The Indianapolis 500 has run 102 times over the
course of its history. That means that, even after accounting for those that
didn’t survive, there’s still bound to be several dozen winners out for a
prospective collector to choose from.
However, they’re pretty hard to come by, and when
they do come up for sale, they command pretty big sums. This, then, could be
the next best thing. It’s a 1970 Lola T153, known as
the Sunoco Special. Mark Donohue, one of the few American drivers ever to
finish an F1 race on the podium, drove it in the Indy 500 that year and he even
lead the race for a handful of laps.
Ultimately Al Unser won the race, a full lap
ahead of the competition. Donohue came in second, and took another couple of
years before he’d win the race in a Penske-entered McLaren.
Almost half a century later, Donohue’s Sunoco
Special is coming up for auction. And though the auctioneer hasn’t listed any
details yet, it appears to have been immaculately preserved – or painstakingly
restored, right down to the deep blue bodywork, the Ford V8 and the big, fat
Goodyear tires.
RM Sotheby’s will sell it off to the
highest bidder in Monterey this August. If you’re keen on participating in
classic motorsport events like the Brickyard Vintage Racing Invitational, the
Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival or even the Rolex Monterey Motorsports
Reunion, this could be just the ticket.
