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.

De Tomaso Guara Barchetta

1995 De Tomaso Guara Barchetta

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | December 2022

Photo – Bring a Trailer Auctions

Alejandro de Tomaso had been designing and producing sports cars under his name since the 1960s. And the last car he put into production was the Guara in 1994. When production ceased 10 years later, only about 50 had been made across three body styles that included a coupe, spyder, and this, the barchetta.

The Barchetta had no windshield and no top. It looked eerily similar to the Maserati Barchetta race car of the early 90s. This isn’t all that surprising considering De Tomaso owned Maserati until 1993 and just repurposed the design for an exotic road car.

The Guara is powered by a 4.0-liter BMW V8 that made 279 horsepower. Later cars got supercharged Ford V8s (although not a shocking bump in power). This particular one looks to be still pretty much in the wrapper and is one of 10 barchettas built. You’re probably gonna want a full-face helmet to drive it – if you drive it. It doesn’t appear that any of its owners have thus far. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $230,000.

The Best DB7

2000 Aston Martin DB7 Vantage Volante

Offered by Aguttes | Paris, France | December 14, 2022

Photo – Aguttes

Dream spec. Fact: the Aston Martin DB7 is one of the best-looking cars of all time. And when they dropped a V12 under the hood and tweaked the styling a bit, they really ended up with a winner. Add on top of that the fact that this one is a drop top finished in Almond Green with over a beige and green interior… perfection.

The Vantage-specification DB7 went on sale in 1999 and featured a 5.9-liter V12 (as opposed to the earlier DB7’s straight-six) that made 420 horsepower. This manual-transmission car was capable of 60 mph in five seconds when new.

Having covered less than 10,000 miles since new, this Volante is a keeper. It has a pre-sale estimate of $73,000-$94,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

Alfa 8C Spider

2009 Alfa Romeo 8C Spider

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | Online

Photo – Bring a Trailer Auctions

Alfa Romeo resurrected the 8C nameplate for its return to North America. It was to be a halo car – one that sits atop all others in their model line. The 8C Competizione, the coupe version, was produced in limited numbers between 2007 and 2009. Just 500 were built.

The Spider was even rarer. Only about 329 were built between 2008 and 2010 (even Alfa is not super forthcoming about the exact number, it seems). It shared the coupe’s Ferrari/Maserati 4.7-liter V8 that made 444 horsepower. Styling was done in-house at Alfa Romeo, and the result is stunning. Both the coupe and spider are fantastic-looking cars.

This particular Spider is one of not-all-that-many that were destined for the U.S. It no-sale’d on BaT earlier this year at $289,000. With 10 days left on the auction as of this writing, bidding this time around is already at $260,000. So we’ll see if it surpasses March’s bidding, and if so, if it’s enough to find a new home. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $263,000.