Monthly Archives: August 2015

1906 Jewell

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1906 Jewell Model C Runabout

Offered by Worldwide Auctioneers | Auburn, Indiana | September 5, 2015

Photo - Worldwide Auctioneers

Photo – Worldwide Auctioneers

The Jewell was a product of the Forest City Motor Car Company of Cleveland, Ohio. After the first year of production (1906, which didn’t go so well), the company moved to Massillon, Ohio, and renamed themselves “Jewel.”

This light runabout is either a Model B or Model C (it is listed in the catalog as “Runabout”). The difference was that the Model C had a top and while this is more of an umbrella, I’m considering it a “top” because I don’t see how a convertible top would be possible on this high-wheeler-esque design. I will, however, admit to liking the Oklahoma!-like parasol.

The engine is a single-cylinder making eight horsepower. It is one of three known with tiller steering (of Jewell or Jewel) of about 1,000 total cars produced by the company over their short lifespan (Jewel disappeared after 1909). And it sports a very nice restoration. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $29,700.

Duesenberg J-394

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1931 Duesenberg Model J Tourster

Offered by Auctions America | Auburn, Indiana | September 3, 2015

Photo - Auctions America

Photo – Auctions America

There was a time when Duesenbergs were just used cars. Some people knew the value of them, but from about the outbreak of WWII through the early 1970s, these were just big, old cars. Only in the past 40 years have they really become known as the pinnacle of automotive achievement.

Fortunately, there were people who knew this all along and hoarded the things in fields and barns, protecting them. Some of the bodies were lost along the way, but many of the engines survived. This car has a genuine Model J 6.9-liter straight-eight making 265 horsepower. The engine number, 394, is listed as “renumbered.” But it is a true engine.

The chassis has been “remanufactured” (and we don’t know if that means it’s one of the replica chassis or just built from scratch). The current owner has owned this car for many years and, as you can tell, it has been his project car. He basically took one of those engines that survived and decided to get it back on the road. Heroic.

The body is actually a Tourster replica that was built much more recently and is not an authentic Derham Tourster, a car very desirable and expensive. This car might look a little awkward but it’s still a work in progress with original parts mixed in with those that have been remanufactured (the interior is gorgeous by the way). This is a great way to get a Duesenberg without paying “full” price. It should bring between $275,000-$350,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $290,000.

Aston Martin Sportsman

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1996 Aston Martin V8 Sportsman Shooting Brake

Offered by Bonhams | Chantilly, France | September 5, 2015

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Aston Martin has a great history of wagons – err… Shooting Brakes. A lot of the cars built earlier in Aston’s history were aftermarket jobs by outside coachbuilders. Not this thing. It was converted by Aston Martin themselves.

This car started life as a 1996 V8 Coupe, which is what the Virage was called from 1996 through 2000. Only 101 V8 Coupes were built. And only two were turned into wagons. The V8 Coupe was powered by a 5.3-liter V-8 making 330 horsepower.

This is a two owner car from new, with the current owner having used the car for hunting. I would presume it is fox or quail hunting or something as nothing could be more European. This is the last (or at least, most recent) Aston Martin Shooting Brake and it’s really cool. It should bring between $380,000-$600,000. Click here for more info and here for more form this sale.

Update: Not sold.

EB110 Super Sport

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1995 Bugatti EB110 SS

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | London, U.K. | September 7, 2015

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

This is one of the best super cars ever. It has the looks, it has the name, and it certainly has the speed. Romano Artioli’s Bugatti took shape in 1991 when production of the EB110 started in Italy. The original, “base” EB110 GT lacked the rear wing, as far as styling cues go. But the real difference was the power unit.

The Super Sport packs a punch with its quad-turbocharged 3.5-liter V-12 making 610 horsepower (a 50 horsepower bump over the GT). This put it right there with the McLaren F1 in terms of 1990s horsepower superiority. Top speed is an insane 216 mph. It can hit 60 in 3.2 seconds – which is still impressive 20 years later.

But the best thing has to be the looks. It just screams “super car” with proper scissor doors and bright yellow paint. It’s all around classic super car design. Bugatti would go broke in 1995 after just 33 EB110 SSs had been built – for a total count of 139 EB110s.

This is one of the last built and has had two owners since new, with the first being in Japan. RM seems to always find at least one fantastic super car for their London sale and it’s not going to get much better than this. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $965,888.

Intermeccanica Torino

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1968 Intermeccanica Torino Spyder

Offered by Auctions America | Auburn, Indiana | September 2-6, 2015

Photo - Auctions America

Photo – Auctions America

We’ve featured a couple of Intermeccanica’s cars before and neither of those two really look all that different from this one with the exception that this is a rag top. Intermeccanica was founded in Torino by Frank Reisner in 1959. Since 1981 they company has been based in Vancouver and now specialize in replicas.

But in the late-1960s they were churning out sporty Italian coupes and convertibles, like this Torino. The Torino name was short-lived because Ford protested and the name was changed to Italia. The Torino was new for 1968 and lasted (as the Italia) through 1973. It is powered by a 4.7-liter Ford V-8 making 225 horsepower. The body is hand-crafted steel and the whole car will do 155 mph.

Total production of Torino and Italia Spyders number around 400. This car supposedly escaped the factory badged as a Torino when it should’ve had Italia badges and is thus the “only known” 1968 Torino Spyder. At any rate, these are actually really nice, Italian sports cars from the 1960s/1970s. And they’re rare. This one should bring between $100,000-$140,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $159,500.

The 3rd Place Car from the 3rd Race at Le Mans

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1925 Lorraine-Dietrich B3-6 Le Mans Torpedo Sport

Offered by Bonhams | Chantilly, France | September 5, 2015

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

At one time, Lorraine-Dietrich shared as many 24 Hours of Le Mans victories as did Bentley (actually, they won it two years in a row, so they had more victories than did Bentley. And Porsche. And Audi. Combined). Sure, that year was 1925, the year in which this car competed – and its sister car won – the famed 24 hour race. It was the event’s third such running. Lorraine-Dietrich could trace its automotive roots back to 1896. Their last cars were made in 1935.

The model is the 15CV B3-6 which uses a 3.5-liter straight-six making somewhere from 85 to 100 horsepower. This was a factory Lorraine-Dietrich race car and its race history includes the following:

  • 1925 24 Hours of Le Mans – 3rd (with Henry Stalter and Edouard Brisson)
  • 1925 24 Hours of Spa – 5th (with Stalter and Brisson)

So, a very successful, early racer that continued racing with the factory through 1926 and was still competitive a decade later in the hands of privateers. Strangely, in 1949, the car was taken apart and used as farm equipment, but thankfully it was rescued and restored.

The restoration was completed in 1997 but it still looks great. Imagine how fun this would be at historic racing events. It’s entirely unassuming – unless you knew, you’d never be able to guess that this thing finished on the podium at Le Mans. It should bring somewhere in the huge range of $650,000-$1,100,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

August 2015 Auction Highlights, Pt. I

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We now move into August, which, of course, means Pebble Beach. But first we head a little inland to Reno, Nevada for Barrett-Jackson’s sale where seemingly everything was in some way a “custom” except this, the top seller 1967 Chevrolet Corvette 427/435 Convertible which brought $214,500. Complete results can be found here.

Photo - Barrett-Jackson

Photo – Barrett-Jackson

Of the Pebble Beach sales, Bonhams is the first up in our rundown. All of our feature cars sold with the Ferrari 212 Cabriolet being the biggest money maker, at $2,200,000. The Veritas was next at $907,500. The top seller overall was this 1959 Ferrari 250 GT Competizione Alloy Berlinetta for $8,525,000.

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

The cool American Fiat sold for $130,000. Our two featured Aston Martins were both big money cars. The 2-Litre Sports sold for $781,000 and the Vanquish Roadster Prototype went for $660,000. Check out the complete results here.

Mecum’s Monterey sale is next. A previously-featured Duesenberg failed to sell at this sale but our featured Ruf CTR2 sold for $300,000. The top sale was this gorgeous-in-orange 1969 Lamborghini Miura P400 S for $2,300,000. Full results can be found here.

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

RM Sotheby’s had a three-day sale in Monterey this year, including a special Thursday night sale of what they billed as the “Pinnacle Portfolio” – a collection of super cars from a single owner. They sort of advertised it as a separate sale, so we’ll run it down separately. The top seller there was a 1964 Ferrari 250LM that went for $17,600,000.

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

The two cars we featured from this sale brought big bucks. The Pope’s Enzo went for what has to be a record for the model: $6,050,000. And the wonderful McLaren F1 went for a mind-boggling $13,750,000. I remember when you could find one of those on a dealer lot in the late-90’s for under $1,000,000.

The rest of RM’s sale was also huge. Seemingly every other car was either a “prototype” or some rare one-off variant that features a distinction that the factory never even made. Regardless, there was a tie for the top sale between a 1953 Jaguar C-Type Lightweight (first below) and a 1956 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Competizione Tour de France (second below). Both sold for an astounding $13,200,000.

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

Many of our feature cars were no slouches either. The Ferrari 275S sold for $7,975,000. Other million dollar cars included the Aston Martin Speed Model for $1,155,000, this sale’s Duesenberg for $1,595,000, and the Jaguar Supersonic for $2,062,500.

The beautiful Aston Martin DB9 Centennial Spyder went for $693,000 and the Pungs-Finch brought $852,500. The Chevy CERV-I and the Bizzarrini P538 both failed to sell, while the Adler Rennlimousine disappeared from the catalog. Full results for both of these sales can be found here.

Hustler Space Shuttle

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1973 Hustler 6 Space Shuttle

Offered by Bonhams | Beaulieu, U.K. | September 5, 2015

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Hustler was a brand of automobile that sold products of designer Williams Towns’ Interstyl design studio. The cars were all Mini-based and sold in kit form (out of Towns’ house at that). There were 12 different models offered between 1978 and the early 1980s.

This example is titled as a 1973 because it is likely based on a ’73 Mini, as the kits weren’t introduced until 1978. The unusual “6” was a six-wheeler that utilized two Mini rear subframes and a four-cylinder engine. It’s basically just one big greenhouse and the whole thing sort of looks like it’s made out of LEGOs.

Only three six-wheeler Space Shuttles were built (and between 300-500 Hustler kits were sold in total). This one has been fully restored. If you’re in need of something very interesting that nearly no one else has, here’s your ride. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $14,008.

Ferves Ranger

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1973 Ferves Ranger

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | London, U.K. | September 7, 2015

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

When your name is Carlo Ferrari and you want to build your own car… well, you can’t exactly call them Ferraris. Instead, you come up with Ferrari Veicoli Speciali, or Ferves. The Ranger is based on the original Fiat 500 and 600. It’s a diminutive off-roader and the engine is at the rear.

That engine is a 499cc straight-twin from the 500 and it puts out all of 18 horsepower. Bits of the Fiat 600 make up the suspension. The cars were built starting in 1966 and lasting through, apparently, 1973. Only 600 were built and only 50 are thought to remain.

You’re looking at what has to be the nicest Ferves Ranger in the world. It will seat four and does have four-wheel drive. Yes, there is a folding windshield and convertible top. Those little go kart wheels should just cut through the mud. At any rate, you could have a lot less fun for a lot more money in other cars. Click here for more info and here for more from RM in London.

Update: Sold $44,845.

Maserati Boomerang

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1972 Maserati Boomerang Concept by Italdesign

Offered by Bonhams | Chantilly, France | September 5, 2015

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

This wild – and iconic – 1970s Italian concept car was designed by the master himself, Giorgetto Giugiaro. This is a concept car in the classic sense of concept cars – out there ideas that really don’t have a shot at production. But unlike many, this thing is not only fully functional, but road registered.

It’s powered by a 4.7-liter V-8 from a Bora making 310 horsepower. The engine is mounted in the rear and the driver sits in a sort of glass greenhouse. The front of the sharp wedge has a giant, (and we mean giant) Maserati trident slapped on there so there’s no mistaking what company this car represents. Remember, this is from 1972 – cars that actually looked like this (wedges sharp lines and creases… think Lotus Esprit) were on sale for decades after.

The Boomerang premiered at the 1971 Turin Motor Show and made its rounds across Europe in 1972: Geneva, Paris, London, Barcelona. It was sold after the Barcelona show to a Spanish resident until a German took it home with him in 1980. It was restored and appeared at shows as early as 1990. A few other owners have had the pleasure to be this car’s caretaker and it had another slight restoration in 2003. It’s been welcomed at car shows all over the world and will continue to be. This is a rare chance to own a true concept car from one of the greatest automotive designers of all time. No pre-sale estimate is available, but if you have to ask, you can’t afford it. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams.

Update: Sold $3,714,522.