Having established itself as the year’s most important auction of sports
and sports-racing cars, RM Auctions’ Monterey Sports Car Auction, August
16-17, 2002 at the Doubletree Hotel in Monterey, California elaborates upon
its sports cars theme in 2002 with a diverse offering from the Brass Era to
the ultimate Ferrari Testa Rossa, the 1962 Le Mans 24 Hours-winning 330 TRI/LM.
It may stretch the imagination
of recent generations, but in 1909 the Simplex 50hp was a sporty automobile.
Designed by Edward Franquist, New York City-built Simplex employed a 597 cubic
inch four-cylinder engine, remarkable in its day for equal bore and stroke “square”
dimensions, chain drive and a 4-speed transmission. A Simplex 50hp finished
sixth in the first Indianapolis 500 mile race. Establishing one extreme of the
sports car continuum, RM Auctions will offer a 1909 Simplex 50hp Toy Tonneau
at the Monterey
Sports Car Auction at the Doubletree Hotel in downtown Monterey, California
on August 16-17, 2002.
No one, however, will fail to recognize the other extreme in RM’s Monterey Sports Car Auction, the Le Mans-winning 1962 Ferrari 330 TRI/LM. The last of the legendary Testa Rossa series, the 330 TRI/LM chassis number 0808 is the last front-engined car to win the fabled 24 Heures du Mans outright in the hands on no less than Phil Hill and Olivier Gendebien, until this year the most successful driving team in Le Mans history. Owned since 1974 by a famed French collection, it has been meticulously rebodied to its 1962 Le Mans-winning style with distinctive nostril grille. There are only three Le Mans-winning Testa Rossas of which 0808 is the last and the only 4-liter. It was, furthermore, built upon the renumbered 250 TRI/60 chassis 0780 which finished second at Le Mans in 1961 driven by Willy Mairesse and Michael Parkes. Other important races and finishes make this possibly the most significant Ferrari ever offered at auction. Its appearance at RM Auctions’ Monterey Sports Car Auction will be a standing-room-only event.
Legendary racing records
abound at RM Auctions’ Monterey Sports Car Auction because, in addition
to the Ferrari 330 TRI/LM, RM will present two of America’s best sports
cars, the 1961 Gulf Racing Corvette driven by Don Yenko and Dr. Dick Thompson
to two consecutive SCCA championships. Owned by Grady Davis and developed in
the Gulf Research labs in Harmarville, Pennsylvania, the Don Yenko entered Corvette
blew its competition away in 1961 and 1962. Also offered at RM’s Monterey
Sports Car Auction is
the legendary Sunray DX 1967 L88 Corvette campaigned by Dave Morgan and Don
Yenko which won the Grand Touring class at the 1967 Sebring 12 Hours. The ’67
L88 was an all-out road racer built by GM Engineering under Zora Arkus-Duntov’s
direction. It produced over 500hp from the factory. Only 20 were built in 1967,
making them the most highly sought of all Corvettes. Both Corvettes have been
assiduously documented and meticulously restored to pristine condition by Richard
and Carolyn Prince and were featured at Bloomington Gold. A ride in either is
a life-changing experience.
Restored race cars are wonderful but there’s something exhilarating about race cars that haven’t buried their history under a shiny restoration. That description applies to the late Bill Serri’s 1954 Ferrari 250 Monza, another headline car to be offered at RM Auctions’ Monterey Sports Car Auction. Exceptionally pretty with its original spyder corsa body, Bill Serri used his 250 Monza frequently and enthusiastically, almost as if it were a Triumph TR6 or Alfa Giulietta. It isn’t pristine and shiny, but its character and that of its late owner shine through, conveying the essence of a sports-racer and the enthusiastic owners into whose custodianship these wonderful automobiles are entrusted for future generations.
The headline cars, and dozens of others, to be offered at RM Auctions’ Monterey Sports Car Auction, August 16-17, 2002, are exciting automobiles with marvelous histories and they excite complex emotions.
For more information contact
Ian Kelleher at RM Auctions’ Beverly Hills office, 310 246 9880 or by e-
mail, ian@rmauctions.com.