Between 1984 and 1986 Ford produced the RS200 model which later became the basis for Ford’s Group B rally car. Regulations required manufacturers to produce 200 road-legal units, but only 147 RS200s were sold. One of the last to be sold is this 1990 Ford RS200 S version, which is now up for auction.
S verier was Murray DeWert’s idea, which was approved by Ford and the car went into production. Murray proposed a tuned and improved version of the road-legal car, and most of the 20 units were finished in white with two in blue, two in black and four in red.
This Chassis #138 is one of four finished in Ferrari Red, and one of only two still original. Since it was bought in 1990, it has never changed hands. It has less than 20,000 miles on the odometer which shows that the owner used the car but also regularly maintained the car at a well-known RS200 specialist.
The car is equipped with a plastic-fiberglass composite body, a chassis designed by Formula 1 designer Tony Southgate, but also a number of parts that were optional at the time, such as increased sound deadening, half-leather Recaro seats, electric windows and mirrors, quality carpet, and a Ford Stereo Radio/Cassette player, and a remote central locking and alarm system.
Under the hood is a mid-mounted 1,803cc Ford-Cosworth BDT engine fitted with a Garett T03/04 turbocharger with 250 hp (186 kW), paired with a front-mounted manual gearbox for ideal 50/50 weight distribution that sends power to all the wheels.
The estimated value of the car is £300,000 – £350,000.
At the 1984 Geneva Motor Show, the small Swiss high-performance replica and sports car company Sbarro unveiled a special edition car, the Sbarro Super Eight. The car was designed by company founder Franco Sbarro for Bernd Grohe, and is now for sale.
The car is powered by a 3.0-L Ferrari F106 V8 engine with a factory rated 240 hp, mated to a 5-speed manual transmission that sends power to the rear axle. The engine is equipped with dual overhead camshafts on each cylinder bank, four valves per cylinder, and Bosch fuel injection. It sits on 15″ multipiece BBS wheels wrapped in Yokohama AVS AV1-40 tires.
This unique red Sbarro Super Eight is based on a Ferrari 308 GTB whose frame was shortened before being fitted with a two-door fiberglass body, a nose panel that extends over the headlights, a chin spoiler, an offset cowl vent, flared fenders, straked intake vents ahead of each rear wheel, ghosted horizontal stripes along each B pillar, simulated straked vents behind the rear windows, and a rounded rear profile with a painted heckblende and quad upturned exhaust outlets. Ventilated disc brakes and double-wishbone independent suspension with coilover shock absorbers and anti-roll bars at front and rear, were taken from the Ferrari 308.
The interior is covered in brown leather with cloth inserts over the two-place seating and door panels. In front of the driver is a MOMO three-spoke steering wheel wrapped in brown leather and a five-digit odometer showing 30,011 km (~19k miles). Additional equipment includes color-keyed carpeting, wood door caps and dashboard accents, shoulder belts, a lockable console storage compartment, a gated shifter, power windows, and a Clarion component stereo system with a cassette player and an equalizer.
The auction ends on December 11th and the highest bid at the time of writing was $145,000 USD.
For the 1954 F1 season, Mercedes-Benz produced a Formula One car, the Mercedes-Benz W 196 R Stromlinienwagen. It won 9 of the 12 races entered and captured the only two world championships in which it competed. It is now for sale with an estimated value of over €50,000,000 EUR.
This car is one of only four known complete examples mounted with the exquisite factory-built enclosed-fender Stromlinienwagen coachwork at the conclusion of the 1955 Formula One season.
How did the story of this car begin? The FIA cancelled the 1952 and 1953 seasons due to a lack of credible competition, and new regulations were introduced for 1954. These regulations specified that normally aspirated engines could not exceed 2.5 liters, while naturally aspirated engines were limited to 750 cubic centimeters. This gave manufacturers the opportunity to produce new cars, which Mercedes-Benz took advantage of and created the best possible car.
They chose a truss-type narrow-diameter tubular space frame similar to the chassis of the W 194 300 SL, and equipped it with a front independent suspension via double wishbones, torsion springs and top-of-the-line hydraulic telescopic shock absorbers, and massive Alfin drum brakes.
When it came to the powertrain, several options were considered and a straight-eight configuration with 2,494 cubic centimeters (M196) was chosen. Since it was designed around a complex Hirth roller-bearing crankshaft, the engine was essentially two four-cylinder motors in unison, with two camshafts for each intake and exhaust. It was also equipped with dual ignition and dry sump lubrication, a revolutionary desmodromic valve gear instead of the standard valve springs, and Bosch high-pressure direct fuel injection that guaranteed a reliable and smooth application of power that initially amounted to 275 hp but was later raised to 290 hp.
Since the new formula specified so few limitations to coachwork, the open body in the shape of a W 196 R torpedo was chosen. Low and wide, its smoothly curved body featured a wide open-mouth grille, cooling vents on the rear shoulders, and character lines across the tops of the front wheel arches. This body, also known as Streamliner or Stromlinienwagen, was made in limited quantity by the racing department out of Elektron magnesium alloy, providing a shell even lighter than aluminum for a total weight of just over 88 pounds.
One of the greatest drivers of all time, Manuel Fangio, was an Alfa Romeo driver in the early 1950s and at the Swiss Grand Prix he achieved victory and the fastest lap. This did not go unnoticed by racing team manager Alfred Neubauer who offered Fangio a contract. However, the car was not finished in time for the start of the season and Fangio drove for the Maserati team. After two races, Fangio signed a contract with Mercedes-Benz.
At the Italian Grand Prix at the Monza circuit, Mercedes-Benz entered two Streamliners and one open-wheel car after testing showed that a body with closed fenders would be faster. Fangio in the Streamliner took first place while Herrmann in the open-wheel car took 4th place. However, a few weeks later at the Berlin Grand Prix, all three Streamliners driven by Kling, Fangio, and Herrmann finished on the podium. It was a demonstration of the power of Mercedes-Benz.
During the season, this car with chassis number 00009/54 was completed. It made its debut at the 1955 Buenos Aires Grand Prix, which was unusual in that it consisted of two separate heats of 30 laps each, with the winner determined by the fastest total aggregate time. This car was driven by Fangio, who finished 2nd in both races but won with an overall time of 2:23:18.9.
In 1955, Mercedes-Benz tested a new medium-wheelbase chassis that was being used in the Streamliner, but the car was found to be twitchy at high speeds, so drivers Fangio and Moss requested that cars be sent with the original long-wheelbase chassis. This car, chassis number 00009/54, was the aforementioned long-wheelbase Streamliner delivered to Moss on request.
At the end of the season, Fangio was champion and Moss finished second. In two seasons, the model won three championships in two different racing series, demonstrating Mercedes-Benz’s dominance in Formula 1 racing.
