McLaren SLR, Carrera GT top Aussie auction

Gosford Car Museum will hold an exotic vehicle auction on Saturday October 28, with a Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR, Porsche Carrera GT and 959, Lamborghini Miura, Jaguar XJR-15 and Phase III Falcon GTHO all set to fall under the hammer in the 70-vehicle sell-off.

The exotic and classic car museum, which collector Tony Denny opened on the New South Wales’ Central Coast in 2016, describes the multi-million-dollar sell off of several cars as “essential [to] make room for the exciting new collections waiting in the wings.”

Headlining the vehicles ready for bidding is a 2006 Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR. Imported from New Zealand in 2015, the 5.5-litre supercharged V8 exotic has just 11,000km showing on its odometer, and is marketed as one of fewer than 1500 produced from 2003 until 2010.

From the same era, a 2004 Porsche Carrera GT is one of 1270 units made between 2003 and 2007. This particular mid-mounted V10-engined and six-speed manual-equipped hypercar was imported from Germany in 2015 and has just 766km on the clock.

From the same company but a previous era, a 1988 Porsche 959 Komfort has had its 2.8-litre twin-turbocharged flat six-cylinder engine firing for 21,157km – and hopefully at least once to the aluminium-bodied, all-wheel drive pioneer’s 319km/h top speed. New, it was the quickest production car in the world.

One year into the 1990s and the Jaguar XJR-15 brainchild of Tom Walkinshaw Racing will be one of the rarest cars offered at the auction, with 53 units of the first-ever carbonfibre- and kevlar-built production car made between 1990 and 1992. Available only in navy blue, the vehicle was imported to Australia from the UK five years ago, with 438 miles showing.

And from decades prior, a 1968 Lamborghini Miura in “concourse” condition – after two owners in France it was in the 1990s sent to Japan for ground-up restoration – was just one of the 474 P400 Miura made from 1966 to 1968, complete with a 3.9-litre V12 engine.

With 300 produced, a claimed 50 per cent remaining, and one of 13 in Nugget Gold, a 1971 Phase III Falcon GT-HO will lead the local contingency at the event. Although it has 66,626 miles showing, this example of the 351 V8-engined Ford that took five places at Bathurst in the year it was produced – with Alan Moffat winning – hasn’t been used since 1982.

From the same 1971 Bathurst event, but a genuine racecar, comes a 1971 Chrysler Valiant VH Charger driven 118 laps by Graeme Ritter and Brian Reed and which finished 16th in its class. Complete with original engine/chassis numbers and livery, it was one of 316 E38s.

Other Aussie metal includes a 1954 Holden FJ ute, 1961 Holden EK Special Sedan, 1969 Falcon XT GT, 1973 Leyland P76 V8, 1978 Falcon XC Cobra and 1978 Holden Caprice.

From Blighty comes a gorgeous 1966 Aston Martin DB6 Vantage, a Jaguar E-Type from the same year and a 1970 Ford Lotus Cortina among others.

Meanwhile Italy dominates with six Ferraris – a 1962 250 GTE, 1972 365 GTC/4, 1974 Dino 308 GT4, 1986 Mondial, 1986 328 and 1988 Testarossa – plus a 1988 Lamborghini Countach and 1994 Maserati Shamal among others.

From Japan there is also a mint 1981 Datsun 280ZX and 1970 Mazda Cosmos available, while a 1990 Formula Vee racer will also be auctioned off for the charity NSW Kids In Need.

Gosford Car Museum will host what will become one of Australia’s most expensive vehicle auctions on Saturday October 28, with the event run by Pickles Auctions. General admission tickets will be available for $25 and around 1500 people are expected to attend – although online bidding will also be available via a Pickles Live smartphone app.

The full list of vehicles available is at classiccars.pickles.com.au