Due to the demise of Arrows F1 and the TWR Group Ltd, a collection of significant, mainly racing, cars is up for sale by auction and by Private Treaty including the 1990 Le Mans winning Jaguar XJR12 and an ex-Jim Clark Lotus Cortina.
Hertfordshire-based Auctioneers Wyles-Hardy & Co, on behalf of Pricewaterhouse Coopers, are selling the Group C Jaguar racing cars by ‘Private Treaty’ which, in layman’s language, means accepting best offers and selling prior to auction. Included in this part of the collection is the aforementioned 1990 Le Mans victor, the 1987 Sports Car Championship winning car and the purple Cosworth HB XJR14 which represented the last fling for the Jaguar squad.
The auction cars, to be sold at 18.30 on Saturday 5th July at the Brands Hatch Historic Superprix meeting, include many winning cars such as the 1981 Mazda RX7 Spa 24 Hours winner £20,000 – 25,000, the 1986 Bastos Rover Vitesse ETC car, £25,000-£30,000 and a 1974 Ford ‘Cologne’ Capri 3100 V6 £33,000 – 38,000; believed to have been raced by F1 World Champion Niki Lauda. This car’s chief on-track rival is also included in the sale, a 1974 ex-works BMW 3.0 CSL race-car at £45,000 – 55,000.
Older cars in the collection are headed by what is described as ‘..without question the best known and most famous Lotus Cortina ever raced or rallied’. Registered BJH 417B in 1964 the white and green car was raced by a stellar line-up including Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, Mike Spence, David Hobbs and Sir John Whitmore. In very original condition, no roll cage, the car is estimated at £50,000 – 60,000 – and worth every penny. The other car illustrated above is 550 VAR, a 1963 car believed to have been the road transport of the quiet Scots farmer during his early years at Lotus. It’s estimated at £28,000 – 33,000.
The XJS was the vehicle for Jaguar’s return to racing, after their brief but disastrous XJC programme in 76/77, and Walkinshaw himself enjoyed many victories in the cars. The green example shown above was the Spa 24 Hour winner in 1984 when Win Percy and Hans Heyer shared the car with team-owning Tom. Possibly eligible for current historic championships the car is a ‘no expense spared’ works racer at £60,000 – 65,000.
Schumacher fans will no doubt be interested in the Benetton 1993 F1 car (193B-05), believed to have been used by the German maestro in his debut year. Refer to the Wyles-Hardy for pricing guidelines.
The cars are preceded by an extensive collection of photographs, overalls, trophies and other automobilia from what had been one of the largest racing organisations in the UK.
For a full listing, see the Provisional Auction Lot List
Please see www.wyles-hardy.com for a complete listing of the sale.
Or contact them direct via email.
Text - Steve Wakefield. Photos - Wyles-Hardy