Skip advert
Advertisement

RM Sotheby’s Monaco sale - 205 T16, Porsche 959 and more

Beautiful supercars from every era join WRC winners and Le Mans contenders at RM Sotheby's Monaco event

Over the last few years classic car auctions have been notable mostly for the value of the cars crossing the block.

But every so often an auction occurs where the cars themselves, rather than their estimates, are enough to make jaws drop. One of those is happening on Saturday, May 14th, at the RM Sotheby’s biennial Monaco auction.

Advertisement - Article continues below

Among the lots are Grand Prix, rally and Le Mans stars, rare coachbuilt supercars and race-bred road cars from every era.

From the former category, three cars in particular are notable. The first is a 1971 March 711, as raced by Niki Lauda at the beginning of his Formula 1 career. The car on sale in Monaco – with a 550k-650k Euro estimate – was built for Ronnie Peterson, who achieved a second-place finish, appropriately at Monaco, during the 1971 season. Lauda later drove the car at the Austrian Grand Prix that year, though failed to finish.

RM Sotheby’s suggests the car could ‘easily be a frontrunner in the Series F of the Monaco Historic GP’, where its 450 horsepower Cosworth DFV could reverberate off the Principality’s tower blocks.

Quieter but equally impressive is the 2008 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP Le Mans Prototype also for sale. The 700-plus horsepower diesel racer finished second at that year’s Le Mans 24 Hours (to an Audi, almost inevitably) and won at both the 2009 Petit Le Mans and he 2010 1000 Kilometres of Algarve.

Skip advert
Advertisement
Advertisement - Article continues below

It’s expected to achieve 1.2m-1.6m Euros at the auction, which makes the second Peugeot motorsport star – a 1984 205 T16 Evolution 1 – look something of a bargain at 600k-800k Euros.

Advertisement - Article continues below

Particularly so as this car won the 1985 Monte Carlo and Swedish rallies, at the hands of Ari Vatanen. One of 20 works Evo 1 205s produced, it was later retired from competition after the Portuguese rally that year, and is completely original as a result.

You may already have seen one of the supercars set to cross the block in Monaco in our latest video. You can watch Henry Catchpole drive the 1974 Ferrari 365 GT4 BB – estimate 380k-450k Euros – below:

Other notable Ferraris at the Monaco auction include a beautiful 1968 330 GTC, a 2006 575 Superamerica and one of the firm’s earliest models, a 1951 340 America Barchetta by Touring.

This last car is expected to reach as much as 7.5m-9m Euros, which is unsurprising given its matching-numbers status, 1951 and 1952 Le Mans entries and rarity – it was the third of only 23, 340 Americas built, and one of only eight bodied by Touring.

Porsche fans will appreciate the presence of a 1973 911 2.7 RS Touring, a 1997 911 GT1 Evolution and a menacing 1988 Porsche 959 ‘Komfort’ Stage II, estimated to attain an incredible 900k-1.25m Euros.

Among other cars to catch our attention: A bulging 1969 MGC GTS Sebring (150k-250k), an Aston Martin DB AR1 by Zagato (180k-230k), 1982 Lancia Rally 037 Stradale (335k-355k) and another Zagato classic, a 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia Tubolare Zagato with a 950k-1.2m estimate.

Fans of American cars will appreciate the presence of one of the most striking cars ever designed too – a 1948 Tucker 48 with a flat-six engine and preselector transmission. The estimate? 1.35m-1.85m Euros.

The RM Sotheby's Monaco sale takes place on Saturday, 14th May at Le Sporting Monte-Carlo in Monaco. evo will host a live stream of the auction, so keep your eyes peeled on the site for all the cars mentioned above, and more.

Skip advert
Advertisement
Skip advert
Advertisement

Most Popular

The Nissan GT-R has been updated yet again for 2025
Nissan GT-R 2025 – front
News

The Nissan GT-R has been updated yet again for 2025

The R35 Nissan GT-R refuses to die – this latest version gets engine enhancements and subtle cosmetic tweaks
15 Mar 2024
MST Mk1 2024 review – £174,000 Ford Escort recreation driven
MST Mk1 Ford Escort
Reviews

MST Mk1 2024 review – £174,000 Ford Escort recreation driven

The MST Mk1 is a brand new, 50-year-old, road-going rally car. It looks the business, but does it deliver? Strap yourself in…
15 Mar 2024
Used car deals of the week
Main used car deals
Advice

Used car deals of the week

In this week's used car deals, we've sourced everything from the TVR Tuscan to the CLS63 Shooting Brake
15 Mar 2024