Hammer down

Racers that are going, going, gone…

An ex-works MGC GTS with Sebring history sold for £89,000 at the Coys True Greats sale on December 4. MBL546E was one of six Cs converted at Abingdon before the 1967 Targa Florio, where Paddy Hopkirk and Timo Mäkinen finished ninth on the road. The following year it finished 10th and won its class in the Sebring 12 Hours (Hopkirk /Hedges). Later that year it was driven to sixth place in the Nürburgring 84 Hours.

One of the highest-profile lots at the Coys sale was the ex-works Subaru Impreza WRC driven to victory on the 2000 Rally of Great Britain by Richard Burns. It sold for £132,000. The car had been purchased directly from the winners’ podium by a collector, and was sold at the London sale complete with the winning pace notes, Burns mobile phone and ‘fossilised’ energy bars stashed in the cockpit but never eaten.

As we went to press, the 1980 Le Mans class-winning Lancia Beta Montecarlo Group 5 racer was going under the hammer at Christies. Entered by the Jolly Club for Facetti/Finotto, it finished 19th overall at La Sarthe. Rebuilt in Martini colours for the following season, it was campaigned by Aboreto, Pirro and Cheever among others. Its estimated value was £130-160.000.