Auction Preview – Mecum Monterey 2017
For most of the year, Mecum Auctions tends to prioritize American muscle cars, a strategy that has proven effective at events across the country. The audience in Monterey is a bit different, however, and so too is Mecum’s mix of cars. Last year, a large group of modern exotics—including a LaFerrari, Enzo, and McLaren P1—sold rather well, and there are more fantastic modern supercars (and historic race cars) being offered this time around, Mecum’s ninth year on the peninsula. Here are the five that we’ll be watching closely:
1958 Lister-Jaguar “Knobbly”
Presale estimate: N/A
Hagerty Price Guide: N/A
Lot F75
The Lister-Jaguar effectively picked up where the D-Type left off, housing the Jag XK straight-six in a newer body and chassis. The first two Lister-Jags delivered to customers were bought by Briggs Cunningham and painted in his team’s signature colors of white with blue stripes. This is the second of those cars, which brought Cunningham and Lister the SCCA National Championship in 1958. Drivers during this car’s successful racing career included Walt Hangsen, Stirling Moss, and Cunningham himself. It can be hard to place a value on a rare car with such a significant history, but this example’s Cunningham sister car, which was actually the original “Knobbly” prototype, was sold by RM Sotheby’s three years ago for €1,176,000 (about $1.4 million at today’s exchange rate).
2007 Maserati MC12 Corsa
Presale estimate: $2,300,000 - $2,500,000
Hagerty Price Guide: N/A
Lot S85
The Maserati MC12 is based on the Ferrari Enzo, but it’s even more hardcore and much more rare, with just 50 MC12s produced compared to 400 Enzos. This MC12 is one of only 12 track-oriented Corsa models produced. Last year, RM Sotheby’s sold a regular-production MC12 for $1.43 million, but also sold one in Italy later in the year for €3.02 million.
2010 Koenigsegg CCXR Trevita
Presale estimate: $2,700,000 - $3,000,000
Hagerty Price Guide: N/A
Lot S94
Floyd Mayweather is already in the headlines (he is preparing for an upcoming fight against MMA superstar Conor McGregor), but a Koenigsegg CCXR Trevita formerly owned by the boxing champion will also get plenty of attention this month. Mayweather paid $4.8 million for the car originally, and only one other example of the 1,018-hp, 250-mph variation on the CCXR hypercar was built. Another former Mayweather hypercar—a 2011 Bugatti Veyron—crossed the block in Scottsdale this year, but bidding stalled at under $2 million, well below the $2.3 million reserve.
2015 Ferrari LaFerrari
Presale estimate: $4,500,000 - $4,700,000
Hagerty Price Guide: N/A
Lot S80
A litany of ownership requirements, as well as a resale restriction, mostly kept the LaFerrari out of the second-hand market until the past year. Mecum was actually the second auction company to offer one. Bonhams offered the first at its Quail Lodge sale last year, and it sold for $3.69 million. Mecum’s first LaFerrari, which had fewer miles and was a rarer color, sold for $5.17 million. The one on offer from Mecum this year is also finished in a relatively rare color and has just 209 miles. Two other LaFerraris will be in Monterey, both with more conservative sub-$4 million estimates.
1967 Lola T70 Mark IIIB Spider
Presale estimate: $500,000 - $600,000
Hagerty Price Guide: N/A
Lot S135
Before McLaren and then Porsche dominated Can-Am racing, the Lola T70 was the car to beat. John Surtees won the first Canadian-American Challenge Cup championship in 1966 while driving one. Dan Gurney also campaigned this T70 Spyder in the Can-Am series, although his car was powered by a Ford V-8 instead of the more common (and more successful) Chevrolet powerplant. Gurney frequently qualified well, but he didn’t score any major wins in the car (McLaren won 5 of 6 races that year). This T70 sold at the 2015 Mecum Monterey sale for $522,500, and a similar T70 Spyder originally campaigned by the Penske team sold for $475,000 at Gooding’s Pebble Beach auction the same year.
