Hammer down

Racers that are going, going, gone…

As we close for press there are two major sales taking place in Monaco. Arguably the most eagerly awaited of these is the Bonhams auction of Jean-Pierre Beltoise’s collection — the former Monaco Grand Prix winner is selling the bulk of his impressive cache. Among the racers is a Matra MS120 powered by a 435bhp Georges Martin-designed V12 that revs past 11,000rpm. This is actually the car driven by his team-mate Henri Pescarolo during the 1970 F1 season with a best result of third place at the Monaco Grand Prix. It was presented to Beltoise by Matra in 1976 and repainted in Beltoise’s colours as Pescarolo’s car had a green nose-band that mirrored his helmet livery. Low estimate is €300.000.

In the same sale is the 1973 Le Mans-winning Matra MS670B (above), one of three of these barquettes built for the endurance classic and restored over a nine-year period with its original shortnose and short-tail bodywork. Beltoise is also selling his 1985 Citroen BX 4TC Group B rally car that has only covered 100 miles since new and remains unregistered.

Also in this sale is the ex-Andre Wicky Porsche Carrera 6 as driven to second place in the 1966 Paris 1000 Kilometres. along with the JJ Lehto/Pierluigi Martini 1992 BMS Dallara-Ferrari F192 that’s expected to reach somewhere in the region of €100-120,000.

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Also in the Principality is the Coys Légende et Passion Monaco sale which includes another Carrera 6, this time chassis number 906-14 that made its debut at Le Mans in 1966 and later finished third that year at Bergrennen and Montlhéry driven by the car’s owner, Robert Buchet. The following year Buchet drove the car to victory in the Rallye Bordeaux and the Grand Prix of Paris. Throughout the ’70s it was regularly campaigned in French hillclimbs with some success, and more recently has been restored to race-ready condition. No price estimate has been released.