Citroën 2CV built to tackle Sahara sells for £52k

1964 CitroËn 2CV Sahara

Sold by Artcurial, £52,180
Citroën’s solution to making a four-wheel-drive 2CV was simply to put one engine in the front and a second one in the back. Originally developed to explore for oil in the Sahara Desert, it was soon adopted by privateers who needed to negotiate tricky terrain and public agencies that needed a practical off-road vehicle. Just 693 were built during a six-year run from 1961, with this one rolling off the production line in Vigo, Spain. One of 80 Saharas ordered for the Guardia Civil, it ended up in the UK and was restored by a British Citroën employee before being sold to a 2CV collector.

1964 Ferrari 250 LM

Sold by RM Sotheby’s, £28.7m
The only privateer-entered Ferrari to win Le Mans was driven to victory in 1965 for Luigi Chinetti’s NART team. In 1970, Chinetti sold this car to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.

1993 Volvo 240 TØrslanda estate 

Sold by Bonhams Cars Online, £21,409
The 240 is famed for its ability to cover enormous distances – so the buyer of this Tørslanda special edition has a long road ahead, since it was sold with fewer than 12,000 guaranteed miles on the clock.

1974 Ford Escort RS2000 

Sold by Iconic auctioneers, £59,625 
Any well-presented RS2000 Mk 1 is sought-after, but this example was more covetable than most due to being one of only a handful to have been finished in factory black from new.

2016 Bowler wildcat 500DKR

Sold by Collecting Cars, £63,000
This was one of the last Bowler rally raid conversions based on the old model Defender. It was last used at the 2024 Scottish Summer Hill Rally and had recorded just 1426 miles since new.

Mnemonic Vehicle no1

Sold by Bonhams, £22,350
This 32in long model of a Ferrari Berlinetta made from aluminium was one of an edition of six by Brazilian artist Vik Muniz. It was among the top sellers in an online sale of contemporary art.

1972 Mini 1275 GT

Sold by Iconic auctioneers, £19,125
Launched in 1969 as a replacement for the 1275 Mini Cooper S, the Clubman 1275 GT had a restyled front end and distinctive door stripes. This one, with 9500 miles on the clock, was fully rebuilt.

1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 R Stromlinienwagen

Sold by RM Sotheby’s, £42.8m
One of four W196 cars with factory-built Stromlinienwagen coachwork – and the only one ever offered for private ownership. Sold from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, it was raced to victory by Juan Manuel Fangio in the 1955 Buenos Aires Grand Prix.

Forthcoming sale highlights

• RM Sotheby’s Shift Online, April 23-28
  Rare automobilia appears increasingly often in online sales, with this Shift Online: Europe and Middle East auction a good example. The star piece is the Shoei helmet worn by Ayrton Senna during practice for the 1992 Belgian GP – the occasion on which he abandoned his McLaren and ran across the track to help a crashed Érik Comas.
• Bonhams, Stafford, April 26-27
  The 300 or so motorcycles in this sale include numerous gems. The standout is a 1925 Brough-Superior valued at £300,000 that competed in the 1927 Ulster Grand Prix and has remained in single ownership for 53 years, while the 1988 Honda VFR750R used by Carl Fogarty to victory in the ’88 and ’89 TT F1 championship could fetch up to £40,000.
• Historics auctioneers, Farnborough, May 3
  At the dawn of the 20th century Farnborough Airport was home to the British Army Balloon Factory where Wild West showman and aviation pioneer Samuel Franklin Cody built British Army Aeroplane No1 – and used it to make the UK’s first sustained powered flight in 1908. Expect a wide range of prestige and sports cars, plus a few oddities.
• RM Sotheby’s, Buckinghamshire, July 9
  RM Sotheby’s returns to the grounds of Cliveden House with a suitably British selection of lots, notably a wealth of Aston Martin and Bentley models. Among the former is the DB4 prototype from 1957, DP114/2. The design was shelved in favour of the prettier effort produced by Touring of Milan. DP114/2 went to marque owner David Brown’s wife.