Broad Arrow Auctions is bringing the first 1990 MCA Centenaire, Monaco’s pioneering carbon fiber V12 supercar, to its 2026 Zoute Concours sale.
Broad Arrow Auctions has consigned an early MCA Centenaire, a carbon fiber supercar developed in Monaco with help from Lamborghini, for its Zoute Concours Auction. The 1990 car carries an estimate of €900,000 to €1,200,000 (about $967,000 to $1,290,000).
Bidding takes place on 9 October 2026 at Approach Golf in Knokke-Heist, Belgium, timed to the Zoute Grand Prix Car Week. Only five Centenaires exist, and this example is described by the consignor as the car that started the whole project.
Monte Carlo Automotive was a small operation with a big roster. Founder Fulvio-Maria Ballabio, a former Formula 2 and CART driver, brought in technical director Carlo Chiti, an engineer who’d worked with both Scuderia Ferrari and Autodelta, plus former Alfa Romeo sporting director Pierluigi Corbari.
That team built the Centenaire around a carbon fiber monocoque, a construction method widely credited as a first for a production road car. Power came from a Lamborghini 5.2-liter V12 shared with the Countach 5000 QV, sent through a ZF six-speed manual to the rear wheels.
The name marked the 100th anniversary of the Automobile Club de Monaco, and the car was presented to Prince Albert II, whose backing helped it stick as the Principality’s own supercar.
Production ran to just five cars between 1990 and 1991. Two were later modified for Le Mans trials and reportedly hit 220 mph on the Mulsanne Straight, a speed that would have embarrassed plenty of purpose-built race cars from that era.
1990 Monte Carlo Automotive Centenaire
This Centenaire spent its early life doing the unglamorous work of development, testing, and presentation duties. Once that job was done, Lamborghini kept it at the Sant’Agata Bolognese factory for roughly a decade before gifting it to Ballabio in the early 2000s.
It resurfaced in blue paint at Rétromobile 2007, parked next to the one-off Lamborghini Pregunta concept from the same collection. Broad Arrow sold that concept at last year’s inaugural Zoute auction.
A bodywork restoration followed around 2016, returning the car to its original Ivory White over red leather, a color combination meant to echo Monaco’s own flag. The red interior survived that restoration untouched, according to documentation accompanying the sale.
“Today’s collector demands exclusivity and this car is unrivaled in that regard,” Broad Arrow’s Head of Consignments for Belgium and the Netherlands, Gregory Tuytens, said in a statement announcing the sale. The car comes with a history file that includes the original supply contract between Lamborghini and Ballabio for the V12 engines, along with period photos from the factory and Rétromobile.
Motor1’s Take: Collectors will prize the Centenaire’s factory ties and documented provenance. Condition and paperwork should decide the final buyer. Specialist collectors and small museums will likely push the bidding. The sale could influence values for rare boutique supercars.
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Source:
Broad Arrow Auctions
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