by Maurice Jeanson not far from Paris. They specialized in cyclecars, or light cars with small engines and cycle-type wheels. In 1927, the company opened a second factory and rebranded from Benjamin to Benova, which supposedly meant “New Benjamin.”

Anyway, the new company lasted through 1929. At least 300 examples of the B3 were built between 1927 and 1929 and they were powered by a 945cc Chapuis-Dornier inline-four. Factory bodies included a coupe and two torpedos.

This car is quite sporty, wearing a racing-style body dressed in French Grand Prix Car blue (not a real paint color name). It almost looks like a cross between a period Indy car and an Amilcar. But it’ll be cheaper than either of those with an estimate between $19,000-$22,500. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $41,231.