Terraplane Pickup

1937 Terraplane Series 70 Pickup

Offered by Mecum | Austin, Texas | December 12-13, 2014

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

Terraplane was both a model built by Hudson and an entire sub-brand, depending on the year. In ’37 they were technically just Terraplanes, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see them badged as Hudsons as well.

Here’s how the Terraplane branding went down:

1932 through 1933: Essex-Terraplane
1934 through 1937: Terraplane
1938: Hudson-Terraplane

Now you know.

The engine in this one is a 3.5-liter straight-six making 96 horsepower. I’ve seen some of these trucks in person before and they are sharp. I’ve always been a Hudson fan and their sub-brand ranges were just as interesting as the cars they called their own. You can see more here and see more from Mecum here.

Update: Sold $45,000.

Three Pre-War American Pickups

Kisber Vintage Truck Collection

Offered by Mecum | Austin, Texas | December 12-13, 2014


 1937 Studebaker J5 Express Coupe Pickup

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

Michael Kisber of Memphis, Tennessee, had a great collection of classic American pickups. This 1937 Studebaker J5 is one very pretty truck. The J5 was new for 1937 and it was a new take on the pickup truck: instead of  pure utility, they added some luxury and style.

The engine is a 3.6-liter straight-six making 85 horsepower. The Coupe Express was available through 1939. About 3,000 of the approximately 5,000 examples built were constructed in 1937. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $72,000.


1939 Willys Series 38 Pickup

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

John North Willys started building cars in 1908 and the Willys name has had a long and interesting history. It helped win WWII for the Allied powers and later became part of Kaiser. It lives on today as the Jeep brand.

The engine here is a 2.2-liter four-cylinder making 61 horsepower. You really don’t see examples of this truck around anywhere. Ever. You rarely even see Willys models from the 30s at all. It’s definitely cool. Click here for more.

Update: Sold $40,000.


1937 Terraplane Series 70 Pickup

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

Terraplane was both a model built by Hudson and an entire sub-brand, depending on the year. In ’37 they were technically just Terraplanes, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see them badged as Hudsons as well.

Here’s how the Terraplane branding went down:

1932 through 1933: Essex-Terraplane
1934 through 1937: Terraplane
1938: Hudson-Terraplane

Now you know.

The engine in this one is a 3.5-liter straight-six making 96 horsepower. I’ve seen some of these trucks in person before and they are sharp. I’ve always been a Hudson fan and their sub-brand ranges were just as interesting as the cars they called their own. You can see more here and see more from Mecum here.

Update: Sold $45,000.

November 2014 Auction Recap, Pt. II

First up here is Silverstone Auctions’ NEC Classic Motor Show sale. Our featured Mercedes CLK DTM sold for $196,650. The top sale was this 1994 Jaguar XJ220 formerly owned by the royal family of Brunei. Check out full results here.

Photo - Silverstone Auctions

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

Osenat’s sale in Lyon had two cars that tied for the top sale – both at $120,280. First, this 1965 Alfa Romeo 1600 SS

Photo - Osenat

Photo – Osenat

…and the other was this 1972 Maserati Bora.

Photo - Osenat

Photo – Osenat

Our featured Aries B4B sold for $14,880 while the Traction Avant Cabriolet failed to sell. Check out full results here. The third auction we’re covering in this rundown is RM’s sale of the Sam Pack Collection where this 1967 Shelby Cobra 427 Roadster was the top sale for $1,292,500.

Photo - RM Auctions

Photo – RM Auctions

We featured six concept cars from the Ford Motor Company that were offered in this sale. The top seller was, surprisingly, the Ford Sport Trac Adrenalin Concept which more than doubled the high end of its estimate, selling for $173,250. At the other end of things, the Ford Focus Kona Wagon brought $8,250. In the middle was the Lincoln MKS Concept for $27,500.

The two Thunderbird Prototypes sold – the Sports Roadster for $55,000 and the Supercharged for $57,750. The T-Bird-based Lincoln Mark X brought $129,250. Click here for full results. Next up, Mecum’s Anaheim sale. The #1 seller, far and away, was this 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB Short Nose that brought $2,150,000.

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

Our featured Jowett Jupiter sold for $26,000. Check out full results here. Finally, Bonhams’ Bond Street sale where our featured Porsche 908/02 was the top sale at $3,437,744. Two of our feature cars failed to sell: the Mercedes-Simplex and the Benetton-Ford. Interesting sales were topped by the huge price ($495,645) paid for this spotless 1929 Brough Superior SS100.

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

The Fiat-Abarth racing prototype sold for $213,767 and the Talbot Alpine Racer brought an impressive $2,169,294. Click here for full results.

Albion Delivery Van

1924 Albion Type 24 30CWT Delivery Van

Offered by Bonhams | Oxford, U.K. | December 7, 2014

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Albion is a rare Scottish-built automobile that was founded in 1899 by Thomas Blackwood Murray and Norman Osborne Fulton. In 1951 the company was acquired by Leyland but passenger car production had ceased in 1915. Commercial vehicles lasted until 1980.

The Albion Type 24 was built between 1924 and 1931 and was a mainstay of grocery delivery companies throughout the 1920s. The engine is a 3.9-liter straight-four. Albion vehicles were function-first: the cab is a bench seat with a steering wheel and brake and hardly any instruments. The rear compartment looks wonderful with its beautifully restored wood.

There’s a pretty good commercial vehicle collector community in the U.K. and this truck is well known in that arena. It’s a rare example of this kind of Albion and it can be yours for between $36,000-$44,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Bonhams’ lineup.

Update: Sold $55,919.

Update: Sold, H&H November 2021, $34,488

Bristol 411

1971 Bristol 411 Series II Coupe

Offered by Bonhams | Oxford, U.K. | December 7, 2014

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Bristol Cars has been around since the end of World War II, a spin-off of the Bristol Aeroplane Company. They’ve built low-volume luxury sports sedans and coupes for over 60 years. They went bankrupt in 2011, but were purchased and are back in business.

The 411 was the successor to the 410 and was built in small amounts between 1969 and 1974 in 5 Series. Series II cars differed from Series I in that they had a self-leveling suspension. The engine was a 6.3-liter V-8 but the owner of this car had it replaced with a Chrysler 7.2-liter V-8, fitted by the factory. It makes 325 horsepower.

This car has been owned by a Bristol Owners Club member for 20 years. The engine was rebuilt in his care and the paint is a little over a year old. Bristols have always been handbuilt cars and they only made 287 of the 411 across all series. This one should sell for between $63,000-$71,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Withdrawn.

Diatto Sports

1919 Diatto Tipo 4DA Sports

Offered by Bonhams | Oxford, U.K. | December 7, 2014

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Guglielmo Diatto was a carriage maker in Turin, founding his company in 1835. He served a range of wealthy clientele. It was Guglielmo’s grandsons who saw what the automobile offered their business and they began building Clement-Bayards under license in 1905. By 1909 they were designing their own cars.

Europe saw a massive disruption of automobile production between 1914 and 1919 due to the Great War, but for some companies, production was able to resume quickly upon war’s end in 1919. Diatto was among these swift companies and they introduced the Tipo 4DA that year. It uses a 2.7-liter straight-four making 25 horsepower.

This particular car was delivered new to Australia and bodied locally. By 1940, the car had been disassembled and boxed up. It wasn’t  until 1990 that it was sent to England and put back together and restored. It’s a nice, sporty car from the teens that is great for hillclimbs. It should sell for between $39,000-$47,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $45,096.

Mauck MSV

1999 Mauck MSV 1120S

Offered by Mecum | Kansas City, Missouri | December 4-6, 2014

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

Uh, what? Basically I was looking through Mecum’s Kansas City catalog going “What’s the most interesting thing in here?” Well this Mauck MSV stole the show in that regard.

Mauck Special Vehicles was an Ohio-based vehicle manufacturer founded by Andy Mauck in the mid-1990s. The MSV 1120S was their prime offering and it was expensive when new, costing over $200,000. It’s essentially a bus, I guess, and it has McLaren F1-like butterfly doors.

Two engines were offered: a 7.4-liter V-8 or a 5.9-liter straight-six diesel. Many of the parts were bought from Ford and GM making repairs much less expensive. Everything else was pretty much customized. The interior of this thing looks like a private jet.

Between 1996 and 1999, just over 100 of these were built, many of them having been shipped overseas or sold to celebrities. Some less decked out versions served as handicapped accessible vans for municipalities in the U.S. Whatever your take on this thing is, you must admit it’s at least interesting. Check out more pictures here and see more from Mecum in Kansas City here.

Update: Sold $50,000.

1911 Talbot Tourer

1911 Talbot Type M 15HP Roi-des-Belges Tourer

Offered by H&H Auctions | Droitwich Spa, England | December 3, 2014

Photo - H&H Auctions

Photo – H&H Auctions

This is a very big, very attractive old tourer from the British Talbot. Talbot began producing cars of their own design in 1906, having been assembling and selling French-designed cars since 1904 (since 1903 if you count the Clement-Talbot brand).

The engine is a 3.0-liter straight-four rated at 15 horsepower. The body shows nicely and it looks to be an older restoration (I say that because the interior looks really nice and there’s no way that leather is original).

This particular car was sold new in Australia and the Roi-des-Belges body was constructed locally by Isaac Phizackerley – not exactly a household name, but he did very nice work on this large and imposing early automobile. It can be yours for between $78,500-$95,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $88,583.