Mansell Indycar fetches over AU$1.5 million at auction

THE car that Nigel Mansell drove to his first-up Indycar win at Surfers Paradise in 1993 has sold for over AU$1.5 million at auction.

A massive collection of Newman/Haas Indycars and memorabilia went under the hammer on Saturday in RM Sotheby’s ‘The House that Newman/Haas built’ auction at Carl Haas’ former race shop in Lincolnshire, Illinois.

The 77 lots included 42 Indycars that spanned the Carl Haas and Paul Newman-owned squad’s 29 seasons at the top level of American open-wheel racing, from its title-winning years in the CART and Champ Car World Series through to its final days as Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing in the unified IndyCar Series.

The Mansell car, Lola T93/00 chassis HU05, was the first Indycar that the Englishman raced following his sensational defection from Formula 1 – where he was reigning world champion – to the United States-based series for 1993.

In all, Mansell drove HU05 to four of his five wins during the 1993 season, including his pole position and the race win at Surfers Paradise in his Indycar debut, plus oval wins at Milwaukee, the Michigan 500 and Nazareth.

The win at Nazareth also secured the overall championship victory, resulting in a one-week period where Mansell held both Formula 1 and Indycar Series titles – a feat never before achieved and unmatched since.

HU05 was retired from race action following its championship win and not driven by Mansell again, although it was used in post-season testing by his Newman/Haas teammate Mario Andretti, newly-crowned Indy Lights Series champion Bryan Herta, and retired racer-turned-TV pundit Derek Daly.

Restored to its 1993 livery, HU05 was also sold with a genuine Ford-Cosworth XB engine like those used in period, as well as a workshop manual, laptop and electronic spares.

The Mansell Lola sold for US$995,000 (AU$1,553,024) plus buyer’s premium.

All of the auction’s 77 lots sold for a combined total of US$6,096,800 (AU$9,516,055), with the Mansell car proving the biggest sale.

A pair of significant Mario Andretti cars also commanded big dollars in the auction.

One of the Lolas that he drove in 1984 during his final CART title-winning season fetched US$401,000 (AU$625,892), while the the Lola he drove to third place at Surfers Paradise in 1994 – his final podium finish amid his ‘Arrivederci Mario’ farewell season – sold for US$379,000 (AU$591,554).

The Lola that Michael Andretti drove to secure his sole CART title in 1991 sold for US$257,600 (AU$402,069), while title-winning cars driven by Cristiano da Matta and Sebastien Bourdais also fetched between US$196,000 to US$235,000.

Among the memorabilia items, one of Mansell’s race-used F1 helmets fetched US$90,000 (AU$140,475), while one of his Indycar helmets sold for US$56,400 (AU$88,031).

The full results from the auction are listed below.

Click HERE to see all the listings on RM Sotheby’s.