Seven Road-Legal Le Mans Legends Money Can Buy #blogpost

1. Panoz Esperante GTR-1

The original Panoz GTR-1 brought back front-eniged racing to Le Mans from 1997 until 1999, claiming no victories. Due to it’s lack of power, it competed in the 12 hours of Sebring. However, to meet their regulations, the car had to be a production car, so two road cars were made. One was sold in an auction for a small $650.000. The other remained in the factory, and now belongs to Don Panoz, the owner of the Panoz company.

You can still order yourself a brand new Panoz GTR-1 on the Panoz website, prices start at a whopping $1.000.000.

2. Porsche 911 GT1

The Porsche 911 GT1 made it’s debut in the 1996 Le Mans, winning in it’s class. It raced again in the following 2 years, finishing in 3rd place in both years. It was thought to be participating in the 1999 race aswell, but due to regulation changes, it didn’t. Porsche said they were making 36 roadgoing versions, but only two were made. One is in the hands of a private collector, the other has never been sold.

If one will ever be sold, it is expected to fetch at least $3.000.000.

3. Ferrari 330 p3/4

Ferrari built two 330-p4 models, to compete in several endurance races, aswell as Le Mans. However, the 330-p3 (built in 1966), had been wrecked in a fire accident in the 1966 Le Mans. Ferrari has since claimed that it has been scrapped. However, only one road legal 330-p4 exists. Rumors say that the chassis of the fire-damaged 330-p3 was restored, and had a 330-p4 engine dropped into it, as well as being lightened. Nobody has comfirmed this fact, but it could be true. It has never been sold officially, so there’s no real price for it.

If it does get sold however, you can expect prices higher than $10.000.000!

4. Mercedes CLK-GTR

The Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR was made for the 1997 FIA GT Series. It was intended to be a racecar, so Mercedes-Benz made 20 roadgoing versions. After competing in the 1997 FIA GT Series, the car was upgraded to race in the 1998 Le Mans, and was renamed the CLK LM. In total, 26 road cars were made, 6 of them as roadsters.

A CLK-GTR Roadster was recently sold at an auction for a minor $1.450.000.

5. Dauer 962

The Dauer 962 Le Mans is a sports car based on the Porsche 962 racing car. Built by Dauer Racing, a racing version of the Dauer 962 won the 1994 Le Mans, with the support of Porsche through the use of regulation loopholes. The road car was not made after it’s winning race, but it did get eleven orders in total.

At last, 12 were made in total, selling for $824.000 a pop.

6. TVR Cerbera Speed 12

The TVR Cerbera Speed 12 was a prototype, made to race in the 1997 Le Mans, but due to regulation changes, it required a road car to be made, which didn’t exist. To compensate, TVR competed in a few British GT Championship seasons, and had some success, winning several races. However, it was dropped by TVR because the car was too unreliable. At that time, the road car was almost finished, and TVR had quite a few orders for it, at a price of $400.000.

Nowadays, a TVR Cerbera Speed 12 can get up to a $1.000.000 in auctions.

7. Nissan R390

The Nissan R390 was originally built as a road legal supercar, almost breaking the McLaren F1’s speed record. 5 were made in total, however only one was ever sold. Another one was stored at Nissan’s main factory, and the final three were converted into GT1 racecars. Competing in the 1997 Le Mans, only one finished, with the other two suffering from electrical problems. In 1998, the only R390 GT1 that finished did not not finish, because of fire damage.

The only sold model has no confirmed price, but it’s estimated at around $2.000.000.