Artcurial Motorcars returns as the official collectors car auction of Le Mans Classic 2014, scheduled for Saturday 5 July at the Le Mans circuit in France. For one weekend every second year, Le Mans comes to life with a race over 24 hours that celebrates the circuit’s legendary history. Around 450 cars and over 1,000 drivers will compete in an event that draws more than 100,000 spectators.
This year marks the seventh Le Mans Classic, and for the third consecutive time, Artcurial Motorcars will hold a sale of collectors cars, in a marquee situated on the Bugatti circuit by the collecting area for the weekend’s 24-hour event. In 2012, the €8.7-million auction featured a 1966 Ferrari 275 GTC that sold for €1,540,200 and featured the Heuliez Collection of coachbuilt prototypes that fetched close to €750,000.
Matthieu Lamoure, Managing Director of Artcurial Motorcars, said, “We are delighted to be returning to Le Mans this year after our record-breaking €30-million sale at Retromobile in February. Le Mans Classic is one of the most important historic motor racing events in the world and we will once again be adding to the occasion with a fantastic line-up of cars in the auction, starring this historic AC Cobra that finished 18th there 50 years ago.”
The 2014 Artcurial Le Mans Classic auction will feature an AC Cobra 289 that returns to La Sarthe exactly fifty years after finishing 18th overall in the Le Mans 24 Hours, driven in 1964 by gentleman racers Count Jean de Mortemart and Régis Fraissinet. Fraissinet, heir to a dynasty of industrialists, told the press that he raced in order to provide a different view on life, “There are those who like to play tennis and those who prefer golf. I play tennis and golf, but most of all, I prefer to race cars.” (Estimate: refer department).
Other highlights of Artcurial Motorcars’ 2014 Classic Le Mans sale include:
- 1961 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster with hardtop, alloy block, disc brakes and suitcases. (Estimate: €1,100,000 – €1,200,000)
- 1967 Lamborghini 400 GT Interim, (Estimate: €450,000 – €550,000)
- 1973 Porsche 911 2.7L RS, 2 owners and 77,000 km from new, delivered new in Marseille, totally original (Estimate: €400,000 – €500,000)
- 1960 Aston Martin DB4 Series 2 (Estimate: €340,000 – €400,000)
- 1992 Ferrari F40 (Estimate: €450,000 – €500,000)
- 1930 Lancia Lambda Roadster, barn find with complete and original body (Estimate: €350,000 – €400,000)
- 1980 BMW M1 ProCar Gr IV, ex-Giovanni Rossi, 6th overall in the European Hillclimb Championship in 1985 and 2nd in 1986 Gr B. (Estimate: €300,000 – €400,000)
- Private French collection of six Porsche 993 all with low mileage (under 50,000 km), featuring a Turbo S (Estimate: €180,000 – €240,000), an RS Clubsport (Estimate: €140,000 – €180,000), an RS Touring (Estimate: €140,000 – €180,000), a Targa, a road-registered Cup 350 hp and an S model
For additional information, visit Artcurial.com.
[Source: Artcurial; photo: Washington Photos]
