What's your road‑going racer pick from our $7million Scottsdale trio?

A trio of models coming up for sale at one of the first big collectors’ car auctions of the new year gives an interesting insight into just how far competition-inspired road cars go back.

The Bugatti, the Mercedes and the Lexus here are separated by over 85 years and in design and technology have little in common – apart from all buying-in to race car technology to make them the ultimate cars of their respective eras.

All are in the catalogue for the Gooding & Co sale in Scottsdale, Arizona, on 19-20 January 2018, among around 120 cars looking for new homes. A racing car for the road? Read on…

1931 Bugatti Type 55 Roadster 

Jean Bugatti used the chassis of his 16-cylinder Type 45 GP race car on which to base the Type 55 roadster – a car he rightly predicted would be the supercar of its day and a hit with Bugatti’s discerning clients. The engine wasn’t a 16-pot monster alas but still a twin-overhead cam supercharged straight-eight with 130bhp. Add a beautiful body and, well, job done. The car for sale is the very first Type 55 and the car that starred at the 1931 Paris Motor Show. Just a further 37 were to be made – rarity being one reason this car is estimated to make between $4-5 million.

1956 Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing

Motor racing engineering plus the latest technology combined to make the Gullwing a true race car for the road, with the highest top speed – around 160mph, depending on gearing – of any road car at that time. The Gullwing was conceived as a roadgoing version of the 1952 W194 300SL Grand Prix racer. In the event, thanks to the first use of fuel injection in a production car, its 3.0-litre straight-six with over 200bhp had a lot more power than the carburetted GP car. Today the two-seat coupe is as legendary for its design and signature gullwing doors as its performance. This silver metallic/dark blue leather example is one of 311 Gullwings built in the model’s penultimate year of 1956. Estimate: $1.1-1.3 million. 

2012 Lexus LFA Nürburgring

A Formula One engine in a road car? Today all the talk is of the imminent new Mercedes-AMG Concept One, but before that, in 2010, was the mighty Lexus LFA. Its 72-degree dry-sumped, titanium-valved V10 was derived from Toyota’s F1 engine of the time. The V10 was known not only for its power (552bhp) and wide rev range (redline: 9,000rpm) but its wine-glass-shattering harmonic purity. There were just 500 LFAs, each with still-superb looks and typical Lexus comforts while being able to hit 60mph from rest in 3.7secs on its way to 202mph. The car in the Gooding & Co sale is just a bit special: it’s the penultimate LFA ever made, and is one of only 50 cars with the Nürburgring track pack. Oh, and it’s covered just 60 miles. The only delivery-miles LFA in existence? Probably. Estimate: $900,000-1.2 million.

All images copyright and courtesy of Gooding & Company.

Photos by Brian Henniker and James Lipman