Of those 50, 10 featured competition features such as a tuned engines, ribbed-alloy gearboxes, long-range fuel tanks, and lightweight bodywork. Even fewer SWB California Spiders included the same specs.
Chassis 1235 GT was built to special order for amateur driver Ottavio Randaccio. The car’s current owner has spared no expense in the restoration work that included a complete rebuild of the engine and fine tuning of the chassis.
The lot is complete with its original chassis and body, with copies of the original factory build sheets confirming 1235 GT retains its matching-numbers engine and gearbox.
1998 Mercedes-Benz AMG CLK GTR Strassenversion
Gooding & Company – Lot 50
Part of the long-awaited return to racing of Mercedes-Benz, the AMG CLK GTR was concocted to compete in the FIA GT Championship in 1997. As part of the requirements to enter a car into the championship, a minimum of 25 road-going versions had to be built and with that, Strassenversion was born.
20 coupes and five roadsters were produced and this is chassis No9 from the 25.
With just 1442km showing on the odometer, this CLK GTR has been regularly maintained by Mercedes-Benz racing experts at SPS Automotive Performance. Original manuals, numbered battery charger, torque wrench and socket and hard shipping case are all included in the sale.
Gooding & Co. estimates the car could fetch between $8,500,000 and $10,000,000.
1931 Bentley 4 1/2 Litre Supercharged ‘Blower’ Sports Tourer
Gooding & Company – Lot 153
Sir Henry Birkin’s ambition and W.O. Bentley’s lack of interest in putting a supercharger in one of his Speed Six cars over the normally aspirated 6 1/2-litre engine resulted in the creation of an iconic piece of British motor sport history.
The iconic pre-war racer was commissioned by Birkin and Amherst Villiers set about increasing the horsepower from 110bhp to 175bhp. While W.O. opposed the creation, Bentley Chairman Woolf Barnato’s approval meant that the new supercharged versions would be built.
50 cars were built over a two-year period to satisfy Le Mans regulations and the car in question was eventually acquired by Scotsman Mr. W.C. Gordon Black in 1931.
Since then, the car has passed through a number of different owners and coachbuilders, with documentation listing the journey and various restoration projects that still means it can be entered into various high-profile classic car events around the world.
1986 March 86C
Gooding & Company – Lot 31
The winning car from the 1986 Indianapolis 500, this March 86C is one of the most accomplished racing cars available at any auction across Monterey Car Week.
Designed by Adrian Newey, the 86C was piloted to victory by Bobby Rahal after starting on the second row, having achieved 213mph in qualifying.