It is not so much their value – but we are of course talking millions here – but their provenance and, being American, their concours condition that makes each of these four beauties such an exceptional way to kick off the auction New Year. Which one would you have?

The Ferrari

1954 Mondial 500 Series I Spider, £3.9-4.7 million (estimate)

This car, one of only 12 to this spec, was at the epicentre of Californian road racing and society high-life from the day it arrived Stateside from Maranello in 1954. It was ordered by Porfirio Rubirosa, the fast-driving, polo-playing, aircraft-flying bon vivant often cited as the world’s greatest playboy. His girlfriend, cheering him on in the car’s first race at Santa Barbara, was Zsa Zsa Gabor.

It was at Santa Barbara that James Dean was pictured with the car in a famous image (though the car didn’t tempt him enough to switch allegiances form Porsche). Others who were tempted to race it were Phil Hill and Richie Ginther. Phil Hill actually blew the engine in it, and later – this being the US in the 1950s – the 2.0-litre, four-pot Ferrari motor was swapped for a Chevy V8.

No longer: the car is now said to be “as new” after a complete rebuild by Ferrari Classiche. Since then it has won some pretty big gongs, including First In Class at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and the Platinum Award for Best Restored Ferrari from the Ferrari Club of America. Buy it for all of that plus its beautiful Pinin Farina coachwork, and its connections with the rich and famous – the car’s colourful past is said to be documented in a massive history file.

The Jaguar

1959 Lister-Jaguar, £1.6-2.1 million (estimate) 

The XK-powered Lister Knobbly was restyled for 1959 by aerodynamicist Frank Costin and among early customers for the new model was Briggs Cunningham in the US. Cunningham wanted something to replace his racing D-types, and so as a Team Cunningham car, with Ivor Bueb and Sir Stirling Moss at the wheel, its first outing was at the inaugural 12 Hours of Sebring race in 1959. Moss was running in third place when he ran out of petrol… The car’s competitiveness was never in doubt though, and it went on to capture its class in the 1959 SCCA US Championship.

With 300bhp, a four-speed ‘box, four-wheel disc brakes, all-independent suspension, Bonhams says it’s among the most original examples extant. We’re sold.

The Porsche

1964 904 GTS, £1.1-1.3 million (estimate)

"...must sell, Carrera 6 coming!” was the ad that appeared alongside this car in the US motoring press in 1966. The person who came forward to snap it up was the Sundance Kid himself, famed Hollywood actor and producer Robert Redford. He must have liked it, keeping it for a decade, although unlike its previous keeper he is not thought to have raced it.

The exquisite little German jewel, designed by Butzi Porsche around the same time he did the 911, is thought to be the second 904 GTS delivered to a private customer outside the works programme. The 904, a clean sheet, mid-engined design that took Porsche into sports car racing after its attempt at F1 glory, originally came with a 2.0-litre four-cam, four-cylinder engine because the flat-six wasn’t ready for it in time. The irony is that this car now does have that Carrera flat-six motor installed, as fitted to the last 10 (of around 120) 904 GTSs made. The body, chassis, transaxle and suspension are all original.

The Maserati

1951 A6G/2000 Spider by Frua, £2.2-2.7 million (estimate)

Rarity is what this car is most about, that and the most evocative early 1950s Italian sports car styling, as imagined by Frua. The car is in fact one of just three with this Frua coachwork, as authenticated by no less a Maserati authority than Adolfo Orsi, a man who also oversaw the car’s restoration to concours standard for events like Pebble Beach and the Villa d’Este.

The Frua Spider had its debut at the Turin show in 1950 previewing a new 2.0-litre, six-cylinder engine, and it is that unit underneath this car’s bonnet. The all-alloy, single-cam engine puts out 110bhp for a top speed of 115mph. The car’s first owners were movie moguls in Rome but by 1957 the car had moved to the US where it was fitted with a Corvette V8. It was raced in Southern California for a few years before falling from view until an overheard conversation led to one of the best known “barn find” stories of recent years.

Photography courtesy of Bonhams/P.Litwinski.