Hammer down

Racers that are going, going, gone…

As we go to press, the ex-Ian Stewart/Ecurie Ecosse Jaguar C-type is set to go on the block at Christies’ Exceptional Motor Cars & Automobile sale. Chassis number XKC006 was brought new by Stewart – or according to him “mostly by a finance company” – and very swiftly passed to the famous Scottish team. With this car, Stewart won the 1952 Jersey Road Race (and recorded the fastest lap) and continued into the ’53 season, taking a total off 14 victories at venues such as Charterhall (where he beat Stirling Moss and Roy Salvadort in one encounter), Crimond, Curragh (where he lifted the Wakefield Trophy) and Castle Combe.   Future Le Mans winner and Ecosse regular Ninian Sanderson drove the Jaguar to sixth place in the ’53 Easter Handicap Goodwood. The car subsequently passed to Dutch driver Hans Davids who won races at Spa and Zandvoort with it. Restored by Lynx in the ‘70s, it’s estimated to reach in the region of €1,800,000.

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Bonham’s sale of Jean-Pierre Beltoise’s car collection exceeded all expectations. The former Monaco GP winner’s ex-Pescarolo/Larrousse ’73 Le Mans 24 Hours winning Matra MS670B sold for a remarkable €1,105,000 and is believed to have been bought by a South American historic racer based in Europe. Beltoise’s ex-Pescarolo Matra MS120-02 F1 car sold for €335,000. In the same sale the ex-André Wicky Porsche Carrera 6 driven to second in the ’66 Paris 1000Km, sold for €369,100, while the ex-Jean-Pierre Jabouille Alpine A440 made €161,200.