12 amazing highlights from August's big Monterey auction

The most visually arresting car of the sale, no question. The CERV I's history is just as eye-grabbing too: designed by Chevrolet for hillclimbing and to fit Indy 500 regulations, it proved a bad match for motorsport.

Instead it became a hugely influential engineering test bed, with the original Corvette Stingray’s independent suspension among its triumphs. It also looks fantastic, and has a 4.7-litre V8 engine cranking out around 350bhp. It’s likely to top £1 million.

The Nissan GT-R’s heritage stretches much further back than the mid-Nineties Skyline’s you'll know from Gran Turismo. Indeed, this car represents year dot for what is now one of the most viciously debated badges in the fast car world.

While the Skyline's 2.0-litre straight-six engine produces 160bhp – little more than a quarter of what you’ll find in a GT-R Nismo – there are clear styling links, in the side profile in particular. It’s covered fewer than 15,000 miles and we’re a bit smitten.

It’s estimated to fetch up to £130,000, but is offered with no reserve. Keep us away from Monterey.

We’ve picked it partly for its name, we’ll admit. But it’s also here because it looks like nothing else on the planet, never mind the other cars in Monterey's burgeoning auction catalogue.

With 56bhp on tap, the Trumpf won’t trouble a Suzuki Celerio in a game of top, um, trumps. But its swish and aerodynamic shape betrays a mighty heritage: it was one of the first closed cockpit cars to compete at the Le Mans 24 Hours, finishing second in class (and ninth overall) in the 1937 race. Cool.

Is there a more muscular looking Corvette on the planet? We think not, the pumped wheel arches and aggressive front spoiler of this racing car turning this C3 ‘Vette into something properly punchy.

Its racing CV isn’t hugely heroic, with lots of awkward hurdling of legislation and sponsorship issues. Its 15th finish at Le Mans 1973 doesn’t exactly embolden its name in the history books either.

But who cares? It looks the dog’s danglers.

Likely to be one of the biggest money-makers at Monterey is this, with a £6-8 million estimate slapped on its diddy little aeroscreen.

There are few cars with more enviable racing provenance. This is one of three Works Lightweight C-Types, and it finished fourth in Le Mans 1953. It has been meticulously restored to La Sarthe spec from 62 years ago, too.

We imagine its buyer will mollycoddle it in a ludicrously pretty collection. But we hope they take it to the Mille Miglia and enter it into the odd historic race.

If the C-Type is a little too pricey for you, as it is us, then how about this Jag, estimated to fetch a (comparatively) bargainous £1.5 million?

It’s interesting because it looks, well, nothing like a Jaguar whatsoever. It’s described as having ‘ultimate jet-age styling’, and who are we to argue, especially with a name like Supersonic?

The work of Ghia designer Giovanni Savonuzzi, similar bodywork has also appeared on the chassis of a Fiat and Aston Martin, but this is one of three XK120-based Supersonics. A 220bhp straight-six engine provides propulsion in lieu of an actual jet engine.

Naturally for a big-hitting car auction, Monterey will see a few Ferrari 250 convertibles likely to fetch many millions. But we’ve shown you those before. This strikes us as more interesting, especially given its colour scheme.
 
Its ‘Nocciola over Nero’ is fresh from restoration but matches the original spec, and this 330 GTS is undergoing the hallowed Ferrari Classiche certification. It’s also achingly pretty. It could top £2 million.

Okay, so we’ve picked a modern-day car that will be quite familiar to anyone who’s frequented car websites in the last year or two. This P1 is noteworthy, though, as its final sale price will give us some idea of how strong the hypercar’s values are.
 
From new, the P1 cost £866,000. Monterey’s example is estimated to fetch £1.2-1.35 million, a potential 60 per cent mark-up on a car registered this year and with just 248 miles to its name. You won't get that sort of appreciation in an ISA.

Another unashamedly modern choice from an auction teaming with glorious old metal. But we’re a sucker for a track toy, and while Atoms and Caterhams are undoubtedly appealing, blowing them into the weeds in a bona fide Ferrari racecar holds some childish appeal. As does the yobbishness of being promptly kicked out for obliterating the noise limits…

Yes, the 458 would require careful trackday selection. But it would be so worth the effort. There’s even a passenger seat to scare your nearest and dearest. Tow it around behind a ratty old Transit for maximum cool points.

Could fetch £200,000, but there’s no reserve…

Think Mazda’s performance car heritage started in the late Eighties with the MX-5? You’re wrong. Meet the Cosmo Sport, which was first shown to the world back in 1964.

If its styling isn’t quirky enough for you, then beneath it sits a 128bhp twin-rotor Wankel engine. While it wasn’t the first rotary engine offered in a production car, it was the first that proved reliable. It could be yours for £130,000. As in brand-new 911 Turbo money…

Taking to the top step of the ‘most gorgeous car you’ve never heard of’ podium is this utterly stunning Bizzarrini. Tough to spell, stunning to behold.
 
It’s the masterpiece of Giotto Bizzarrini, who helped create the original Ferrari Testa Rossa from the 1960s, which may explain any styling similarities you’ve spotted.
 
We’d argue this looks cooler, though, and with a 5.4-litre Chevy V8 amidships, it’s freshly restored and “ideal for vintage racing and concours presentation,” according to the spiel. We wholeheartedly recommend the former, even if it is potentially worth half a million quid…