F1 Ferrari, Indy Lotus among historic racers at Bonhams auction

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The 1964 Lotus Type 34 is known as the winningest Indy Lotus of all time | Bonhams photos
The 1964 Lotus Type 34 is known as the winningest Indy Lotus of all time | Bonhams photos

Bonhams, which has dubbed its 2017 California auction ā€œYear of the Race Cars,ā€ has announced two more historic competition cars -ā€“ an F1 champion Ferrari and an Indy 500 Lotus ā€“- to its docket for the 20th annual collector car sale at the Quail Lodge in Carmel during Monterey Car Week.

The 1980 Ferrari 312 T5 Formula One car, chassis No. 046, was driven by Jody Scheckter during his year as F1 World Champion. The T5 was driven in eight Grand Prix races by Scheckter in his run to the championship, the last one for Ferrari for 21 years.

The 1980 Ferrari 312 T5 is from a championship season in Formula One
The 1980 Ferrari 312 T5 is from a championship season in Formula One

The F1 racer is described by Bonhams as a well-maintained flat-12 Ferrari that is ready for vintage-racing events, as Ferrari celebrates its 70th anniversary during 2017.

The 1964 Lotus Type 34, known as the winningest Indy Lotus of all time, was driven by an array of motorsports greats, such as AJ Foyt, Parnelli Jones, Jim Clark and Dan Gurney, who had urged Lotus founder Colin Chapman to partner with Ford to bring the mid-engine cars to Indy with Fordā€™s dual-cam V8s.

The Type 34 was part of a technology revolution for the Indianapolis 500, in which heavy, front-engine cars were replaced by lightweight, mid-engine racers led by the British sports car brand. The four-time USAC race winner, eight-time USAC pole winner and Indy 500 pole sitter, it is one of only two Type 34s in existence, the other being in the Indianapolis Speedway Museum.

The pair of significant race cars join a number of others already announced by Bonhams for the Quail auction: theĀ Team Cunningham Le Mans Jaguar Lightweight E-type, theĀ Juan Manuel Fangio multiple GP-winning Maserati 300 S, theĀ Coppa Sant Ambroeus-winningĀ Ferrari Tour de France, the Group B Rally Car Collection (includingĀ Lancia,Ā Audi,Ā FordĀ andĀ Peugeot) and theĀ first US-imported McLaren F1.

Bonhams sale takes place Friday, August 18, at the Quail Lodge in Carmel, California. For information, visit the auction website.

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Bob Golfen
Bob Golfen is a longtime automotive writer and editor, focusing on new vehicles, collector cars, car culture and the automotive lifestyle. He is the former automotive writer and editor for The Arizona Republic and SPEED.com, the website for the SPEED motorsports channel. He has written free-lance articles for a number of publications, including Autoweek, The New York Times and Barrett-Jackson auction catalogs. A collector car enthusiast with a wide range of knowledge about the old cars that we all love and desire, Bob enjoys tinkering with archaic machinery. His current obsession is a 1962 Porsche 356 Super coupe.

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