Monthly Archives: October 2012

Koenigsegg CCX

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2008 Koenigsegg CCX

Offered by RM Auctions | London, England | October 31, 2012

Boom. The top speed of the car we featured yesterday was 15 mph. This car will do 245 mph. Yeah, that’s a McLaren F1 difference in top speed (they topped out at 231 with the rev limiter). This is one of the finest and fastest legitimate modern supercars in existence.

Christian von Koenigsegg’s first hand built road car was delivered to its new owner in 2002. The CCX model you see here was introduced for 2006 with an eye toward entering the American market (with emissions compliance, etc.). It uses a Koenigsegg-designed twin-supercharged 4.7-liter V8 making 806 horsepower with 62 mph coming in a scant 3.2 seconds.

The top on this car is removable and can be stowed in the trunk at the front of the car – it fits in there just perfectly and is a really neat design feature. Even neater are the doors: they are not gullwing doors nor are they “Lambo” scissor doors. They are what Koenigsegg refers to as “dihedral synchro-helix” doors. In other words, instead of just flipping forward, they go out, then rotate forward for a truly alien look. Coolest. Doors. Ever.

It’s a quick car – and that small spoiler on the back helps keep it planted. It exists thanks to Top Gear, which tested the first CCX (and it had an “off” into some tires when their test driver, The Stig, lost it at high speed). The wing was introduced and the car topped their lap chart, although the time was, jokingly, credited to “KoenigseggisseggggnignigsegigisegggnigseggniggseggCCX with Top Gear wing.”

It’s also pretty rare. Only 27 were built and this is one of only eight that are in right-hand drive configuration. It is expected to sell for between $380,000-$460,000, the high-end of that being only about $100,000 less than the price as new. Then again, it only has 1,700 miles on it, so it’s almost new. You can read more here and check out more from RM in London, here.

Update: Sold $397,000.

Walker Electric Delivery Van

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1909 Walker Model 15 Van

For Sale at Hyman Ltd | St. Louis, Missouri

Talk about aerodynamics having come a long way. You can tell this electric delivery van was designed for utility and not comfort because of the solid state tires and big square, featureless body. The entry door is located in a very Isetta-like front-of-the-vehicle position (there’s one at the rear too). How cool.

The Walker Vehicle Company of Chicago, Illinois began producing electric trucks such as this in 1907. They were convenient because they were quiet, easy to operate, and didn’t smoke up the already crowded and polluted streets of cities like New York, where this van was in the service of Hearn’s Department Store.

The van has a 3/4-ton load capacity and with a full set of charged batteries, it can hit speeds up to 15 mph with a range nearing 40 miles from the 3.5 horsepower rear-mounted motor. I’m sure 15 mph in this thing is plenty fast. The interior is immaculate for a 100+ year-old commercial vehicle with varnished wood and a fresh seat. As rare as early commercial vehicles are, early electric commercial vehicles are even rarer. And, strangely, there is at least one other 1909 Walker electric out there.

This one will set you back a hefty $99,500. For more information, click here.

1953 Monterey Woodie Wagon

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1953 Mercury Monterey Station Wagon

Offered by RM Auctions | Grapevine, Texas | October 20, 2012

I think this woodie wagon is way cool. 1953 was the second year for the Mercury Monterey as a stand-alone model (it started as a trim line on the 1950 Mercury Eight). 1953 was the first year for the four-door wagon bodystyle.

Under the hood is a 125 horsepower 4.2-liter flathead V8. I really dig the styling – woodwork on a 1950s wagon is just a solid look. This car was utilitarian by design and by fate. What I mean is that it’s a four-door wagon – fit for a family. Two-door wagons (although this was not offered as such) have a high-survival rate do to their unique style and desirability. Only five Mercury Monterey (four-door) wagons are known to exist (it was the 14th built).

The interior of this car is amazing. It is black and turquoise. Well, instead of talking about it, here’s a picture, tell me this is a color combo that doesn’t blow you away:

Love it. This car is coming from the fairly large Charlie Thomas Collection – you can see the rest of the offerings here – and is expected to sell for between $70,000-$90,000. For more information, click here.

Update: Sold $44,000.

Duesenberg J-468

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1934 Duesenberg Model J LWB Custom Beverly Sedan by Murphy

Offered by Barrett-Jackson | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 19, 2012

This long-wheelbase Model J has a “Beverly Sedan” body from Murphy. I really don’t know what “Beverly” refers to, but it was used on a few Model Js and a number of Cords. If anyone knows, please share.

In any case, this car (engine no. 468), painted in an ostentatious (and, in my opinion, pretty ugly) shade of gold, is one of 12 Murphy Beverly Sedans built. Of course, it is claimed that this is the “finest in existence,” but then again, who would claim that they car they are trying to sell is “meh, maybe the fourth or fifth finest in existence?”

It is being offered as part of Barrett-Jackson’s second-annual “Salon Collection” (it even has its own website) at their Scottsdale auction in January. The car is coming from the Imperial Palace Collection where it has been on display for some time. Barrett-Jackson doesn’t publish pre-sale estimates and it’s hard to guess, as their prices are all over the place. I expect this car to either A. not meet its reserve or B. go for more than it should after the crowd is prodded by being told it’s “way under the money.” Watch and see. You can read more here.

Update: Sold $1,430,000.

Bonhams Preservation Sale Highlights (10/12)

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Bonhams held a really interesting sale at the Simeone Foundation in Philadelphia on October 8, 2012. Many of the cars were unrestored survivors but not offered from the Simeone Foundation itself (unfortunately). And some of them were quite interesting, the most interesting of which, I think, still has to be the Woods Mobilette cyclecar that we featured. It sold for $48,300. Our featured Hahn pickup failed to sell. Top sale went to a one-owner 1973 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona for $357,000.

The “interesting sales” portion of this sale consisted of, well… most of the sale. This 1960 Facel-Vega Excellence Sedan is pretty rare and the price showed it, even in “used-car” condition, at $159,000.

But old cars were the name of the game. And barn finds at that. Check out this 1928 Packard Custom Eight Series 4-43 7-Passenger Touring and how, well, creepy it looks. Love it. It sold for $36,000.

And they got even older still: this 1903 Knox Model C Runabout was the oldest car that sold and it brought $69,000.

This 1917 Crane-Simplex Model 5 Dual-Cowl Victoria had wonderful Phaeton coachwork by Farnham & Nelson and is the type of car people dream about coming across in an old garage somewhere. It has never been restored – just preserved, which was the name of the game here and it’s incredible the kind of cars they found that hadn’t been restored. This one sold for $208,500.

Our two other feature cars both sold: the 1904 Buckmobile Runabout for $46,000 and the 1910 McIntrye High-Wheeler for $37,950. Another car I kind of liked was this 1913 Hupmobile Model 32 convertible. It looks gigantic for being a two-seater. It sold for $32,200.

This barn-fresh 1931 Isotta-Fraschini Tipo 8A with Lancefield Faux-Cabriolet coachwork was offered publicly for the first time since 1961. It sold for $186,500.

Not everything was priced exorbitantly. There were some steals to be had. Were I there, I would have definitely bid on this 1926 Buick Standard Six Model 20 Coupe – and probably right up to its $6,900 sale price.

And there were other cars that were just as attractive – in both style and price. You can check them all out here. In any case, this sale proves that there are people who love cars in original condition – even if that means unsightly rust and/or wear. Over-restored cars are pretty on TV or on the lawn at Pebble Beach. But those cars aren’t any fun and they are completely devoid of personality. Give me an 80+ year old car with scrapes and dings and chipped paint and torn seats over some trailer-queen exotic any day.

Autech Zagato Stelvio

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1991 Autech Zagato Stelvio AZ1

Offered by Coys | Ascot, U.K. | October 13, 2012

I would hate to call a car that has been designed by one of the world’s foremost automotive design houses “bizarre” so I won’t. I’ll call it “Japanese,” as they are known for their love of quirky, boxy cars. Milanese design house Zagato created the aluminium body – which even has the signature Zagato “double bubble” roof, if only so slightly – while Autech, a Nissan-owned performance tuning subsidiary, was behind the rest of the car.

The car is based on a Nissan Leopard (a car America received as the Infiniti M30) and has an Autech-tuned 3.0-liter turbocharged V6 under hood making 320 horsepower. They also tuned the suspension and the frame. The entire car was built by hand and a production run of 200 was scheduled, although only 104 made it out the door.

They were very expensive when first released in 1989, but the price has subsided a little bit, with Coys expecting this to fetch between $38,000-$48,000. This is a very rare car – tell me if you’ve ever seen one let alone even heard of it. You can read more about it here, and check out the rest of Coys auction lineup here.

1958 Coronet

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1958 Coronet Convertible

Offered by Coys | Ascot, U.K. | October 13, 2012

Coronet Cars Ltd. produced the three-wheeled Coronet Convertible from 1957 through 1960. The British have had a thing for three-wheeled cars since, well, pretty much ever. Each has excelled in different areas, these three-wheelers, but few are attractive (okay, the original Morgans are pretty attractive). This one kind of is – especially when compared to things like the Reliant Robin.

It’s powered by a 328cc straight-twin located behind the seat. It’s rear-engined and rear-wheel drive. Somewhere between 250 and 500 were built – but only seven still exist. It is very rare and highly sought after – especially by microcar collectors.

No estimate is available because there really isn’t much of a precedent, as these don’t come up for sale all that often. $20,000-$40,000 would be a decent estimate, I guess. For more information, click here. And to check out more from Coys, click here.

1906 Pope-Waverley

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1906 Pope-Waverley Electric Runabout

Offered by RM Auctions | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 12, 2012

From Albert Augustus Pope’s early automotive manufacturing empire comes this 1906 Pope-Waverely Electric Runabout. Waverely was actually founded in 1899 in Indianapolis by the Indiana Bicycle Company. They began by making electric two-seaters. In 1903, the Pope Motor Car Company scooped up Waverely and changed the name to reflect their new corporate overlords.

This model is a three horsepower model with a 60-volt DC motor. The body is a simple runabout with tiller steering. It also has electric lighting and the older restoration still shows well. The Pope empire crumbled quickly, going bankrupt in 1907. Waverely was spun off as an independent marque again in 1908, but some Pope makes lasted longer – up through 1914.

As electric vehicles become popular once again, cars like this are finding a larger collector fanbase and prices will be going up. The price for this car is expected to be between $60,000-$80,000. For more information, click here. And for the rest of the RM Auctions Hershey lineup, click here.

Update: Sold $60,500.

Stanley Mountain Wagon

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1915 Stanley Model 820 Mountain Wagon

Offered by RM Auctions | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 12, 2012

Need to transport 12 people somewhere and don’t want to drive the same bland, 12-passenger Ford E-Series van as everyone else? Could I interest you in a 12-passenger convertible? There is even one surviving 15-passenger variant. Regardless of how many passengers you can carry, the Stanley Mountain Wagon is one of the coolest cars of all time.

These vehicles were available from 1908 to 1916 and used a 30 horsepower, two-cylinder steam engine. They were used for things like sightseeing tours in Yellowstone National Park. There is one just like this at the National Automobile Museum in Reno, and, although it appears average in size in the picture here – they are massive in real life. The wheelbase is only an inch shorter than that of a Ford Excursion – the veritable limousine among SUVs. And they are tall. When I saw the one in Reno, I became instantly fascinated. I just stood there are stared at it and inspected it – perhaps even creeping onto the gravel beyond where you are supposed to stand. Oops, don’t worry, I didn’t hurt anything.

This one has known ownership since WWII, including some well known and important collections. This is also the only Stanley Model 820 with its original, Stanley-built body – although it was restored a number of years ago. Steam vehicles are really cool to start with, but when you add in a very strange bodystyle like this, it just makes it even cooler. This is expected to sell for between $200,000-$250,000. For more information, click here. And for more from RM at Hershey, click here.

Update: Not sold.

Premier’s 1920 Push-Button Transmission

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1920 Premier Model 6-D Seven-Passenger Touring

Offered by RM Auctions | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 12, 2012

There is something about the way the top folds back on some 1920s-era seven-passenger touring cars that makes them look gigantic. And it is a pretty big car – the wheelbase is 10 inches longer than that of a brand new Chevrolet Tahoe.

Premier was founded in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1903 by George A. Weidely and Harold O. Smith. The corporate name of the company would evolve five different times before it went out of business in 1925.

This big touring car has a 3.4-liter straight six making 65 horsepower. It is also equipped with a Cutler-Hammer electro-magnetic shift transmission. It was essentially a push-button transmission with controls mounted on the steering column. The driver could push the button for the gear they wanted to select and the transmission would execute the shift electronically in one-fifth of a second. A modern Ferrari F1 car can shift in less than 100 milliseconds – making the technology on this Premier seem like Fred Flintstone Formula One. It’s still really cool though (you couldn’t get this technology on a Packard until the 1940s).

This car comes from the collection of John O’Quinn and should sell for between $30,000-$50,000. For more information, click here. And for more from RM at Hershey, click here.

Update: Sold $63,250.