Monthly Archives: September 2015

1911 Stanley

Posted on by
Reply

1911 Stanley Model 63 Toy Tonneau

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 8-9, 2015

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

It’s everyone’s favorite steam car – the Stanley steamer. The company’s 1911 range was robust, with the Model 63 being one of two 10 horsepower models offered. It was available only in this body style with seating for five.

It is powered by a two-cylinder steam engine making 10 horsepower. The 60-Series cars from Stanley were in production from 1910 through 1913. In all, 1,165 were built with 219 of those being the Toy Tonneau. Steam cars aren’t everyone’s thing as they take special dedication and know-how to operate. But those that love them really love them. This car sort of defines early steam motoring and it has been fully restored. Check out more info here.

Update: Sold $115,500.

1910 Cameron

Posted on by
Reply

1910 Cameron Model 24 Open-Back Runabout

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 8-9, 2015

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

The Cameron was one of what has to be quite a limited number of automobile manufacturers to set up shop in Rhode Island. They operated there from 1902 through 1906 before moving to Massachusetts (before finally settling on Connecticut until they went out of business in 1920). The company was founded by the Everett and Forrest Cameron.

Early cars had twin-cylinder engines, but a large number of four-cylinder models would be offered – and even some sixes. This car is powered by a 2.9-liter straight-four making 24 horsepower. The Model 24 was only offered in this basic body style and only for one model year (which may have been 1911). This example is in great shape and is ready to go. Click here for more information.

Update: Sold $55,000.

Renault Cape Top Victoria

Posted on by
1

1909 Renault Series B V-1 20/30 Cape Top Victoria by Brewster

Offered by Bonhams | Ebeltoft, Denmark | September 26, 2015

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Louis Renault and his brothers started building cars right before the turn of the century. They built a lot of cars early on, using De Dion engines at the beginning before switching to their own engines in 1903. Shortly after that, their range expanded and they built both small and large cars.

This Series B Type V1 was on the larger side, using a 4.4-liter straight-four making 20/30 horsepower. This large French tourer was actually bodied in America – on Long Island, in fact, by Brewster. The rear passenger compartment is enormous.

This car has known history back to the 1970s when it was an unrestored, low-milage car. It was restored in the late-1990s. It’s a beautiful, rare early Renault. A lot of smaller Renaults exist from this period, but the larger cars are much rarer. This car was undoubtedly owned by someone fairly rich when new and you can now feel just like them. It should sell for between $180,000-$230,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $120,333.

Oldsmobile Autocrat

Posted on by
1

1911 Oldsmobile Autocrat

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 8-9, 2015

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

The Oldsmobile Autocrat was Oldsmobile’s mid-range model for 1911. At the bottom was the Special, but significantly upward was the Autocrat, which was second only to the legendary Oldsmobile Limited.

This Autocrat was originally fitted with four-door Tourabout body work but its original (and long time) owner, John Henry Greenway Albert, fitted his own custom boattail aluminium body – which is what you see here. Albert owned the car from 1911 until 1968. He drove the car – a lot, racing it on the East Coast and driving it back home out west – even years after more sophisticated cars had come onto the market.

It is powered by a monstrous 40 horsepower 8.2-liter straight-four. The Autocrat was only built in 1911 and 1912. This example is an absolute driver, having been driven thousands of miles on tours and vintage races in the hands of its more recent owners. It’s been driven so much that it’s been restored three times. And it’s a looker too – kind of resembling something that, while a little more road-friendly, you may have seen at Indy in the early days. Click here for more info and here for more from RM.

Update: Sold $698,500.

Update: Sold, RM Sotheby’s Monterey 2017, $605,000.

Cadillac V-16 Convertible Sedan

Posted on by
Reply

1934 Cadillac V-16 Series 452-D Convertible Sedan by Fleetwood

Offered by Bonhams | Ebeltoft, Denmark | September 26, 2015

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

With the top up, these big Cadillac Convertible Sedans seem a little boring. While certainly not ordinary, their four-door appearance belies that true beauty under that hood. With the top down they are magnificent. Can’t you just picture FDR riding around in the back?

The V-16 Cadillac was introduced in late 1929 for the 1930 model year. It’s one of the greatest American automobiles ever built. The engine is quiet, powerful and silky smooth. It was the first V-16 American automobile to go into production. The 452 refers to the cubic inches of displacement offered by this 7.4-liter V-16 that makes 185 horsepower.

The original V-16s were sort of boxy, but by 1932 they were redesigned to be sleeker and this 1934 Series 452-D looks quite Art Deco and windswept. It’s amazing how quickly automotive design matured between 1929 and 1934.

This car was bought new by a stockbroker in New York. It was specially ordered and the body was built by Fleetwood, which by this time was part of General Motors. In 1949, the engine was removed from this car and put in a race car. Luckily the chassis and body were kept and eventually reunited with the power unit a little over five years ago. The current owner acquired it in 2012. This huge car is one of not very many – by the mid-1930s, V-16 Cadillac production was down to about 50 or less per year, making this very rare. It should sell in the neighborhood of $450,000-$600,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $429,764.

The Only Two-Door Phantom VI

Posted on by
Reply

1973 Rolls-Royce Phantom VI Cabriolet by Frua

Offered by Bonhams | Ebeltoft, Denmark | September 26, 2015

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

The Rolls-Royce Phantom VI replaced the Phantom V (obviously). It was introduced in 1968 and lasted, ludicrously, through 1990. They were exclusive sedans and limousines favored by the likes of Queen Elizabeth II. A couple of hearses were also constructed and there were two convertibles built by Frua. One has four doors, making this the only two-door Phantom VI built.

It was designed by Pietro Frua for a Swiss diplomat for use in Switzerland and Monaco. In fact, he kept the car until 1997. It had one other owner before the current owner acquired it. It is powered by a 6.2-liter V-8 and power was “adequate.” Just look at the thing – it’s enormous. The car is over 19 feet long. It’s almost a foot longer than a ’59 Cadillac convertible. It’s one of the biggest two-door convertibles ever built.

And it is opulent. The interior has been aggressively nitpicked to the slightest detail from the leather-lined carpet to the owner’s initials on the horn. You really should see this thing from every angle, including the opposing opening hood. You can find more pictures here. It is expected to sell for between $300,000-$390,000. Click here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $550,098.

Maybach Zeppelin

Posted on by
Reply

1933 Maybach DS-8 Zeppelin Cabriolet

Offered by Bonhams | Ebeltoft, Denmark | September 26, 2015

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Wilhelm Maybach should be one of everybody’s automotive heroes. The quality of the engineering of his work is incredible. Born in 1846, he worked closely with Gottlieb Daimler in the late 1800s and his engines were in the first Mercedes car. He would later built giant Zeppelin engines for airships before building the cars that bore his name – some of the greatest automobiles ever built.

The Maybach Zeppelin line of cars were introduced in 1928. The DS-8 form was new for 1930 and built through 1938. The engine is a large 7.9-liter V-12  making 200 horsepower. It’s a powerful car for its day and the Zeppelin was the first German car with a V-12. This car features a very ahead of its time eight-speed manual transmission.

This car originally was a seven-passenger convertible limousine for heads of state. In fact, it was gifted on behalf of Adolf Hitler to a Maharajah in India. It eventually made its way back to Switzerland and was sold in 1997 to a German Maybach collector who had the state body removed and this cabriolet specially built. It’s based on a design by Spohn that they never actually built. The restoration was completed in 2005.

This is a massive car in every way. The engine is huge. The car itself is almost 17 feet long. Maybach only built about 1,800 cars between 1921 and 1940 – not many of them were this grand. This car should bring between $3,000,000-$3,600,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Duesenberg J-330

Posted on by
Reply

1930 Duesenberg Model J Disappearing Top Roadster by Murphy

Offered by Bonhams | Ebeltoft, Denmark | September 26, 2015

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

That’s quite the profile you see above. The term “Disappearing Top” was no misnomer – the top is completely hidden, resulting in a sleek rear end interrupted only by the rather functional trunk (when trunks were literal trunks).

This Model J has known ownership history back to brand new, when it was first bought by (or actually for, as it was a gift) the great-grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt. The car has had many owners since and in 1959 it sold for $6,000 (which was a lot then but seems awfully cheap today). This Duesey has been in the current collection for about a decade or so. It has never been restored.

The 265 horsepower 6.9-liter straight-eight engine is all original. This car looks restored and has been scored in the highest possible category of Duesenbergs. It’s one of, if not the, best, original survivor Model J in the world. It should sell for between $2,500,000-$3,100,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of this sale’s lineup.

Update: Sold $2,664,538.

Panoz AIV

Posted on by
1

1998 Panoz AIV Roadster

Offered by Mecum | Dallas, Texas | September 16-19, 2015

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

Here’s a hot rod for you. This great-looking sports car is a rarity from the state of Georgia. This was one of the models produced by the Panoz Auto Development Company of Braselton, Georgia – home of Road Atlanta, a track also owned by the company (when this was built).

The Panoz Roadster was introduced in 1992 and built through 1995. It looks just like this. But in 1996, it was renamed the AIV Roadster (Aluminium Intensive Vehicle – the first such American vehicle consisting of at least 70% aluminium). It sort of resembles a Plymouth Prowler with it’s half-open wheeler look at the front. The AIV differed from the simple Roadster model in that it has an aluminium chassis, among other things.

The AIV is powered by a 4.6-liter Ford V-8 making 305 horsepower. The car only weighs 2,500 pounds, so the sprint to 60 mph only takes 4.3 seconds on the way to the top end of 140 mph. It’s quick. The final AIVs were built in 1999 (although Panoz will build any car they’ve ever made on demand for customers going forward). Only 176 AIVs were made in their initial production run. They’re a $35,000-$55,000 car. Click here for more info and here for more from Mecum.

Update: Sold $30,000.

August 2015 Auction Highlights, Pt. II

Posted on by
Reply

We’ll continue where we left off last time: Pebble Beach, specifically, Gooding & Company’s sale. The top dog here was a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider that sold for $16,830,000. Our featured Ferrari 250 GT Speciale “Shark Nose” wasn’t far behind at $16,500,000.

Photo - Gooding & Company

Photo – Gooding & Company

And honestly, not too far behind that was the Porsche 956, selling for $10,120,000. The Fiat Eden Roc, which came in without an estimate, surprised us a little, selling for a healthy $660,000. The 1912 Packard brought $280,000 and a previously-featured Delage failed to sell. Complete results are right here.

Up next is Russo & Steele’s sale where our featured Dual-Ghia sold for $412,500. The top seller was this 2005 Porsche Carrera GT Coupe for $781,000. Check out full results here.

Photo - Russo & Steele

Photo – Russo & Steele

Now let’s move into September, a month front-loaded with awesome auctions. Bonhams’ Beaulieu Sale was held on September 5th and the top sale was this 1929 Bentley 4.25-Litre Sports Saloon by Mulliner project for $1,059,594.

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

We featured a bunch of cars from this sale and the only one that didn’t sell was the Frazer Nash Colmore. Here’s the rundown of all our featured cars that sold, from least expensive to most:

Click here for complete results. Actually, Bonhams held two sales in two different countries on the same continent on the same day. Their other sale, the inaugural sale at the Chantilly Concours in France. The sell-through rate wasn’t outstanding, with three of our feature cars (the Lorraine-Dietrich, Bugatti and Aston Sportsman) all failing to sell. The top sale was our featured Maserati Boomerang for $3,714,522. Interesting sales were led by this 1934 Mercedes-Benz 500K Cabriolet C for $678,861. Click here for full results.

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

And the last sale of this rundown is Silverstone Auctions’ Salon Privé sale. We unfortunately weren’t able to feature anything from this sale, but the top seller was this 1968 Aston Martin DB6 Vantage Volante that brought $1,368,000. Click here for the whole catalog with results.

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Silverstone Auctions