Bentley, Porsche, Ford and Ferrari Racecars Headline Gooding Sale at Pebble Beach A month before the collector car festivities begin around Monterey, Calif., RM Auctions and Gooding & Company have officially begun the entertaining oneupmanship that borders on blood sport, with the latest round going to Gooding based on four body-blow consignments: 1928 Bentley 4 1/2 Litre Vanden Plas Le Mans Sports "Bobtail": From 1924 to 1930, Bentley captured wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans five times. Few examples of the factory-sponsored racecars, known as works cars, survive, and it is exceedingly rare for one to be offered at a public auction. The consigned car is perhaps one of the most desirable prewar competition cars extant, and the presale estimate of $5.5 to $7.5 million might actually be conservative, especially considering the 1929-32 Bentley 4 1/2-Litre that was sold on June 29 for £4.5 million, roughly $7 million, a record result for the English marque. 1955 Ferrari 857 Sport Scaglietti Spider: But for the most hardened enthusiasts of Ferrari, few may know that the team built a series of successful sports racers powered by 4-cylinder engines in the 1950s. The Scuderia's V-12-powered cars of the era, like last year's record-setting Testa Rossa, are best remembered. The 857S was one of the prettiest if not the most powerful of midcentury Ferrari competition cars. This example was raced by Carroll Shelby and owned by Andy Warhol - an odder intersection of personalities one could scarcely imagine - which may account for what might be a slightly optimistic presale estimate of $5 million to $7 million. 1964 Ford GT40 prototype: For some collectors, this racecar is every bit as significant as the Bentley. The prototype may have had a markedly less distinguished turn on the track, but it was the progenitor of a line of racecars that did the impossible, soundly thrashing Ferrari in international competition in what was arguably the last great grudge match between automotive giants. Enzo Ferrari, you might recall, famously backed out of a deal with Henry Ford II to sell his company to Ford. The presale estimate for the prototype is $5 million to $7 million. 1960 Porsche RS60 Spyder: This car is a fine example of one of the rarest 4-cam, 4-cylinder Porsche competition cars. Provenance is everything with competition cars, and very famous drivers logging wins at very famous venues equate to bigger payoffs. This car was initially sold to what Gooding describes as a gentleman racer and did not race at events like Sebring and the Targa Florio. Accordingly, it is the relative bargain of the four cars here, with a presale estimate of $2.5 million to $3 million.