It’s Time To Buy a Vintage Race Car

Well, the auctions of Monterey Car Week are upon us, yet again. The start-studded automotive spectacular has become the go-to grounds for luxury automakers to show off their latest and greatest, while in the background, legacy auction houses like Bonhams, Gooding, and others sell off automotive rarities to the highest bidders. Looking at this year’s offering, we decided to put a different spin on things. Yes of course there are all of the rare old Ferraris, Porsches, and Aston Martins on offer, but this year also brings a fair number of vintage race cars of all shapes and sizes. Who doesn’t love the idea of turning up to a local track day in a historical marvel, after all? We’ve cherry picked some of our favourites, from open wheel to ex-World Rally contenders.

1966 Porsche 906/’Carrera Six’ Two-Seat Endurance Racing Coupe

Yes, with an estimate of over two million USD, we’re starting big, but how can you not love this ex-endurance racing champ; it won endurance races at Suzuka in ’67, ’68, and ’69. One of only 62 Carrera Six cars built back in 1966, the car continued to compete well into the ’70s even though it was considered effectively obsolete. From there, it landed in the hands of a prominent Japanese Porsche collector, received a proper restoration in Germany in 1992, where somewhere along the way its flat-four internals were upgraded from two-litre displacement up to 2.5. A healthy racing history on a still-very alive and well automobile is hard to come by, so you know Porsche collectors will be all over this one.

1952 Kurtis Kraft 4000 “Bowes Seal Fast” Special

If vintage open-wheel is more your speed, not to worry. The catalogs are filled with old Bentley and Alfa Romeo racers, but this Kurtis Kraft 4000 is a bit more our speed. 5th place in the 1952 Indianapolis 500 led its driver Art Cross to win the Speedway’s first ever Rookie Of The Year award, and the car remained competitive for the better part of a decade before its retirement. Much like the Porsche above, it also saw a thorough restoration in the ’90s. The restoration was so high level that the car took First In Class at Pebble Beach in 1996. Frank Kurtis was one of the top race car builders in the years following WWII, and to find one of his creations in this fine of form is not a common occurence. It’ll be interesting to see where this one lands by the end of the auction, as it’s being sold without reserve with a low-end estimate of $275,000.

1978 Fiat-Abarth 131 Rally

Rally cars over the years have come in all shapes and sizes, most often bought and sold as street cars build into rally spec for competition. That’s not the case here, as this Fiat-Abarth 131 Rally left the factory as a manufacturer competition car. This particular car was sent stateside to compete in American rally championships, and found its way onto the cover of the May 1980 issue of Road & Track. In its recent history it was restored in 2016, and featured on Jay Leno’s garage at the 2020 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. While it won’t keep up to a Group B rally car, it could still be plenty of fun out in the dirt, with its two-litre engine cranking out a healthy 230 horsepower, pushed through a 5-speed manual box.

1971 Surtees-Chevrolet TS8 Formula A/5000 Racing Single-Seater

Now we’re talking; a vintage Formula race car with 465 horsepower and a low estimate price not far off a well-optioned Porsche 911? Who needs airbags anyway. Jokes aside, this Sturtees-Chevrolet TS8 Formula A/5000 was built by John Surtees’ organization that started on this Formula chassis at the tail end of John’s storied Formula 1 career. Sold to the Champ Carr racing team, this car traded hands a number of times throughout its racing career, landing in the hands of its current owner in 2015. Since then, the car has made multiple appearances on the track at Road America and Mosport Park. You’d certainly catch eyes at the track rolling up in something like this, and with a Chevrolet-based V8 sitting behind you, maintenance will be a touch simpler than in other rarities.

1953 Studebaker Land Speed Record

In an automotive scene full of faux patina rat rods, this absolutely wild Studebaker stands apart. Why? well, the age and grit is all original, but beyond that, the car is functional piece of automotive history. This car set numerous land speed records on the Bonnevile Salt Flats. It was the first car of its kind to break the 200 miles per hour barrier in 1958, and it cracked the 265 miles per hour mark in 1966 (after a thorough rework needed after a crash). It finally landed in the hands of the consignor in 2012, who gave it a thorough mechanical refresh, leaving the body in its true weather and speed-beaten form.

1973 BMW 3.0 CSL

Again edging on a million dollars, but when we saw this works-delivered BMW 3.0 CSL in the catalog of RM Sotheby’s we had to take a closer look. After all, these cars were absolutely legendary in their day. The 3.0 CSL dominated German Touring Car races throughout the ’70s, after Bob Lutz (of Ford fame) revived BMW’s motorsport efforts. While there were 1,265 road-going versions of the car produced, this example was produced for racing at the BMW factory. Not only that, it was also one of the cars raced by none other than Hans-Joachim Stuck — the most celebrated German driver of that era. This is pure BMW racing history, right here.

1986 Ford RS200 Evolution

The Ford RS200 is a bit of a sad story in the history of the Group B class of the World Rally Championship — the most dangerous class of rally racing ever created, which ended up being shut down over safety concerns in 1986. The class had no horsepower cap, per se, but a maximum power versus weight calculation that led to the creation to some incredibly fast cars in the dirt. Now remember, grip is a thing, and when off road, 1,000+ horsepower means nothing if your tires just spin endlessly. The RS200 was the latest evolution of Ford’s competitive car in the field, but unfortunately a tragic crash (one of several over the years) finally marked the end of the category. That said, it’s still an incredibly impressive piece of kit; a lightweight two-seater sports coupe with a mid-engine layout and an uprated 2.1-litre Ford BDT engine producing upwards of 600 horsepower.

1960 Porsche RS60

A little less reckless, a little more “gentleman racer”, we’re ending on this charming Porsche RS60 that would fit in nicely in places like the Pebble Beach Concours, or Italy’s Mille Miglia. It boasts an illustrious US racing history, including 12 class wins between 1960 and 1963. Not to mention that only 17 of these cars were ever created, and it went on to place 2nd in the FIA World Sportscar Championship of 1960. For this specific car, over four seasons, it was campaigned in 17 races, finishing in the top-three places all but once and taking home an astonishing 12 class wins. Among privately entered RS60s, this record stands as an exceptional achievement.

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