Stunning ex‑Stig Blomqvist Sierra set for £220,000 auction

Car: 1990 Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500 Group A
Claim to fame: The 1990 BTCC championship winning machine
Perfect for: HSCC Supertourers series, Grand Prix Legends Touring Car Challenge
Estimate: £175-220,000

This car is star of the auction, and with good reason. It’s the privately-entered Trakstar Cossie that Robb Gravett (with help in the two-driver races from DJ Mike Smith and Stig Blomqvist) campaigned so well in the 1990 British Touring Car Championship. They took a record-breaking nine wins during the season, carving out a slice of BTCC history. Famous Aussie Ford racer Dick Johnson had a hand in developing the 500-plus bhp machine, which after BTCC went on to race in the Italian Supertourismo series. Today it’s back to its original 1990 BTCC livery and being offered for public sale for the first time. 

Car: 1959 Austin A35 HRDC spec
Claim to fame: Theo Paphitis’ race car from the 2016 Goodwood Revival
Perfect for: Academy Series
Estimate: £18-25,000

This is a car we know well at Goodwood, one of the race-prepped baby Austins that has so delighted the crowds at Revival with their cheeky looks, pastel colours… and awesomely close racing. This car was built for former Dragons’ Den star Theo Paphitis to take part in the then-new Academy series which made its debut in the St Mary’s Trophy in 2016. Theo drove it with some chap called Tom Kristensen you may remember. As you might expect, the car was built to be the best A35 out there, and its auction estimate is said to be way under its build cost. Today the one-make Academy series races A35s at circuits across the country. 

Car: 1960 Cooper Monaco T57 MkII
Claim to fame: Recently rebuilt by Martin Stretton and complete with FIA papers
Perfect for: Sportscar grids the world over
Estimate: £160-190,000

What about taking on the world’s top historic sportscar racers in your own Cooper Monaco, that ultimate early 1960s British sports racer, as driven in period by Sir Stirling Moss? This car was consistently successful for over 40 years in the hands of well known Cooper aficionado Sid Hoole. Today after a rebuild and race preparation by the renowned Martin Stretton Racing team, it is ready to race again. The MkII is said to be one of the top Monacos around, and with its MkIII rear coil springs replacing the earlier leaf springs – a change made to this car in period by John Cooper – is all set to prove again how effective this incredibly low, light and fast machine is.

Car: 2004 Palmer Jaguar JP1 TS
Claim to fame: Terrifying corporate hospitality guests!
Perfect for: Track days
Estimate: £27-30,000

Here’s a car you may know – perhaps even have been in – if you went to a Jaguar hospitality event at Goodwood in the 2000s. It’s a bespoke two-seater racer run by Jaguar main dealers Harwoods at Goodwood to treat customers to fast laps of the Motor Circuit. And the laps would have been fast: not only is the 695kg composite-bodied car powered by a 277bhp Jaguar Racing V6 but drivers of choice for the “exhilarating circuit experience” were pro racers Duncan Tappy and Joe Sacco. With its six-speed sequential Hewland ‘box, Powerflow LSD, adjustable rear wing and sets of both slicks and wet tyres, the JP1 (0-100mph in 7.6secs) is now all ready for track day action again – and is complete with its own bespoke trailer. 

Car: 1970 Lola T210
Claim to fame: Quickest T210 available?
Perfect for: Masters series and Classic Endurance Racing
Estimate: £140-170,000

Eric Broadly and Lola made 16 T210s to take part in the then-new 2.0-litre sports car championship of 1970, with Jo Bonnier in the works car winning the European Championships that year. Cosworth powered (around 245bhp) and lightweight at just 550kg (thanks to its new aluminium monocoque), the open sports car proved fast and tough – then as now. Only last October this example won at Paul Ricard. With set-up and race-prep by Martin Stretton Racing, it is considered the best sorted and most competitive of all the T210s. 

Car: 1994 Porsche 968 Sport
Claim to fame: Porsche motorsport doesn’t get any more affordable
Perfect for: Modern Classics championship run by the Classic & Sports Car Club
Estimate: £20-25,000

This stripped-out competition version of the four-cylinder transaxle Porsche has competed only once since being made race-ready in 2015. The near £6k preparation involved fitting steel fuel lines, new discs, Aeroquip brake lines, rebuilt dampers, race seat and six-point harness, carbon door cards and four new Dunlop DZ03G tyres. The handling didn’t need transforming, inheriting as it does the perfect balance of the 968 Club Sport road car. The safety equipment needs checking, but otherwise… a bargain modern classic racer – it even includes a covered trailer and spare set of wheels. 

Car: 1970 Morgan Plus 8
Claim to fame: Nut-and-bolt restoration in 2012
Perfect for: HSCC events, Tour Auto, Tour Britannia and 1970s HSCC Roadsports race at the Silverstone Classic
Estimate: £60-70,000

There’s nothing like an old Morgan…and with a new steel chassis, new factory ash frame, newly built 254bhp John Eales race V8 and nut and bolt rebuild, this Plus 8 is not much like one. Apart from the looks of course which are as perfectly period as ever. The car, built to FIA Appendix K spec by Brands Hatch Morgans, is one of the relatively rare ‘Moss box’ Plus 8s, with synchro on second, third and fourth. The car is being supplied with MOT (the car is road usable) and its FIA/MSA passport valid until 2027, along with mounds of spares including original engine and alloy wheels.

Silverstone Auctions’ Race Retro sale is at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire with 30 competition cars crossing the block on February 23^rd and 70 classic road cars on Saturday February 24^th.

Our pick of the road cars? Got to be the 1969 Bullitt-spec Dodge Charger, being sold by Jay Kay and as previously owned by Bruce Willis. Now that’s star provenance! Estimate: £50-60,000.