Monaco wanted its own supercar, fitted it with a Lamborghini V12 — and now this rarity is looking for a new owner
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Before the Pagani Zonda, McLaren F1 and Bugatti Veyron, Monaco also attempted to build its own supercar. The result was the Monte Carlo Centenaire, with a carbon-fibre body, a Lamborghini Countach V12 and such a tiny production run that even many supercar enthusiasts today are only vaguely familiar with the model.
RM Sotheby's is now selling chassis number 0002 of the Centenaire, built in 1989, in London. The auction house estimates that the car could fetch £500,000-£700,000, or around €575,000-€805,000.
Monaco's supercar before the hypercar era
Monte Carlo Automobile was founded by racing driver and engineer Fulvio Maria Ballabio, who had previously worked at Monteverdi. The Centenaire was created to mark the 100th anniversary of the Automobile Club de Monaco, and its name means centenary in French.
The car's engineering was ambitious for the late 1980s. Its body panels were made from carbon fibre, while the chassis used composite materials at a time when this type of construction was not yet commonplace, even among supercars. A naturally aspirated 5.2-litre V12 from the Lamborghini Countach was mounted amidships. According to the auction house, it develops around 336 kW, with power sent to the rear wheels through a five-speed manual gearbox.
Against today's 700- or 800-kW hypercars, 336 kW no longer sounds astonishing. In 1989, however, it placed the car in the world of the Ferrari F40 and Lamborghini Countach, where such power belonged to the absolute top tier.
Only six cars
Monte Carlo Automobile built just six examples of the Centenaire. The car coming up for sale carries chassis number 0002, and its history is considerably more interesting than that of an ordinary prototype. Originally finished in blue, it was used by Ballabio in development work. The Centenaire was later painted red and appeared at various events.
In the early 1990s, the car underwent a comprehensive technical upgrade and was fitted with the Lamborghini V12. Earlier Centenaire prototypes used different engines, so the technical specification is not identical across all six cars.
This is precisely what makes the auction house's documentation more important for this particular chassis than the general “Monte Carlo Centenaire technical data” circulating online.
Ferrari F40 money for an unknown car
RM Sotheby's estimates the car's value at around €575,000-€805,000. At that price, a buyer is already shopping in the price territory of the Ferrari F40 and other well-known supercars from the 1980s and 1990s.
The Centenaire offers something different in return. Ferrari produced more than 1,300 F40s, while nearly 2,000 Lamborghini Countachs were built. With the Centenaire, we are talking about six cars.
Rarity alone does not make a car valuable; otherwise, every failed small manufacturer's prototype would cost millions. In Monte Carlo's favour, however, are the Lamborghini V12, the carbon-fibre construction and its very odd place in supercar history.
It is a car from an era when a small manufacturer could take a Lamborghini engine, build a carbon-fibre supercar around it and decide that Monaco needed its own car brand. Today, the homologation process alone for a project like this would cost more than establishing the entire company did at the time.
