Kanaan Indy winner heads to RM Sotheby’s Monterey auction

If you've got some spare change lying around, RM Sotheby's upcoming sale in Monterey might be a good place for you.

That's because the car Tony Kanaan raced to victory at the 2013 Indianapolis 500 is coming up for sale. The car, Dallara DW12 chassis No. 1 (pictured above), was driven by Kanaan at Indy that year in what at the time was the fastest average speed for a victor in the race, and ended a long wait for the 2004 series champion. See the auction listing here.

After an early duel with compatriot Helio Castroneves, Kanaan found his way to the lead pack where he remained for the rest of the day. Having emerged from his final stop on lap 179 in second, following a late caution, he vaulted past Ryan-Hunter Reay with three to go. That put him in prime position when the yellows flew once more, effectively ending the race and finally putting, as Kanaan put it, "my ugly face on that trophy."

The car was sold after the Indy win, but the buyer gave KV Racing Technology permission to continue using the car. Kanaan raced it again at Pocono and Fontana in 2013, taking a podium finish in the latter, before the car was finally retired for good. Upon that retirement, it was returned to the condition it was in at the end of the Indy 500.

Parts from the event were returned, save for the engine – it's being sold as a rolling chassis without a powerplant – and the car was rewrapped to look as it did on that day. The car will be sold at RM Sotheby's Monterey Auction during Car Week Aug. 13-15, with current estimates putting the price at $900,000-$1,200,000.

Other items for sale in Monterey include a 1968 Chevrolet L88 built by Toye English's RED team as the successor to its "Rebel Corvette."

The car was raced by Dave Heinz and Bob Johnson for Luigi Chinetti’s North American Racing Team (NART) at the 1972 24 Hours of Le Mans, taking first in the Group 4 class and 15th overall. The following year it took third overall at the 24 Hours of Daytona, which was the highest finish for a Corvette in an international endurance race until 2001.

That lot is expected to reach $900,000-$1,100,000, putting it in the same ballpark to Kanaan's Dallara. But if either of those are on the cheap side, Monterey will also play host to the sale of McLaren F1 GTR 10R.

The car is one of only two GTR short-tail prototypes, the other being the 1995 Le Mans-winning 01R, and is the only F1 to be finished in factory livery. It was the first of nine to be built in 1996 specification, too. It wasn't raced, but was tested at Le Mans in '96 and was retained by McLaren until it was sold to its first owner, Nick Mason, the drummer of Pink Floyd, in 1999.

Mason reportedly let go of the car in 2024 to an unknown buyer and this time it is expected to fetch in excess of $35 million, but don’t be surprised if it goes for more.