Top 20 lots at Monterey Car Week 2022

Top of the lots

One of the most important weeks of the international collector car scene is nearly upon us, Monterey Car Week in California.

For many, the world-famous Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is the highlight, but this is one of a great many events, including five auctions: Broad Arrow on 18 August, RM Sotheby’s and Mecum on 18-20 August, Bonhams on 19 August, and Gooding & Company on 19-20 August.

Here we’ve corralled the top 20 cars for sale during Monterey Car Week 2022, according to their pre-sale estimates, however we’ve had to exclude Mecum, because its estimates were not available at the time of writing.

Even without Mecum, the remaining four auctions have 146 cars predicted to top $1m. Let’s count down the 20 cars expected to achieved the highest prices in California this month.

20. 1950 Ferrari 166MM Berlinetta, $5-6.5m, Gooding & Co

This Ferrari 166MM is the last of just five built with a Carrozzeria Touring Berlinetta body, and has been a darling of noted collectors such as Fred Leydorf, John Bond and Chip Connor.

Completed in 1950 and numbered 3462, it’s believed to have been a factory competition car or demonstrator, because it only left Maranello a year later.

Its first owner was Agostini Di Stefano of Milan, who competed with the car in the French Rallye d’Aix-en-Provence and the Austrian Alpine Rally. Its next owner didn’t campaign it, but the one after that – Anteo Allazetta of Trieste – made up for that with several hillclimb appearances.

1950 Ferrari 166MM Berlinetta (cont.)

This Ferrari moved to the USA in 1958, in the stewardship of New York-based sportsman David Francis Leopold.

From there it passed through several owners before joining the Leydorf collection in the 1970s, when it was restored. After a spell in Japan, it returned to the USA in 1998 and was restored again in the 2000s.

The current owner has had it for 14 years, and the car retains its original chassis, body, engine, gearbox and rear end.

19. 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing Alloy Body, $5-7m, RM Sotheby’s

For those who wanted to compete in their 300SL Gullwings, Mercedes-Benz offered factory upgrades to give the car the edge in competition. These changes included a fully alloy body and a more powerful engine.

The car here is chassis 5500786, the 21st of 29 alloy-bodied 300SL Gullwings made. It was ordered by Rene Wasserman, an industrialist from Basel, Switzerland, and featured a 3.64-ratio rear axle, Rudge wheels, red leather and further bespoke items.

1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing Alloy Body (cont.)

By the early 1960s it had moved to the United States in the care of politician Senator Theodore Newell Wood.

As well as representing several counties in the Pennsylvania State Senate, he was a keen hillcllimb competitor.

More recently, ownership has passed through German and Swiss keepers, the former undertaking an extensive restoration with marque specialist Kienle.

18. 1958 Ferrari 250GT Cabriolet Series I, $6-7m, RM Sotheby’s

The Ferrari 250GT Cabriolet was a sensation on its 1957 Geneva motor show launch, thanks in part to its Pinin Farina styling.

This was an exclusive car for exclusive clientele, and this car’s first owner is one of the most storied names in Ferrari client folklore – Count Giovanni Volpi.

Chassis 0963 GT is the 30th California built, and one of only five to be specified in black. The count amassed quite a collection of Ferraris, including 250GTOs, and the California was sold to the USA in the early 1960s.

1958 Ferrari 250GT Cabriolet Series I (cont.)

This 250GT found itself in California and was soon stripped of its original engine, and passed through several owners, one of which restored the car in the early 1980s.

By 1995 it was in Asia, and a year later the car was reunited with its original engine. In the late 1990s it was restored again. It’s currently going through Ferrari Classiche certification.

17. 1957 Ferrari 250GT LWB Berlinetta Tour de France, $6-7m, Broad Arrow

The Tour de France may be better known for the cycling race these days, but back in the 1950s it was a gruelling series of road rallies, and there was just one car to beat – the Ferrari 250GT LWB Berlinetta.

It won outright between 1956 and 1959, and was subsequently nicknamed the Tour de France.

This car, chassis 0619 GT, was originally purchased by Pierre Noblet, a gentleman driver of great repute at the time.

1957 Ferrari 250GT LWB Berlinetta Tour de France (cont.)

Noblet raced the car through 1958, 1959 and part of 1960, notching up three podiums. He was running fifth on the 1958 Tour de France before time penalties pushed him down to 15th.

This Ferrari then passed through a series of owners and entered a difficult stage of life. It was at some point stolen and, at another, driven into the Peugeot factory wall.

In the early 1970s it entered the collection of Wayne Sparling, who brought the car back to running condition, even crafting his own body for it. After Sparling’s death, this 250GT was reunited with its original body and thoroughly refreshed under the stewardship of the current owner. 

16. 1954 Ferrari 375 America Vignale Cabriolet, $6.5-7m, RM Sotheby’s

Any Ferrari 375 America is rare. In all, 375 were built and, of those, just 12 were cabriolets – but this is rarer still. It’s a true one off, bodied by Vignale.

It was sold by Enzo Ferrari directly to Bianca Colizzi, the daughter of famous Italian film director Giuseppe Colizzi.

It was put into storage after just a year, until it was discovered by Harry Chambers, a TWA employee who’d just opened the airline’s Milan division.

1954 Ferrari 375 America Vignale Cabriolet (cont.)

Chambers eventually became the General Manager of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

He bought the car in 1956, and sold it to a fellow TWA employee, Joseph Fitch, who kept hold of it until 1973.

It then went through a couple of owners, with a restoration taking place in 1980. The current keeper has had this Ferrari since 1998.

15. 1998 Ferrari F300, $6-8m, RM Sotheby’s

Even with the talents of Michael Schumacher on board, Ferrari had initially struggled to keep pace with McLaren and Williams in the mid-1990s.

For 1998, Rory Byrne presented the F300, powered by a 3.0-litre V10 capable of 800bhp. This is chassis 187, the seventh of nine cars built for the 1998 Formula One season.

It was an unused spare car at Monaco, but was pressed into service at the Canadian Grand Prix.

1998 Ferrari F300 (cont.)

Michael Schumacher qualified third and won in a race of attrition, and went on to score victories at the British, French and Italian Grands Prix with chassis 187.

At the end of 1999 it was quietly sold to a private collector. This F1 car is now publicly for sale for the first time, and has not been raced or restored since 1999.

14. 2007 Porsche RS Spyder Evo, $6-8m, Gooding & Co

Following Porsche’s victory at Le Mans in 1998, it had left the top class of sports car racing alone.

It returned for 2005 with the Type 9R6 in the LMP2 category, with a car that could be campaigned by privateers. It proved to be a testbed for certain parts of the 918 Spyder supercar, in particular its V8 engine.

This is chassis 9R6.702, the second of six updated Evo cars made for the 2007 season. Built by Porsche Motorsport in October 2007, a month later it was delivered to Penske in North Carolina.

2007 Porsche RS Spyder Evo (cont.)

It made its debut at the 12 Hours of Sebring, driven by Sascha Maassen, Ryan Briscoe and Emmanuel Collard. It finished 23rd overall and eighth in class, but things soon got better.

Briscoe and Maassen finished third overall, first in class at St Petersburg, Florida, the beginning of a hot streak that eventually led to back-to-back overall wins at Salt Lake City and Lime Rock Park. 

The car was barely used in 2008, but it was entered into the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. Ryan Briscoe and Hélio Castroneves drove it to first in class and fourth overall. It then retired from racing, and has been owned by a German collector and the current American custodian.

13. 1939 Mercedes-Benz 540K Sindelfingen Spezial Roadster, $7-8m, Broad Arrow

This Mercedes-Benz 540K is a one-off created for Rolf Horn, co-founder of Gebrüder Horn, one of Berlin's foremost fashion houses.

The body features unique touches not seen on any other 540K, including deleted running boards, a diminished amount of chrome (aside from the side exhaust) and subtle arches on top of the wings.

1939 Mercedes-Benz 540K Sindelfingen Spezial Roadster (cont.)

It was delivered in August 1939 and with the world descending into war, Horn put his 540K on blocks. In 1946, this Mercedes was discovered by diplomats in now Soviet-controlled East Berlin, and used as a staff car until 1953.

It then made its way to Russia via Arthur Leshtin, who refreshed it and used it on a tour of the Crimea. Next it was owned by a Swedish-born translator living in Moscow, Alf Johansson, who used it as his daily driver for three years.

In 1967 he drove it over the border to Sweden. He kept the 540K until the late ’70s, when it was sold to the USA, where it’s had several owners since.

12. 1958 Ferrari 250GT LWB California Spider, $7-8.5m, RM Sotheby’s

The California Spider was dreamed up by Ferrari’s US importers, Luigi Chinetti and John von Neumann, to build something special for the American market.

The result was essentially a topless version of the 250GT Berlinetta. That imbued the car with a much racier feeling than a boulevard cruiser.

Chassis number 1077 GT is believed to be the final car made in 1958 – and the 14th of 50 long-wheelbase California Spiders built.

1958 Ferrari 250GT LWB California Spider (cont.)

This Ferrari was kept in and around Milan for its first 37 years, passing through several hands, before moving briefly to Germany, where it was restored, and then to Paris, France.

The current custodian bought the car in 1997, and has enjoyed it at his residences in London and Miami.

11. 1966 Ferrari 275GTB/C, $7.5-9m, RM Sotheby’s 

Ferrari had experienced great success with its 250 models in GT racing, but the FIA sought to shake things up.

The resultant 250LM struggled in the prototypes class, so Maranello’s thoughts turned to preparing the 275GTB for competition purposes.

After more wrangling with the FIA, the 275GTB had a modicum of success, with a third overall and class victory at the 1965 Le Mans 24 Hours. Ferrari built 10 more cars for 1965, but chose to be a bit more radical for 1966, building 12 two-cam cars with long-nose bodywork – and chassis 09067 is one of those.

1966 Ferrari 275GTB/C (cont.)

The ninth of the 12 built, this Ferrari 275GTB/C was sold new to the Milan-based company Editoriale Il Borgo di Luciano Conti.

Conti founded Autosprint magazine and was a keen amateur driver himself, though the car was bought for Arturo Merzario to drive – he later raced in the Scuderia’s F1 team.

In the late ’60s and ’70s, this car passed through several European owners before calling England home in the 1990s via Hong Kong. In 2014 the car made its way to the USA, where it was restored. It was sold to the current keeper two years later and underwent further refreshment to concours standards.

10. 1930 Bentley 4½ Litre ‘Blower’ Sports Tourer, $7-9m, Gooding & Co

Bentley had seen great success in endurance racing, but to keep pace with its rivals one of its drivers, Sir Henry ‘Tim’ Birkin, believed supercharging was the answer and teamed up with Amherst Villiers, famous for the Vauxhall Villiers Special.

The car was hamstrung by WO Bentley’s insistence on having the heavy supercharger driven off the crankshaft, and thus right at the front of the chassis. Understeer ensued, and the Blower Bentley never quite managed to have the success hoped for it.

1930 Bentley 4½ Litre ‘Blower’ Sports Tourer (cont.)

This particular car is chassis SM3913, with a fabric-covered Sports body by Vanden Plas, and it was first registered by then 27-year-old Gerard Bristowe Sanderson of Edinburgh, Scotland. He was a member of the North British Distillery Company, which produced the VAT 69 brand of Scotch whisky.

He didn’t own it long – by 1933 this Bentley was in London. It stayed in Britain until 1955, when it was sold to Richard E Stitt of Hinsdale, Illinois, the owner of Acorn Wire & Works in Chicago.

Since then it has criss-crossed the Atlantic several times through different owners, and was subject to a comprehensive restoration between 2014 and 2019.

9. 1931 Bentley 8 Litre Sports Tourer, $7-9m, Gooding & Co

Woolf Barnato was an intrinsic part of Bentley’s tumultuous rise and then fall, graduating to an investor after purchasing, then winning and setting records in Bentleys.

His funding kept the marque going, developing new cars and competing at the Le Mans 24 Hours, winning four times in a row.

Barnato’s spending would eventually cause serious problems, but it did produce some fascinating cars – and that is what we have here.

1931 Bentley 8 Litre Sports Tourer (cont.)

The Bentley 8 Litre was developed from the 6½ Litre, but blessed with a stronger chassis and extra comfort, as well as an 8.0-litre engine.

It was the largest and most expensive car manufactured in Britain, and just 100 were sold. This one, YR5095, is one of 35 built in short-chassis form, and was made to order for Woolf Barnato. It was bodied by Vanden Plas in the two-door, four-seat Sports Tourer style.

After it was enjoyed during a honeymoon tour of the US in 1932, a year later this car was sold to Flight Lieutenant Reginald Clarence Presland, who competed in it. The Presland family kept the car until 2004, and in 2005 ownership passed to Peter Livanos, who commissioned a no-expense-spared restoration.

8. 1957 Ferrari 500TRC Spider, $8-10m, RM Sotheby’s

The Ferrari 500 Testa Rossa was a potent force in sports car racing, notching up dozens of victories and podiums in only a few years.

The FIA’s Appendix C rule changes meant further honing of the formula, with a stronger, more powerful engine, and a lighter flywheel.

It collected class wins at the Le Mans 24 Hours, Sebring 12 Hours and Mille Miglia. This is chassis 0706 MDTR, and the 18th of 19 built.

1957 Ferrari 500TRC Spider (cont.)

It was first loaned by the factory to François Picard, who scored three class wins in June of 1957. He teamed up with Richie Ginther for the Le Mans 24 Hours, but that ended in retirement.

Later that year it made its way to the USA, where Mike Garber took ownership. Swiss-born racer Gaston Andrey campaigned it across the USA in period, winning the SCCA E-Modified championships in 1958 and ’59.

More recently, it formed part of the Oscar Davis collection.

7. 1953 Ferrari 375MM Spider, $8-10m, RM Sotheby’s

This Ferrari 375MM is believed to be the ninth out of 26 built, and the fourth of 12 to wear Pinin Farina’s spider bodywork.

Its first owner was Casimiro de Oliveira of Portugal, a privateer racer who’d at one time beaten Tazio Nuvolari and Rudolf Hasse in 1937. He teamed up with Alberto Ascari for the 1953 12 Hours of Casablanca in Morocco, with the latter putting it on pole. Sadly a crash by de Oliveira in practice put them out, and the car was repaired in Maranello.

He came back with a victory in May 1954 at the 9 Hours Hedemora Grand Prix in Sweden, but an outing at the Portuguese Grand Prix ended in retirement.

Worse still, after selling the car to Swedish Ferrari importer Tore Bjurström but before he took ownership, de Oliveira crashed the car, damaging its bodywork beyond repair.

1953 Ferrari 375MM Spider (cont.)

A trip to Scaglietti followed for a new body, before this Ferrari returned to racing with Valdemar Stener behind the wheel.

It claimed second at the Helsinki Grand Prix in May 1956, then a few months later was fifth overall and second in class at the Swedish Grand Prix.

It stayed in Sweden until the early ’70s, when it came to the UK and was restored. It then flitted between the US and Italy, before joining Oscar Davis’ collection in 1999 – he kept it 10 years, sold it, then bought it back again.

6. 1924 Hispano-Suiza H6C Tulipwood Torpedo, $8-10m, RM Sotheby’s

André Dubonnet was quite the chap – decorated pilot during the war, racing driver, rear-suspension pioneer, Olympic bobsledder and heir to an aperitif fortune.

Of course, his personal wheels had to be special, and this Hispano-Suiza H6C is certainly that.

He commissioned aircraft manufacturer Nieuport-Astra of Argenteuil to body his car with strips of mahogany, held together with thousands of aluminium rivets, and had it varnished.

1924 Hispano-Suiza H6C Tulipwood Torpedo (cont.)

Dubonnet was keen to put the car into competition, and took on the 1924 Targa Florio and Coppa Florio, finishing sixth and fifth overall, respectively.

The H6C was later converted to road use before being sold to perfume heir Roland Coty. Another heir, this time to a marmalade company, took ownership in 1925 – London-based Scotsman Alexander Keiller.

He and further British keepers made further tweaks to the car, before it made its way to the USA in 1964, and has had a few more owners since, and been the subject of several model car tributes.

5. 1938 Talbot-Lago T150-C SS Teardrop Coupé, $9-11m, RM Sotheby’s

This is one of just 11 ‘New York’-style Teardrop coupés built by Talbot-Lago between 1937 and 1938, and the only one constructed for motor racing.

Chassis 90117 was equipped with additional driving lights, a long-range fuel tank and an external fuel filler-cap, along with other motorsport tweaks.

It was bodied by Figoni et Falaschi, and is 2in lower and 4in longer than any other Teardrop coupé, to minimise the frontal area and drag. It was campaigned at Le Mans, but that sortie ended in retirement or disqualification (accounts vary).

1938 Talbot-Lago T150-C SS Teardrop Coupé (cont.)

This car was confiscated by the Germans in 1942, and was acquired without an engine and in a neglected state by Herr A Becker of Rangsdorf, Berlin, where it remained until 1989.

Still in Germany, a restoration was planned but never happened, so the Talbot-Lago was sold to The Netherlands as a museum exhibit.

It was later reunited with its engine and, in 1996, went to the USA with Georg Lingenbrink of San Diego, who embarked upon a six-year restoration. In 2006 it joined the Oscar Davis collection, from which it is being sold by RM Sotheby’s in California, this month.

4. 1958 Maserati 450S, $9-11m, RM Sotheby’s

Just 10 Maserati 450S cars exist and this one, the penultimate one built (chassis 4509) was ordered new via Carroll Shelby’s sports car business by privateer racer Jesse Rose, who already owned two examples of the Maserati 300S.

Shelby delivered the 450S in January 1958 and it was instantly competitive – in its first outing it won both races at the SCCA Gran Carrera Laffite. It was campaigned in the USAC Road Racing Championship for sports cars until the early 1960s, picking up several podiums and victories.

1958 Maserati 450S (cont.)

With the competition getting stronger, the car was sold in late 1960, and had a couple of owners before making its way to the UK in 1955.

A few more owners later, it was reunited with its engine – which had been lost – and in the 1970s it was treated to a Trevor Stokes restoration.

Come 1986, it was sold to Japanese collector Yoshiyuki Hayashi and, after changing hands several more times, was bought by Myron Schuster of Bedford, New York, in 1996.

A restoration followed and it entered Oscar Davis’ collection in the 2000s.

3. 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster, $9-12m, RM Sotheby’s

This is one of just three surviving long-tail, covered-spare Special Roadsters, and was originally ordered by King Mohammed Zahir, Shah of Afghanistan.

On the outbreak of the Second World War, the car was stored at the Afghanistan Embassy in Paris, where it remained until 1948. The king then gave it to his son-in-law, who brought it to London in 1950.

In 1953 it joined the collection of Vernon D Jarvis in Florida, alongside Duesenbergs, Delahayes, Cords and more, and his classic cars became a tourist attraction.

1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster (cont.)

It remained in that collection for 30 years, until Robert Bahre bought all Jarvis’ cars.

However, Bahre soon needed money to construct the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, at which point this Mercedes was sold to its current owner.

It heads to auction this month completely unrestored – it even has its original Dunlop tyres fitted. 

2. 1937 Bugatti Type 57SC Atalante, $10-12m, Gooding & Co

All Bugattis are special, but the Type 57SC Atalante is an exquisite jewel even by the lofty standards of the French marque.

Just 42 were built, and though the well-heeled purchaser could choose a body from the likes of Vanvooren, Gangloff or Corsica, the most famous examples are those designed by Jean Bugatti.

Here we have chassis 57523, and its first owner was wine and liquor merchant Alphonse Gandon. He quickly returned it to Molsheim to have a Roots-type supercharger fitted, making it one of the very first 57SCs. 

1937 Bugatti Type 57SC Atalante (cont.)

This Bugatti came to the USA in around 1959, and passed through several owners, but lost its engine in the process.

In 2005, car and engine were reunited under the ownership of Ray Scherr, who started a no-expense-spared restoration. On completion it won the French Cup and first in class at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

It had another European owner before the current vendor, who had the Atalante mechanically refreshed in the UK by specialist Ivan Dutton Limited. Further investigation by marque experts reveals it’s one of just four 57S chassis with a factory-fitted supercharger.
 

1. 1955 Ferrari 410 Sport Spider, $25-30m, RM Sotheby’s

As befits the price, this is a very special car. It’s one of just two factory Ferraris campaigned with the 24-spark-plug, 4.9-litre V12 engine, and one of a handful both designed and bodied by Scaglietti.

It was also raced by Juan Manuel Fangio at the 1956 Buenos Aires 1000km, as well as by Carroll Shelby, driving for John Edgar.

1955 Ferrari 410 Sport Spider (cont.)

Shelby had always been fast but his machinery didn’t always match his talent, and now with an ex-works Ferrari, he was right at the sharp end.

He won more races with this car than any other, taking eight wins and 10 podiums. It was a successful car in the hands of others, too, taking 11 victories and 19 podium finishes, with the likes of Phil Hill, Eugenio Castellotti, Masten Gregory, Richie Ginther, Jo Bonnier, Bruce Kessler, Jim Rathmann and Chuck Daigh.

In fact, it was so good that Carroll Shelby claimed Enzo Ferrari said it was the best Ferrari he ever built – and it is signed by Shelby, saying just that. No wonder it is predicted to sell for more than any other car at the Monterey Car Week 2022 auctions.