Flughafen find of the Day: Sauber F1 auction at Zurich airport


Raikkonen's Sauber C20: click to view in high resolution

Considering that modern Formula One race cars share as much in common with aircraft as they do with actual road-going automobiles, selling retired F1 cars at the airport suddenly seems to make sense. Last month we brought you initial news about the auction of former Sauber racers at the Zurich airport that include seven Sauber single-seaters ranging from the 1993 Sauber-Mercedes C12 (the team's first F1 car, driven by JJ Lehto) to the 2004 Sauber-Petronas C23 (driven by Giancarlo Fisichella under Ferrari power). All are being auctioned off – without their engines – each with a starting bid of ??200k.

On our way back from Switzerland following the recently-concluded Geneva Motor Show, we had a chance to see and photograph the four cars on display at the Airside Center in Zurich's Terminal A where they'll reside until the auction ends on March 25. What we saw includes the first and penultimate Saubers mentioned above, along with Jean Alesi's 1998 C17, Kimi Raikkonen's 2001 C20 (pictured above) and several individual components that would make awesome paperweights. The rare opportunity to see these technically-advanced racing machines up close and parked was a nice break from the overpriced boutiques and duty-free shops while transferring flights, and the experience in person illustrated just how intricately crafted these cars really are. See for yourself in our high-resolution image gallery by clicking the thumbnails below; more details are available at saubercars.ch.


[Source: saubercars.ch]

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