100 of the Best Cars from the 1990s
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It didn't make the start of the world's most important race that year due to a crash in practice. In , the Ecurie Ecosse D-Type was up against some seriously stiff competition. Early in the race, two of the factory-backed Jags were wiped from contention in an accident, and the third struggled with fuelling issues.
That is, this car won Le Mans, and that kind of provenance is rare indeed. Our preview of the auction told the full story. The ultimate Italian sports car of its generation, this car is one of 12 extant Touring Spiders, the first "Immortal 2. This particular vehicle was the crown jewel of the most miraculous barnfind in history. That's Artcurial's Matthieu Lamoure and Pierre Novikoff who came across the remarkable treasure trove of rare automobiles on a provincial farm in the West of France.
Is it any wonder they're grinning - they just found a Ferrari California Spider in a barn.
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That's it behind them being used as a storage shelf for old magazines. The California Spider was just one of many cars found that day including significant models from many of the legendary marques in automotive history: Not surprisingly, cars of such ilk are fastidiously accounted for by countless automotive historians and the disappearance of this car in the seventies left it unaccounted for in the Ferrari Register and it was thought lost.
Bonhams described this car in the auction catalog as an "outstanding example of the biggest-engined, most powerful and most important sports-racing Ferrari model built purely for works team use at the outset of the International motor racing season. One of the features of the "works" Ferrari Plus Spider was its 4. This particular car has a long and interesting history which is well documented on the Bonhams auction page. For those unfamiliar with the infamous Carrera Panamericana, it was a road race run on public roads in Mexico from to To picture the event, think of famous road races such as the Mille Miglia or Targa Florio on both steroids and acid.
The race was twice as long as the Mille Miglia, and with no separation from the public. The original Carrera Panamericana it has now been revived in somewhat tamer and saner form is arguably the fastest and most dangerous road race ever held on public roads, well beyond the African runnings of the Paris-Dakar, an event we previously labelled the world's most dangerous sporting event when it was still being run in Africa.
In five runnings of the Carrera Panamericana, 27 competitors were killed along with an unknown but substantial number of spectators and race officials. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame British band Pink Floyd's Nick Mason and David Gilmour made a film documentary about the Carrera Panamericana race which can be seen in two parts — part 1 and part 2 — with seven previously unpublished tracks along with some music you will undoubtedly know.
One of nine alloy-bodied LWB California Spiders with covered headlights, disc brakes, and full competition specification. The car's race record includes fifth overall at the 12 Hours of Sebring and it won a Platinum Award and the Competizione Cup at the Cavallino Classic.
Only 34 LMs were ever built, including the car that won the race it was built to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, hence the name , becoming the last Ferrari to do so. LMs rarely appear at auction, and those that do have made the top 10 global annual prices every time going back for two decades. This particular car had never had a major collision and retained all of its original mechanical components. Formerly part of the Matsuda Collection, Ferrari Classiche certified, and shown at the and Earls Court Motor Shows, this "weapons-grade Ferrari" now has another honor to it's name — the most expensive LM ever sold at auction, giving the model three entries in the top 20 most valuable cars ever sold.
One of the 37 SWB California Spiders with covered headlights and with just three owners from new, it had never before been offered at auction. Sold by the colourful Lord Irvine Laidlaw , this particular car was in very original condition, and as the official description pointed out, "has not been the subject of a full restoration, nor has it made the rounds at various Concours' d'Elegance, offering its new owner the pride and pleasure of being the first to exhibit this car at the most exclusive international events.
In addition to Lord Laidlaw's not inconsiderable contribution to the provenance, it is believed to have been owned by Gunther Sachs , the prominent German playboy with family links to both Opel and Sachs. It's quite likely Gunther courted his second wife, Brigitte Bardot, in this car. We elected to use a composite image of this car because it is so very "speciale.
Inspired by Ferrari's "shark-nose" F1 world-championship-winning Grand Prix car, with recognizable elements of the TRI LM and SP sports racing cars, the signature feature of Giugiaro's design was its "shark-nose" front-end treatment. A revised design was implemented by the time the car GT was displayed as the centrepiece of the Bertone stand at the Torino Auto Show in November, Despite all the accolades Nuccio's Berlinetta Speciale received during its tour of the motor show circuit, Enzo Ferrari never formally acknowledged the car that had so beautifully re-imagined his classic GT SWB, Bertone was never engaged by Maranello and Ferrari production cars remained built or designed almost exclusively by Bertone's Torinese rival Pinin Farina.
A previous holder of the world auction record, this Ferrari Testa Rossa debuted at the Nurburgring kms but it is not the car's racing history which makes it so valuable, but the fact this is the very first Testa Rossa — the original prototype and rolling testbed for the TR Testa Rossa line, one of the most successful sports racing cars ever. Though Ferrari's Testa Rossa dominated sports car racing for the next half decade, only 34 were ever built, with this car's younger siblings winning the Le Mans 24 Hour race in , , and Like many race cars that have seen action over a period, Ferrari TR is a little bit like Grandpa's axe which had three heads and 12 handles during its lifetime , as it burned twice and was seriously bent out of shape during the Le Mans 24 Hour race.
It is nonetheless the original Testa Rossa, and hence represents the beginning of a long and glorious history. The full story of Ferrari TR regales its provenance in granular detail. It is also one of a limited number of SWB California Spiders that came factory-equipped with an optional hardtop. This car has been displayed at such world-renowned events as Concorso Italiano, Monterey Vintage Ferrari Concours and Cavallino Classic, as well as participating in important rallies such as the Colorado Grand and the Copperstate One of several examples of Ferrari's first mid-engined car in the top 25 on this list, the Ferrari LM was a derivative of the P for prototype and P mid-engined factory race cars which won the Le Mans 24 Hour race in and — a genuine racing car available to the public.
The full history of this car, which included eighth overall and first in class at the 24 Hours of Daytona, can be found on the official RM Auctions page. It was timed at For detailed information see our extensive feature article: The fastest cars in history: The GT had in turn in turn had taken the title from the car from which it was derived: This Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato also had a successful period racing career, was restored by marque specialist Richard Williams and Carrozzeria Zagato and had been an award winner at numerous concours events on both sides of the Atlantic.
The McLaren F1 is almost certainly destined for the same sort of superstardom as the Ferrari GTO on the auction block, being the most significant supercar of the modern era. The McLaren F1 is still the fastest, non-forced-induction car ever produced, a pioneering landmark in composite construction, drivability and racetrack success ad infinitum. Despite a design and development period of just 3 months, the F1 GTR swept all before it, winning not only the GT1 Championship, but also the 24 Heures du Mans on its debut, taking 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 13th places.
There were subsequently five Le Mans specification cars made, and this is one of them. This particular car is exceptional because, although it was the second-last road-spec F1 built, it was one of just two cars upgraded by McLaren Special Operations with an LM-spec engine. This means it retains its luxury interior and all modern conveniences, including satnav and the Extra High Downforce Package plus a Le-Mans-winning engine.
The story is well told by the official auction page - this is the car that spawned the legend. Only 77 of Ferrari's "Tour de France" models were ever built, and this car is one of the seven Scaglietti-bodied first-series competition Berlinettas inside that number. This isn't just any Tour de France model, though — this is the car that gave the model its name through winning the Tour de France Auto, an automotive equivalent to the famous bicycle race that predates it by four years and indeed, was France's equivalent to Italy's Mille Miglia or Sicily's Targa Florio.
It was also owned and raced by one of motorsport's larger-than-life figures, the Marquis Alfonso de Portago. High-testosterone males are a family tradition, and de Portago's father led a famously hedonistic existence, but it paled in comparison to the handsome, dashing, unspeakably wealthy, devil-may-care young Alfonso.
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Alfonso was an accomplished equestrian considered one of the world's leading steeplechasers in , learned the sport of bobsledding in two weeks in order to lead the Spanish national team to the Winter Olympic Games where he steered the two-man bob to fourth place, taking the bronze medal in the world championships the following year. His sporting prowess was more than matched by his legendary womanizing. Though he married New York socialite Carroll McDaniel in at the age of 20, his courtships of Revlon spokesmodel and one of the first supermodels, Dorian Leigh said to be an inspiration for Truman Capote's Holly Golightly character from Breakfast at Tiffany's and actress Linda Christian the first "Bond girl" were his most high-profile affairs, though the more you read of his exploits, the more rampant the philandering appears to have been.
De Portago began midget car racing in Paris in and a chance meeting and instant rapport with Scuderia Ferrari driver Luigi Chinetti at the Paris Salon de l'automobile in October considerably accelerated his participation in the sport. The famed North American Ferrari importer invited Alfonso to be his co-driver at the infamous Carrera Panamericana to be held two weeks later.
He accepted Chinetti's offer and his adrenalin addiction reached new levels as he watched Chinetti pilot a Ferrari Plus across 2, miles of Mexican roads at breakneck speed from the passenger seat. Portago immediately purchased his own 4. Rather than rise though the rankings, de Portago took a meteoric leap and a year after sitting beside Chinetti as passenger, he retired from the Carrera Panamericana when his Ferrari Monza broke down — he was in the lead at the time.
Fangio would later say of de Portago, "I considered him one of the most courageous of all the racing drivers … a good driver and an excellent comrade. De Portago's outsized personality played well in the media, where he was endlessly quotable, and his regular "punch ups" made for great newspaper headlines. By the time of his death while competing in the Mille Miglia, he was widely considered to be among the best drivers in the world. While de Portago tempted mortality once too often, his legend and this car endured.
It might be a long time until it comes around again. There were just 53 C-Type Jaguars built. Three lightweight works cars of which this car is one , and a run of 50 cars to satisfy customer demand after the factory cars finished first, second and fourth in the Le Mans 24 Hour event. The biggest difference to the competition were the disc brakes. Endurance racing was born to demonstrate reliability and validate new automotive technologies for the masses and just as it has done more recently with hybrid and diesel drivetrains, Le Mans heralded the coming of age of a new braking technology with this car and its works siblings.
The winning C-type was the first to average more than mph for the 24 Hours of Le Mans This is a car of legend. This is one very special automobile for many reasons. It was one of the three works MM cars entered at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race where it was disqualified while running in second place driven by Hawthorn and Farina because brake fluid had been added during a pit stop on the 12th lap, violating an obscure rule that prohibited the addition of any fluids before the 28th lap. There is one particular feat however, which stands above all that - this car achieved the fastest road stage average speed ever recorded, and in a world championship event at that.
We've already mentioned the outrageous Carrera Panamericana road race staged on public roads in Mexico in the early fifties in coverage of the Ferrari Plus Spider Competizione which sits in third place in this Top list. The Carrera Panamericana was legally sanctioned insanity. It began the race driven by Mario Ricci, but during the fifth stage of the Carrera, Umberto Maglioli's identical MM AM lost a rear wheel and was unable to continue in the event — the attrition rate was understandably horrific with only one third of cars completing the race.
As the regulations of the Panamericana allowed for the substitution of drivers, Maglioli was then swapped into Ricci's AM and set about ensuring Ferrari collected the points it needed to overhaul Jaguar in the final event of the World Sports Car Championship. Maglioli moved the car from eighth place when he took over, to a sixth place at the finish, but his drive during the eighth and final km mile stage of the race is the stuff of legend. Part of a world championship, a car of legend, and beautiful too, it has been presented at and awarded at numerous concours d'elegance, including Pebble Beach, the Louis Vuitton Classic, and the Goodwood Revival.
Another former world record holder for the most expensive car ever sold at auction, as we predicted and reported back in This was the fourth Ferrari Testa Rossa built and the second customer car. Not many cars have ever sold for more than ten million dollars, signifying how special this third-series 2.
It was owned and raced by many prominent Italian drivers between and , and was the winner of the Sport Nazionale Championship with Renato Balestrero driving. Among the very elite of international society, the beautiful Baroness was named one of the ten most fashionable women in the world, mixed with European society's elite, led a very colourful lifestyle and kept the car until her passing in The beautiful Baroness enjoyed a privileged life for many years, residing at the Ritz and Hotel Le Meurice in Paris, Hotel Martinez in Cannes, and frequenting the best European destinations and social events, including the coronation of King George VI.
Suitors adored and admired her, and in one account a devastated gentleman jumped out of a plane to his death after his proposal of marriage was declined. Unlike many supercharged Mercedes-Benz, which were often stolen or lost during the war, the von Krieger's Special Roadster remained an important possession of the family, carefully stored and accounted for even while they lived outside of Germany avoiding Nazi orders. In , at the height of the war, Baroness Gisela shipped the car to Switzerland. With her beloved Special Roadster as a comforting reminder of her carefree past, she continued traveling on her own for several years throughout Europe seeking sanctuary from the war.
To escape the city's heat, Baroness von Krieger summered at the Homestead Inn in Greenwich, where she kept her precious Special Roadster. Following the death of her brother and mother, Baroness Gisela returned to Switzerland where she lived as a recluse until her passing in Still among her impressive possessions was the Mercedes-Benz Special Roadster, tucked away in a Greenwich garage for the better part of four decades.
The K remained an undisturbed time capsule, with such items as the Baroness's driving maps, lipstick-stained cigarette butts and silk gloves intact. Like the Ferrari GTO, the car it replaced , the LM is another model which is destined for public recognition due to the prices it commands on the auction block. Though it had been intended to compete in the GT category, only 32 units were ever built and were needed for homologation, so it had to compete in the prototype class.
Honed by Giotto Bizzarrini, Carlo Chiti and Mauro Forghieri, the same team that would later develop the equally successful but even more rare GTO, the newcomer's combination of low weight, high power, well-sorted suspension and four-wheel disc brakes brought it success worldwide. Another was third overall at the Le Mans 24 Hours, behind two Ferrari prototypes. Authenticity is becoming much sought-after in collectibles at present, and this car has never been "restored" in the modern sense, making it that much more attractive to serious collectors.
When new, this car was delivered to the prestigious Illinois-based Ferrari dealer and racer George Reed and displayed at the Chicago Auto Show.
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In the late s, Sherman Wolf purchased the California Spider, a significant acquisition for the first-time Ferrari owner who later drove it on the inaugural Colorado Grand. In addition to its lightweight alloy body, it is equipped with full competition specifications including an outside plug motor with TR heads, disc brakes, velocity stacks and a ribbed gearbox.
Restored by Ferrari specialist David Carte, this alloy-bodied California Spider was sold in show condition. Ford's GT40 was the American car which took on the dominant Ferrari team in sports car racing and won. This GT40 was the first of three lightweight production GT40s which number among the very first race cars to utilise carbon fibre-reinforced bodywork, and one of just two surviving examples.
Undoubtedly, Le Mans is one of the best films ever made about motor racing, but it is the association with the film in general and Steve McQueen in particular that has most likely added the X-factor which vaulted this car into the most valuable cars ever sold at auction. This is possibly the finest Type 55 in existence.
The car underwent an exacting restoration that was completed in by Marque Authority Laurent Rondoni. Beautifully-restored and boasting just 12, original miles, the automotive masterpiece captivates admirers with its striking and glamorous black, red and chrome livery. Captain George Whittell Jr. A larger-than-life public figure in San Francisco society, Whittell engaged in numerous escapades with women, reckless street racing and outrageous public appearances, like the time he famously showed up to a local tavern with Bill, his pet lion.
Whittell's love for exotic beasts, along with his appreciation of technology, influenced his many private collections and the creative design of his legendary 40,—acre Lake Tahoe estate, Thunderbird Lodge.
The Whittell Coupe is the result of a unique collaboration between Captain Whittell and legendary automotive stylist, Franklin Q. Hershey, who began his career at Murphy Coach Builders just before Whittell commissioned the renowned Pasadena firm to create this Duesenberg. The Whittell Coupe was one of Hershey's earliest projects and its brilliance helped launch him on a successful design career.
Recognized for his great influence in the automotive community, Hershey was elected to be an honorary judge at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in , a role he served for nearly ten years. The culmination of Whittell's visionary ideas of proportion and detail resulted in one of the most exquisitely-executed Classic cars of all time. Under his direction, the powerful two-passenger, sporting coupe was constructed atop a long-wheelbase chassis, which added a dramatic 11 inches to the standard Model J frame.
The most distinguishing feature of the Duesenberg is its low-slung, brushed-aluminum roof, designed with a complete folding top mechanism and exterior "bows", to mimic the closed fabric top of a convertible coupe. The car is enhanced with numerous unique characteristics including a chrome-plated gas tank, port and starboard lights inspired by the Captain's love of boats and a polished chrome "waterfall" adorning the rear deck.
The Whittell Coupe also boasts a lavish black patent leather interior, decorated with a polished-aluminum and black Bakelite cockpit, as well as a brilliant red undercarriage, just as it did when Whittell took delivery in With the turn of its key, the Whittell Coupe's mighty cubic inch, inline eight-cylinder engine springs to life with a low rumble, and the gentleman's car smoothly transitions from a still beauty to a powerful mechanical masterpiece.
This car finished second in the Le Mans 24 Hour Race in the hands Jochen Mass and Vern Schuppan, taking part in the iconic victory pictured above , then served as the Porsche team's top car for the remainder of the season, primarily driven by Ickx, Mass, and Bell. It returned to Le Mans in , starting in seventh position on the grid behind the two other Rothmans Porsche entries and , but won the race in thrilling fashion, leading a near-whitewash of the results and enabling the inspired and famous Porsche advertising poster that many readers might remember from the day pictured above.
Only 25 Mercedes—Benz K Spezial Roadsters were ever made, far fewer have survived to this day, and the massive, handcrafted art deco sculpture was the absolute pinnacle of automotive desirability from the moment it was launched at the Paris Auto Salon in This car is a pre-production example and was originally delivered to the United States and hence left-hand-drive in the most desirable long tail and high door configuration.
Remarkably for an eighty year old car, it has only traveled 10, miles from new. The Mercedes-Benz K was one of the most prestigious and — in the eyes of many — the most beautiful automobile of the interwar years. Its combination of power, light weight and sheer beauty made it the master of the road, and it was a testimonial to the astonishing capabilities of the German automotive engineers of the day.
It was also breathtakingly expensive, guaranteeing exclusivity amongst its owners; just chassis were built, and of those, only 25 carried the superlative long tail Spezial Roadster coachwork that may well have been the high point of the coachbuilder's art at Mercedes-Benz's own "Sonderwagenbau" in Sindelfingen. Of the 25 K Spezial Roadsters, only a limited few were created in the long tail style with a cover over the single spare tire recessed into the rear deck, one of which this car is one. Auctioned by Christies No link to auction page available. It was for many years the most expensive car ever sold at auction and still retains a place in the top 20 more than a quarter of a century later.
The Type 41 "La Royale" was a massive project championed by Jean Bugatti designed to create a car exclusively for royalty, and when conceived, it was anticipated that 25 would be built. This particular car was personally commissioned by Ettore Bugatti to Kellner Coachbuilding Company with a view to making an impression on the rich British marketplace at the Olympia Show. Allowing for inflation and exchange rates at the time GBP1. The Great Depression was taking its toll however, and despite the grandest plans of the world's most technologically outstanding automaker of the day, only a handful of T41s were ever built believed to be six or seven units.
Despite this failure in business terms, the "Royale" was one of the largest and most extravagant automobiles ever created. The Kellner car failed to sell in depression-racked Britain and remained in the Bugatti family until after WWII when it was purchased from L'Ebe Bugatti by Briggs Cunningham to become part of his famous collection which was on display for many years at the Cunningham Museum in Costa Mesa, California. The car was sold by Cunningham in this sale and unconfirmed reports suggest it was privately resold in at a price around double this one.
Ownership is presently unknown, though Volkswagen Group, owner of the Bugatti marque, is known to have purchased at least two of the six known Royales. Ferrari's LM holds a special place in Ferrari history, being the last car from Maranello to win the prestigious "24 Heures du Mans" half a century ago This car is the ninth of 32 LMs built, has an extensive race history including an initial campaign by Scuderia Filipinetti with Ludovico Scarfiotti and Nino Vaccarella behind the wheel and has at times been fitted with a different engine, had its chassis shortened, and been fitted with the body of a Porsche Carrera, complete with gullwing doors.
It was purchased in by Eric Stewart from British pop band 10CC who set about restoring it to original factory condition including finding and fitting the original motor. That massive restoration resulted in Ferrari Classiche certification.
One of only nine examples built and eight remaining, this Ferrari GT has seen action in some of the great races, including ninth outright and fourth in class in the Mille Miglia, fourth outright in the Coppa Inter-Europa and a participant in the inaugural Colorado Grand, making it eligible for participation in the Mille Miglia and similar prestigious events of today. The horsepower supercharged Alfa Romeo 8C was campaigned as new by Alfa's proxy factory team, the celebrated Scuderia Ferrari — including the legendary Tazio Nuvolari, one of the greatest racing drivers of all time.
It was in this Alfa Romeo and its sisters that the legendary Italian superstar driver Tazio Nuvolari and his team-mates fought a bitter rearguard action against the overwhelming might of the German teams and their own star drivers such as Bernd Rosemeyer, Rudi Caracciola, Manfred von Brauchitsch and Hans Stuck.
Here is an artifact which in essence these great names would have seen, touched, experienced, campaigned and confronted around the world's most demanding road racing circuits of the mids. With class wins in both the Kms de Spa-Francorchamps and Kms de Imola, chassis has an impeccable race provenance, combined with rarity and specialty of construction, being the second-to-last GT car ever built by Ferrari's factory competition department, representing a long line of important models dating to the Mexico and MM.
The car is certified by Ferrari Classiche and accompanied by an original factory build card, promising to draw major consideration at world-class Concours d'Elegance and prestigious Ferrari events. At Pebble Beach, this car was adjudged second in its class, losing by a few tenths of a point to the prototype Ferrari Testa Rossa chassis no. In October , this car enjoyed the distinguished privilege of being invited by Ferrari to take part in Driving Through the Decades, the 60th Anniversary celebration of Ferrari North America held in Beverly Hills, California.
The Competizione was one of just sixty special Ferraris from across America chosen for display on the Sunday morning concours on Rodeo Drive, a rare honor and indication of just how significant the car is among Ferrari's greatest motorcars. Another Ferrari with all the boxes ticked for a stellar price, this car is the very last Testa Rossa and also the last front-engined sports racing car built by Ferrari. As the official RM auction page for the car points out, "The first car in a series is good. But the last car is best. It is inevitably refined, improved and developed. Its weaknesses have been addressed and its strengths have been enhanced.
There is much more to this car. It would no doubt move into a top ten spot if it were to cross the auction block again. This car was commissioned, owned, and raced new by legendary driver, James "Gentleman Jim" Kimberly, the grandson of one of four founders of the Kimberly-Clark Corporation, which produced Kleenex and a variety of other paper products. A detailed and illustrious provenance, an exhaustive and well-documented restoration and single-family ownership from until it was auctioned at Monterey in resulted in its stellar price.
Spiders have the elemental high-speed, open-air attitude that sets these cars apart from their more common cabriolet counterparts. Chassis GT is a spectacular example, with a notable absence of apparent or known damage in its well-documented past. The Bugatti Type 57SC Atalante is an undisputed masterpiece of automotive art, designed by Jean Bugatti with a competition-derived surbaisse chassis and a factory supercharger.
Just two supercharged Type 57SC cars were built new , but most 57S owners wanted the additional power afforded by the blower. This SC is an extremely authentic example with original chassis, engine and coachwork and features outstanding, unbroken provenance including participation in the prestigious inaugural International Bugatti Meeting in Faithfully presented at auction in its original black livery, this Bugatti was masterfully restored to the highest standards and was awarded first in class at The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in Fully documented by Bugatti Historian Julius Kruta.
Official RM Auction Page. Sold new in March , through the official Belgian importer Jacques Swaters', eventually finding its way to the United Staes. It was subsequently shown at the 29th Annual Ferrari Club of America national meeting in Palm Beach, where it was also a class winner. The McLaren F1 is a modern day supercar that became an instant collectible when it was released in Despite a design and development period of just 3 months, the F1 GTR swept all before it, winning not only the GT1 Championship, but also the 24 Heures du Mans on its debut.
McLaren not only won, but dominated the rain-soaked endurance race, finishing in 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 13th places. Just how collectible the F1 would become was not entirely evident at the time the cars were available, but it's stocks grew quite quickly.
In , with a total of of all variants built and its production run complete, the McLaren F1 went on to achieve its greatest feat outside competitive motorsport. McLaren development and race driver Andy Wallace took XP5, the fifth and final prototype F1 with some 45, hard test miles on the clock, to the Ehra-Lessien proving ground in Germany and on 31st March set a world record for a production car of There are many "firsts" which make the McLaren F1 road car very special but the biggest was that unlike previous supercars, it was not constructed primarily of metal or wood.
The car won 15 of 16 races in the hands of Prost and Ayrton Senna. The construction techniques refined in Formula One were developed to create the carbon monocoque for the McLaren F1 with the resulting structure weighing just kg whilst offering the highest levels of strength and safety. The bare carbon fibre passenger doors weighed just 7 kg each which included the weight of the side intrusion beam. The F1 bristles with innovative design.
The central driving position, which ensures superb visibility and no compromise on control positions for the driver; the pannier side lockers providing unprecedented levels of luggage capacity in a car of this type; the patented suspension system to provide both control and ride quality.
For a recent road car, it's unprecedented. There were also 28 F1 GTR race cars and six prototypes produced.
The word was out long before the Pebble Beach sale that the McLaren F1 was going to become a benchmark in automobile investment — one of those cars which would become so cherished by collectors and drive values forever skyward. There were those who thought the price paid was one of those irrational behaviors which auctions regularly throw up, and there were those who thought it indicative that the modern day supercar had been recognized. The latter is now known to be true, and already that investment is proving to be spectacularly successful. So newsworthy are the F1s that reports of private sales are surfacing.
This is McLaren's description of the LM: With a version of the race-spec 6. The styling is heavily derived from the race-winning car, with the front bodywork and rear wing are based on those of the GTR, and full underbody ground effect with a Le Mans-inspired diffuser to optimise downforce. Weight-saving measures are extreme as well, with the F1 LM actually tipping the scales 60 kg lighter than the race version. The XP car, along with three of the five production models, is finished in the historic Papaya orange paintwork, in homage to the early Bruce McLaren racing cars.
Acceleration was such that, from a standstill, 60 mph was reached in less than 4 seconds, mph within 7 seconds, on to a top speed of mph. While this is lower than the "standard" McLaren F1 due to the GTR-derived rear wing which increases drag, the improved levels of downforce give considerable advantage to cornering performance. The Sultan of Brunei reportedly purchased two of the five LMs, with special black paint.
Don't expect any F1 LMs at market any time soon, but if they did appear, they'd be at the top of this list. The bodywork was designed by famous French coachbuilder Jacques Saoutchik, captured the hearts of the judges, who named it the finest vehicle on display at the prestigious event — quite some honour considering the company.
The low-slung torpedo roadster body by Carrosserie J. Saoutchik, of Paris, is a perfect example of coachbuilding of the late s. It showcases some of the more exotic materials available to the coachbuilders of the day. The hides used to create the lizard skin interior were supplied by Alpina, a company that sourced products from the French colonies in Southeast Asia. The beautiful trim wood, known as Purpleheart, was also sourced out of the French colonies in South America.
Establishing himself by creating stylish designs coupled with high-quality workmanship, Saoutchik took many risks with design and materials. His background as a cabinet maker is evidenced in the tight tolerances and body panel fits that can be seen on his creations. One of his favoured design features, the disappearing top, provides an elegant and innovative solution to hide the convertible top. This car embodies racing just as it was 60 years ago, being unique in that it is an unrestored ex-Le Mans Hour race Jaguar C-Type sports car.
That's the car being refueled in at Le Sarthe. Bonhams worked with historians and notable marque specialists, to piece together the history of this car, correcting accepted Jaguar history in the process. The car turned out to be the Belgian-entered Ecurie Francorchamps Le Mans car in totality, rather than the combination of several cars it was thought to be. In the finest tradition of Ferrari's dual-purpose road and racing berlinettas, the new GT SWB was a tractable and well-mannered daily driver about town, but it was a veritable beast in a race, where the ever more powerfully-tuned Colombo V and revised rear suspension delivered unprecedented performance.
Competition-specification cars with additionally uprated engines and lighweight alloy aluminum bodies were immediately made available for racing customers, 43 of these competizione examples were made in the model's first year of production, Mercedes-Benz built of its powerful, massive K models and only 26 of them were the sleek, luxurious, imposing Special Roadsters such as this model. One of the most striking variations on the Special Roadster theme, it is the high-door, long-tail version with exposed spare wheels and tyres built into the rear deck. After the war, the ownership of this car changed hands several times, crossing the Atlantic twice and along the way picking up an Antique Automobile Club of America National First Place award in and a first in class award at Pebble Beach in The Blower Bentley in main and top right on the Brooklands banking.
Top left is two-time Le Mans winner Sir Henry Birkit and many-time land speed record holder Malcolm Campbell, waiting for a race to get underway. Birkin combined his "Bentley Boy" high-society image with a fearless driving talent and was the hero of a generation of British motor racing enthusiasts.
The car never had a full restoration, and still wears the original paint and leather seats, giving it an irreplaceable patina. In keeping with its originality, the Bobtail was restored to its Le Mans specification in recent years, and therefore remains as one of the purest and most important Bentleys in the world. The winning C-type was the first to average more than mph for the 24 Hours of Le Mans Our aim is accuracy so that we can keep our valued readers well informed. Archived from the original on June 13, De Portago began midget car racing in Paris in and a chance meeting and instant rapport with Scuderia Ferrari driver Luigi Chinetti at the Paris Salon de l'automobile in October considerably accelerated his participation in the sport. One of only 50 Long Wheelbase California Spiders ever built, this car is not a perfectly restored example of one of Ferrari's most sought-after models, but a car that was purchased 45 years ago by the late Jack Caster, and driven regularly until the well-known collector passed away.
This so-British hero became the absolute epitome of Imperial power, speed and daring See also detailed sales and cumulative global sales in the two graphs. Retrieved March 31, About 10, Opel Amperas were sold in Europe by the end of Retrieved October 4, PistonHeads claim that sales went back to its introduction in http: Retrieved November 29, Canada Mexico United States manufacturers. Argentina Brazil Colombia Venezuela. Automobile sales by model Best-selling automobiles Countries by motor vehicle production Countries by car exports Countries by vehicles per capita Top manufacturers.
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Cars: List of All Cars from
This page was last edited on 11 December , at By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The first car to achieve one million, five million, ten million and fifteen million units sold. By , it was estimated that nine out of every ten cars in the world were Fords.
The number does not include the platform's archetype Fiat and its other license-built examples e. The first car to achieve twenty million units sold. The 40 million milestone was reached in July However, the model type has been different over the years. Over 1,, domestically produced Santana up to Over 6,, to Over 25,, to Over 1,, sold in Romania. Approximately 3,, excluding early Series 62 hardtops , —, —93, and — Total production for —, —93 and —05 is unknown but a good guess is over 1,, Over 13,, to Approximately 1,, excluding early Newport hardtops.
Including commercial variants, the total figure is approximately nine million [42]. Approximately 2,, in six generations not counting —53 4-doors, coupes, Dodge Chargers and Super Bees. Production of —53 4-doors and coupes is unknown but a reasonable guess is about , total. Sold over six million in Western Europe before being replaced by the Punto in , while production continued in South Africa, Poland and Brazil. Over 34,, America's bestselling vehicle for 28 consecutive years; [31] 33,, in 12 generations to May Over 16,, to May Approximately , not counting —17 and — Production for —17 and —42 is unknown but a reasonable guess is about 80, Production continues in Egypt.
Approximately 2,, not counting — Production of — is unknown but a reasonable guess is about , Over 10,, up to Over 6,, to the end of Over 18,, sold worldwide in 25 years and in 4 generations. Approximately 8,, to Approximately 1,, including those produced in under AMC. Approximately 2,, not counting sales of are unknown. Figures include a small number of complete knock down CKD kits and commercial versions. Over 1,, by mid Over 3,, to The world's best-selling all-electric car in history.
Over 13,, between its introduction and The bestselling car in America in a single year, with 1,, sold in including the Impala SS. Almost 4,, in four generations up to January The world's all-time best selling hybrid electric vehicle.