Ferdinand Piëch ran Volkswagen for more than 20 years, and during testing his personal car was a BMW M5. It had a secret Volkswagen W10 engine in it, and it leads the Broad Arrow Zoute auction in Belgium on 9 October.
Broad Arrow Auctions is holding 2 sales around Zoute Grand Prix Car Week. The live Zoute Concours Auction is at Approach Golf in Knokke-Heist on Friday 9 October, and the Zoute Online sale takes bids from 5 to 14 October. It’s the second Broad Arrow Zoute auction, and previous owners in this year’s line-up include Queen Elizabeth II and Pete Sampras.
- Zoute Concours Auction, live at Approach Golf, Knokke-Heist, Friday 9 October 2026
- Zoute Online, bidding open at broadarrowauctions.com from 5 to 14 October 2026
- Full Zoute Concours catalogue and all online lots at broadarrowauctions.com
A golf club in a Belgian seaside resort, in the middle of a car week, is where the other half spends its Friday afternoons. “Often it is the story behind a car that significantly enhances its desirability,” says Philip Kantor, Vice Chairman of Europe and Senior Car Specialist at Broad Arrow Auctions.
Piëch’s Secret W10 BMW M5
Piëch was named Car Executive of the Century in 1999. The grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, he pulled the Volkswagen Group back from the brink of bankruptcy in 1993, partly by instilling his passion for engineering.
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ABOVE: The Broad Arrow Zoute 2026 auction cars
At the turn of the millennium BMW’s E39 M5 ruled the performance sedan class, and Piëch wanted a Volkswagen rival. He took the VR engine from the VR6 and expanded it into the W10, a 5.0-litre unit making 473hp/592Nm. Then he put it in a BMW.
The prototype made 79hp more than a factory M5, and the man running Volkswagen drove it himself during testing. It was developed in secret, and the project is believed to have cost €2,000,000 before it was shelved. The W10 never reached a Volkswagen sedan. It became the basis of the W16 in Bugatti’s Veyron.
Only 3 W10 engines were built. One is in Germany, one is in this car, and the third comes in the same lot as a standalone engine, so the winning bidder takes home 2 of the 3 ever made. The M5 is finished in Carbon Black Metallic with black leather, and the estimate is €250,000 to €350,000.
A Gullwing and a Queen’s Bentley at the Broad Arrow Zoute Auction
The highest estimate in the Broad Arrow Zoute auction belongs to a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing Coupé, at €1,700,000 to €2,000,000. Mercedes-Benz built 1,400 Gullwing coupés, and Broad Arrow calls this one of the best-preserved unrestored examples in the world.
It was delivered new through the official Swiss importer, and its earliest recorded owner was Hans Huwyler of the Touring Garage in Lenzburg. The Huwyler family kept it for nearly half a century, in Switzerland and California. Since 2006 it has belonged to 300 SL specialist Ben Valkenburg, who exported it to Belgium.
Huwyler was a Mercedes-Benz dealer and technician, which let him add rare Swiss options for Alpine conditions to the desirable extras.
- NSL camshafts, worth an extra 10hp
- Rudge wheels
- A dual-point distributor
- A radiator with a special shroud for cold starts
It’s a matching-numbers car in medium green with plaid seat inserts, and it comes with 2 original logbooks recording its mileage back to 1968. It’s also a multiple class winner, including at the ADAC Nürburgring Classic.
Porsche’s factory race cars travelled to European circuits in the Renntransporter. In the 1960s Porsche turned to the O 317, which Mercedes-Benz supplied as a rolling chassis to coachbuilders. Porsche commissioned 3, in liveries that included Porsche System Engineering maroon and silver. Only 2 of the original transporters remain.
The Zoute Online lot is a tribute built on a genuine 1974 O 317 chassis, restored for a racing driver who wanted a period-correct transporter for a 1965 Porsche 911 race car. It has new aluminium panels and a refreshed interior, and its 10.8-litre OM 346.911 straight-six diesel was extensively rebuilt. At €500,000 to €700,000, the transporter is estimated above the Piëch M5.
Queen Elizabeth II’s 2016 Bentley Mulsanne Extended Wheelbase is also in the online sale. Bentley’s Press and Special Vehicles Department prepared it with bespoke Twine and Cumbrian Green leather and rear privacy curtains. It’s 1 of 2 built, and the other went back to Bentley’s Heritage Department. It won the Hampton Court Concours of Elegance’s Bentley Drivers Club Trophy and presents largely as it did in royal service.
The other royal lot is live. King Baudouin of Belgium owned this black-over-tan 1951 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible, and the same family has looked after it since 1976. It’s offered without reserve, and it’s the cheaper of the 2 royal cars by a long way.
Pete Sampras bought his 2000 BMW Z8 new and kept it until 2015. It’s a US-specification car and 1 of 667 black-on-black Z8s, and a later owner imported and registered it in Europe. It has covered 200km since, and the odometer shows 3,933 miles (6,329km). Its estimate matches the Piëch M5’s at €250,000 to €350,000.
Two reimagined Lancias are in the live sale. The Kimera EVO37 is 1 of 27 and catalogued as a 1976 car, although chassis 018 was completed early in 2025. Its 2.1-litre four-cylinder reaches 100km/h in 3 seconds and tops out at 310km/h, and the paint is Kimera Luci del Bosco, the brown Lamborghini used on the Miura.
The 1991 Lancia Delta Integrale Futurista by Automobili Amos is 1 of 20. It has an aluminium and carbon fibre body in Blu Lord over an Alcantara Anthracite interior, and its 2.0-litre 16-valve turbocharged engine makes 296hp. It’s done 1,700km since the rebuild.
Giovanni Michelotti styled the 1957 Fiat 1100 TV Coupé Printemps, and Carrozzeria Vignale built the body. It was restored before the 2006 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este and is two-tone ivory and dark blue over a dark blue interior. Henri Chapron built the DS Décapotable and a number of more exclusive models. A fully restored 1966 Citroën DS 21 Cabriolet Palm Beach is one of them.
A 1979 Range Rover three-door Suffix F, delivered new to France, is in the live sale without reserve. It’s done 1,215km since a ground-up restoration in 2015, it’s painted Bahama Gold, and it comes with a British Motor Industry Heritage Trust Certificate.
For the entourage, a 1979 Fiat 238 E Panorama Bus seats 9. It’s in the online sale without reserve at €15,000 to €20,000, the lowest estimate in either sale. It was restored in 2014 and is Beige Camoscio inside and out.
Gregory Tuytens, Head of Consignments for Belgium and The Netherlands at Broad Arrow Auctions, called the first Broad Arrow Zoute auction in 2025 “a great success”. He rates this year’s selection “perhaps even more exciting”.
The full catalogue for both sales is at broadarrowauctions.com. Bidders can contact a Broad Arrow car specialist at info@broadarrowauctions.com or on +44-2045-920-16.
Broad Arrow Zoute 2026
| Car | Sale | Estimate |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 BMW M5 Volkswagen W10 Prototype ex-Ferdinand Piëch, with standalone W10 engine | Zoute Concours (9 Oct) | €250,000 to €350,000 |
| 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing Coupé | Zoute Concours (9 Oct) | €1,700,000 to €2,000,000 |
| 1951 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible ex-King Baudouin of Belgium | Zoute Concours (9 Oct) | €40,000 to €70,000, no reserve |
| 1976 Lancia Kimera EVO37 | Zoute Concours (9 Oct) | €950,000 to €1,150,000 |
| 1991 Lancia Delta Integrale Futurista by Automobili Amos | Zoute Concours (9 Oct) | €325,000 to €425,000 |
| 1957 Fiat 1100 TV Coupé Printemps by Vignale | Zoute Concours (9 Oct) | €160,000 to €175,000 |
| 1966 Citroën DS 21 Cabriolet Palm Beach by Chapron | Zoute Concours (9 Oct) | €180,000 to €220,000 |
| 1979 Land Rover Range Rover three-door Suffix F | Zoute Concours (9 Oct) | €85,000 to €105,000, no reserve |
| 2000 BMW Z8 ex-Pete Sampras | Zoute 2026 | €250,000 to €350,000 |
| 1974 Mercedes-Benz O 317 Porsche Renntransporter Tribute | Zoute Online (5-14 Oct) | €500,000 to €700,000 |
| 2016 Bentley Mulsanne Extended Wheelbase ex-Queen Elizabeth II | Zoute Online (5-14 Oct) | €400,000 to €450,000 |
| 1979 Fiat 238 E Panorama Bus | Zoute Online (5-14 Oct) | €15,000 to €20,000, no reserve |
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Alan Zurvas is the founder and editor of Gay Car Boys, Australia's leading LGBTQI+ automotive publication. Before launching GCB in 2008, Alan's automotive writing was published in SameSame.com.au and the Star Observer. With over 16 years of hands-on car reviewing experience, Alan brings an honest, irreverent voice to every review — championing value and innovation over brand loyalty.
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