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 (thanks to its sponsor) 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, though, 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.
Interested? 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.
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