Auctions

Lamborghini is known for making some of the world’s most dramatic supercars and this sure is one of the most dramatic modern Lambos, not least because it lacks the usual amenities such as a full-width windscreen or side windows. Built as a styling design that harkens back to the old-time-y speedsters, the Gallardo Concept S previewed a limited-edition model that never materialized. However, one running and driving example powered by the 5.0-liter, naturally aspirated 512-horsepower V-10 of the standard Gallardo does exist and you’re looking at it now. If you’ve missed out on the Concept S the first two times RM/Sotheby’s tried to sell it, it’ll be up for grabs once again in Abu Dhabi.

A roof that lifts up to reveal the cockpit? Check! Futuristic cues that are both strange and appealing as you’d expect from a Zagato design? Check! All the goodies from the Diablo VT including the viscous central differential allowing for AWD and the magnificent 5.7-liter V-12 putting out almost 500 horsepower? Check! A carbon-fiber body created entirely through digital design and manufacturing process? Check! The Raptor could’ve kick-started Lamborghini’s marriage with Audi in grand style at the end of the 20th century but, instead, the car you see here is the only one the Italians ever made.

It was the mid-’90s when Lamborghini realized that its ’lineup" needed to be refreshed. At the time, the company based in Sant’Agata Bolognese made only the mid-engined Diablo, successor of the Countach and a very potent car in its own right. However, the Diablo was hardly a forward-thinking car, AWD aside, and Lamborghini realized it needed to start thinking about its replacement and, on top of that, of something that could allow it to attract a wider audience. The key to increasing its client base, Lamborghini thought, would be to create a model that would sit below the Diablo in terms of performance while lacking none of that unmistakable Lamborghini DNA. The job of designing this new model, as well as the Diablo replacement, was in Zagato’s hands and the legendary design house came up with the Raptor in just four short months, fast enough to allow Lamborghini to showcase the prototype at the 1996 Geneva Auto Show. Now, this one-off coach-built wonder can be yours, providing you’ve got a million or two to spare.

In 1965, Ford won the World Manufacturer’s Title in the GT ranks with the Cobra Daytona Coupe. But you wouldn’t have found the aerodynamic Kamm-tailed endurance racer on almost any bedroom wall around that time. Instead, everyone was hooked on Shelby’s new roadster - the Cobra 427. Sporting the ’side-oiler’ big block 7.0-liter V-8 good for at least 500 ponies, the revised Cobra was five inches wider than the AC Ace-based examples before it, handled slightly better due to an all-new chassis with independent suspension, and was one of the fastest cars you could register in 1965. With a 0-60 mph time of four seconds flat and tires that would go alight at the lightest depressing of the gas pedal, the 427 was unruly but that’s what made it a legend.

Think about what American cars you have loved throughout your life. It’s almost certain that the Cobra 427 was (or still is) in amongst your favorites. With rounded, flared arches, a gaping mouth and a scoop on the hood, and a pair of racing stripes traversing the (usually) blue paintwork, the baddest Cobra found its place in the history books from the moment it entered production. It was as loud as a pack of lions - if lions were ever to attack in packs - and more unruly than a teenager who’s going through a phase that’s "totally not a phase". The first 50 cars made were Competition or Semi/Competition-spec while the other 260 copies built until late ’67 were tuned to be more street-oriented, although even this can be considered a stretch. That’s why probably no other car can boast with such a wide variety of replicas quite like the Cobra and, naturally, most try to copy the look of the Cobra 427.

The entire Ferrari 250 line seems to have secured its place in the palace of automotive royalties for generations to come. With unmistakable lines, a variety of powerful but also reliable Colombo V-12s, and limited-run production, almost all of the late-50s to early-60s Ferrari 250 models command astronomical values at auction nowadays.

There are, of course, some stars that shine brighter than others, such as the 250 GTO, the 250 GT SWB, and, lastly, the 250 California SWB Spider built between 1960 and 1962. This is one of those short-wheelbase California Spiders but, despite its originality, it lacks the aura of the ex-Alain Delon ’barn find’ that sold for $18.5 million four years ago.

Besides the fact that Alain Delon once owned and thrashed that particular 250 California SWB Spider, what made it even more desirable were its covered headlights. Amazingly, the more sought after variant is, actually, the one Ferrari made more of: a total of 37,250 California SWB Spiders left the factory with covered headlights and just 19 were optioned without the glass over the twin circular headlamps. Read on to learn more about the strange case of a buyer-induced trend that goes against the otherwise untouchable principle of rarity.

In GT racing, the Maserati MC12 is remembered as a ferociously effective car in the GT1 class, racking up numerous race wins and titles in the now-defunct FIA GT Championship. With a career spanning seven seasons, it was the car to beat in Europe but it never caused much of a stir in North-America. Risi Competizione first campaigned one with help from AF Corse in 2005 with special dispensation from IMSA. It stood out and this was no mean feat given it shared grids with the Saleen S7, the Aston Martin DBR9, the Corvette C6.R, and the Dodge Viper GTS-R but it never delivered on its promise. Two years later, in 2007, storied Swiss-American squad Doran Lista brought the MC12 back to the American Le Mans Series and the car you see here is that exact car driven twice in the ALMS 12 years ago. We know you want it and so do we.

The Maserati MC12 is one of those cars that divides opinions: some consider it to be ridiculous with its race car-inspired physique that reminds you more of a ’90s homologation special model such as Porsche’s 911 GT1 rather than a ’00s supercar while others can’t stop praising both its appearance and its performance. On the race tracks, though, there was no room for such arguments: the MC12 was the dominant force in the FIA GT between 2005 and 2009 with Michael Bartels’ Team Vitaphone becoming the de facto Maserati team during the car’s tenure at the top of the GT1 pile. But can a car that never competed at Le Mans and that was never competitive in America really be considered great? Share with us your opinions in the comment section below, but not before you go through the story of this unique racer.

The Ferrari 275 GTB is widely considered to be one of the prettiest grand touring cars built during the sizzling ’60s. Displaying an evolutionary design language influenced by Ferrari’s glorious 250-series models such as the 250 GTO and the 250 GTE 2+2, the 275 GTB came in both short-nose and long-nose specification, with the 3.3-liter Colombo V-12 first featuring two overhead camshafts before Ferrari introduced, in 1967, the 275 GTB/4 with four overhead camshafts. This here is a Series II 275 GTB or, in other words, a long-nosed version built towards the end of the GTB’s production run in 1966. It’s one of the last of just a few dozen 275 GTBs with an all-aluminum body shell that makes the car both lighter and rust-proof. Too bad it’s as expensive as a handful of Ferrari F40s.

Even fans of modern supercars and wedge-shaped obscurities from the ’80s would oftentimes come together and agree that the GTs made in the ’60s are a sight to behold: elongated noses, low rooflines, and a tail that usually ends with a stubby Kammback. It’s a well-known recipe and few applied it better than Ferrari. Designed by the house of Pininfarina, by now an integral part of the Maranello-based manufacturer, the 275 GTB came to sweepingly replace all of the 250-series models. It was designed to be more user-friendly, more practical, but without giving up on performance or the unique feeling of being behind the wheel of a Ferrari. Included by many publications on shortlists of the prettiest Ferraris of all time, the 275 GTB was also a successful race car and it also spawned an open-top version in the N.A.R.T.-commissioned 275 GTS/4 Spyders built between 1967 and 1968 (the 275 GTS featured a completely different Pininfarina body while the N.A.R.T. cars featured Scaglietti bodies in the style of Pininfarina’s Berlinetta design).

Engine swapping is common practice in the world of automotive tuning. If you’re inventive enough and your pockets are adequately deep, the sky is the limit when it comes to taking one engine and shoving it in the engine bay of another car. While some swaps make more sense than others, those that really grab our attention are those that, on paper, shouldn’t work. That’s why this particular 1999 Mazda Miata NB helped our eyebrows reach skyscraper heights. What you see piercing through the hood of the diminutive Japanese sports car is none other than the impressive 6.2-liter Hemi V-8 engine that you’d expect to find nestled in a Dodge Hellcat. All of its 683 horsepower is there and you can own it as it’s heading for auction, crossing the block in just a few days during Barrett-Jackson’s Las Vegas sale scheduled for October 3-5.

If you’re looking at ways to improve the performance characteristics of your car without mortgaging your house in the process, an engine swap may be an attractive solution if you’re in need of ponies. Say you’ve got an NB-generation Miata, the one that forgoes the pop-up headlights and, in turn, comes with ABS as an optional extra. The car is light, handles as well as your shoe and it’s loads of fun. But you want more power. You’ll soon find out that many people are like you and, while a chunk go for the LS swap (or even the 13B rotary options), you want something else. This car is something else.

While we were waiting for new debuts at the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show, Bentley made a surprising announcement at the 2019 Salon Prive Concours d’Elegance in Crewe, England. The British firm launched a continuation series of the iconic Bentley Blower, a car it originally sold back in 1929. Yes, Bentley is doing exactly what Jaguar did with cars like the E-Type Lightweight, D-Type, and XK-SS, but with a much older car. The Blower will thus become the world’s first pre-war race car continuation series.

How often do you see an ex-works Porsche race car hit the auction block? It rarely happens and this is one of the few that were sold publicly in recent history. This is a 1960 Porsche 718 RS 60, member of the 718 RS family of open-top sports cars built and raced by Zuffenhausen for half a decade beginning with the RSK in 1957. The RS 60 appeared at a time when sports car manufacturers started realizing that mounting the engine behind the cockpit might be beneficial to the performance of the car after witnessing Jack Brabham muscling his way to the title in F1 in 1959. Porsche was already doing it and had been doing it for years, beginning with the 550 Spyder, a car infamous for having an important part to play in actor James Dean’s death but one that was, more importantly, a successful car in road racing.

The RS 60 Spyder raced everywhere around the world, following the trek of the World Endurance Championship and, along the way, ticking starts at Le Mans, the Nurburgring, and Targa Florio. Only 18 were built in period and the factory kept for its own use a mere four examples and this, according to RM Sotheby’s, was "the only to likely become available". Powered by a four-cam engine - first a 1.6-liter mill and, in 1961, a 2.0-liter one - the car you see in the pictures, chassis #044, doesn’t boast with the most enviable of racing records having retired out of both the 1960 24 Hours of Le Mans race and all of the three major races it contested in 1961: the 12 Hours of Sebring, the 1,000-kilometer race at the Nurburgring-Nordschleife and the Targa Florio in Sicily. Having said that, it must be said that the car was fast, taking pole position outright in the Italian road race before being raced extensively by Bob Holbert, father of Porsche legend Al Holbert, an amazing driver in his own right - both behind the wheel of Porsches and, later, Cobras. It is, then, no wonder that chassis #044 sold for over $5.0 million back in mid-August during the Monterey sale. That’s one expensive aluminum Spyder!

The Drake, a man who honed his craft as the team boss of Alfa Corse in the ’30s, carried some of the old adages over when he started his own automotive company. It’s no wonder, then, that he was reluctant to jump on the rear-mid engine train when it boomed two decades after the last pre-war Grand Prix but when his Prancing Horses finally rolled out with the engine aft of the driver they proved overwhelmingly good: in F1, the 156 steamrolled its way to both the Constructor’s and the Driver’s F1 title in 1961 and, in long-distance racing, the 196 SP, as a direct descendant of the 246 SP, foresaw what was to come in sports car racing.

The 196 SP is an incredibly rare and incredibly gorgeous beast. With a low-slung body and a nose very similar to that of the 156 F1 car, it carried what was good about the 246 SP, the first Ferrari mid-engined sports car that was unveiled in 1961, and improved on the formula. Under the rear deck, there was, effectively, half of a Colombo V-12, and not the Dino V-6 although the 196 SP has been referred to as the Dino 196 SP in some circles. Five were built for 1962 and this one, chassis #0806 is the only that has survived. RM/Sotheby’s tried selling it during the Monterey Car Week but failed. Still, the car is valued at anywhere between $8 million and $10 million. Keep reading to find out why this V-6-engined Ferrari is worth more than twice the price of a LaFerrari, Maranello’s V-12 hybrid wonder.

The Aston Martin DB3S is a special car although it may have been overshadowed as years came and went by a certain finned Jaguar and the DBR1/300 that won at La Sarthe for David Brown’s marque. However, its status as a bit of a giant killer and the fact that the boys in Feltham kept using it for four seasons in international competitions puts the DB3S in a unique spot in Jaguar’s racing history. This car, chassis #2, is one of only 11 works cars ever built and it won the Goodwood Nine Hours ahead of the D-Type and Ferrari’s 750 Monza. It is, then, no wonder that RM/Sotheby’s hoped it would sell for anywhere between $8.75 and $10 million when it crossed the block last Thursday during the Monterey Car Week. Well, it didn’t but you can’t deny this is one rare, gorgeous, and expensive product of the ’50s. Need further proof? A copy of the definitive book on this car sold 14 years ago for some $1,500.

When you talk ’50s sports cars, your mind slaloms between William Haynes’ C-Type and D-Type, together amassing five overall 24 Hours of Le Mans wins, the classic 250 Testa Rossa, the dominant but also infamous 300 SLR, and also the Lister Knobbly and Maserati’s 300S. Aston Martin isn’t among the names on the tip of your tongue despite it racking up quite an impressive number of wins between 1953 and 1959 with the DB3S and the DBR1 respectively. That’s because the Aston Martins were always seen as underdogs, always seen as members of the pack, those that’ll play second fiddle to the big fish when, in fact, it wasn’t like that at all. David Brown employed some of the best engineers and drivers at the time and his cars were some of the best. Yes, most often down on power, yes, most often with an Achilles’ heel (cough, the DBR1’s gearbox and ergonomics) but they were good cars. And now we’ll talk about the first one of those, the DB3S, offspring of the DB3 and a car that’s getting a bad rep for being actually friendly on the road.

The 2019 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance featured some of the most to-die-for cars in the world. One of the real stars of the show was a 1994 McLaren F1 “LM Specification”that lived up to its billing when it sold for a whopping $19.8 million at the RM Sotheby’s auction over the weekend. While it did sell below the auction house’s estimate of $21 million to $23 million, the $19.5 million selling price makes this specific McLaren F1 LM the most expensive McLaren ever sold in an auction setting. For a little perspective, the final selling price of this McLaren F1 LM is equal to buying 87 houses in the U.S. based on the median home listing, according to real estate and rental market place site Zillow. In other words, that’s a lot of houses for the price of one McLaren F1 LM.