Monthly Archives: June 2015

Bruneau Quadricycle

Posted on by
Reply

1899 Bruneau Quadricycle

Offered by Osenat | Fontainebleau, France | June 14, 2015

Photo - Osenat
Photo – Osenat

Bruneau is a very rare manufacturer of early motorcycles, tricycles, and but a handful of quadricycles. Based in Tours, France, very little is known about this marque other than where they were located and what they built. The company existed as early as 1899 and lasted at least up until the outbreak of WWI.

This car is powered by the ubiquitous De Dion single-cylinder engine and features a vis-à-vis seating arrangement. The family of the original owner of this vehicle sold it to the current owner in the 1960s. This is a two-owner car from 1899. It is thought only three of these were built and this is the only one left. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $45,600.

Update: Sold, Bonhams London-to-Brighton 2019, $53,617.

Phébus Quadricycle

Posted on by
Reply

1901 Phébus Quadricycle

Offered by Osenat | Fontainebleau, France | June 14, 2015

Photo - Osenat
Photo – Osenat

Noé Boyer was the director of a branch of Clément-Gladiator – Noé Boyer et Cie – and it would appear that his company built eerily similar quadricycles as those that Clément was putting out. It’s got a bicycle seat in the rear for the driver and the passenger sits in the compartment out front… to act as both windshield and front bumper.

This is powered by a single-cylinder De Dion engine. Phébus built quadricycles up to 1903, when they stopped producing vehicles altogether. But at the same time these primitive cars were on sale, the company was also selling the more traditional Phébus-Aster. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $59,280.

Clément Tricycle

Posted on by
Reply

1902 Clément Tricycle

Offered by Osenat | Fontainebleau, France | June 14, 2015

Photo - Osenat

Photo – Osenat

Clément is a fairly well-known brand among early automobiles. We’ve documented the tangled history of some of Adolphe Clément-Bayard’s companies before and this is kind of a different branch. He founded Clément cycles in 1878 to build bicycles. Motorized bicycles and tricycles came in 1902 after he merged with Gladiator.

This tricycle is powered by a single-cylinder De Dion engine and it is a runner. Use it in the next London-to-Brighton run, if you wish. Clément Cycles morphed into part of Clément-Bayard in 1903 and vehicles like this pretty much disappeared from the automotive landscape shortly thereafter. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $39,900.

Three Turn-of-the-Century Cars

Posted on by
Reply

Three Veteran Automobiles

Offered by Osenat | Fontainebleau, France | June 14, 2015

1899 Bruneau Quadricycle

Photo - Osenat

Photo – Osenat

Bruneau is a very rare manufacturer of early motorcycles, tricycles, and but a handful of quadricycles. Based in Tours, France, very little is known about this marque other than where they were located and what they built. The company existed as early as 1899 and lasted at least up until the outbreak of WWI.

This car is powered by the ubiquitous De Dion single-cylinder engine and features a vis-à-vis seating arrangement. The family of the original owner of this vehicle sold it to the current owner in the 1960s. This is a two-owner car from 1899. It is thought only three of these were built and this is the only one left. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $45,600.

1901 Phébus Quadricycle

Photo - Osenat

Photo – Osenat

Noé Boyer was the director of a branch of Clément-Gladiator – Noé Boyer et Cie – and it would appear that his company built eerily similar quadricycles as those that Clément was putting out. It’s got a bicycle seat in the rear for the driver and the passenger sits in the compartment out front… to act as both windshield and front bumper.

This is powered by a single-cylinder De Dion engine. Phébus built quadricycles up to 1903, when they stopped producing vehicles altogether. But at the same time these primitive cars were on sale, the company was also selling the more traditional Phébus-Aster. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $59,280.

1902 Clément Tricycle

Photo - Osenat

Photo – Osenat

Clément is a fairly well-known brand among early automobiles. We’ve documented the tangled history of some of Adolphe Clément-Bayard’s companies before and this is kind of a different branch. He founded Clément cycles in 1878 to build bicycles. Motorized bicycles and tricycles came in 1902 after he merged with Gladiator.

This tricycle is powered by a single-cylinder De Dion engine and it is a runner. Use it in the next London-to-Brighton run, if you wish. Clément Cycles morphed into part of Clément-Bayard in 1903 and vehicles like this pretty much disappeared from the automotive landscape shortly thereafter. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $39,900.

1972 AAR Eagle

Posted on by
1

1972 AAR Eagle 7200

Offered by Motostalgia | Indianapolis, Indiana | June 12, 2015

Photo - Motostalgia

Photo – Motostalgia

Dan Gurney’s All American Racers (AAR) built some amazing Indy cars an F1 racers back in the day. This STP-liveried Indy Car looks amazing – and it’s not just the paint job. It represents classic Indy style. To borrow the old cliché, It looks like it’s going 200 mph just sitting there.

The engine is a turbocharged 2.6-liter Drake-Offenhauser straight-four making 750 horsepower. That is more than today’s Indy Cars. This particular car notched three wins with Wally Dallenbach in 1973 and it’s Indy history includes:

  • 1973 Indy 500 – 16th (with Graham McRae)
  • 1974 Indy 500 – 13th, DNF (with Bill Simpson)
  • 1975 Indy 500 – DNQ (with George Follmer)
  • 1976 Indy 500 – 23rd (with Billy Scott)
  • 1977 Indy 500 – DNQ (with John Martin)
  • 1978 Indy 500 – DNQ (with John Martin)
  • 1979 Indy 500 – DNQ (with Billy Scott)

Interestingly, this was also the very car that Roger Mears made his Indy Car debut in, finishing 6th at California in 1978. In total, 29 of these 7200s were built. This one has been completely restored and has been on display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum and the Riverside International Automotive Museum. It sold at an RM sale last August for $341,000 and is offered now with an estimate between $375,000-$435,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Datsun 1600 Roadster

Posted on by
Reply

1970 Datsun 1600 Roadster

Offered by Mecum | Seattle, Washington | June 5-6, 2015

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

Some old Japanese cars are becoming very collectible. But then there are those that even Joe Car Guy car afford – and that’s what this is. Generally, there aren’t Japanese cars from before about 1960, so the hottest ones right now are from the late ’60s and early ’70s.

The Datsun 1600 was marketed as the Datsun Fairlady 1600 in its home market of Japan. Fairlady was (and still is) not a term that Nissan has really ever used on export models. The 1600 was built between 1965 and the beginning of 1970, making this a very late example. It is powered by a 1.6-liter straight-four making 95 horsepower. And it’s pretty light.

This car is actually very nice and is claimed to have 59,610 original miles, which seems hard to prove. It has great Minilite-style wheels, chrome bumpers, and driving lights. Think of this as a less-common MGB. It’s light and fairly quick. It would be a lot of fun. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Mecum’s auction lineup.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $12,000.

Replicar Cursor

Posted on by
Reply

1985 Replicar Cursor

Offered by Brightwells | Leominster, U.K. | June 10, 2015

Photo - Brightwells

Photo – Brightwells

First off, I’d like to point out that this car is called the Cursor, which is funny because it kind of looks like a computer mouse… with eyes. And three wheels. Yes, this is a three-wheeler and it was built by Replicar Limited of Kent.

It has a fiberglass body and a tubular steel chassis. The engine is a 49cc single-cylinder from a Suzuki moped that drives the lone rear wheel. Top speed is about 26 mph. Most of the cars were single-seaters, although there were less than 10 two-seaters built as well. I’m pretty sure you can technically register this as a moped in the U.K.

Production lasted from 1985 through 1987 with just over 100 built. It’s perfect for today, getting 90 mpg. There are actually two of these in this sale and they both with likely come cheap. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $3,500.

Peerless GT

Posted on by
2

1959 Peerless GT

Offered by Russo & Steele | Newport Beach, California | June 5-7, 2015

Photo - Russo & Steele

Photo – Russo & Steele

The Peerless GT is a very attractive four-seat grand tourer that was built in limited numbers in the U.K. between 1957 and 1960. It was the only car Peerless ever built, even though the company could trace its roots back to World War I, when they serviced American Peerless trucks.

It’s a fiberglass body and uses the drivetrain components from a Triumph TR3. The engine is a 2.0-liter straight-four making 100 horsepower, so it slightly out-powers the TR3. Some of these were used in racing and there was even a factory Le Mans effort in 1958. When Peerless folded in 1960, the car lived on through 1962 as the Warwick GT.

Only about 325 Peerless GTs were built. They certainly aren’t common but they are around. Seriously, this is a pretty car, isn’t it? Even if it’s a little Aston Martin-ish, it’s still distinct. $45,000 will buy you the best one around. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.