Monthly Archives: November 2016

DB7 Zagato

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2003 Aston Martin DB7 Vantage Zagato

Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | December 4, 2016

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

While the Aston Martin DB7 may be one of the most beautiful cars ever put into production, that doesn’t stop people from trying to improve upon it. Enter Aston Martin collaborators, Zagato. They hadn’t touched an Aston since the 1960s and they chose the DB7 as their next canvas.

The first thing they did was shorten the chassis. Then Zagato crafted a muscular and sporty body to wrap around it – including a double-bubble roof, Zagato’s signature styling touch. Power from the 6.0-liter V-12 was increased to 440 horsepower. Top speed is 186 mph, although this example probably never got there as it’s covered less than 600 miles since new.

Only 99 of these coupes were produced between 2002 and 2003. This one was sold to Latvia and is now up for sale. These tend to come up for sale less than the DB AR1, Zagato’s equally rare followup Aston. This car is expected to bring between $300,000-$350,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams.

Update: Sold $390,262.

Métallurgique Cabriolet

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1912 Métallurgique 12HP Cabriolet by Vanden Plas

Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | December 7, 2016

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Existing companies who decided to get into the burgeoning automobile business around 1900 came from all lines of work: there were a lot of bicycle manufacturers, some buggy companies, and, in the case of SA L’Auto Métallurgique, manufacturers of railway locomotives. Métallurgique built cars in Marchienne-au-Port, Belgium between 1898 and 1928, when they were acquired by Imperia and shut down.

This rare model is powered by a 1.7-liter straight-four engine that drives the rear wheels via a four-speed transmission – the standard for all Métallurgique cars beginning in 1911. The French-looking but Belgian-built body is by Vanden Plas, an offshoot of which would later become part of the Austin Motor Company in the U.K.

Métallurgique sold cars in the U.K. when new, and this vehicle was likely bought new there as it was first registered in England in 1913. It is said that it runs and drives well and is a mix of original and redone parts (for instance, the hood was replaced at some point). It should bring between $27,000-$35,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $46,475.

Phillips Berlina

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1982 Phillips Berlina

Offered by Mecum | Kansas City, Missouri | December 1-3, 2016

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

Hello neo-classic fans! The 1980s were a weird time: people rolled up the sleeves on their white sport coats, wore huge glasses with big hair, and wanted to drive modern cars that looked like they were built in the 1930s. These weren’t replicas, but luxury cars with classic looks.

Charles W. Phillips decided to build just such a car. From 1980 through 1983, the Phillips Motor Car Corporation of Pompano Beach, Florida, built the Berlina Coupe in limited numbers. It’s not a kit car, but was sold as a fully-built automobile, even though it is based on a stretched C3 Corvette chassis. The body is fiberglass and made to evoke the pre-war Mercedes-Benz 540K.

This car is powered by a 5.7-liter Chevrolet V-8 making 200 horsepower (Corvettes weren’t all that sporty in 1980). Top speed was about 110 mph. It has leather interior and is decked out with about all the features you could hope for in 1982. They’re certainly striking and less than 90 were ever made. The cost when new was about $85,000 – but it will bring less than that at auction. Read more about it here and see more from this sale here.

Update: Sold $17,500.

Zagato Zele

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1974 Zagato Zele 1000

Offered by Historics at Brooklands | November 26, 2016

Photo - Historics at Brooklands

Photo – Historics at Brooklands

It seems like every design house has tried their hand at producing a car of their own. Bertone did it a couple of times, Ghia did it for most of the 1960s, and even Pininfarina got in the game in the 1980s. But nobody did it smaller than Zagato with their Zele electric car.

Built between 1974 and 1976, the rear-engined, rear-drive Zele was available in three models, the 1000, 1500, and 2000 – all so-named for their motor wattage. In all, about 500 were made. This is an early 1000 watt model and these all sported a 50 mile range. This model has only covered 99 km in its life. That’s just over a single charge!

This two-seater – in correct original orange paint with black stripe (one of seven original colors available) – was originally owned by another Italian company that worked in the electric car field. It should sell for between $14,500-$17,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $16,687.

Italian Mini

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1974 Innocenti Mini Cooper

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Milan, Italy | November 25-27, 2016

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby's

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The ubiquitous Mini. Produced nearly unchanged from 1959 through 2000 (!), Sir Alec Issigonis’  little two door car of the people is an absolute icon. It is the basis for countless kit cars, and was produced under the banner of quite a number of marques, including: Austin, Rover, Authi, Leyland, Mini (as a brand itself), and Innocenti.

Italian Innocenti built their version of the Mini between 1965 and 1975. They would build another car called the Mini which was based on this car, but carried Bertone bodywork that made it unrecognizable as such. It’s not listed, but we’d guess this car features a 1.3-liter straight-four.

This example is very nice and is ready for the road. The interior looks brand new and although Minis are relatively easy to find, their Italian cousin isn’t seen nearly as often. At any rate, this one should bring between $7,500-$11,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $15,579.

V12 Zagato

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2013 Aston Martin V12 Zagato

Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | December 4, 2016

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Aston Martin decided to celebrate their 50th anniversary of working with famed Italian coachbuilder Zagato by building a limited run of very exclusive cars. The first collaboration 50 years ago was the legendary DB4 GT Zagato. This new car, the V12 Zagato which entered production in 2012, is based on the V12 Vantage that Aston Martin has been building since 2009.

Like the car it is based on, the V12 Zagato is powered by a 6.0-liter V-12 making 510 horsepower. Top speed is 190 mph and 60 arrives in about four seconds. The original intent was to limit production to 150 examples and the weird thing about it is that Aston wanted to take this super limited edition car to the race track. And they did, building two GT3 versions, both of which finished in the top ten at the 2011 24 Hours of the Nurburgring.

But the run of 150 was never meant to be. Only 61 of these were ever built, making them even more instantly collectible than they would’ve been had the run continued longer than the two model years for which they were actually constructed. This is a low mileage, one-owner car from Latvia and should bring between $620,000-$740,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Cerbera Speed Eight

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1999 TVR Cerbera 4.5L Speed Eight

Offered by Historics at Brooklands | November 26, 2016

Photo - Historics at Brooklands

Photo – Historics at Brooklands

The TVR Cerbera is one of my favorite cars. Of all time. Ever. Why? No idea, really. Peter Wheeler bought TVR in the 1980s and introduced a series of sporty, exotic (and sometimes, downright weird) road cars through the 1990s and into the 2000s. The Cerbera was a 2+2 (a four-seat coupe, or a 3+1 in TVR parlance as the front seats were kind of offset so the rear passenger-side occupant had as much room as those upfront) that was available from 1995 through 2003.

Cerberas were generally eight-cylinder cars (a six was also offered), like this 4.5L Speed Eight that uses a 4.5-liter V-8 making 420 horsepower. Top speed was 185 mph and it will hit 60 in 4.1 seconds. It is a seriously quick car – but a handful as they didn’t have traction control. It’s a beast that takes some serious finesse to drive fast. They also never had the best reputation for quality, but who cares about reliability when you look this cool?

This car sports the wild TVR interior of the 1990s – it’s purple and has all the weird switch and gauge placements that made these cars famous. TVR built 271 Cerberas in 1999, supposedly, with a grand total of just 1,578 total. This one is really nice and for a while these were just used sports cars in the U.K. Now they are getting harder to find. Their prices are still relatively low, so get them before they all disappear – either into disrepair or into a million little pieces when they hit something or catch fire. This one should bring between $21,000-$28,000. That’s a steal and I wish I lived in the U.K. just so I could snag it. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $28,508.

Bitter SC

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1985 Bitter SC 3.0 Coupe

Offered by Oldtimer Galerie | Toffen, Switzerland | November 26, 2016

Photo - Oldtimer Galerie

Photo – Oldtimer Galerie

Erich Bitter – and his Schwelm, Germany, based Erich Bitter Automobil GmbH – started building cars in 1973 when Opel decided against putting a prototype coupe into production. Bitter got the rights, outsourced production, and boom, Bitter is a legitimate manufacturer or sports cars.

The company’s followup model was the 1979-1985 SC. It was available in Coupe, Convertible, or Sedan form (you could even buy the sedan in the U.S.). The Coupe was the most popular variant, with 461 of them built and this example being among the last completed. Of course, Bitter was still outsourcing the construction of their cars, and the SC was assembled by Steyr-Daimler-Puch in Graz, Austria.

Two engines were available, with this car carrying the smaller 3.0-liter straight-six making 177 horsepower. With styling reminiscent of the Ferrari 365 GT4 and 400 series, it is rather unique, even if it might not boast the most power for a sports coupe. This one is listed as being in very good condition and it should bring between $26,000-$28,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

November 2016 Auction Highlights

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The top seller from Mecum’s Dallas sale was this 1965 Shelby GT350 that went for $410,000, which means the Porsche 911 GT2 Evo we featured failed to meet its reserve.

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

But the Graham Hollywood did manage to sell, for $47,000. Click here for complete results.

Auctions America’s Hilton Head sale saw our featured Porsche Carrera GT sell for $800,000, which was more than any other car there. The Ruf RGT brought $73,700. We’ll give Most Interesting – or at least Well Bought – to this 1928 Buick Six Coupe that went for $10,450. Click here for the rest of the results.

Photo - Auctions America

Photo – Auctions America

The Delahaye we featured from Osenat’s sale blew past the upper end of its estimate, bringing $261,352. Most interesting goes to this 1959 Bond Minicar Mk F which sold for $5,880. Click here for all of the results.

Photo - Osenat

Photo – Osenat

November was the first time we featured a car from an Aguttes auction. It was a Venturi Atlantique that ended up not meeting its reserve and therefore not finding a new owner. The top sale was this 2004 Porsche Carrera GT that brought $604,737. Click here for more results.

Photo - Aguttes

Photo – Aguttes

And finally, Silverstone Auctions’ NEC Classic Motor Show Sale where the top sale was yet another Porsche, this time a 1957 Porsche 356A Speedster that was hammered away for $328,706.

Photo - Silverstone Auctions

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

The Noble M12 brought $32,568 and complete results can be found here.

Bamby

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1984 Bamby

Offered by Historics at Brooklands | November 26, 2016

Photo - Historics at Brooklands

Photo – Historics at Brooklands

You have to think that Bamby Cars Ltd of Hull, England, was so named because they wanted the association with a certain cute cartoon deer that everyone is familiar with to correspond with this small, cute microcar. Of course, Alan Evans, the designer and builder of this car, had to spell it a little differently or face the wrath of one of the meanest squad of corporate lawyers known to man.

This car uses a 50cc single-cylinder engine from Yamaha, a fiberglass body and a single gullwing door that allows the lone passenger to climb aboard. Produced in 1984 only, the Bamby is sufficiently rare, with only about 25 produced.

Somehow, this auction has managed to wrangle two of these cars for this sale. This one has covered 2,600 miles since new and is being sold at no reserve. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $5,006.