Photo courtesy Silverstone Auctions.
So, did the immortal Juan Manuel Fangio crawl from the cockpits of the Maserati 250F and Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR to tool relaxingly along in a Rambler? Well, sort of. This 1970 IKA Torino 380S sedan, produced in Argentina, was certified as having been Fangio’s personal daily driver, and was hammered over the past weekend during the Silverstone Auctions sale for 28,175 pounds (about $45,000). The Torino generated a lot of pre-auction buzz due to its association with the Grand Prix great, but it’s actually long been a very popular Argentinian car on its own merits.
There’s a very strong American connection to the Torino. Essentially, it was assembled from 1966 through 1970 under a deal between Industrias Kaiser Argentina, which continued building cars after Kaiser got out of the U.S. auto industry, and American Motors. As Argentina’s first purely homegrown car, it borrowed sheetmetal and chassis pieces from the Rambler American and Classic, mating them to unique front and rear bodywork. The Rambler American influence is most evident when the Torino is viewed from the rear. When Renault bought out IKA in 1975, the car continued on for several more years as the Renault Torino. They enjoy a big enthusiast following and are still actively raced in Argentina.
Silverstone Auctions, which holds its sales at the famed circuit, had other impressive sales, moving 82 cars. Topping the list was a 1965 Aston Martin DB5, which hammered at 362,250 pounds (about $584,000), beating the pre-sale estimate by more than 20 percent. A 1986 Ford Sierra RS Cosworth, formerly owned by Cosworth co-founder Mike Costin, brought 27,600 pounds (about $44,000). For more results, visit SilverstoneAuctions.com.