The Flying Lizard Motorsports 2007 No. 80 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR ‘art car’, which raced at the 2007 24 Heures du Mans, will be auctioned on Saturday August 15 at the annual RM Sports & Classics of Monterey auction in conjunction with the Monterey Historic weekend. The racecar is offered for sale in its original custom livery, designed by Troy Lee. In addition to the 24 Heures du Mans, the car was campaigned by Flying Lizard as the No. 45 Porsche for the 2007 American Le Mans Series season in its traditional red and silver livery, finishing second in the GT2 championships, and also made a guest appearance in 2008 at Laguna Seca as the Flying Lizard No. 46 Porsche.
History of the Flying Lizard 2007 No. 80 Porsche Art Car
In 2007, to honor the great tradition of the 24 Heures du Mans and in appreciation of the art cars of the past, Flying Lizard set out to create a special livery for the No. 80 Porsche. The team selected Troy Lee, a well-known California-based motorsport artist, to create a custom ‘art car’ design for the famous 24-hour race. On site in Le Mans for the event, Troy Lee added custom details to the design using chrome and color to add dimension to the Lizard as it wrapped over the car front to back. Flying Lizard kept the art car a secret until it was unveiled to the thousands of enthusiastic sports car fanatics at Scrutineering in the historic town of Le Mans. Following the tradition of prior art cars, this livery ran only at the 24 Heures of Le Mans.
Earlier this year, Jerry Woods Enterprises, in Campbell, California did the restoration with the assistance of Troy Lee, who added the final artistic touches to match the original livery. The car was recently featured in the July, 2009 issue of Excellence Magazine, on newsstands now and at www.excellence-mag.com.
Car Highlights
- VIN: WPOZZZ99Z7S799913
- 2007 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR racecar
- No. 80 livery designed by: Troy Lee, Troy Lee Designs, Corona, California
- Campaigned by: Flying Lizard Motorsports, Sonoma, California
- Driven at 2007 24 Heures du Mans by: Joerg Bergmeister, Johannes van Overbeek, Seth Neiman. Clocked the fastest GT2 race lap.
- Campaigned as the No. 45 in red and silver Flying Lizard livery for the 2007 ALMS season, piloted by Joerg Bergmeister and Johannes van Overbeek, and joined by Marc Lieb for Sebring and Petit Le Mans. In the No. 45, Bergmeister and van Overbeek finished second in the 2007 ALMS drivers’ championships and won three ALMS races in 2007: New England Grand Prix at Lime Rock; Sports Car Challenge of Mid Ohio; and Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta (with Lieb).
- Fought to the finish with the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari at the 2007 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring: the famous last lap battle resulted in the closest finish in the history of the race. This battle has come to be a fan favorite with over 100,000 views on YouTube.
- Made a guest appearance as the No. 46 Flying Lizard Porsche at the 2008 ALMS season-finale at Laguna Seca.
Auction Details
The No. 80 Porsche will be auctioned to the highest bidder at the RM Sports and Classics of Monterey Auction Saturday, August 15 at the Portola Hotel and Spa, Monterey, California. The car is lot 526; auction hours on Saturday are 6 to 11 pm. The car will be previewed at the Monterey Pre-Historics event at Laguna Seca Raceway on August 8-9, and August 12-15 at the Portola Hotel and Spa in Monterey. For hours and details, see www.rmauctions.com or contact Jack Boxstrom at jboxstrom@rmauctions.com.
No. 80 art car memorabilia, including a 1/43 model by Spark, is available at the online store at www.lizardms.com/store.
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