Racy Classics Under The Hammer At Silverstone

It won't be just racing at the 21st Silverstone Classic this July (although there will be plenty of that too)

By Silversixx / Thursday, 23 June 2011 / Loading comments

'More exotic, rare, and valuable race cars competing than you'll see anywhere in the world' is what the organisers are promising at this year's

Silverstone Classic

event from 22nd-24th July.

As the event's name suggests, there won't be much there for the contemporary performance car enthusiast, but if older stuff is your bag then the number of vehicles both racing and on display might cause a wee bit of sensory overload.

But as well as putting on 22 races over the weekend with racing classes like Group C, E-Types (a record turnout is expected to celebrate 50 years of the iconic Jag), Big-Engined Touring Cars, and Pre-'66 Grand Prix cars, Silverstone Auctions will be holding an inaugural sale on Saturday 23rd and they have some rather special lots on offer.

Of these, the 28,000-mile Porsche GT2 and FIA-spec 1965 Shelby Mustang looked appealing, but what grabbed our attention in particular were a few vehicles with former Grand Prix driver connections.

The first, and the most powerful and valuable by a fair distance is the ex-James Hunt Hesketh F1 car in which he won the '75 Dutch GP at Zandvoort. The auctioneer's upper estimate is £475,000 although the likelihood is that it could make anything up to double that figure, especially if the right buyers are there.

Next up and staying with the enigmatic Mr Hunt is his preferred road vehicle - an

Austin A35 'Countryman' van

in which he drove his beloved budgies to various shows. Bought by its current owner not long after Hunt passed away in 1993 and stored since then, the estimate on this one is £10,000 - 14,000.

Last, but not least (erm...well unless we're measuring performance in which case, yes, it's least...) is the ex-Sir Stirling Moss Vespa ET4. It's the 125cc version so at least it won't get 'owned' at the lights by Smarts. The 'Boy Wonder' himself used this Vespa for getting around London as well as for scooting about the paddock at race meetings.

It's showing a few signs of wear-and-tear (and, curiously, no wing mirrors), but it does still have Sir Stirling's name on the V5 and sports the obligatory BARC sticker on the front. The auctioneer's top-end estimate is £8,000, but with the provenance attached to it, it's probably a decent investment.

Have a look below at a couple of the other lots coming up this July that have caught our eye...

1958 Ac Ace Bristol - nothing like a bit of racing pedigree...	1970 Alfa Romeo GT 1300 Junior Zagato - with an estimate of £14-17k we reckon it's a cheap(ish) way to get a Zagato car on your driveway...
1970 Costin Amigo - once driven by the legendary Gerry Marshall	1956 Studebaker Sky Hawk Continenntal - believed to be the only one of its type remaining 'on the planet'.
Chevron B16 continuation - okay, so it's not an 'original' but this Chevron is still a damn pretty racing car	'That' 911 GT2 we talked about earlier - 28,000 miles. Need we say more?