Ultra Rare Exotics Will Be At 2016 Concours of Elegance Windsor Castle
The annual Concours of Elegance show will return to Windsor Castle this September in celebration of the Queen’s 90th birthday. 60 of the rarest cars in the world will be featured in the Main Concours competition, here are five we decided to preview.
1932 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Viotti Coupé
The Alfa Romeo 8C family of cars includes both racing and road-going vehicles built around the Italian manufacturer’s straight 8-cylinder engine. Due to the 2.3L (2336 cc) displacement of the first 8C’s produced in the early 1930s, they were known as 8C 2300s.
This 8C 2300 was originally built to compete at Le Mans, where it took 3rd place in 1933. A year later, Vittorini Viotti fabricated a one-of-a-kind coupe body to replace its racing sheetmetal with an elegant and emotive shape that transports one back to the heyday of the coachbuilder.
1963 Jaguar E-Type Lightweight ex-Roy Salvadori
Through the extensive use of aluminum, notably for the body panels and in the construction of the engine block, Jaguar produced 12 of these svelte sports cars, based on the E-Type.
English racing driver Roy Salvadori competed in two documented races in 1963 with this chassis, and in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1962, although he was forced to retire from the world’s most famous endurance race due to an accident.
1972 Lamborghini Countach LP400 ‘Periscopio’
Lamborghini Countach For Sale
When Countach officially went into production as Countach LP400 in 1974, it no longer had an actual periscope attached to its rearview mirror to aid rearward visibility, but still retained the viewing slot in its roof where drivers would have originally peered back through.
The 150 or so “Periscopio” versions of Countach produced are considered to be aesthetically the purest, and therefore the most desirable, iterations of designer Marcello Gandini’s angular masterpiece, which are now fetching over $1 million at auction.
1986 Ferrari Testarossa Spider Valeo
Ferrari Testarossa For Sale
Built as a one-off for Italian business magnate and former head of Fiat, Gianni “L’Avvocato” (“The Lawyer”) Agnelli, the Testarossa Spider Valeo is not the only convertible Testarossa in existence, but it is the only official example built and recognized by Ferrari.
Finished in “Argento” silver with a “Blu” interior, the Valeo has a special electronic clutch system designed specifically for Agnelli, who due to a prior injury with his left leg presumably had difficulty operating the clutch pedal.
This true one-of-one Testarossa was sold at auction earlier this year at Rétromobile 2016 by Artcurial Motorcars for approximately $1,333,145.
1987 Ferrari 288 GTO Evoluzione
“Compared to the F40LM and F50GT, the Evoluzione is much lighter,” stated Mr. Yoshikuni Okamoto, owner of one of only six 288 GTO Evos ever produced, in an interview with VeloceToday back in 2003.
One can only imagine then, how terrifying one of these 650hp, 2,072lb. machines is at the limit, particularly when spooling up its twin turbochargers which are known to provide the 2.8-liter V8 with an abrupt and strong surge of power.
Perhaps unfairly overshadowed by its direct successor, the F40, the 288 GTO Evoluzione is considered by some to be a better supercar. By the numbers, we would have to agree.
