A number of vehicles from the personal collection of German entrepreneur and renewable energy kingpin Willi Balz is set to be auctioned by Bonhams on 21-22 September in the collector’s home town of Stuttgart.
An impressive 17 cars ranging from early pioneers through to 21st Century single seater racers will be led by a 1991 Ferrari Type 642 Formula One car. Chassis 124 is the third of five Ferraris built for the 1991 Formula One season and was raced by both Alain Prost and Jean Alesi. It is expected to fetch £260-510,000.
The car’s best finish came at Monaco, where Alesi scored a third place finish. It’s been extensively demonstrated in recent years, including running at the Nürburgring in 1998 and 2002, as well as featuring at the Festival of Speed in 2001, Donington in 2004, and most recently at Hockenheim in 2005.
Challenging the Ferrari for the top spot will be a 1966 Cooper Maserati, one of seven created during the 1966 season for the new three-litre maximum capacity regulations. Owner Joakim Bonnier first drove the car in the 1966 BRDC International Trophy at Silverstone, where he finished third. It has been tipped to fetch between £260,000 and £340,000.
The Swede raced the car a further 19 times, including finishing fifth at the German Grand Prix in 1967 and scoring points in Mexico and the Untied States. The Cooper was sold after the 1968 South African Grand Prix and ended up in the Wheatcroft Collection for around 40 years. Still in original condition, no attempt has been made to fire up the Maserati V12.
A 1968 BRM P133 shares the same estimate as the Cooper-Maserati. Campaigned extensively by Pedro Rodriguez during the 1968 season, it finished second on its race debut at the non-Championship Race of Champions.
Rodriguez went on to finish second at Spa and third in the Dutch and Canadian Grands Prix, while the car was taken to fifth in the Race of Champions and seventh at the South African Grand Prix a year later by Jackie Oliver.
After completing its service with BRM, the car was sold to Robs Lamplough in 1971, who drove it to twelfth place in the Jochen Rindt Trophy at Hockenheim. He owned it until 2011, racing it occasionally at the Goodwood Revival and Monaco Historique.
Away from the competition cars, the collection also holds a number of curiosities including a trio of miniature petrol-powered cars: a Ferrari 500 F2, 330 P2 and a Maserati 250F. Each is estimated at £4300-8600 and will surely be of interest to those with their eye on Little Big Mans at the Le Mans Classic.
A 1940 Lans Bulldog will be familiar to anyone who’s been to either the Techno Classica Essen or Stuttgart Retro Classics. Yours for £6800-10,000, while a 1959 Unimog Type 411 could go for as little as £10,000.
A 1937 Lagonda LG45 M45 Le Mans Replica, estimated at £86,000-130,000, is the pick of the road cars.
