LCC Rocket

1996 Light Car Company Rocket

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | September 2023

Photo – Bring a Trailer

The Light Car Company was founded by Gordon Murray and Chris Craft in England in 1991. They built one model, and it was an amazing one: the Rocket. Production started in 1991, and most had been built by the mid-1990s. This one was started in 1996 but ended up as one of 10 completed by the Craft’s between 2006 and 2009. So it’s titled as a 1996 but wasn’t actually completed until the 2000s.

If you’ve always wanted to drive an open-wheel race car on the street (and didn’t manage to snag this thing), then this is a pretty good alternative. It has tandem seating for two, and the 1.2-liter Yamaha inline-four is mounted out back. That engine also can rev to over 11,000 rpm! For the full F1 experience of course.

Jay Leno has one of these – and there aren’t that many in the U.S. The car was also featured in one of the Gran Turismo games, where it was a hoot to drive hard. Only 50 were built in total, and they’ve become much more expensive than they used to be. This one has plenty of time left to bid, which you can do so here.

MG XPower SV

2004 MG XPower SV

Offered by Historics Auctioneers | Datchet, U.K. | July 22, 2023

Photo – Historics Auctioneers

Here we go. The XPower SV was MG’s last sports car hurrah before being acquired by Nanjing Automobile. It was also completely out of the blue and unlike any other MG sports car before it. Just 82 were produced between 2003 and 2005.

Power is from a 4.6-liter Ford V8 that made 320 horsepower (a 5.0 making 385 horsepower was also offered in the SV-R). Body panels were constructed of carbon fiber, and other trim bits were lifted from other cars, including Fiats. All of this added up to a top speed of 165 mph and a 0-60 sprint of 5.3 seconds.

Sports cars built by a company that is struggling financially are always a risky proposition – MG had a hard time moving these, and some didn’t find owners until 2008. That said, they are pretty interesting and very fast. And they rarely change hands at auction. This one has an estimate of $43,000-$48,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $64,382.

Marcos Mantaray

1999 Marcos Mantaray 4.6

Offered by Historics Auctioneers | Datchet, U.K. | July 22, 2023

Photo – Historics Auctioneers

It’s kind of amazing Marcos was still turning out sports cars in the late 1990s. They were like a smaller version of already-small TVR. Founded in 1959, the company really hit their stride in the late ’60s – and that basic design would continue on in updated form for the next 30 years.

The Mantaray was the replacement for the Mantara and went on sale in 1997. Two Rover V8s were offered, with the larger being the 4.6-liter unit this car has. Turbo fours could also be had. Just seven were built with this engine out of a total production run of about 27 cars.

This big-motor sports car has been with the current owner since 2005. It’s got under 15,000 miles and also has an estimate of $19,000-$25,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $21,961.

Autozam AZ-1

1992 Autozam AZ-1

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | July 6-9, 2023

Photo – Mecum

Autozam was a marque produced by Mazda that offered a half-dozen or so cars over its brief lifespan of 1989 through 1998. The most famous of which, and the only one that wasn’t really a re-badged Mazda or Suzuki, was this, the AZ-1.

Sure, Suzuki would go on to sell their own version later, but the AZ-1 gets all the glory here. This is a small car. Like very small. It has a mid-engine layout, with the turbocharged 657cc inline-three located behind the passenger compartment, which is accessed via gullwing doors. Output was about 63 horsepower.

Just 4,392 examples of the AZ-1 were produced between late 1992 and late 1994. These were only sold in Japan, but have become popular imports now that they’re legal to bring into the U.S. Click here for more info about this one.

Update: Sold $18,700.

Lotus Europa S

2008 Lotus Europa S

Offered by H&H Classics | Duxford, U.K. | June 14, 2023

Photo – H&H Classics

The original Lotus Europa was a mid-engined GT car from the 1960s and ’70s. Lotus revived the name for a two-seat coupe in 2006. It was sort of a replacement for the Esprit, but was not sold in the U.S. Think of it as a more friendly Elise that bridged the time gap between the Esprit and the Evora.

Power is from a turbocharged 2.0-liter GM inline-four that made 197 horsepower. Mounted behind the passenger compartment, the engine was paired with a six-speed manual gearbox. The base car was the Europa S. An SE trim was also offered, and this one was so backdated by the factory. That added a revised turbo and other engine tweaks that boosted output to 222 horsepower.

Between 2006 and 2010, just 458 examples of the Europa S were produced. This right-hand-drive example has almost 23,000 miles and has a presale estimate of $30,000-$35,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $31,823.

Ferrari Monza SP1

2019 Ferrari Monza SP1

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Cernobbio, Italy | May 20, 2023

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Here is a very limited-edition special late-model Ferrari. The Monza SP1 and SP2 were roofless sports cars – errr, collector’s items, produced by Ferrari starting in 2019. The difference between the cars are the number of seats. The SP1 is a single seater, while the SP2 has a passenger seat.

The cars are actually based around the Ferrari 812 Superfast and share that car’s 6.5-liter V12, which is rated at 798 horsepower in Monza form. 60 mph arrives in under three seconds.

This car was delivered new in Spain and has been with its current collection since 2022. Most of these presumably just sit in collections. Ferrari planned a run of 499 examples. This one is selling at no reserve. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $2,569,538.

Qvale Mangusta

2001 Qvale Mangusta

Offered by Mecum | Glendale, California | March 30, 2023

Photo – Mecum

The De Tomaso Bigua was a concept car that debuted in 1996 in conjunction with Qvale, which was started by Kjell Qvale, who was the West Coast distributor for Jaguar. His son Bruce started the car company to partner with De Tomaso.

But De Tomaso and Qvale broke off the partnership right before deliveries of the car were set to begin. By this point they had acquired the name De Tomaso Mangusta, but at the last second the cars were rebranded as the Qvale Mangusta.

Just 284 were produced between 2000 and 2002. They are powered by a 4.6-liter Ford V8 rated at 320 horsepower. They feature resin body panels styled by Marcello Gandini, four seats, and a retractable hardtop. You can read more about this one here.

Update: Withdrawn from auction.

K-1 Attack

2011 K-1 Attack Roadster

Offered by Mecum | Glendale, California | March 28-April 1, 2023

Photo – Mecum

K-1 Engineering is based in Slovakia and has been around since 1991. Their first real car was the Attack, which premiered in 2002 and has sort of been available since, although less than 40 have been built and it’s unclear when the last one was made, but probably somewhere around 2019.

This car was the seventh built and features a mid-mounted turbocharged Honda 2.2-liter inline-four that made about 220 horsepower. In other words, the motor doesn’t quite live up to the supercar looks. Later cars had Ford engines, but output never really crested 265 horsepower save for a special edition model.

Later V6-powered cars were capable of 155 mph. What you’re really getting here is a somewhat exotic (Eastern Europe is exotic, right?) junior sports car with a supercar layout and looks. The price? Who knows, these don’t exactly change hands often. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $49,500.

Venturi 111 Cup

1991 Venturi Coupe 111 Cup

Offered by Broad Arrow Auctions | Amelia Island, Florida | March 4, 2023

Photo – Broad Arrow Auctions

For such a small company, Venturi sure produced a lot of different models. Or at least a lot of sub-models off of its early MVS Venturi Coupe platform. Their coupe models were produced between 1987 and the mid-1990s with essentially the same styling. Tweaks came for the Atlantique 300 of 1996.

The 111 Cup was a car aimed at the Italian market and built in 1991 and 1992. Italy had some big taxes on cars over 2.0 liters in capacity, and other Coupe/Transcup models exceeded that engine size. So they decided to swap those out for a turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four sourced from Renault. It made 185 horsepower.

It’s thought that only three examples of this model were produced. This one has a remarkably low (claimed) 350 kilometers on it since new. The pre-sale estimate is $90,000-$110,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $56,000.

Pegasus 2000

1990 Pegasus 2000

Offered by Mecum | Houston, Texas | April 13-15, 2023

Photo – Mecum

The Pegasus 2000 was a vaguely Pontiac-looking fiberglass sports car built in the late-1980s by Pegasus Motor Cars, which was founded by Charlie Van Natter of Pasadena, Texas. It’s a late-1980s Pontiac Firebird Trans Am underneath and a “Ferrari-ish”please confuse it for a Ferrari” fiberglass body on top.

Power is likely provided by either a 5.0-liter or 5.7-liter V8. This particular car looks a little more out there because it was modified by its owners, which were a combo of Texaco and a Saudi refining company. They used it as a promotional car for their “Wipe Out Waste” program, hence the “WOW” decals all over the exterior and interior.

If you want something that will make people do a double take, here’s your ride. Folks won’t know if this is related to Back to the Future, Speed Racer, or Knight Rider. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $13,750.