The Story
A review of some of the highlight vehicles from the upcoming auctions by RM Sotheby’s, Bonhams, and more.
RM Sotheby’sThis year, just like so many years past, is shaping up to be an astoundingly good one when it comes to auctions at Monterey Car Week. There are hundreds of cars worthy of being highlighted on this list, crossing the block at auctions by RM Sotheby’s, Bonhams, Mecum, Broad Arrow and more, so distilling the list down to just 16 examples could be a disservice . But we did it anyway.
It’s the Pop Art F1!. Again!. McLaren F1 GTR, one of only nine converted to road specification, is going up for auction via RM Sotheby’s and is expected to gavel for over $35 million. Nick Mason of Pink Floyd owned this particular F1 for 25 years before it was sold to a private party in 2024, and now it’s going up for sale again. It might just be the most recognizable McLaren F1 in existence, so watch out for it rolling onto the block this Saturday.
Corvette royalty is coming to Monterey with the first Grand Sport coupe ever built. One could say it’s the year of the Grand Sport with the C8’s Grand Sport variants launching. But now the story comes full circle with this factory-built competition Corvette. This particular Grand Sport has a long, storied history in racing, and was piloted by drivers like A.J. Foyt, Jim Hall, and more. The current owner fully restored it, and RM Sotheby’s predicts it will sell somewhere in the $11–$13 million range.
Among Ferrari factory sports car racing efforts, the 512 BB/LM was far from the most successful, but there’s no denying how cool it is. This car is number seven of 25 built for competition. The LM version of the 512 featured a host of upgrades, with significantly more power and far less weight in addition to a substantial body kit. This particular example had restoration work completed by Ferrari Classiche, and is expected to hammer somewhere in the $2.0–$3.5 million range.
Yes, another historically significant Corvette is headed to RM’s auction this year. This car raced in the 1960 24 Hours of Le Mans and was piloted by Briggs Cunningham and Bill Kimberly, and it’s being offered up for sale by the Cunningham family. A full restoration was completed in 2023 by Kevin Mackay, and it’s predicted to sell for $2.0–$2.5 million.
It won’t be winning any awards for prettiest Ferrari on the block, but we’d be remiss to not tell you the first Luce is headed for auction at RM this week. This example is a ‘Tailor Made’ spec with a Madreperla exterior and Perla Le Mans interior. A regular Luce starts around the $640,000 mark, but this car is predicted to sell for over $1.1 million, according to RM. We’ll be curious to see if it hits that.
Quite literally a race car for the road, this Jaguar XJR-15 is one of 27 built in road-going specification. Sharing an engine and suspension with the XJR-9 race car, this carbon-tubbed Jag is one of the wildest and rarest supercars of the 1990s. Unfortunately for its last owner, the example being offered for sale here was almost never driven, showing just 191 miles on the odometer. It was never titled or registered, and RM suggests it will sell for $1.0–$1.4 million.
There are a number of little-known and epic prototype vehicles going up for auction this year in Monterey, and this CLK DTM might be the coolest of the Mercedes examples. This car was the development vehicle for AMG’s’ famous 6.2-liter V-8, and is believed to be one of only two left. Mercedes-AMG itself owned the vehicle for a long while, and the odometer shows just 140 miles. RM estimates its value at $800,000–$1.0 million.
Moving along to the Bonhams collection, we have a Skyline that competed in the 1988-89 Japanese Touring Car Championship. The Calsonic blue livery is surely etched into all of our brains at this point, and this Nissan was the first to wear it. Being the Skyline that came directly before the R32, this GTS-R and its RB20DET-R engine are sometimes overlooked, but this one will be getting a chance to shine. Bonhams predicts its sale price will be in the $200,000–$275,000 range.
There aren’t many “affordable” cars that come up for auction during Monterey Car Week, but this Lotus Eleven is one way to take home a car with some real shock value to its design for a predicted $120,000–$160,000. This Le Mans-spec Lotus Eleven is one of 270 produced in total, and was originally delivered to an owner in the U.S., where it’s stayed ever since. The Coventry Climax four-cylinder engine powering it only makes 140 horsepower, but at about 1000 pounds, this little Lotus would make for an exhilarating track car.
Why It Matters
There aren’t many “affordable” cars that come up for auction during Monterey Car Week, but this Lotus Eleven is one way to take home a car with some real shock value to its design for a predicted $120,000–$160,000.
CarMotion Daily’s Take
There are a number of little-known and epic prototype vehicles going up for auction this year in Monterey, and this CLK DTM might be the coolest of the Mercedes examples. Watch this space over the coming weeks.
📝 Source & Copyright Notice
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