A rare MCA Centenaire supercar is heading for auction in October. Power comes from a 449 hp, 5.2-liter Lamborghini Countach V12. The Centenaire was the first supercar to use a full carbon chassis. Monaco must be home to more supercars per square yard than anywhere else on the planet, yet the tiny, billionaires’ playground sandwiched between France and Italy produces none of its own. But back in 1990, a Mongégasque startup revealed something that should have changed the supercar game. And in a way it did, but it also disappeared without a trace, only to watch a rival scoop up the glory. The car is the Centenaire, and we don’t blame you if you’ve never heard of it. Only five examples were produced between 1990 and 1992 by MCA (Monte Carlo Automotive), a company created by former F2 and CART driver Fulvio-Maria Ballabio with the help of a stellar cast of F1 and motorsport luminaries. Related: Ex-Pininfarina Designer’s Japanese V12 Hypercar Stays Manual In An Age Of AutomaticsAlso there to lend a hand was Lamborghini, which donated 5.2-liter V12s with 449 hp (455 PS) from the Countach 5000 QV. As in the Lambo, those horses reached the rear wheels via a manual transmission with a classic open-gate shifter. But it’s the chassis, not the powertrain, that makes the Centenaire special, and why it deserves more recognition than it enjoys. Carbon Trailblazer Because this was the first production supercar to feature a carbon fiber tub. McLaren pioneered the tech on its F1 cars in 1981, and would eventually channel that same thinking into its game-changing F1 road car in 1994. But MCA beat McLaren to the punch by four years, and Jaguar, with its XJR-15, by several months. Other supercars like the Ferrari F40 had already featured some composite components, but no one had ever done a full carbon chassis before MCA. Sometimes it’s best not to be first, though: 1990 turned out to be a bad time to break new ground, at least for MCA. Reports suggest multiple reasons for the Centenaire’s failure, including the bursting of the late 1980s supercar price bubble and the high build costs. There’s even a suggestion that Lamborghini’s new owner, Chrysler, didn’t like the idea of supplying engines to another supercar that might take attention away from the then-brand new Diablo. 220 MPH At Le Mans Initial plans targeted 100 sales, but the first phase couldn’t even get into double figures, and reboots through the 1990s proved no more successful. An assault on the Le Mans 24H also came to naught, though not before two cars had apparently hit 220 mph (354 kmh) in testing. Being so rare, Centenaires don’t often change hands, but one of the five cars is getting ready for a date with the gavel at Broad Arrow’s Zoute Concours Auction in Belgium on October 9. The listing explains the auction car was the very first chassis, used for everything from testing to presentations. When its work was done, it was stored by Lamborghini, before being gifted to MCA founder Ballabio years later. Repainted blue at some point, the MCA’s next owner treated it to a full resto job in 2016 in its original Ivory, which really lets the red leather interior pop. Broad Arrow reckons it could sell for €900,000-1.2m ($1-1.4 m). That sounds like a ton of cash for a car you’ve never heard of, and one that’s not the prettiest 1990s supercar around. But you could also argue it’s a small price to pay for a car that laid down a template for generations of hypercars to come. You can check out the full auction listing here. Broad Arrow
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