Had Bruce McLaren’s eponymous company had the means to build 50 of its closed-coupé GTs in order to homologate the car in Europe, it might well have proved to be a competent sports-racing car. Alas, the task was too demanding, and just eight were produced, of which this car was one.
There is a fantastic selection of Mercedes-Benzes due to cross the block at the RM Sotheby’s and Gooding & Co Arizona sales next week. From the regal, such as the 1957 300 Sc Cabriolet A (est. 1-1.3m US dollars), to the drop-dead gorgeous – take the 1961 190 SL (est. 150,000-200,000 dollars), for example.
The charity auctions are being held to celebrate Spectre’s release on Digital HD, Blu-Ray and DVD. The Aston Martin DB10 (‘one careful owner’, etc.) in question is, sadly, purely for display purposes, having never been properly developed or homologated. However, it is the only DB10 that’s being sold privately, and is the first car to receive Aston Martin Works’ Assured Provenance scheme’s platinum award. It’s estimated to fetch £1-1.5m.
What is your earliest automotive memory?
It’s of driving around with my father in the Ferraris of the time – Dinos, 308s, 328s, Testarossas, F40s, etc. The F40 is still one of my favourite cars, and one of the most important to me. It reminds me of the time before the crisis of the 1990s, when we often used to drive one. My dad was always driving fast, and I frequently knocked my head on the doorframe of the F40 – it’s a good memory.
So your father founded Carugati Automobiles?
The three cars in question are a 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder (est. 5m-6m US dollars), an ‘Auratium Green’ 1958 Porsche 356 A 1500 GS/GT Carrera Speedster (2m-2.5m dollars), and the first 1974 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.0 IROC RSR built (1.2m-1.5m dollars). Seinfeld is renowned for being a classic car – and in particular Porsche – enthusiast, thanks to his weekly ‘Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee’ online show, in which he takes comedians and other humorous celebrities for coffee in one of his many cars.
How is it that the romance and fantasy of a barn-find restoration always prevails over the impracticality and expense? We suspect that’s something only fellow ‘fever’ sufferers like us will truly understand. These 10 long-unloved cars from the Classic Driver Market are in need of varying amounts of TLC, but with some good old-fashioned perseverance (and a healthy injection of cash), they could all be restored to their former glory – or to preservation class entries, if you’d prefer.
