2006 Bonhams Butterfields Auction

I came across one of the auction staging areas late in the day and at the time, the batteries for my digital camera were running low, so I was fortunate to get these pictures. Note the cars in the background with these exceptions, I was forced to ignore some interesting machinery.

Alfa Romeo Formula One, Tipo 179 (c1980)

It was a pleasant surprise to come across this Formula One Alfa Romeo in the auction staging area. The history of this particular car is unknown to me. I did encounter it once before among the garages at Sears Point (AKA Infineon). On that occasion the upper body work was removed and I was surprised by the simplicity of construction underneath. This car did not sell at the Bonhams auction and when I last checked, it was still listed as for sale at Fantasy Junction in Emeryville, California. Hopefully it shall remain in the San Francisco Bay area, at least long enough for me to see it on course at a local vintage event.

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Alfa Romeo TZ2 (1965)

The designation TZ stands for Tubolare Zagato. A very rare Alfa Romeo, this is one of 14 built, the TZ2 was developed by Autodelta from the Giulia TZ. The motor has a displacment of 1570cc producing 170bhp at 7000 RPM. At weight of approximately 1240-lbs, the TZ2 has a better power to weight ratio than my Royale RP24 Formula Ford (and all other Formula Fords for that matter). This kind of performance earned the TZ2 the nick name "The mini Ferrari GTO".

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McLaren M19C (1972)

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