The competition car collection of Irvine Laidlaw will headline the 2013 RM Auctions London sale, scheduled for 7-9 September, at its established Battersea Park location and in partnership with the St. James’s Concours of Elegance in central London.
The highlight of the Lord Irvine Laidlaw Competition Car Collection is the ex-Works and ex-Ecurie Ecosse, 1955 Jaguar D-Type, chassis number XKD 504, a long-nose example driven in period by Duncan Hamilton, Paul Frere and Peter Sutcliffe.
Peter Wallman of RM Auctions, said, “This is unquestionably the finest single-owner collection of 1950s and 1960s competition cars to have ever been offered at public auction. We are honored that Lord Irvine Laidlaw has entrusted his immaculately prepared and highly competitive collection to us, and we are delighted to present the cars at our London sale this September. With such fabulous cars on offer and along with our partnership with St. James’s Concours of Elegance, visitors from around the world will be able to enjoy a truly exciting and petrol-fuelled week in London.”
Among the other sports racing cars offered is the 1958 Maserati 250S, chassis number 2432, an ex-Carroll Shelby and Jim Hall car and the only 250S originally built with a 2.5-litre engine. It is joined by another Maserati competition car, a 1960 Tipo 61 Birdcage, chassis number 2464, which is an ex-Scuderia Camoradi car, which raced in period in the epic 1000 km Nürburgring race at the hands of Masten Gregory and Gino Munaron.
The Laidlaw collection also includes the 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB/C Berlinetta Competizione, chassis number 09027, which came in 10th overall at Le Mans in 1966 with Jacques Swaters’ Ecurie Francorchamps and which was also the winner of the 1966 Mont Ventoux Hillclimb. Another race car to be offered in the sale is the 1965 Porsche 904/6, chassis number 906-012, which contested the 1965 24-Hours of Le Mans with the Works team and was driven by Peter Nöcker and Günther Klass to a 6th place finish at the 1000 km Nürburgring race.
Rounding off the collection are the 1970 Chevron B16, chassis number DBE- B16-4, which competed in the Daytona 24-Hour race, and the 1971 Chevron B19, chassis number B19-71-3, which participated in the 1971 1000 km BARC.
Irvine Laidlaw, the well-known enthusiast and owner of this collection, who has taken the difficult decision to stop racing, said, “I don’t regard myself as a collector. I am a car enthusiast and as an enthusiast I want to exercise my cars regularly, rather than gloat over them in the garage. So I have decided to sell the remaining competition cars and have consigned them to RM for auction as these are international cars, and RM is able to access buyers from all over the world. Having both bought and sold cars through their auctions in the past, I know that they present cars beautifully, while researching and reporting on history correctly. You know what you are getting when buying from RM.”
As the official auction house partner of the St James’s Concours of Elegance, RM Auctions will have a presence at the event and the Concours participants will enjoy a drive across London to the auction venue in Battersea as part of the official Concours programme on Saturday 7th September. The auction preview will take place on the 7-8 September, followed by the auction on Monday 9 September 2013.
The 2012 RM Auctions Battersea sale generated £13,866,000 ($22,393,638 USD) in sales. For additional information, contact the RM London Office at +44 (0) 20 7851 7070 or visit rmauctions.com.
[Source: RM Auctions; photos: Courtesy of The Klemantaski Collection]
