JDM Royalty Goes Unsold!!!

The beginning of November brings the last hurrah of the automotive season in London. One of the key events of this period is the RM Sotheby’s London auction held at the incredible Peninsula Hotel. Peninsula Hotel is itself a petrolheads wet dream and we will have to come back to it on a later day. The highlight of this year’s auction was the 1957 Jaguar XKSS!!! The XKSS was born from the successful D-type which had it’s racing lifespan shortened due to Le Mans regulation changes in the late 50s. This particular car chassis XKD was sold in it’s racing form which was later converted to full XKSS by the owner. The car saw several competitions in the lifetime and was currently up for auction with an estimate between £9 to 11 million but ended up going as high as £8 million and remained unsold.

Similarly, another few cars were not sold such as the Mclaren Senna GTR LM chassis 825/6 which was hand made by Mclaren MSO division as a homage to the 1995 Mclaren F1 chassis 06R which finished 3rd in that year’s Le Mans. This car has the full ‘Harrods’ livery true to form as the original F1 had. Porsches and a couple of Ferraris saw success though. A black on black 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 with touring pack sold for over £480,000 while a white 1993 964 Turbo S ‘Leitchbau’ (lightweight) with only 130 km on the clock sold for over £770,000.

The star for me at this auction was the immaculate 1994 Honda NSX-R finished in Charlotte Pearl Green. The car sat at the back with all the other amazing automobiles across the world but was the one to drag me close. This particular car was one of the Japanese market only 483 first gen models with a 3 litre V6 making around 280 BHP. The NSX-R is sort of where the whole Honda Type R division originated and has made some amazing machinery since then. The NSX-R went through a diet of roughly 120 kg and had a few subtle changes. This particular car was bought by its first owner in Japan in this particular shade of green with the optional seven-spoke step three wheels in championship white. The irony is that most of the NSX-R were finished in championship white while this unique specced car had it the other way around. The car has a tiny MOMO steering wheel and the carbon Recaro buckets. The titanium gear knob definitely makes shifting gears a smooth and fun experience too!!!.

As much as everyone who reads this would have sold their hearts out to get their hands on this car, it went unsold at the auction only fetching £180,000. If you are lucky enough to have the cash making a whole in your pocket, its still available!!!!