Tag: Auctions

  • Rare 2014 Falcon F7 supercar for sale

    From Vector to Saleen to SSC, many startups have tried to take on the European establishment with American supercars. One of the most recent was Detroit-based Falcon Motorsports. One of the handful of 2014 Falcon F7 supercars the company built is now up for auction on Cars and Bids.

    Falcon Motorsports started out with body kits and other modifications for the Dodge Viper, before attempting its own car. The F7 was unveiled at the 2012 Detroit auto Show with a $250,000 price tag.

    That price bought a mid-mounted LS7 7.0-liter V-8 tuned to produce 620 hp and 585 lb-ft of torque. The engine drove the rear wheels through a Ricardo 6-speed manual transaxle, while carbon-fiber bodywork and an aluminum interior tub kept the curb weight down to 2,785 pounds. The car also featured a hydroformed tube frame chassis, with Corvette-derived suspension components.

    2014 Falcon F7 (Photo by Cars and Bids)

    2014 Falcon F7 (Photo by Cars and Bids)

    The company quoted a 0-60 mph time of 3.3 seconds, with a top speed of 200 mph.

    Falcon Motorsports planned to build up to 20 cars annually, but ultimately only seven were made, with one subsequently destroyed, according to the seller. This is the third car. It was displayed at the 2014 Detroit auto show, and featured on a second-season episode of the television show “How It’s Made: Dream Cars,” the seller noted.

    The F7 is listed as having just 3,300 miles. The seller said the clutch and an axle shaft were recently replaced, and the engine was retuned. Given its ubiquity, that LS-series V-8 should be easier to maintain than the more exotic engines in other supercars, but you’re still unlikely to see another Falcon F7 at the local cars and coffee event.

    Source

  • Rare 1993 Cizeta V16T headed to auction

    If you’re steeped in 1990s nostalgia, but think a Ferrari or Lamborghini is too common, this 1993 Cizeta V16T is for you. Scheduled to cross the block January 22 at an RM Sotheby’s auction, it’s one of just nine built.

    Cizeta was the brainchild of former Lamborghini test driver and engineer Claudio Zampolli. After leaving Lamborghini, he moved to Los Angels and started a business working on supercars of the city’s many wealthy residents. But Zampolli wanted to build his own car, and teamed up with music producer Giorgio Moroder to make that happen.

    Zampolli specified a transversely-mounted 6.0-liter V-16, with a 5-speed manual transmission. The powertrain was cloaked in bodywork that resembled the contemporary Lamborghini Diablo, which makes sense, as Diablo designer Marcello Gandini also penned the V16T.

    The supercar was initially marketed as the Cizeta-Moroder V16T, but the partnership between Zampolli and Moroder dissolved after the first prototype was built, so all production cars were branded solely as Cizetas.

    1993 Cizeta V16T (Photo by RM Sotheby's)

    1993 Cizeta V16T (Photo by RM Sotheby’s)

    The car currently for sale—chassis 101—was ordered by Singapore’s Hong Seh Motors on behalf of the Brunei Royal Family, according to the listing. The Sultan of Brunei was legendary for extravagant taste in cars, purchasing three of the nine V16T production models, along with thousands of other exotics.

    Chassis 101 was shipped from the Cizeta factory in Modena, Italy, to Singapore in March 1993, but was never delivered to the Brunei Royal Family, according to the listing. Instead, it gathered dust at Hong Seh Motors for over 25 years, before being purchased by its current owner in 2020.

    As a result, it only has 611 miles on the odometer, all of which are believed to have been accumulated during testing at the factory, according to the listing. The car is righthand drive, and has horizontal slats over its side air intakes like the prototype V16T, rather than the vertical slats used on most other production cars, RM Sotheby’s noted.

    History is littered with failed supercar builders, but that hasn’t stopped new generations of dreamers from trying to launch their own supercars. Some are even turning to hydrogen or battery-electric powertrains.

    Source

  • 1955 Jaguar D-Type headed to auction

    Before the invention of track-only supercars, wealthy enthusiasts could simply buy a race car like this 1955 Jaguar D-Type. The rare Jag will be auctioned off by RM Sotheby’s Jan. 22.

    Introduced in 1954, the D-Type earned three straight 24 Hours of Le Mans victories from 1955-’57, the last two years with privateer teams. Jaguar built just 17 works race cars (including  11 “long-nose” variants), plus 54 customer race cars. Some D-Type chassis were also converted into XKSS road cars, a process that was cut short by a 1957 fire at Jaguar’s Coventry, England, factory, which destroyed the final five cars earmarked for conversion.

    The car up for auction—chassis XKD 518—is not a Le Mans veteran, but is noteworthy for a couple of reasons. It left the factory not in traditional British Racing Green, but in red—a color normally associated with Jaguar’s Italian rivals. XKD 518 was also sold to its first private owner by future Formula 1 czar Bernie Ecclestone.

    1955 Jaguar D-Type XKD 518 (Photo by RM Sotheby's)

    1955 Jaguar D-Type XKD 518 (Photo by RM Sotheby’s)

    That first private owner was race driver Peter Blond, who ran XKD 518 at British tracks like Silverstone and Goodwood during the 1956 and 1957 seasons. Blond sold the car in August 1957, and it changed hands many more times over the years, ending up with its current owner in 2008.

    Under the hood sits a 3.4-liter XK inline-6 with a numbers-matching block and head, which makes 245 horsepower, according to the listing. XKD 518 left the factory without the trademark D-Type fin, and with a low windscreen, according to the listing, but it sports those items now. They were added to the car at some point during its racing career, and are thus period correct, the auctioneer noted.

    Pre-auction estimates for the red D-Type are between $5.7 million and $7.5 million, which seems like a relative bargain compared to the $21.8 million paid for a Le Mans-winning D-Type in 2016. Note that this car failed to sell at a 2018 auction, because bidding didn’t meet an $8.8 million reserve.

    Source