Equipment
2014 Indianapolis 500-winning, 2012 IndyCar Championship driven by Ryan Hunter-Reay with 2016 Speedway aero package.
Condition
Race ready and planned to continue to compete through the 2018 season. At conclusion Andretti Autosport will restore it to its 2014 Indianapolis 500-winning configuration, less the engine which is leased from Honda. Another Indy 500 win (the car has three more chances before it's retired) would increase its value by an order of magnitude.
Market commentary
This is an unprecedented and imaginative shot at expanding race sponsorship through a collector car auction. The car will continue to be maintained and raced (with whom behind the wheel is not stated) through the end of the current rules package in 2018 and with primary sponsorship not specified. The buyer would get two season-long passes to all IndyCar events with Andretti Autosport hospitality included plus four more for guests at all IndyCar races except the two at Indianapolis. The bidders seem to have failed to consider the perks, because that's what the deal is really built on. Based on a 16-race season (as scheduled for 2016) that's 42 events with six access/hospitality passes, plus 6 events at the Brickyard for the principal and one other only: 258 passes. Call it $100K for the Indy-winning car and the reported high bid works out to $1,395/person/event. That's not a cheap date, but for someone who likes racing it's more than reasonably priced for exceptional access. Honda should throw in the Indy-winning engine to make it even better. It's a concept that deserves more exposure, and maybe tweaking the formula. Of course, should DW12-057 win another Indy 500 it becomes rather moot.