Monthly Archives: February 2016

Kurtis Aguila

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1962 Kurtis Aguila

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Amelia Island, Florida | March 12, 2016

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

Kurtis Kraft built some legendary race cars in the 1950s. Frank Kurtis won multiple Indy 500s with his chassis and they dominated the dirt track circuit in their day. Unfortunately, his designs didn’t necessarily keep up with the times and orders for Kurtis race cars dwindled as the 1960s began.

A rich Texas racer contacted Kurtis in the early 60s with the idea of turning an open-wheel car into a sports car and wiping the competition off the map with it. Kurtis countered that he could build him a car that, with removable fenders, could compete successfully in both open-wheel and sports car competition.

This Aguila is powered by a 5.4-liter Chevrolet V-8 making an estimated 350 horsepower. It has disc brakes and will seat two (find another open wheel car that can fit two across). It had a brief privateer career before the dawn of rear-engined cars rendered it obsolete by 1965.

With known ownership history and a nice, well-maintained restoration, this one-off has the special distinction of being one of the final cars built by Frank Kurtis. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $423,500.

1924 La Buire

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1924 La Buire Type 12A Saloon by Hollingdrake

Offered by Bonhams | Chichester, U.K. | March 20, 2016

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

La Buire, of Lyon, was an automobile company founded in 1905 as an offshoot of an existing engineering company who had dabbled in steam-powered vehicles in the late 1800s. The car business went bankrupt by 1909 but was saved and re-introduced in 1911. This company lasted until 1930.

The Type 12A was built for 1924 and 1925. It uses a 2.8-liter straight-four making 14 horsepower. Though built in France, La Buire cars were available for sale in England by way of Hollingdrake, their official importer. 1924 may have been the final year that Hollingdrake bodied the La Buires they sold.

This example began a restoration in 2007 and the body and engine are complete, save for a starter that should be fitted. The car also needs an interior, but it should still bring between $27,000-$31,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $13,328.

190 Evo II

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1990 Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.5-16 Evolution II

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Stoneleigh Park, U.K. | February 28, 2016

Photo - Silverstone Auctions

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

We’ve recently featured a Mercedes-Benz 190 Evolution I. That car was the 1989 homologation model for DTM. This, the Evolution II, came a year later and looks more or less the same other than a larger rear wing. It has all the looks of a road-going DTM machine. It’s a pretty extreme body kit for what was supposed to be a sensible sedan.

The engine here is a 2.5-liter straight-four making 235 horsepower – a substantial enough increase over the Evo I. Top speed is 155 mph. Only 502 of these were built and all sold out immediately upon going on sale.

This is car 262 and it only has 1,723 miles on it, making it essentially brand new. It should bring between $200,000-$225,000. That’s a lot of money for a 26-year-old car that originally sold new for $80,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $407,500.

Aston Martin DB10

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2014 Aston Martin DB10

Offered by Christie’s | London, U.K. | February 18, 2016

Photo - Christie's

Photo – Christie’s

Christie’s used to be in the car game, but got out of it shortly after a debacle around an Auto Union race car. So this car is technically being sold as part of an Entertainment Memorabilia sale. Either way, this is an awesome opportunity. Why? Because this particular model of Aston Martin has never been offered to the public before.

The DB10 was the car created for the James Bond movie Spectre. Why didn’t Aston Martin just build it instead of slightly redesigning the DB9? Who knows. The car is officially a concept car – but 10 were built. Eight of those were featured in the movie (probably destroyed to some degree or hacked apart to be a camera car) and two were retained for marketing purposes. This is one of those two cars.

It is powered by a 4.7-liter V8 from the V8 Vantage making 420 horsepower. You aren’t likely to get a chance to buy one of these again. Maybe some day, but it won’t be this special of an occasion. You’ll be the only person with one right now. But it won’t come cheap: the pre-sale estimate is between $1,425,000-$2,140,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold about $3,500,000.

Bedford CA Pickup

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1954 Bedford CA Pickup

Offered by Brightwells | Leominster, U.K. | March 2, 2016

Photo - Brightwells

Photo – Brightwells

Bedford Vehicles was founded in 1930 and they built light and heavy commercial vehicles their entire existence. Did you know that the company was founded by General Motors as a sort of commercial sibling to Vauxhall? In fact, the first Bedfords were actually a Chevrolet model before becoming its own brand. GM divested itself of the heavy commercial vehicle part in 1987 and shuttered the light commercial vehicle brand name in 1991.

The CA was a light van built between 1952 and 1969. All sorts of vans were offered – high-roof, low-roof, short and long wheelbases – even campervans. It was pug-nosed and a pickup was also available. But this is no ordinary pickup. This is the most spaceship-like pickup truck that has, perhaps, ever been built.

It’s powered by a 1.5-liter straight-four making 52 horsepower. It’s not fast. But the styling is just so… unique. Yes it looks like the engine compartment was bolted on as an afterthought. Yes it has sliding doors like a Dodge Caravan. Yes part of the pickup bed is enclosed like a Chevy Avalanche minus the pass-through part. We. Love. It. It should bring between $8,500-$11,350. Click here for more info and here for more from Brightwells.

Update: $5,975.

Edsel Ford Speedster

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1932 Ford Model 18 Edsel Ford Speedster

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Amelia Island, Florida | March 12, 2016

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

The Ford Model A went out of production after 1931 and the ’32 Fords carried either the Model 18 or Model B moniker. The Model 18 was a 1932-only model that would give way to the Model 40 for 1933. This Model 18 carries a 3.6-liter V-8 making 85 horsepower.

Edsel Ford was Henry’s son and he ran FoMoCo until he died in 1943. While Henry was a penny-pincher, Edsel liked style and design (see: the Lincoln-Zephyr). Edsel opened Ford’s first styling department in 1935 and it was headed by Bob Gregorie. Gregorie, who used to work for Harley Earl and Brewster, first worked with Edsel a few years earlier when they co-designed a Speedster – this car.

It’s an aluminium-bodied boattail speedster that Edsel had modeled after European sports cars of the day. But it wasn’t racy enough, so he sold it and they built another one. This car was wrecked long ago and for a long time, thought lost. Someone in Connecticut had it for 50 years before they figured out what it was.

The current owner acquired it and restored it to how it looked when it was first built, matching the color to an original spot of paint found on some of the original body panels. Three custom Speedsters were built by Edsel and Gregorie. This was the first. The second is on display at the Ford property in Grosse Pointe and the third remains missing. This is the only one you’ll ever be able to buy. Good luck, the price should skyrocket quickly. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $770,000.

Jaguar E-Type Competition

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1961 Jaguar E-Type 3.8 Competition Roadster

Offered by H&H Classics | Duxford, U.K. | April 20, 2016

Photo - H&H Classics

Photo – H&H Classics

Jaguar offered two special race car versions of the E-Type: the Low Drag Coupe and the Lightweight. This is neither of those things, even if it is a factory race car. By the time the E-Type arrived in 1961, Jaguar had ceased their factory racing program and, because they still understood the marketing value of one, they offered seven of the first eight (not the very first car, but the next seven) E-Types as race cars.

What that meant was that select people would be sold these cars to take racing as privateers. This car is one of two that went to John Coombs. It was on the track by March of 1961. The engine is the Series I 3.8-liter straight-six which made 265 horsepower in road car form, but these seven racers had a higher compression ratio and competition gearbox, among other special items.

This car has a couple of huge things going for it: first, it’s a fantastically early example of the E-Type (it carries chassis #850007). It’s one of the first eight E-Types built. Additionally it has period race history as a factory-built (but not campaigned) racer – a thing not many E-Types can say. And: it’s one of only seven such E-Types built – and some of those (including the sister John Coombs car) were later reworked into Lightweights. And some of these first seven cars are now just road cars. It’s amazing! And it should be no lightweight at auction, with a pre-sale estimate between $1,000,000-$1,300,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $1,227,250.

January 2016 Auction Results

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January means Scottsdale and first up in this rundown is RM Sotheby’s sale. The top sale was the beautiful 540K Special Roadster we featured for $9,900,000. Other feature cars include the Apal-Porsche for $88,000. The Torpedo-bodied Duesenberg sold for $3,000,000 (the Town Car failed to sell). Other million dollar sales included the Porsche 918 for $1,595,000, the SS 100 for $1,402,500, and the Cadillac Ghia for $1,430,000.

Interesting cars included this striking 1931 Buick Series 90 Sport Roadster for $154,000.

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

A few previously-featured cars made an appearance here, including a 1913 Pathfinder that found a new home for $121,000. Others were a 1911 Lozier and a Dragonsnake Cobra that both brought $990,000 and a Roamer at a much-less $66,000. The Jensen-Ford went for $247,500 and Cadillac Town Car $79,750. The Phantom II failed to sell.

Moving across town, we have Barrett-Jackson’s gigantic sale where the top seller was a practically brand-new 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder for $1,760,000.

Photo - Barrett-Jackson

Photo – Barrett-Jackson

All four of our feature cars sold, with the Chevy El Morocco bringing $181,500. The Heine-Velox sold for $99,000, the Talbot-Lago $715,000, and the Saleen S7 $451,000. A previously-featured Renault failed to sell. Check out full results here.

The next big Scottsdale sale is that of Gooding & Company where a 1950 Ferrari 166 MM/195 S Berlinetta Le Mans was the top sale at $6,490,000.

Photo - Gooding & Company

Photo – Gooding & Company

Our featured Ferrari brought a little less, at $3,410,000 while our other feature car, the Fiat Mirafiori, brought $143,000. A previously-featured Duesenberg sold for $2,420,000. Full results can be found here.

The final Scottsdale sale we’ll be covering is that of Russo & Steele. The top sale here was a 1973 Ferrari 246 GTS Spyder for $374,000.

Photo - Russo & Steele

Photo – Russo & Steele

Our featured Dodge Charger brought $242,000. Click here for full results.

A week after all of the Arizona madness, Rétromobile in Paris rolls around. First up from there is Bonhams where a few of our feature cars failed to sell including the Adler, Veritas, and Newton-Ceirano. The top sale was this 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB for $2,319,642.

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Other feature car sales were the Darmont for $20,619, the ASA for $146,910, and the Iso Rivolta for $103,095. Click here for full results. We’ll have more from Paris in a few weeks.

Citroen Kégresse

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1929 Citroen P19 Kégresse

Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | February 6, 2016

Photo - Artcurial

Photo – Artcurial

Everything we’ve ever written about half-tracks on this site has become quite popular, so here you go: a 1929 non-military Citroen half-track. Or Snowcat. Citroen actually built half-tracks (or Kégresse, for the name of the man who patented the tracks) throughout the 1920s and 30s. The French Army used them, but they were also sold to anyone who wanted one. Andre Citroen used one to cross the Sahara.

This model is a P19 – it uses a 2.5-liter straight-six, making it more powerful than most other half-tracks built by Citroen. And rarer too. The rear end is a flatbed, which isn’t that exciting – but at least it’s functional.

In fact, this whole thing is very functional and could be a lot of fun. It’s certainly different. Strangely, Kégresse production ceased in 1940 (when Germany took over), but there are a number of these out there. Here’s your chance to get one for between $43,000-$65,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Artcurial’s auction lineup.

Update: Sold $40,068.

The First Facel Vega

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1954 Facel Vega 54 Prototype V

Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | February 5, 2016

Photo - Artcurial

Photo – Artcurial

Facel S.A. was a company founded by Jean Daninos in 1939 to make aircraft parts. After the war, they turned to building bodies for other French manufacturers. In the early 1950s, Daninos decided he wanted to build his own car, an attractive French car using big Chrysler engines.

This very car was the first car produced by Facel that wore the Vega name. It was a prototype that Daninos sent to the U.S. for engine testing with Chrysler and then became the factory tester and demonstrator. It has some details that differ from later production cars, like a shorter wheelbase.

The engine is a 4.5-liter Chrysler V-8 making 180 horsepower. Once production Facel Vegas were ready, Daninos kept this as his personal ride and had its styling updated and repainted. It has had other owners over the years but it has never been completely restored. This is the first Facel Vega and it is as it was when company founder Jean Daninos owned it. It should bring between $385,000-$600,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Artcurial.

Update: Sold $560,968.