Monterey Car Week is high-end automotive nirvana with pomp and circumstance that largely doesn’t involve the motorsports world of the Sports Car Club of America® – until it does. Of the auctions that took place during the August 2023 Monterey Car Week, three race cars in particular caught our eye due to their SCCA history – something Hagerty noted prior to these vehicles headed to the auction block.
In a story about the then-forthcoming auctions, Hagerty presented 10 race cars to keep an eye on, the first of which was a 1966 Chevrolet Corvette. “Raced in SCCA A Production by the Seattle-based Alan Green team, it has a surprise under its yellow hood,” Andrew Newton writing for Hagerty noted. “For the ’66 season, Chevrolet sent the team a trick 427 engine, dubbed the HD427, for use in the car to test its reliability. It was prepared by driver Gary Gove and mechanic Bud Weiser (real name, apparently). With 12:1 compression, heavy-duty rods, hotter camshaft, and improved lubrication, the HD427 was akin to an iron-head version of the legendary L88 engine that would come a year later.”
It was noted that the Corvette won numerous SCCA races before being sold – where it continued to win Regional SCCA races.
Another race car Hagerty highlighted was a sleek 1973 BMW 3.0 CSL. As was noted in the story: “3.0 CSL Batmobiles are near the top of the collectible BMW food chain even in road car form, but this one is extra special as a works race car that competed in the 1973 European Touring Car Championship (which BMW won) as well as the 1974 IMSA GT and SCCA Trans Am Series.”
The final race car of note was a 1957 AC Ace. Originally prepped for the 1957 24 Hours of Le Mans, this Ace was equipped with all of the go-fast goodies of the time, from a close-ratio gearbox to a low-drag nose with a small grille.
“Those were the days when you could drive your Le Mans racer straight to the track, and Derek Hurlock (co-owner of AC Cars) drove AE205 to France himself. In the race, it finished second in class and tenth overall,” Newton wrote before noting this particular vehicle’s eventual SCCA roots. “Then, it sold to a doctor in Pennsylvania who intended to race it in SCCA E Production. Seeing the extensive factory mods, though, the stewards placed the car in E Modified instead. It still managed to win its class at the 1959 Watkins Glen Classic.”
The auctions for the 1966 Corvette and 1973 BMW were still ongoing when this story was written. The 1957 AC, meanwhile, sold for $764,000 at The Quail.
Read more about the 10 race cars Hagerty thought were standouts by clicking the link below.
Photos courtesy Mecum, Bonhams, and RM Sotheby’s/Alex Stewart
