Between its rich history and even wealthier denizens, the Principality of Monaco reigns supreme as the world’s most glamorous and exclusive motorsport destination. A new exhibit dubbed Magic of Monaco celebrates singular Monégasque artifacts at the Audrain Automobile Museum, in Newport, R.I. The museum, which was founded in 2014 with the goal of preserving automotive history, also hosts the Audrain Newport Concours and Motor Week each year.
“The automobile and yachting scene in Newport shares a real kinship with Monaco,” says the Audrain’s executive director, David de Muzio. “The Monte Carlo Rally was initiated over a century ago, while the Monaco Grand Prix first ran on the streets of the city in 1929. Along with the Concours d’Elegance Automobile Monte Carlo, Monaco Motor Boat Races, and Monte Carlo Masters Tennis Tournament, these events have long thrived.”
The exhibition, which runs through March 9, 2025, features an eclectic array of automobiles and automobilia spanning seven decades. “The colorful Murray Smith collection of original period race posters, medals, and race programs add historical context to the rally and grand prix cars on display,” says de Muzio. Featured illustrators and artists include Géo Ham, Robert Falcucci, and J. Ramel.
While the artwork paints a nostalgic portrait of the era, the true stars of the show are the machines that roared through history and put countless manufacturers, drivers, and race teams on the map. While each of the 18 featured vehicles is special in its own right, here are five of our favorite race cars currently on display.
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1935 Alfa Romeo 8C-35
Image Credit: On loan from Peter Greenfield of Freeport, N.Y. Like many race cars of its era, this Alfa Romeo enjoyed a competition career long after its 1935 debut in the hands of Tazio Nuvolari. The roughly 1,653-pound weight limit for grand prix cars had forced Alfa to come up with a new answer to the powerhouses being unleashed by Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union.
Nuvolari famously defeated nine Silver Arrow racers in his Alfa at the Nürburgring that year, though Rudolf Caracciola and his Mercedes-Benz went on to win five of that season’s seven contests. This Alfa 8C-35 went on to an illustrious racing career through 1939 and continues to enjoy vigorous use from its current caretaker, Peter Greenfield of New York, who had it fully restored and tuned to now develop 371 hp.
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1956 Maserati 250F
Image Credit: On loan from the Auriana Collection The Maserati 250F is among the most vaunted race cars in history, having enjoyed a lengthy tenure as the premier grand prix racer of its day, with a resume that includes such celebrated victories as Juan Manuel Fangio clinching his fifth world championship in 1957.
The year before, though, this particular 250F, chassis No. 2525, claimed a win at the European Grand Prix with renowned racer Stirling Moss behind the wheel. (Moss also took the top spot at the Monaco Grand Prix in a different 250F.) The model eventually became outclassed by Ferrari, Cooper, and Vanwall, by the late 1950s, a trend accelerated by Maserati’s declaration of bankruptcy in 1957.
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1958 Porsche-Behra Formula 2
Image Credit: On loan from the Miles Collier Collections at Revs Institute, Naples, Fla. This rare machine was a passion project of Jean Behra, the motorcycle and Formula 1 racer whose famous frustration with unreliable cars from British Racing Motors (BRM) and success with Porsche inspired him to commission a potent Formula 2 car. “I’d like to try out a few things I’ve thought up on the basis of my racing experience in recent years,” he stated at the time. “This project with the Formula Two car is tremendous fun for me!”
Secured through Ferry Porsche himself, and built by prominent ex-Maserati designers Giorgio Neri and Valerio Colotti, the race car featured a hand-formed aluminum body—made in Modena—and a screaming 1.5-liter, flat-four engine. The car’s success famously triggered Enzo Ferrari’s ire, as he viewed it as a betrayal by Behra, who was his top driver. This F2 Porsche was piloted at the 1959 Monaco Grand Prix by Maria Teresa de Fillippis, the first female driver to compete in Formula 1. Weighing only 1,056 pounds, the 150 hp car has a top speed of 155 mph.
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1985 Martini Lancia Delta S4
Image Credit: On loan to the Audrain Automobile Museum The advent of Group B racing in 1982 triggered one of the most thrilling, and sometimes deadly, chapters in modern motorsport history. With brawny machines like the Lancia 037 and Audi Quattro tearing up rally courses, a series of fatal accidents made the racing class infamous for its relatively unrestricted parameters.
Fit with a 1.8-liter, inline-four engine making nearly 500 hp, this Lancia Delta S4 shares its iconic livery with the 037 model and served as a training vehicle for the 1986 Monte Carlo Rally as well as the Swedish Rally and Rally Costa Smeralda. By the end of that year, though, Group B had been banned by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) due to the dangerous nature of these vehicles.
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1988 McLaren Honda MP4/4
Image Credit: Audrain Automobile Museum Featuring a 1.5-liter, turbocharged Honda V-6 capable of 12,000 rpm, the Gordon Murray–designed McLaren MP4/4 straddled the line between innovative technology and tried-and-true reliability. The Marlboro-sponsored race car became an icon of Formula 1 machines, winning 15 of the 1988 season’s 16 races at the hands of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.
According to the Audrain, in that same span, 97.3 percent of the laps were led by a McLaren Honda MP4/4—a benchmark that has yet to be bested to this day. This particular car crossed the finish line first at Monaco in 1988 while piloted by Prost, cementing its status as one of the most historically significant race cars in Formula 1 history. The MP4/4 marked the twilight of F1’s turbocharged power plants as the sport transitioned to a normally aspirated era.
