Every year, the world's leading auctioneers manage to pull out all the stops for the annual sales on the Monterey Peninsula. Set to break some records this year is the RM Sotheby's sale in downtown Monterey. The sale's absolute headliner is this Ferrari 250 GTO. It was raced in period by works driver Phil Hill and was subsequently updated to 1964 specification with the wind-tunnel honed body designed by Pininfarina. Following its contemporary racing career, it has been owned by many leading collectors including the consignor, who campaigned the car extensively since acquiring the car in 2000. The pre-sale estimate of 3413GT is a staggering $45-60 million. If it sells, it will be the most expensive car ever sold at auction.
Also estimated to sell for eight figures is the unique Aston Martin DP215. Built in 1963 for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, it was the ultimate development of the successful Aston Martin racing program of the 1950s and early 1960s. It was damaged in period and over the next four decades the subsequent owners restored the car and it was most recently reunited with its original engine. The one-off DP215 has a pre-sale estimate of $18-22 million.
Due to sell for a slightly more 'reasonable' price is this Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR road car. Originally sold in Germany, it was later part of a collection in Hong Kong for over a decade. Chassis 09 of 25 road cars built is now legal to use in the United States under the Show and Display exemption. The same $4.25 - 5.25 million can also get you this Maserati A6G/54 2000 Zagato Coupe. Compared to the other 19 examples built, this car features a unique grille and was raced in period at the Mille Miglia. Chassis 2124 was recently restored to its original livery and shown at Pebble Beach and Villa d'Este.
The full 150-strong lot list of the two-day auction can be found here.

At last month's Goodwood Festival of Speed, there was a lot more to admire than just Porsches and today we have highlighted a further four very interesting machines that were gunned up the hill in front of Goodwood House.
The earliest and most valuable of the quartet is this Ferrari 250 GT SWB Comp/61. One of less than two dozen built for the 1961 season, the Comp/61 one or SEFAC Hot Rod was the ultimate development of the 250 GT SWB before Ferrari switched to the 250 GTO for 1962. The featured example was sold new to Count Volpi for his Scuderia Serenissima and was later comprehensively restored by Ferrari Classiche.
Formula 1 cars always take centre stage at Goodwood and in 2018 this BRM P160 was one of the most intriguing. Raced in 1973 with the familiar BRM V12 engine, it was later also fitted with the latest evolution of the Weslake V12 engine for testing. Although, it ran only once in this guise, the signs of the Weslake installation are still visible on chassis P160/07 today.
We have a soft spot for the Group 5 silhouette racers of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Few were quite so extreme as the Ford Zakspeed Capri. One of half a dozen built and raced by Zakspeed, this car was used by Klaus Ludwig to win the 1981 DRM Championship in dominant fashion.
Grabbing the limelight in the Michelin Supercar Run was the Brabham BT62. Designed and built in Australia, it is the first product of the company that was restarted by the late Sir Jack Brabham's son David. The first examples of this wild track-day machine feature liveries inspired by Brabham's Grand Prix wins and accordingly, the BT62 seen in action at Goodwood featured the colours of the BT46B driven to victory in the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix by Niki Lauda.

Major events like the Le Mans Classic feature many regular faces and machines but there is always some 'new' blood to keep things interesting. At last month's edition, we were pleasantly surprised by the mighty Maserati 450S brought by a German historic racer. Freshly restored, this well known car had not been seen in action since the early 2000s when it was raced by fellow German Dr. Thomas Bscher. Chassis 4506 was acquired new by John Edgar and raced with great success by the late, great Carroll Shelby. At some point in its life, it also featured a tarmac-shredding 6.2-litre version of the quad-cam V8 that had originally been developed for powerboat racing.
Rarer still was the Howmet TX brought by the Ascott Collection. This particular car was originally intended to be raced in the Can-Am series but was rebuilt by the original designer Bob McKee to sports car configuration. The turbine-engined Howmet was raced with great verve at Le Mans and was one of the star cars of the event.
Although perhaps unfamiliar at first glance, this Porsche 935 K3 had in fact competed in the Le Mans Classic before. The unfamiliarity came courtesy of a fresh livery, which matched the one used by the car during the 1981 season when it finished second overall in the Sebring 12 Hours and replaced the Coca Cola livery sported by the car in 1980. The striking blue with gold and red stripes of the K3's current paint-scheme together with the flame-belching engine worked particularly well during the night sessions.

Among the many anniversaries celebrated at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last month was the 70th of the legendary Jaguar XK engine. For the occasion a dedicated class of six-cylinder engined Jaguars was present, with cars ranging from early XK120s through to a Lightweight E-Type. While almost all of these cars were Goodwood regulars, we were particularly impressed by the Jaguar C-Type in the line up. One of just three built to lightweight specifications ahead of the 1953 season, chassis XKC 051 was driven to the outright victory at Le Mans that year. It has been owned by some very noteworthy collectors and we had not seen it since 2003. Also featured are the two sister cars, one of which sold at auction for a staggering $13.2 million back in 2015.
Audi, meanwhile, have offered a first glimpse of the PB 18 e-tron show car due to be revealed during the Pebble Beach week later this month. The supercar concept is a further proof of the German manufacturer's new, electric direction.

At the recent Goodwood Festival of Speed Porsches took centre stage as part of the company's 70th anniversary celebrations. In addition to starring on the central feature in front of Goodwood House, Porsches were featured in no fewer than five of the groups that went up the hill. Among them were many instantly recognisable models but there were also a few that warranted a closer look. Among them was this 962C, which looked quite unusual as it combined the works Rothmans livery with the bespoke body designed by Nigel Stroud for Richard Lloyd Racing. It was indeed one of the British teams' privately built 962s, featuring a much stronger honeycomb aluminium monocoque. It did run the Rothmans livery for a single outing at Kyalami where it received works support and duly won the race in the hands of Jochen Mass. Freshly restored, 962-106B was reunited with Mass at Goodwood.
Very much a works car and also freshly restored was this 911 Carrera Turbo RSR 2.1. The first of two 911 Turbo racers built ahead of the 1974 season, the Martini liveried machine paved the way for hugely successful Porsche road and racing cars. It was also very successful in its own right, with the sister car finishing second overall at Le Mans in 1974. Retained by the factory, the 911 Carrera RSR Turbo was a museum exhibit until a ground-up restoration was completed very recently.
Underlining the diversity of Porsche's racing activities during the 1960s was this 904/8. As the name suggests, it was powered by an eight cylinder engine while 904s were of course also raced by the more common flat-four and flat-six engines. The featured example was the third of three built to this specification and was used only used in period for the 1965 Le Mans Test where it was the fastest car in its class.