Tag Archives: spyder

Spyker C8 GT2-R

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2005 Spyker C8 Spyder GT2-R

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Le Mans, France | June 9, 2023

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Ferrari might have “Scuderia Ferrari” but aircraft-themed company Spyker had the best factory racing team name of them all: Spyker Squadron. Spyker competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans from 2002 through 2010, only missing the 2004 race. They entered their C8 sports car in the GT2 class.

What’s even cooler is that their second GT2 car was actually based on their Spyder road car. Meaning it was essentially an open-cockpit race car. Because why not. Power is provided by a 3.8-liter version of Audi’s V8, with output somewhere around 450 horsepower. The competition history for this chassis, 3046, includes:

  • 2005 12 Hours of Sebring – 31st, DNF (with Tom Coronel, Donny Crevels, and Marc Goossens)
  • 2005 24 Hours of Le Mans – 40th, DNF (with Coronel, Crevels, and Peter van Merksteijn)
  • 2006 12 Hours of Sebring – 18th (with Jeroen Bleekmolen and Mike Hezemans)
  • 2006 1000km of Spa – 38th, DNF (with Crevels and Jonny Kane)
  • 2006 1000km of Nurburgring – 20th-ish, DNF (with either Coronel or Crevels and Kane)

Spykers are weird. And that’s part of what makes them cool. They are also art. And the fact that the company decided to actually take that art racing? Awesome. Read more about this car here.

Update: Sold $307,101.

Huntsman Spyder

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1988 Huntsman Spyder

Offered by Bonhams | Milan, Italy | November 18, 2022

Photo – Bonhams

This special was built around an Italian car by an Australian living in the U.K.. Graham Smith didn’t like his kit car options, so he devised his own. This, the Huntsman Spyder, was built between 1986 and 1988.

It’s based around Alfa Romeo Alfasud Sprint Veloce mechanicals. That’s a 1.5-liter flat-four making 175 horsepower. It’s got an Alfa five-speed gearbox and weighs less than 1,400 pounds. Zero to 60 happens in less than five seconds.

The body is fiberglass, and the frame is constructed of square tubular steel. Suspension is sourced from Triumph, a Royale F3 car, and Bilstein. It’s the only one ever built and carries an estimate of $40,000-$60,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $18,732.

Lola T70

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1965 Lola T70 Mk I Spyder

Offered by Bonhams | Chichester, U.K. | June 24, 2022

Photo – Bonhams

The T70 was a popular Can-Am car for privateers in the 1960s with over 100 examples produced. Built by Lola in a few different variations (Mk I, Mk II spyder, and Mk III coupe), the T70 was often found fitted with a big American V8. It was a race-winning formula, with drivers like Dan Gurney, Walt Hansgen, and 1966 series champion John Surtees all driving them in period

This chassis, SL70/3, was the first T70 built and was sold new to John Mecom, whose team livery is still on the car today. It ran a number of races that season, including:

  • 1965 12 Hours of Sebring – 52nd, DNF (with John Cannon and Jack Saunders)

Walt Hansgen crashed it at Mosport, and the original Ford engine was removed. It was later restored and part of Mac McClendon’s collection until the 2000s. It currently has a 5.7-liter Chevrolet V8 fitted out back, and that monster is rated at 573 horsepower. The pre-sale estimate is $310,000-$430,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

3500 GTI Vignale

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1962 Maserati 3500 GTI Spyder by Vignale

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Northamptonshire, U.K. | May 28, 2022

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

The 3500 GT was Maserati’s big grand tourer of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Both 2+2 coupes and two-seat convertibles were offered, with styling by a select few Italian carrozzeria, including Vignale, who bodied this example and most of the model’s convertibles.

In 1960, Maserati introduced the GTI variant, making it Italy’s first fuel-injected production car. The 3.5-liter inline-six got Lucas fuel injection and a power bump to 232 horsepower. Because fuel injection was still relatively new, it could be somewhat troublesome, and more than a few GTI examples were converted back to Weber carburetors later in life. Not this one.

This car was delivered new in London, and from the 80s onward, it spent time in France and Italy before returning within the last decade to London with its current owner. Only 245 Vignale convertibles were built out of a total 3500 production run of 2,226 examples between 1957 and 1964. The pre-sale estimate here is $470,000-$550,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $523,210.

Isdera Spyder

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1989 Isdera Spyder 036i

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monaco | May 14, 2022

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Isdera, the elusive German boutique carmaker, has been around since the early 1980s. They have not produced many cars since then, but the ones they have are all pretty outrageous and striking. The Spyder was their first model, going on sale in 1982.

The first Spyders were 033i variants with 1.8-liter Mercedes-Benz inline-fours. Then came the 033-16, with a 2.3-liter engine. In 1987, they launched the 036i, which featured a 3.0-liter Mercedes inline-six making 217 horsepower. Only 14 Spyders total are believed to have been built, which each one taking 12 months to complete.

This car was modified and updated by Isdera in 2011, basically restored in different colors and fitted with a 276-horsepower, 3.6-liter AMG inline-six. Isderas rarely change hands, especially at auction. You can read more about this one here.

Update: Not sold.

Marcos Mantula

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1988 Marcos Mantula Spyder

Offered by H&H | Duxford, U.K. | November 17, 2021

Photo – H&H

Marcos built some interesting, if not a little awkward-looking, sports cars in the 1960s. By 1972, the company was out of business. However, in 1981, Jem Marsh, who had co-founded Marcos initially, brought the company back to life. A stream of more modern cars followed until everything went belly-up again in the late 2000s.

The Mantula was introduced in 1983 and was sold as a coupe or a spyder. Just 119 spyder variants were produced through 1993. Externally, they carried many of the same visual cues as Marcos cars of the ’60s, but everything was just a little sleeker to fit the times. Power is from a 3.5-liter Rover V8 that was much lighter than the previous sixes the company used previously.

This 30,000-mile example is expected to sell for between $16,000-$19,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $19,651.

Ferrari 250 Monza

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1954 Ferrari 250 Monza by Scaglietti

Offered by Mecum | Monterey, California | August 15-17, 2019

Photo – Mecum

It’s a little amusing how much the Mecum catalog is hedging on the description of this car. It is in the catalog as “1954/1959 Ferrari 0432M.” Which is useless info. This car has a nuanced history, that’s for sure. I guess when you own the auction house you want to lay out the facts and let others draw their own conclusions – which I will now do. This car was born in 1954 as a Pinin Farina-bodied 250 Monza Spider.

Only four examples of the 250 Monza were built and they were essentially the 750 Monza with a 3.0-liter V12 instead of a 3.0-liter inline-four. Output was 260 horsepower. This particular car won the 1954 12 Hours of Hyeres with Maurice Trintignant and Luigi Piotti.

Sometime in 1956 or 1957, the car returned to Ferrari, who had it re-bodied by Scaglietti with the pontoon fender-style body you see here. The interesting bit is that this was done at approximately the same time Scaglietti was designing the 250 Testa Rossa. Maybe it’s like a proto-Testa Rossa?

In 1959, it arrived at Luigi Chinetti’s place in New York, and it was shown at the 1959 New York Auto Show. From there it’s had a few owners, including Dana Mecum who had the car restored in 2014. The catalog makes this car seem mysterious. But old cars changed bodies here and there. No big deal. It’s a factory-re-body of a 250 Monza. And it’s wonderful. I look forward to your hate mail telling me why my assumptions are wrong. Check out more info on this car here, and see more from Mecum here.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $20,000,000.

De Tomaso Longchamp Spyder

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1984 De Tomaso Longchamp GTS/E Spyder

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Stoneleigh Park, U.K. | February 23, 2019

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

The Longchamp is far from De Tomaso‘s most famous model, as it is neither a Pantera nor a Mangusta. And the convertible (or Spyder) variant is so rare that most people who have heard of the Longchamp might not even realize a drop-top was ever offered.

The Series II Longchamp went on sale in 1980, and the GTS variant debuted that year as well. It is set off from lesser cars with wheel arches and Pantera-like Campagnolo wheels. The top version, the GTS/E, went on sale in the mid-1980s and featured some styling changes (which are supposed to include round headlights, which this car does not have). Power is from a 5.8-liter Ford V8.

Only 409 examples of all types were built between 1972 and 1989, with the coupe/convertible breakdown being 395 to 14, respectively. Very few were built in the last few years, and only a few GTS models were also Spyders. In fact, of the 14 convertibles, only three are GTS/E models. This is one of them, and it should sell for between $115,000-$140,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Serenissima Spyder

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1966 Serenissima Spyder

Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | February 8, 2019

Photo – Artcurial

Giovanni Volpi was a Venetian who operated a racing team called Scuderia Serenissima (La Serenissima was an Italian name used to describe the Most Serene Republic of Venice). Volpi’s team competed in F1 and some sports car stuff. He was closely aligned with Ferrari. Until…

Some ex-Ferrari people, namely Carlo Chiti and Giotto Bizzarrini, bolted from Ferrari and founded a company called ATS, which Volpi helped finance. Ferrari was not pleased and refused to sell Serenissima any 250 GTOs.

So what’s an enterprising Italian to do? In 1963, Volpi founded Automobili Serenissima to build his own cars. Supposedly, eight were built in total and only five survive. Well, Volpi is still alive and apparently is selling three of them at auction in a few weeks, including this car, which is chassis no. 5.

It appears that chassis no. 5 may have started life as a Serenissima Jungla – a closed coupe that was later turned into a spyder and shown in road car form. It’s powered by a 3.5-liter V8 and was turned into a racing car shortly after its introduction. It raced at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans with drivers Jean-Claude Sauer and Jean de Mortemart. A broken gearbox in the fifth hour led to the car’s retirement from the race.

The car is presented in as-raced condition and is not currently running. It is the only Serenissima car to race at Le Mans (they intended to race the Jungla GT but it did not appear). Even still, it should command between $1,500,000-$2,000,000. Click here for more from Artcurial.

Update: Sold $4,786,229.

De Tomaso Guara Spyder

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1998 De Tomaso Guara Spyder

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | London, U.K. | September 5, 2018

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

De Tomaso is best remembered for the Pantera, which was available from 1971 through 1993 (or, “an eternity”). But they produced other models as well, including the mighty Mangusta and exotic Vallelunga. When the Pantera went out of production in 1993, it was pretty out-of-date, technology-wise.

So when Alejandro De Tomaso introduced this, the Guara, at the 1993 Geneva Auto Show, it should’ve taken people by surprise that this small Italian company was entering the modern era with something that looked… well, modern.

It sits on a Maserati chassis and uses a modified 4.0-liter BMW V8 that made 279 horsepower. The body is made of fiberglass, Kevlar, and other composites, keeping it relatively light. De Tomaso is no more, but they managed to build 50 Guaras, and only four of those were Spyders. This one-owner example in an awesome shade of purple should sell at RM Sotheby’s in London. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.