One of the most significant competition Vauxhalls will come under the hammer in the Bonhams auction at this weekend’s 74th Members’ Meeting.
The ex-Dealer Team Firenza Magnum 2300 Coupé raced in the Spa 24 Hours in July 1977 by tin-top heroes Gerry Marshall and Peter Brock will headline the traditional sale, which takes place on Sunday in the Bonhams marquee.
Chassis number 9E37PCX10377, with the registration LFL486L, was purpose-built for Spa that year by Bill Blydenstein – a man synonymous with Vauxhall racers. It took second overall and first in class in the twice-round-the-clock Belgian classic with British racing legend Marshall and Australian folk hero Brock at the wheel. It covered 2,414 miles in the race, with an average speed of more than 100mph, beaten only by the Juma Racing BMW 530i of Eddy Joosen and Jean-Claude Andruet.
Painstakingly restored to its original specification in 2005 by Martin Thomas’ SRG Motorsport squad, the car has an estimate of £80,000-£120,000 and comes with FIA papers, a current MoT certificate, V5C registration document and a huge collection of related press cuttings and magazine stories.
Interest in the sale is bound to be huge, particularly as one of the highlights of the Members’ Meeting is the Gerry Marshall Trophy for Group 1 Production Saloons up to 1982. Big Gerry thrilled crowds up and down the country in tin-tops during the 1970s and ’80s with an exuberant style and winning habit, and he was a winner at the Revival Meeting, too, with two victories in the St Mary’s Trophy – in 1999 and 2001 – in a Lotus Cortina. How he’d have loved to be back in a Triumph Dolomite Sprint or Ford Capri for the race that bears his name.
Images courtesy of Bonhams
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