Leading up to 1970, Bruce McLaren decided he was going to build the fastest mid-engine car in the world based on his potent Can-Am designs. The idea was to put a coupe body on his M6 monocoque and contend the Group 4 category in the World Sportscar Championship. This was always one of McLaren ambitions and it became his favorite project.
McLaren intended to build 250 cars per year and sell the chassis and body without an engine. While the first prototypes used Chevrolet engines like his Can-Ams, Bruce imagined the sever liter Ford unit was suitable as well.
Unfortunately, homologation requirements changed, and a minimum of 50 cars had to be made for the M6GT to race. This made the project too large for McLaren, and without the initial promotion of the cars on the track, the M6GT race program was scrapped.
However, this didn't detour McLaren from offering one of the most impressively equipped cars in the world, essentially a road-legal, protoype race-car. But this meant that the car had a cramped interior, one which became very hot and no air conditioning was available.
The first prototype was built at the McLaren racing factory and became Bruce's personal car. Two or three more cars followed and came from Trojan-Lambretta, the company that manufactured McLaren's customer cars. One of these was raced fairly extensively by David Prophet.
Bruce McLaren used a red M6GT as his personal transportation until his unexpected death in June of 1970. With his untimely passing, the M6GT never made it to any large scale production. Just over twenty years later, however, with the revival of McLaren in Formula One, Bruce McLaren's dreams were realized when the McLaren F1 supercar was released in 1994.
The December 1974 edition of Road & Track did a cover article on one of the M6GTs and despite being four years old, they christened it 'the wildest road car'.
Bruces personal car, with license number OBH 500H only had 1900 miles when he died. It sold to Denny Hulme in New Zealand, eventually making its way to the Mathews Collection near Denver Colorado. Fortunately, it remains there in absolutely original condition.
1989 Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.5-16 Evolution II
To keep competitive in the Group A Touring Car Championship, Mercedes unveiled the 2.5-16 Evolution II at the 1990 Geneva Motor Show. The most radical departure from the standard 190 was its body kit which included an outrageous rear wing, probably the largest ever fitted to a Mercedes four door.
At the time, Group A homologation dictated that the aerodynamic devices of the race car were limited to those on production version. So the Evolution II retained the full competition bodywork including its unusually tall rear wing that was necessary as the regulations didn't allow the wing to impede rearward vision. So, the clever engineers put a cover over the top of the rear windscreen so that the tall wing couldn't be seen.
While the larger wheel flares and front dam did their best to match the rear wing, the interior of the 190E was all business. Opulent wood finishes and leather seats did little to remind the driver that this was competition-derived special. Curiously, a special knob was provided to offer three different ride heights.
Under the hood, nothing was substantially altered from the standard 190 2.5-16, however Mercedes-Benz changed the compression ratio, valve lift, timing, intake tract and exhaust to help the car reach 232 bhp compared to the normal 195.
The chassis was correspondingly upgraded with larger brakes, a harder suspension, 17 inch wheels and the hydro-pneumatic adjustable ride height was left intact.
Over 502 cars were built, and all in a blue-black metallic paint scheme. The changes made to these cars were good enough for Klaus Ludwig to clinch the DTM driver's title in 1992.
1990 BMW M3 Sport Evolution
As the high-profile M3 became the most successful touring car of all time, its civilian version became increasingly exciting. To stay on par with seasonal developments, BMW Motorsports released updated versions each year. These cars mimicked the performance changes required to keep the Group A race car ahead of the competition. The last and most potent evolution of these was the M3 Sport Evolution.
When the Touring rules in Germany and France increased capacity limits to 2.5 liters in 1990, BMW endowed the M3 with its largest engine. In order to make full use of the 2.5 liter limit, they not only increased the stroke of the 2.3 liter unit from 84 to 87 millimeters, but also increased the bores of the four cylinders from 93.4 millimeters each to 95.5 millimeters. This reduced the width between the cylinders to just 4.5 millimeters. But success proved them right. The engines withstood the stresses and strains of touring car racing even at maximum output without any problem.
To meet homologation, BMW released a road-going model that featured this new 238 bhp, 2.5 liter engine which used sodium-cooled exhaust valves, a larger intake tract and a signature red spark plug wires. Aside from the engine, each car had an adjustable front apron and rear wing, as well as a special interior with Sparco seats and suede controls. There was no air-conditioning or electric windows and each of the 600 cars had a numbered plaque on the centre console.
1969 Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7
Revealed at the 1972 Paris Auto Show, the Carrera 2.7 RS was a special model used to homologate modified versions of the 911 in Group 4 racing. Developed from the 911S, the 2.7 was more potent in almost every area.
One major improvement was the 2.7's reduced weight, it used thinner gauge steel on most panels, thinner glass, fiberglass bumpers and fiberglass engine cover. The body was also widened to accommodate larger Fuchs wheels and the deck lid sported a new signature ducktail rear wing.
With the use of a Nikasil coating on the cylinder walls, the 2.4S unit could be bored out to a capacity of 2687 cc, but the standard valve train was retained. At the time, this became the largest engine available on a Porsche and was good for 210bhp at 6300rpm. And with a taller 4th and 5th gear, the top speed was increased to 152mph.
Initial production for the 2.7 was only 500 cars and it sold out almost immediately. Three versions were available, including a lightweight Sports trim, Race Trim or more opulent Touring trim for the road. The lightweight version was 100 lbs lighter with the absence of underseal, electric windows, basic door panels and other small amenities.
With an excellent gear change, ample power, precise brakes, responsive handling and versatility both on an off track, the 2.7 RS was the Porsche to have. As one of the best sport cars of the seventies, every serious Porsche collection needs a 2.7.
Mercedes-benz CLK GTR
After Mercedes-Benz had homologated their GT1 racecar with a single road-going coupe, they went the distance and had HWA build 25 more examples. These mimicked the racecars almost entirely from the outside, but featured more forgiving suspension, an easier state of tune and a lush interior.
The race versions of the CLK GTR did well in 1997 when Bernd Schneider and Klaus Ludwig took many victories and won the FIA championship. While the front end of their car had resemblence to the front-engined CLK saloon it was named after, the GTR was entirely new.
The GTR was mid-engined and powered by an SL600-based 6.9-litre V12 producing 600bhp. Mated to the monocoque tub and sequential gearbox, the engine was an stressed member of the chassis.
In 1998 and 1999, Mercedes-Benz prepared 25 roadgoing CLK GTRs which were detuned to 550bhp and used an integral wing. Most of the cars used the 5.9 liter Mercedes-Benz M120 engine from the S600 series except one which was delivered with the then new 7.3 litre AMG unit. This was called the Super Sport and possibly one or two more GTRs have been upgraded likewise.
After all the Coupes were sold, HWA created a limited edition roadster of which only five examples were made. These few became the most expensive production cars in the world.
At their Grandes Marques à Monaco sale in 2003 Bonhams sold car number 12 with just 55 kilometres recorded on the odometer for 733,000 Euros plus Premium and tax.
1997 Porsche 911 GT1
Created to homologate Porsche's 911 GT1 contender, the street version, sometimes called 'Strassenversion', is one of the most fierce and rare 911s you can run into. Apart from the sparse interior, little differentiates the GT1 from the full-on, race-ready counterpart.
Apparent from the front and rear lights, the GT1 shares many components with its series production counterparts, but puts them together in a more competitive way. Gone is the rear engine layout which isn't suitable for prototype GT racing, the GT1's turbocharged flat-six engine sits in front of the rear axle and is supported by chassis tubes instead of the typical 911 rear sub frame. Sitting behind the engine is a longitudinal six-speed transmission which the rear suspension attaches directly onto.
The GT1 was based on the 993 bodyshell, but with modified exterior panels and a substantial roll-cage that also supported the engine, gearbox and suspension. This helped Porsche avoid neccessary crash testing and reinforced ties to the production cars.
But in almost every way, the GT1 was purpose-built race car. It had a cabron fibre body, full width wing, a tiny cockpit and a maximum power of 600bhp was developed at 7,200rpm.
Compared to the GT1s which raced Lemans, the road-going version had only slight modifications. These changes include a higher ride height, softer suspension, road-going gear ratios and steel brakes which replace the race car's carbon discs. The engine was only slightly detuned from the race version's and a complete interior included sport seats and a full dashboard from the 993 line.
While the first version of the GT1 debuted at the 1996 season, Porsche only produced a single homologation car. The following year, the 'Evo' version was released with new kidney-shaped headlights and improved aerodynamics. This was good enough for Porsche to build twenty examples for select cusomters. These lucky few owned one of the most radical and unforgiving road-going supercars of their time.
Our feature car, chassis WPOZZZ992WS396005 was offered at Bonhams 2003 sale in Monaco. With only 4,400km from new, it sold for 580,000 Euros plus Premium and tax
