{"id":495492,"date":"2016-05-06T10:00:33","date_gmt":"2016-05-06T14:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportscardigest.com\/?p=95106"},"modified":"2024-12-06T03:44:17","modified_gmt":"2024-12-06T03:44:17","slug":"ford-motorsport-collection-2016-rm-monterey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/ford-motorsport-collection-2016-rm-monterey\/","title":{"rendered":"RM Sotheby’s Monterey (2016) – Ford Motorsport Collection Offered"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Jim Click Ford Collection is among the early highlights for the 2016 RM Sotheby’s Monterey auction, scheduled for August 19-20 in California during Monterey Classic Car Week.<\/p>\n

The Jim Click Ford Performance Collection represents over 25 years of acquisition by enthusiast, Jim Click, Jr. A third generation automotive businessman, Click is owner\/operator of 16 full-service dealerships in Arizona and California. This summer, as Click downsizes his collection, RM Sotheby\u2019s will offer six vehicles at their flagship 2016 Monterey sale.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re beyond thrilled to have been entrusted with the sale of the Jim Click Collection in Monterey \u2013 the cars that make up the collection are truly some of the best examples on the planet,\u201d said Donnie Gould, Car Specialist, RM Sotheby\u2019s. \u201cJim Click is an avid race driver, a genuine enthusiast, and a big proponent for jumping behind the wheel and using cars as they\u2019re intended. He\u2019s personally driven all the vehicles in his collection\u2014joined by co-driver Mike McGovern\u2014and has been a frontrunner in every race he\u2019s competed in, building on their race-winning heritage. We recently had the pleasure of spending a couple of days on the track with the Click cars and can attest they are all exceptional vehicles \u2013 absolute magic! Each has been kept in top racing form, thanks to none other than the legendary Don Roberts, who made them extremely fast and extremely safe. They\u2019re so dialed in, it\u2019s amazing!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s time for me to let someone else enjoy the cars like I have,\u201d says Click. \u201cThey are fantastic cars \u2013 thoroughly prepared to the extent that we\u2019ve never had a safety issue. Whoever ends up owning them, you\u2019re in for a truly exciting ride. I hope you have at least half as much fun with these cars as I have had over these last 25 years.\u201d (More from Click)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For Shelby fanatics, the selection of Jim Click cars is headlined by one of the most successful racing Cobras of all time: the 1964 Shelby 289 Competition Cobra, CSX 2473. The car\u2019s early history saw it sold new to one of Carroll Shelby\u2019s own employees, James Findlay, who purchased it at a wholesale price, and, as his budget allowed, upgraded it to competition specification, prior to selling it back to Shelby. Its next owner, SCCA legend, Don Roberts, has been intimately intertwined with the car since the sixties, having owned, raced and maintained the Cobra, on and off, ever since.<\/p>\n

For Roberts, success behind the wheel of CSX 2473 was immediate. In his debut outing at an SCCA regional event in Tucson, Arizona in November 1966, he finished first in the A-production class. The Cobra was then converted to B-production specification, and over the next two years, Roberts went on to rack up no less than fourteen 1st-place finishes. In 1968, Roberts was crowned Southern Pacific Divisional B-production Class Champion, a win that qualified him for the American Road Race of Champions at Riverside where he decimated the competition, earning himself the title of B-production Class National Champion.<\/p>\n

Roberts briefly parted with CSX 2473 in 1969, only to reunite with the car for the 1972 season. It again proved an unbeatable combination, with Roberts piloting CSX 2473 to back-to-back Southern Pacific Divisional B-Production Class Championship titles in 1972 and 1973, ranking the car a three-time SCCA Divisional Champion. A second brief spell in ownership ensued, with Roberts acquiring the Cobra a third time in 1980. As he had done so often before, he returned to the track in CSX 2473, this time topping the podium four years in a row at the Monterey Historics (1980 \u2013 1983). Although Roberts\u2019 personal ownership of CSX 2473 eventually came to a close in 1984 when he sold it a final time, he has remained no stranger to the machine; CSX 2473 was acquired by Jim Click in 2006 and has been frequently raced at historic events, maintained by none other than Don Roberts (Est. $2,200,000 – $2,600,000).<\/p>\n

\u201cCSX 2473 is, without question, one of the most successful 289 Competition Cobras in history, and it\u2019s certainly fitting to offer it in Monterey, a place where it has enjoyed tremendous success over the years,\u201d commented Alexander Weaver, Car Specialist, RM Sotheby\u2019s. \u201cIt features an unrivaled period racing history with countless wins to its name, and significantly, has not claimed a single DNF in its illustrious career. Its provenance is further elevated by its long and successful association with racing great, Don Roberts. Ready to return the track, CSX 2473\u2019s racing career is far from over; highly competitive, it\u2019s sure to find itself back on the podium at future historic racing events.\u201d<\/p>\n

\r\n
\r\n \r\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
\r\n 1964 Shelby 289 Cobra CSX 2473\r\n <\/div><\/figure>\n

Also slated for RM\u2019s Monterey podium is the 1966 Ford GT40 Mk I, chassis P\/1061, a highlight of the Click Collection for over two decades. One of 31 Mark I road cars, the GT40 was one of seven retained for promotional use by Ford\u2019s merchandising department — a role that saw it take to the road and used by the company\u2019s Southeast Regional Sales district in 1967 as part of dealership displays, auto shows and demonstration laps at SCCA events. At the end of its time on the display circuit, P\/1061 passed through a well-documented chain of enthusiast owners, including noted Australian racing driver, Bib Stillwell, before landing with Jim Click in 1992. In the years since, Mr. Click has actively raced P\/1061 across the country at such venues as Laguna Seca, Riverside and Palm Springs (Est. $3,750,000 – $4,250,000).<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s no surprise that the Click stable includes a GT40 \u2013 a true pinnacle in Ford performance,\u201d added Gould. \u201cThe key to this car is that it has been \u2018massaged\u2019 over the past 35 years to make it a fierce competitor. It\u2019s another example of a car within the Click Collection that Don Roberts has worked his magic on, creating one of the best GT40\u2019s that anyone could ever acquire and put on the race track. A true thrill to drive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\r\n
\r\n \r\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
\r\n 1966 Ford GT40 chassis P\/1061\r\n <\/div><\/figure>\n

The Jim Click Ford Collection of six vehicles slated for the 2016 RM Sotheby’s Monterey auction includes:<\/p>\n