Triumph GT6 Project Car: “The Poor Man’s Jaguar E-Type”

This Triumph GT6 is part way through a restoration to “Roadster Special” specification, with the hardtop coupe body replaced with a new lightweight fiberglass front and rear section, and an original Triumph straight-six engine under the hood.

Those familiar with the history of endurance racing will remember the Triumph GT6 as the road-going version of the Triumph Spitfire hardtop coupe, a class winner at the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans. It raced alongside cars like the Ferrari 250 LM, Shelby Cobra Daytona, Iso Grifo A3C, MGB, and the Austin-Healey Sebring Sprite.

Fast Facts – A Triumph GT6 Project Car

• Known by many as “The Poor Man’s E-Type”, the Triumph GT6 is powered by a straight-six engine, it has elegant styling, and it was a leader in its genre – just like the E-Type.
• The GT6 is closely based on the Triumph Spitfire, it’s a body-on-chassis sports car designed by Giovanni Michelotti with a hardtop coupe body and an overhead valve 2.0 liter straight-six under the hood producing 95 – 104 bhp depending on year.
• The car you see here is a 1970 Triumph GT6, making it a MkIII model. It’s part way through a restoration and conversion to “Roadster Special” specification, with a D-Type-style finned aerodynamic headrest behind the driver.
• The build has stalled due to a family bereavement, it’s now in need of a new owner to finish the project and showcase the completed car.

The Triumph GT6

The Triumph GT6 was released in 1966, it’s a hardtop coupe styled by Triumph’s longtime go-to designer Giovanni Michelotti, it’s based on the basic chassis/body of the then-current Triumph Spitfire 4.

The hardtop coupe Triumph Spitfires at the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans. The team would achieve a class win over their arch rivals – the MG Midgets.

Unlike the Spitfire 4, a 1.1 liter inline-four cylinder engine powered roadster/convertible, the GT6 is powered by a 2.0 liter straight-six producing 30-40% more power.

The development of the Triumph GT6 began in 1963, when Standard-Triumph sent a Spitfire off to Michelotti in Italy with instructions to turn it into an aerodynamic coupe. The original car was powered by the 1,147cc Spitfire engine which was woefully underpowered for the task, and performance suffered as a result.

The Triumph Racing Department adopted the new Michelotti design for the Spitfire in 1964 as they realized it offered a significant aerodynamic benefit. It turns out they were right, the car took a class win at the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans over the MG Midgets.

This win brought Triumph a flood of media attention, they quickly developed a road going version of the Le Mans car to capitalize on the publicity. This new car had similar styling to the Le Mans Spitfires but it was powered by a larger 2.0 liter straight-six offering approximately 100 bhp over the 63 bhp offered from the original Spitfire 4 four-cylinder.

Triumph would offer the GT6 as a parallel model to the Spitfire from 1966 to 1973, they made over 41,000 of them over three primary model series, the Mark I, Mark II, and Mark III.

This is a modified version of the Triumph GT6 straight-six engine with wrapped headers and a finned alloy valve cover. In stock form it would produce over 100 bhp, giving the car a top speed of 105 mph.

Today the Triumph GT6 is viewed as a slightly less common alternative to period competitors like the MGB GT. It has excellent club support and spare parts availability, and it’s vastly less expensive than its big brother – the Jaguar E-Type.

The Triumph GT6 Roadster Special Project Car Shown Here

The car you see here is only partially completed, though it’s clear that the major parts are all accounted for – chassis, engine, transmission, and primary body sections.

The person who was building this car has suffered a family bereavement that has left them unable to compete the car – so rather than leaving it in the garage to waste away they’re offering it up for sale.

The car currently has a Triumph GT6 engine fitted with a finned alloy valve cover, lightweight front and rear fiberglass body sections are also fitted, though they need finishing and painting.

H&H Classics are due to offer this car for auction on the 16th of February with a starting bid of £10 ($13.50 USD). There’s no saying where the bidding will end up but it’s unlikely to go beyond the mid-four figures.

If you’d like to read more about this unusual project car or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing.

Images courtesy of H&H Classics

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Juan Manuel Fangio’s Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Is For Sale

Juan Manuel Fangio is widely regarded as the greatest Grand Prix driver of all time, he won the F1 World Championship five times driving for four different teams in the 1950s. After retiring he became an ambassador for Mercedes-Benz, they gifted him this 300 SL and he drove it over 70,000 km on tours of Europe and South America

Remarkably, Fangio still holds F1 records for the highest percentage of wins at 46.15% (24 wins from 52 races), the highest percentage of pole positions 55.8% (29 from 52 entries), the highest percentage of front row starts 92.31% (48 from 52 entries), and for being the oldest F1 World Champion at 46 years, 41 days.

Fast Facts – Fangio And His 300 SL

• The on-track accomplishments of Juan Manuel Fangio are the stuff of legend, he utterly dominated Formula 1 racing in the 1950s, a feat made all the more remarkable by the fact that he didn’t even start competing in F1 until the age of 37.
• Over the course of his Grand Prix career, Fangio would win 24 races, taking 35 podiums, and 29 pole positions.
• Two of his World Championships were won when driving for Mercedes-Benz in 1954 and 1955. Though he drove and won for a number of teams it would be Mercedes that he remained closest to – becoming an ambassador for the brand upon retiring.
• Fangio kept this 300 SL for the rest of his life, he used it extensively both on tours of Europe and at home in South America. In later years it was preserved on public display by the Juan Manuel Fangio Museum in his hometown of Balcarce, Argentina.

“El Maestro” – The Great Juan Manuel Fangio

Known by many simply as “El Maestro” or “The Master,” Fangio had a motorsport career that defied the odds from the beginning to the end. Though he was already an experienced racing driver he didn’t even turn a wheel in Formula 1 until he was 37, the age at which many drivers are considering hanging up their clogs, and he didn’t retire until the age of 48 – having won the championship the year before in 1957.

Above Video: In this short film you’ll see Fangio arriving at the Modena Autodrome driving this very 300 SL. The onboard camera footage of his laps in the Maserati 250F show him casually drifting it around corners without a care in the world.

Born to Italian immigrant parents on a farm in Balcarce, Argentina, Fangio showed an early interest in both football (soccer) and cars. He was an excellent football player by all accounts and earned himself the nickname “El Chueco” or “The Bow Legged” after his ability to bend his left leg around the ball to shoot on goal from improbable angles.

Fangio Goes Racing

He would drop out of school at the age of 13, taking a job in an automobile workshop as an assistant mechanic. A few years later he began racing a 1929 Ford Model A that he had rebuilt. He later raced a number of different cars including Chevrolets, and he became the Argentine National Champion in 1940 and 1941.

Over the course of his motorsports career Fangio would compete in endurance rallies, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 12 Hours of Sebring, the 24 Hours of Spa, the Mille Miglia, and the Carrera Panamericana – but he’s best remembered today for his exploits in the world of Formula 1 Grand Prix racing.

In the 1950s there were far fewer Formula 1 races each year than there are now, perhaps just 10 or 11 a season versus the 23 races due to be held in the 2022 season. Fangio would win almost 50% of the races he entered, taking a total of 24 wins, 35 podiums, and 29 pole positions over the course of his F1 career.

The interior of the car has been carefully preserved from the time of Fangio’s ownership, still showing the natural wear patina from his ownership.

His five World Championship wins stood as a record for 46 years until it was beaten by Michael Schumacher, though Fangio did it driving for four different teams Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, and Maserati – a feat that has never been repeated.

The Argentine Mercedes-Benz Concession

For much of his life during and after his racing career Fangio held the Argentine Mercedes-Benz concession, selling the cars in his home country and using his status as a living legend to great effect in his role as the President of Mercedes-Benz Argentina.

“Driving fast on the track does not scare me. What scares me is when I drive on the highway I get passed by some idiot who thinks he is Fangio.” – Juan Manuel Fangio

Later in life and well into his 60s Fangio would still drive display laps at major motor racing events in his old Grand Prix cars, he was known for driving them hard when in display races with other drivers. Ultimately Fangio lived to the age of 84, passing away in Buenos Aires in 1995 before being laid to rest in his old hometown of Balcarce.

Juan Manuel Fangio’s Mercedes-Benz 300 SL

When Mercedes-Benz gifted this 1958 300 SL Roadster to Fangio in London he departed on an extensive tour of Europe in the car shortly after – before importing it back into Argentina as a “trophy” to avoid paying exorbitant import taxes on it.

The car still has its original matching numbers engine, as well as the original body, chassis, differential, gearbox, hardtop, and hood frame.

Though he had a number of cars, Fangio was known to treasure this one in particular. After his tour of Europe in it he toured South America, then kept it in pride of place in his collection using it in his day to day life as well as for major events.

When fellow Argentinian Silvana Suárez was crowned “Miss World” in 1978 she paraded through the streets sat atop the rear seats of this car with Fangio at the wheel.

The car would later find its way into the Juan Manuel Fangio Museum in his hometown of Balcarce, and it’s from here that the car is now being offered for sale by RM Sotheby’s.

The car is due to cross the auction block in Switzerland in early March and at the time of writing there’s no price guide, however it’s likely safe to say that this could very well become the most expensive Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster in the world.

If you’d like to read more about the car or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing.

Images: Tim Scott ©2022 Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

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A Rare BMW 635 CSi FIA Group A “Sharknose”

This is an FIA Group A BMW 635 CSi, this model series was built in the mid-1980s by BMW Motorsport with input from Alpina, specifically to take the fight to BMW’s competitors in the hotly contested world of touring car and GT racing.

The 635 CSi quickly became a dominant force on the race tracks of Europe, as well as Japan and Australia, winning a slew of championships and forever embedding the BMW 6 Series into motor racing history.

Fast Facts – An FIA “Group A” BMW 635 CSi

• The BMW 6 Series, known as the E24, was released in 1976 and sold until 1989. A variety of engines were fitted to the car depending on the specific model and year, all engines were some variation of an inline-six cylinder.
• The BMW E24 was styled by Paul Bracq, a celebrated French automobile designer who worked at Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Citroën, and Peugeot over the course of his career.
• The “Group A” BMW 635 CSi was build by the BMW “M” Motorsport division, with some assistance from BMW specialists Alpina. The M30 engine is now capable of 320 bhp, up from the 220 bhp in the standard road car.
• The car you see here was built in 1984 for Group A, it was originally raced in period by Fritz Moller in the DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, or German Touring Car Masters), as well as the Spa 24 Hours (3 wins), the 24 Hours Nürburgring (2 wins), the RAC Tourist Trophy (2 wins), and many more.

The BMW E24 6 Series – The “Sharknose”

Shortly after its introduction the E24 6 Series was nicknamed the “Sharknose” by enthusiasts due to its front end and shark-like some profile. The car was a direct replacement for the outgoing BMW E9, one of the most beloved BMWs of all time and a car that, in racing trim, had been nicknamed the “Batmobile.”

This 635CSi is powered by a highly modified version of the BMW M30 engine, now producing 320 bhp and 400 Nm of torque.

Though the E24 had large shoes to fill, it didn’t disappoint. The modern styling by Paul Bracq won the car legions of fans, and the luxuriously appointed interior combined with excellent performance potential made it one of the best GT cars of its time.

The ultimate road-going version of the E24 is undoubtably the BMW M635CSi, as well as the BMW M6 in the United States. The M635CSi was given a range of suspension, braking, and chassis upgrades but the true pièce de résistance lay under the hood – it was fitted with the BMW M88 engine first used in the mid-engined BMW M1 supercar.

The similar BMW M6 was destined for the North American market, though it was fitted with the less exotic (and less powerful) BMW S38 engine, producing 256 bhp vs the 282 bhp in the M88 equipped M635CSi.

Ultimately the BMW E24 would stay in production from 1976 until 1989, a testament to the design by Bracq that remained current for the model’s entire production run. It would be BMW’s longest lasting production series.

The design of E24 has been winning fans since it was first unveiled in 1976, the design was so forward-thinking that it remained in production until 1989 – looking current right to the end.

The FIA “Group A” BMW 635 CSi

The FIA “Group A” BMW 635 CSi was built by BMW Motorsport for top level touring car racing in Europe and around the world.

Each car started out as a normal 635 CSi, fitted with a 3.4 liter M30 inline-six cylinder engine mated to a 5-speed manual transmission. By the time the BMW M engineers were done with it it had all new suspension, brakes, a full roll cage, a stiffened chassis, and a significantly upgraded version of the M30 engine, now producing 320 bhp – 100 bhp more than the original road car.

Many examples of the Group A BMW 635 CSi led difficult lives at the pointy end of various touring car and GT grids around the world. As a result many were damaged beyond repair, some were scrapped when their values were low, and others were parted out.

Over the course of the competitive life of the model it was a remarkably dominant force in both touring car and endurance racing. It won the 1983, 1985 and 1986 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps as well as the European Touring Car Championship title in 1981, 1983, and 1986.

The minimalist interior of this car is intended purely for racing, it’s been stripped for weight savings and is now equipped with a full roll cage, racing seats, and harnesses.

It also won the 1984 and 1985 Nürburgring 24 Hours, the German Production Car Championship, the 1984 Belgian Touring Car Championship, the 1985 Australian Touring Car Championship, the 1985 and 1986 Australian Endurance Championship, the 1985 Australian Manufacturers’ Championship, the 1985 AMSCAR Series title, the 1985 European Hill Climb Championship, the 1985 and 1987 New Zealand Touring Car Championship, the 1985 Japanese Touring Car Championship, and a significant number of other victories.

The 1984 FIA “Group A” BMW 635 CSi Shown Here

The car you see here was delivered new to Herr Fritz Möller who raced the car in a number of DTM events as well as the Spa 24 Hours and the 24 Hours Nürburgring between 1984 and 1986.

After this time the car ended up in private hands, during a restoration in 2012 it was badly burned in a workshop fire. After consulting the BMW body experts at Matter Motorsport it was decided to re-shell the car, and return it back to the specification it was in when it was delivered new by BMW back in 1984.

The engine was rebuilt by Bosch Tuning and now produces 320 bhp and 400Nm of torque, the gearbox and limited-slip differential have been rebuilt, and all new suspension and brakes were fitted.

Since its completion the car has only been raced once, in the Peter Auto Series. It was leading by 25 seconds but a spin during a rain spell caused the car to finish in second place. It’s now being offered for sale accompanied by a set of six wheels and its FIA HTP (valid until 31/12/2030).

If you’d like to read more about this car or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on Silverstone Auctions.

Images courtesy of Silverstone Auctions

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There’s A 1,000 BHP Dodge Hellephant Crate Engine For Sale

This is a Dodge Hellephant crate engine, it’s capable of 1,000 bhp and 950 lb ft of torque, and Dodge are so wary of it they’ve never actually installed it into one of their own production vehicles.

They first unveiled the Hellephant at SEMA in 2019 where showgoers learned that they’d be able to buy one for themselves, if they had $29,995 USD that is, plus an additional $2,265 for a kit that included the wiring harness, a PCM, and throttle by-wire pedal.

Unsurprisingly there was a substantial amount of interest in the engine, it was after all the most powerful crate engine ever offered by a major manufacturer. Though the total price in excess of $30,000 isn’t exactly pocket change, it is relatively good value for an engine that can reliably produce 1,000 hp.

The Hellephant has a displacement of 7.0 liters (426 cubic inches) and it’s topped with a 3.0 liter supercharger producing 15 lbs of boost. Otherwise the engine has fairly standard specifications, with two pushrod actuated valves per cylinder, electronic fuel injection, and a digital ignition.

Given the rise in popularity in electric vehicles, it’s entirely possible that we’ll never see another crate engine with 1,000 bhp offered by a major manufacturer.

When the engine landed on the Mopar website store it sold out in less than 48 hours. Delivery took over a year as some issues had been detected during testing, but not long after deliveries began they started appearing in engine bays – though in very limited numbers.

The Dodge Hellephant engine you see here is due to cross the auction block with Mecum, in late March. Interestingly it’s being offered with no reserve, and it does come with the $2,265 installation kit.

We only see these engines come up for sale once or twice a year, and Dodge have so far not announced any plans to do another production run of them.

If you’d like to read more about this unusual engine or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on Mecum.

Images courtesy of Mecum

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