Race Retro Classic Car Auction highlights

The 2012 Race Retro Classic Car Auction takes place at Stoneleigh Park, Coventry, on February 25. Held by Silverstone Auctions, there’s a plethora of road and racing cars for sale. Perhaps the quirkiest lot is a 1965 ‘Twini’, a Mini Cooper S with two 1275cc engines, one up front and one in the boot, making it an eight-cylinder, four-wheel drive hatch. It’s a replica of the pair of prototype Twinis created in the early sixties, and estimated at £20,000 to £25,000, it would make a wonderfully leftfield track toy.  Another highlight is the one-off MG TF500 X-power from 2001, a wildly styled MG TF caricature designed to show off the marque’s engineering prowess. With a 400bhp Cosworth turbo engine in the middle (with anti-lag!), an X-Trac six-speed sequential gearbox and a limited-slip differential, it’s MG’s most exciting roadster ever, and is even road legal. Its estimate is £25,000 to £30,000.  There’s a good selection of competition cars, with a successfully campaigned Metro 6R4 Group B rally car (estimate: £47,000 to £52,000) and a Group N Prodrive Subaru Impreza (£43,000 to £48,000) among them.  Smaller sums of cash can buy cool cars at Race Retro, too; one of only 197 Lotus Esprit GT3s – a turbocharged, lightweight special – is estimated at £13,500 to £16,000. There’s a Porsche 968 with comprehensive history and a recent engine rebuild guided at just £5000 to £8000, as well as a smart, low-mileage 924 Turbo with no reserve. Perhaps the auction’s biggest potential bargain, if you don’t mind left-hand drive, is a smart BMW 635 CSi with a £3200 to £4000 estimate.  It’s also a chance to get hold of some fantastic racing merchandise, top billing going to a crash helmet used and signed by the late Ayrton Senna. It’s a full face Shoei lid from his World Championship Winning time with McLaren, and it’s expected to fetch £42,000 to £50,000, more than most of the auction’s cars.