Offered by Auctions America | Burbank, California | August 1-3, 2013
Like many before him and many after, Sterling Edwards made a lot of money in industry but loved cars and wanted to build the perfect one. Well, very few have actually succeeded doing that (Ferruccio Lamborghini is about the only one who comes to mind. Horacio Pagani, I guess, too) and many have lost more money than they’ve made.
Anyway, he built a car called the R-26, which was a race car originally and a road car later. It was not a sales success. His second try was the Edwards America. He took a Mercury chassis and hung a lightweight, attractive, Italian-looking fiberglass body on it and stuffed a V-8 under the hood. This car has a 5.2-liter V-8, making 205 horsepower.
Unfortunately, Edwards’ timing was off and he couldn’t compete with the Corvette or the Thunderbird (much less both). Only six Americas were built and this is believed to be car #2. It has known ownership history and was repaired from a fire many years ago. It shows some signs of age, but it’s super rare and should be worth about $100,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Auctions America’s lineup in Burbank, California.
1938 Delage D8-120 Aerosport by LeTourneur & Marchand
Offered by Mecum | Monterey, California | August 17, 2013
I’ve spoken before of the “French D’s” – highly-desirable pre-war French automobile marques that are all right next to each other alphabetically – but this is the first Delage we’ve featured. Delage was founded in 1905 by Louis Delage and it was acquired by rival Delahaye in 1935.
The D8-120 was the first Delage automobile designed and produced under Delahaye ownership. It was the only eight-cylinder car offered by either make. The engine is a 4.7-liter straight-eight making 115 horsepower. It was mounted on a Delahaye chassis and sent off to a French coachbuilder – in this case, LeTourneur & Marchand.
This body design ranks among the finest French designs of the 1930s and the most coveted among Delages. Only 12 were built (this is car #11) and only eight remain today. It has full ownership history – including wartime – and was in the same hands from 1957 until 2013. The most recent restoration was carried out in 1999. This is a million-dollar car. Click here for more info and photos and here for more from Mecum in Monterey.
Update: Not sold (high bid of $2,400,000)
Update: Not sold, Mecum Monterey 2014 high bid of $2,300,000.
Offered by Barrett-Jackson | Reno, Nevada | August, 8, 2013
By the mid-1950s, Studebaker’s outlook was dim. Ford and GM were pulling away fast and labor costs and quality issues were dragging Studebaker toward the grave. They merged with Packard (technically, Packard acquired Studebaker) but all that did was kill Packard off.
Cash-strapped but pushing forward, Studebaker invested what it could into redesigning their light truck line (which had gone unchanged for more than 10 years). Working within limits, they took their compact car, the Lark, cut it in half and designed a truck bed behind the passenger compartment and mounted it on a truck chassis. You can tell that’s what happened, because the truck bed doesn’t really flow into the body at all. Regardless, it’s not a bad truck.
A 2.8-liter straight-six was the base engine. It made 90 horsepower. Even though this particular truck is a “Champ Deluxe”, it carries the base engine. It’s described as a “rust-fee Arizona truck” (rust-free and post-war Studebakers being a rare combo) but it has to have been restored. The Champ was the first truck with a sliding rear window – but this novel new idea would not save Studebaker. In December of 1963, their South Bend, Indiana plant was closed and the Champ was no more. Studebaker soldiered on until the end of 1966, but it was all over after that. This is a $15,000-$30,000 truck. Click here for more and here for the rest of the inaugural lineup of Barrett-Jackson’s Reno sale.
As you may or may not have heard, Bonhams set a world record for “Most Expensive Car Sold at Auction” yesterday during what was an overall incredible sale. The record went to our featured 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196R Formula 1 race car that was driven to race victories by Juan Manual Fangio. It brought an incredible, but not unpredicted, $29,614,692. The second-highest selling car was also one of our feature cars, the 1955 Maserati 300S. It sold for $6,093,965. The next highest-selling car after that was this 1934 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Le Mans Tourer which went for $2,878,901.
The next-highest selling car was our final feature car (talk about picking the winners!). It was “Mathilda” – a Lagonda LG45 Rapide. It sold for $932,942. The remaining most interesting car easily goes to this 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Sports Saloon (I love those chunky tires). It brought $797,571. Click here for full results and the big list of other $100,000+ sales and stream of beautiful old cars.
When Albert Locke took control of his father and uncle’s company in Salem, Massachusetts, around the turn of the century, he decided he wanted to do more than just build parts for steam engines. The Locke Regulator Company was getting into the car business.
In 1902, they launched their little runabout (designed in-house by Albert himself) that uses a straight-twin steam engine making six horsepower. Most Puritans were known to be ahead of their time (the cars, not the people) by featuring two things that would become standard on automobiles: a steering wheel and a foot throttle. However, this car has tiller steering. It could go 100 miles on one tank of water and could reach 20 mph.
Unfortunately, the company didn’t last in the car business for long, with production ceasing the following year in 1903. As rare as that makes it, surprisingly, there is at least one other Puritan steam car in England. This one isn’t exactly in concours-level shape, but it is usable – which is the most important thing. Price is not listed but you can check out more here.
Update: Not sold, H&H Auctions Duxford, Fall 2014.
Offered by H&H Auctions | Buxton, U.K. | July 24, 2013
The Jensen CV8 was a four-seat sports car – or Grand Tourer – introduced in 1962. I’m not 100% sure what the CV8 name stands for, but the car did use a Chrysler V-8 (Chrysler V–8 – maybe?). Namely, this car uses a 6.3-liter V-8 (known as a 383 in the States). It makes 330 horsepower – which makes this car pretty powerful if you think about it.
The styling, love it or hate it, has a distinct look with the four headlights that can be viewed as either looking at you or giving you a really weird stare. Even if it’s slightly odd looking, I really like it. And it was one of the fastest GT cars of the period, with a top speed of around 136 mph and a big V8 (most British cars of the era used itty-bitty four-cylinder engines or straight-sixes).
Only 500 CV8s were built in total. This one was in storage from 1988 until last year when it was freshened and put into running condition. It is also one of the last 10 examples of the model built making it a very late car. And it’s rather pleasant looking in California Sage paint. It is expected to sell for between $42,000-$48,500. Click here for more info and here for the rest of H&H’s Pavilion Gardens auction lineup.
Offered by Mecum | Monterey, California | August 17, 2013
There are a few racing liveries that really stand out above others. Among them: Gulf, Martini and – of course – John Player Special. The tobacco company started sponsoring Lotus Formula One cars in 1968. This black and gold paint scheme would be a part of F1 through the 1986 season and the current Lotus F1 team uses the colors – albeit with different sponsors.
The Lotus 94T was raced at the end of the 1983 Formula One season without much success (a lone podium and many retirements). It was competitive, but not great. For 1984, Lotus introduced the 95T. It was powered by a Renault-Gordini 1.5-liter twin-turbocharged V-6. In race trim it made about 700 horsepower. For qualifying, that number was bumped up over 1,100! Four cars were built for that season to share between Lotus drivers Nigel Mansell and Elio de Angelis.
This car was driven by Mansell and includes the following race results (I can’t find if Mansell drove this particular car at more races than this or not):
1984 Monaco Grand Prix – 13th (with Nigel Mansell)
1984 Dallas Grand Prix – 6th, from first career pole (with Mansell)
It has since been retrofitted to accept computer input, making it easy to start and drive today (for historic events and parade laps). This is a Turbo Era F1 car that was raced by an F1 Champion. It’s also from one of the racing’s most storied manufacturers and carries one of racing’s most emblematic paint schemes. It can be yours for a price they won’t estimate. Click here for more info and here for more from Mecum in California.
Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Silverstone, U.K. | July 27, 2013
The Lotus 340 was based on the first generation of the Lotus Elise. They were built in 2000 and offered for the 2000 and 2001 model years (although there is an unusually-titled 2004 offered alongside this car at this sale).
So why is it such a special edition? Because look at the thing, that’s why. There is no roof. There are no doors. I hope it’s sunny when you go for a drive. Short of an Ariel Atom, have you seen something so out there? I’m pretty sure they aren’t even road-legal in the U.S. (although they are in the U.K.). Most see track duty and many probably just sit in collections. Only 340 were made.
The engine is a 1.8-liter straight-four making either 177 or 187 horsepower, depending on the extra Lotus goodies you have installed. Top speed is 130 mph but it will hit 62 mph in 4.4 seconds – it only weighs 1,550 pounds. The price was about $40,000 brand new, and this one is expected to sell for between $35,000-$40,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Silverstone’s sale.
Offered by RM Auctions | Plymouth, Michigan | July 27, 2013
This beautiful Lincoln Model K is from the first year of K-Series production, 1931. The cars would be made through 1939 and offered for the beginning of the 1940 model year. All cars built in the first year were offered with the 145 inch long wheelbase.
The engine was an improved version of Henry Leland’s original 6.3-liter V8 that was introduced 10 years prior. It made 120 horsepower and would be replaced for 1932. The body on this thing is gorgeous though. It’s a dual-cowl phaeton built and designed by Lincoln and it very much rivals some of the great coachbuilt bodies of the era.
This car was restored for the first time in 1975 and again in 2005. It was acquired by the current owners shortly thereafter and expertly maintained since. It has been shown at numerous shows and has only covered 23 miles since its restoration (!). I understand show cars and why they are so babied, but this thing begs to be driven. It’s amazing sitting still and cars always look (and sound and smell) better in motion. It is expected to sell for between $125,000-$175,000. Click here for more info and here for more from RM at St. John’s.
Okay, so it’s been about a month since the 2013 Ault Park Concours d’Elegance (I’ve been busy!) was held in Cincinnati’s beautiful Ault Park. I was at the show bright and early and it was great. The weather was perfect and the rain held off until just after the show had completed (by literally minutes). While I managed to photograph every car on the show grounds, I’ll only show you some of the highlights here. I even managed to capture some of them on video.
Best in Show went to this 1938 Steyr 220 Special Roadster. I think most people knew going into the show that this was going to be the major award winner.
If this website were to give out an award for something – it would undoubtedly have gone to this 1911 Thomas Flyer K6-70 Flyabout. I don’t know if you’ve ever had the chance to hear a starter on a 1911 Thomas Flyer, but I highly recommend trying to get the opportunity. It is a noise. Watching this thing being driven was one of my favorite points of the show. I’ll post video below!
Hands down the most popular car at this year’s show was the Goldfinger Aston Martin. This was the DB5 that was actually used in two James Bond films: Thunderball and Goldfinger. The best part? It was just sitting there so you could get up close and personal with it AND the owner was driving it around. You can see video of it here.
One of my other favorite cars was perhaps the most infamous of the show. It is a 1978 Monteverdi 375/4 High Speed Sedan. The High Speed 375/4 was built for a few years in very limited numbers. After production wrapped, the Royal Family of Qatar wanted a sedan version, so Peter Monteverdi built seven of them. This is one of those cars. It was exquisite and I took more photos of it than any other car there. Then, while lining up for awards, the owner (who brought the car here from Germany) was trying to keep the car running by revving the throttle. His foot slipped off the brake (or something) and he peeled out and smashed into the back of a McLaren MP4-12C Spider. Luckily no one was hurt and the McLaren will be fine. This thing will need slightly more repairs.
Some other cool cars included this 1908 Locomobile Model I 7-Passenger Touring, the restoration of which, concluded at something like 4 a.m. of show day.
This 1955 Cadillac Custom Viewmaster was one of seven built locally by Hess & Eisenhardt and was really cool as you rarely ever see a Cadillac wagon.
From the “you’ve got to be kidding” category: a 1996 Vector M12. This was the auto show car first displayed by the company and is painted in some hideously patriotic paint scheme. I couldn’t believe where the car was from – a small town not far from where I live and a place you definitely would not associate with supercars (more like beat-up pickup trucks and Ford Aerostars).
Two of the featured marques this year were Corvette and Porsche. There were some awesome Corvette race cars on the field but the most valuable has to be this 1957 Corvette SS Concept Car. I believe it resides at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway museum.
There were two Porsches that stood out (to me) above all others. First, this 1964 904 Carrera GTS:
And second, this 1955 550 1500RS Spyder. This car is so small but it’s worth about $3 million. And the sound! The engine is about the size of a lunchbox but it packs a punch. I couldn’t believe how loud and how enthralling the noise actually was.
Finally, I have to give a shout-out to this car. It is the best-looking MGA (it’s a 1959) I have ever seen and this color is amazing in person. I talked to the owner and he said that something like 1% (or less) of MGAs were painted this color back in the day but no one wanted them so dealers sprayed them red and they drove off the lot. Only a fraction of the cars were sold without the repaint and those who bought them must be quite proud today because the combination of this soft teal and whitewall tires is outstanding.
Be sure to check out some of our videos from the show at our YouTube channel! These cars are ever better then they are in-motion and making noise. Sorry I couldn’t capture the smells for you too! And check the show’s website here for more winners.
