100th Indianapolis 500-Winning Car Looking For A New Home

How do you get to the Indianapolis 500? Practice, practice, practice. Or you could just buy this car right here.

It’s a 2012 Dallara-Honda DW12, and just so happens to be the very one in which Alexander Rossi won the 100th Indianapolis 500. And it’s coming up for auction.

The backbone of IndyCar racing for over six years now, the DW12 was introduced in 2012 as the replacement for the long-running IR-05 that was also built by Italian constructor Dallara (operating out of its US base in Indianapolis). Named after its late test driver Dan Wheldon, it’s undergone a series of transformations over the years since, but it’s remained essentially the same platform underneath.

On May 26, 2016, Rossi drove this example – chassis number 037 – across the brick-strip finish line to win the 100th running of “the Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” sealing his place in the record books. It was his first time competing in the Indy 500, far exceeding the rookie-of-the-year award he was expected to get (and ultimately did) – and outstripped his earlier experience in European single-seaters that took him all the way up to Formula One.

Running under Honda power, the car features the Japanese manufacturer’s own aero kit. And though these powertrains are typically kept under lock and key by their suppliers, the car still retains its original 2.2-liter twin-turbo V6 engine – licensed by Honda under a hundred-year lease. That in and of itself makes this a rather rare opportunity for a collector in the market for a modern Indy racer, capable of hitting speeds in excess of 230 miles per hour. And its most notable success makes it all the more compelling.

If that strikes you as just your ticket, the Hyatt Regency in Monterey will be the place to be on August 25, when Mecum Auctions will sell it off to the highest bidder.