With controversy swirling around Formula 1’s incoming 2026 engine regulations, collectors and fans have been casting their eyes back to one of the sport’s most intoxicating eras — the turbocharged 1980s. Now, RM Sotheby’s is offering one of the defining artifacts of that period: a 1986 Lotus 98T driven by Ayrton Senna. It’s expected to fetch up to $12.5 million in a sealed auction.
The 98T is one of just four competition cars built for the 1986 season, and this specific chassis carries extraordinary provenance. It is the very machine Senna piloted to victories at both the 1986 Spanish Grand Prix and the 1986 United States Grand Prix in Detroit.
That Detroit win carries particular historical weight. It marked the final time a John Player Special-liveried car would take a checkered flag, as the 98T was the last F1 machine to race under that iconic partnership. The black-and-gold livery remains one of the most visually striking in the sport’s history, and seeing it in person — let alone owning it — is the kind of experience money can rarely buy.
Powering the 98T was a 1.5-liter Renault turbocharged V-6 engine, the same basic unit used in its predecessor, the 97T. In race configuration it produced over 800 horsepower. In qualifying trim, that figure reportedly climbed well beyond 1,000 hp — numbers that, even by today’s standards, demand respect.
Senna had joined Lotus in 1985 after a debut season with Toleman, and the 98T represented the peak of that partnership. Beyond his two race wins, he claimed eight pole positions during the 1986 campaign, a staggering display of raw pace that hinted at the dominance he would later achieve at McLaren. He ultimately finished fourth in the drivers’ championship that year, behind Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell, and Nelson Piquet.
RM Sotheby’s specialist Ethan Gibson was unequivocal about the significance of the car. “Formula One is bigger than ever right now, and the Lotus 98T sits right at the center of the sport’s most legendary era, driven by arguably the most celebrated driver we’ve ever seen,” Gibson said. “To me, personally, this isn’t the football that was used to score the touchdown at the Super Bowl — it’s like owning the stadium the game was played in.”
That analogy is hard to argue with. Senna physically sat in and commanded this car across eight Grand Prix weekends. The combination of iconic livery, race-winning history, legendary driver, and sheer mechanical drama makes it one of the most compelling collector cars to surface in years.
Given that this is a sealed auction, the final sale price may never be made public, even if it exceeds the high estimate of $12,500,000. For the fortunate buyer, the hope is that this piece of Formula 1 history occasionally sees the light of day rather than disappearing into a climate-controlled vault. A machine this significant deserves to be heard, not just admired.
