Hispano-Suiza K6 Cabriolet

1935 Hispano-Suiza K6 Cabriolet by Brandone

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | London, U.K. | September 6, 2017

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The great Hispano-Suiza began in 1904 in Spain. Over the course of the company’s life, even though its name translated to Spanish-Swiss, it shifted some automobile production from Barcelona to Paris. Most of the big, beautiful, later cars produced by the firm came out of France, including this mighty K6.

This was Hispano-Suiza’s six-cylinder model, powered by a 135 horsepower, 5.2-liter straight-six. Introduced in 1934, it was the replacement for the H6 series of cars that dated to the end of WWI. Hispano-Suiza was building 12-cylinder cars alongside the K6, but the K6 was the final model the company introduced as their automobile production wound up in 1938.

This car carries beautiful, long sweeping body work by Carrosserie Brandone, a coachbuilder that did not body as many cars as some of their French counterparts of the day. Past owners of this particular car include the Blackhawk Collection and Peter Mullin. Only about 70 examples of this model was built and this one is quite imposing. It should bring between $2,060,000-$2,320,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Update: Not sold, RM Sotheby’s Paris 2019.

Cadillac Model A

1903 Cadillac Model A Rear-Entrance Tonneau

Offered by Dragone Auctions | Lime Rock, Connecticut | September 3, 2017

Photo – Dragone Auctions

When the Henry Ford Company went belly-up in 1902, the company’s investors brought in Henry Leland to appraise what was left. Instead of giving them an assessment, Leland convinced them to reorganize the firm and the Cadillac Automobile Company was formed. It’s first model was this runabout that used a Leland-designed engine.

The first Cadillacs were built at the end of 1902 and these were not technically called “Model As.”  There were some of the same model built in 1903 (as 1904 models) that differed only in that they had more power and a detachable top. These were officially called “Model As.” This is likely one of the cars constructed in 1902 that pre-dated the official Model A, but most people just put all of these cars under the Model A umbrella. Confused yet?

That Leland-designed engine is a 1.6-liter single-cylinder that makes 6.5 horsepower (which correctly dates this as a 1903 model built in 1902). This perfectly restored example is one of just 2,497 examples built. It cost $850 when new and will bring likely at least 100 times that next weekend. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $80,940.

Silver Dawn Fastback

1951 Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn Fastback Coupe by Pininfarina

Offered by Bonhams | Chichester, U.K. | September 9, 2017

Photo – Bonhams

The Bentley Continental Fastback of the 1950s is one of the most popular classic, post-war Bentleys. Rolls-Royce never built something quite like it, the exception being this one-off, coachbuilt Silver Dawn.

The Silver Dawn was built between 1949 and 1955. In all, 760 were made – almost all of them four-door sedans. The 1951 Silver Dawn was powered by a 4.6-liter straight-six and the power rating was “adequate” in RR terms.

This particular Silver Dawn was purchased as a chassis by an Italian and it was sent to Pininfarina for this body. It is the only Silver Dawn bodied by Pininfarina. Its cost in 1951 was extraordinary, costing the original owner roughly five times the price of an average home in the U.K. at the time. Displayed at the 1951 Turin Motor Show, it was restored by its current owners in 2014.

As a classically-bodied one-off, this Silver Dawn is one of the most stylish, coachbuilt post-war Rolls-Royces. It should bring between $580,000-$710,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Bonhams’ Goodwood lineup.

Update: Not sold.

Invicta Black Prince Wagon

1951 Invicta Black Prince Shooting Brake by Associated Coach Builders

Offered by Bonhams | Beaulieu, U.K. | September 2, 2017

Photo – Bonhams

I remember reading about the Invicta Black Prince when I was a little kid and I’ve always remembered that it is a rare, special car. In fact, most Invictas are pretty rare today. They company was founded in 1925 and sort of died in 1938. Those pre-war cars are pretty cool and sporty, competing with the likes of Lagonda.

The company was revived in 1946 and their goal was to build a Bentley/Rolls-Royce competitor. The Black Prince was an extraordinarily luxurious sedan offered until the company went bankrupt in 1950 (at which point they were acquired by Frazer Nash, who sold off the rest of the cars, including this one which the new owner had custom-bodied as an estate car). The cars were just too expensive, costing three times as much as a comparable Jaguar and almost as much as the Bentley. Side note, they tried to relaunch the marque as a sportscar maker in the 2000s, but they are now gone too.

The Black Prince is powered by a 127 horsepower, 3.0-liter straight-six. Because of slow sales, only 16 were made and only 12 of those still exist, including this one-off wagon. I don’t remember another Black Prince coming up for public sale in the last decade. The restoration on this car dates to the 1970s, which contributes to its seemingly low estimate of $28,000-$33,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $21,438.

August 2017 Auction Results

We start off August with a leftover from July, Silverstone Auctions’ Silverstone Classic Sale. The top sale was a 1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona that previously belonged to Elton John. It sold for $723,956.

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

Both of our feature cars sold with the low-mileage Lotus Carlton selling for $94,557 and the Renault 5 Turbo $97,512. More results can be found here.

Brightwells held a Modern Classic sale in August on the eve of everything that happened half a world away in California. The Marlin Makaira failed to sell but this 2013 Audi RS6 Avant was the top sale at $61,540. Click here for everything else.

Photo – Brightwells

Moving to California we have Mecum’s Monterey sale. We’ll start by saying that this previously-featured Duesenberg failed to sell. The overall top seller of this auction was this 2014 Ferrari LaFerrari for $3,450,000. The Koenigsegg we featured still brought a lot, but not quite as much, at $2,600,000. And the Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse was third at $2,350,000. The regular Veyron failed to sell.

Photo – Mecum

The Maserati MC12 Corsa (like a previously-featured Aston Martin Vulcan) could’ve been a million dollar sale, but it failed to meet its reserve. To round out our feature cars, the Shelby Series II Prototype also failed to sell. You can see Mecum’s complete result list here.

Now on to Gooding & Company’s Pebble Beach sale. The Porsche 917K we featured sold for $14,080,000 – and, remarkably, it just missed being the top sale, which went to this 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB/C that brought $14,520,000.

Photo – Gooding & Company

There were a couple of no-sales among our feature cars, including the Ferrari wagon, the Arnott-Climax, the Mercedes-Benz S-Type and the Alfa 33 TT 12. The Maserati A6G/54 sold for $4,400,000. A previously-featured Fiat 8V Elaborata sold here for $1,485,000.

Other sales included the Gardner Roadster for $132,000, the OSCA 1600 GT for $341,000, the Wolfe Touring for $49,500. You can see more results here.

We’ll have more Pebble Beach results in a few weeks, but for now we’ll wrap it up with RM Sotheby’s sale in Monterey. The top sale here was the Aston Martin DBR1 for a record $22,550,000. Two other Astons that we’ve featured sold here as well, a DB4GT (for $6,765,000) and a Group C AMR1 (for $616,000).

Just like at Gooding’s sale, a Mercedes S-Type failed to sell, as did the Voisin C28. For Most Interesting, we’re going with this mean looking 1930 Bentley 6½-Litre Speed Six Sportsman’s Saloon by Corsica that brought $3,410,000.

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Other million dollar sales included the Maserati 5000 GT by Michelotti for $1,017,500 (the other Maserati, the 3500 GT, brought $605,000). There were at least four million-dollar Ferraris: the 121 LM sold for $5,720,000, the 342 America $2,255,000, the 500/735 Mondial $3,850,000, and the 212 Export $4,500,000.

Other big money Italian cars included the Lamborghini Concept S ($1,320,000) and the Abarth 1100 Sport ($891,000).

There were three previously-featured cars that sold here, including this Duesenberg for $1,430,000, this Oldsmobile Autocrat for $605,000, and this four-door Rolls-Royce convertible $385,000. Whew. Check out everything else here.

1925 Vauxhall Tourer

1925 Vauxhall 30/98HP OE Velox Tourer

Offered by Bonhams | Beaulieu, U.K. | September 2, 2017

 Photo – Bonhams

Bonhams features a lot (like, really a lot) of old Vauxhalls over the course of a year. And this site has been ignoring them for too long. These cars are highly sporty and very popular in their native Britain. It is said that this model is favored over 3-Litre Bentleys of the period.

The 30/98 was first introduced in 1913, designed primarily for competition. Most were built after WWI ended and this particular sub-model, the OE, started finding homes in 1923 (and it lasted through 1927). The engine by this point was a 4.2-liter straight-four that actually made 110 horsepower. The chassis is described as “lightweight” – or lightweight for 1925. This car can comfortably cruise at modern highway speeds – and then some, with racing models capable of over 100 mph.

Even with the adoption of four-wheel brakes for the OE, the design was quite dated by the time it went on sale. Only 312 examples of the OE 30/98 were built. This four-seat Velox tourer was bodied in-house and looks as if it was aimed squarely at the competition from Bentley. Imported from Australia decades ago, the current owner acquired this car in 2012 and performed a fresh restoration. This sporty piece of British motoring history should bring between $280,000-$330,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $277,432.

Four 20s Cars from Bonhams (and one from the Teens)

1923 Daimler TS 6.30 Tourer

Offered by Bonhams | Beaulieu, U.K. | September 2, 2017

Photo – Bonhams

Bonhams has been killing it with their Beaulieu Sale the past few years. Because this time of year is so jam packed with great sales, we ended up doing this sort of thing last year too. So we’re going to squeeze four cars from the 20s (and one from the teens) to make sure we’re capturing the most interesting cars that we aren’t likely to see again for some time.

The British version of Daimler was founded in 1896 and actually lasted through the 2007 model year. This large tourer from 1923 is powered by a 5.0-liter, sleeve-valve straight-six making 30 horsepower. It’s a model that dates back to 1913, so I guess it was a little long-in-the-tooth a decade later – but you’d be hard pressed to tell as this six-seat tourer looks quite nice. The body is by Maythorn.

The car does run and has been in present ownership since 1993. It should be a relatively affordable large classic as it carries a pre-sale estimate of $26,000-$32,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $22,331.


1928 Bayliss-Thomas 12/27HP Two-Seater Sports

Offered by Bonhams | Beaulieu, U.K. | September 2, 2017

Photo – Bonhams

Bayliss-Thomas was a company that is primarily known for a brand of motorcycles called “Excelsior.” These are not the same Excelsior bikes made in the U.S., as this company was based in Coventry. In 1920 they decided to start building cars, but couldn’t use “Excelsior” and had to settle for their corporate name, Bayliss-Thomas.

Produced only through 1929, the company managed to churn out just over 1,000 cars in a 10 year span. Introduced in 1925, the 12/27 featured a 27 horsepower 1.5-liter Meadows straight-four and a three-speed gearbox. Five body styles were offered with this Sports Tourer being among the smallest. This example has been on static display at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, since 1974. It has been slowly restored but is not currently running. It’s certainly a rare car that isn’t seen often. In this state it should bring between $10,000-$15,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.


1925 Vauxhall 30/98HP OE Velox Tourer

Offered by Bonhams | Beaulieu, U.K. | September 2, 2017

Photo – Bonhams

Bonhams features a lot (like, really a lot) of old Vauxhalls over the course of a year. And this site has been ignoring them for too long. These cars are highly sporty and very popular in their native Britain. It is said that this model is favored over 3-Litre Bentleys of the period.

The 30/98 was first introduced in 1913, designed primarily for competition. Most were built after WWI ended and this particular sub-model, the OE, started finding homes in 1923 (and it lasted through 1927). The engine by this point was a 4.2-liter straight-four that actually made 110 horsepower. The chassis is described as “lightweight” – or lightweight for 1925. This car can comfortably cruise at modern highway speeds – and then some, with racing models capable of over 100 mph.

Even with the adoption of four-wheel brakes for the OE, the design was quite dated by the time it went on sale. Only 312 examples of the OE 30/98 were built. This four-seat Velox tourer was bodied in-house and looks as if it was aimed squarely at the competition from Bentley. Imported from Australia decades ago, the current owner acquired this car in 2012 and performed a fresh restoration. This sporty piece of British motoring history should bring between $280,000-$330,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $277,432.


1925 Fiat 510 De Luxe Berlina

Offered by Bonhams | Beaulieu, U.K. | September 2, 2017

Photo – Bonhams

When one thinks of old Italian cars, it’s easy to think of just things that are sporty or just things that are small. But there were also big sedans – just like those from France, the U.K., and America. In fact, Fiat’s Tipo 510 was the biggest car they built at the time. It was available for the 1920 through 1925 model years.

The engine is a 3.4-liter straight-six making 46 horsepower (or 53 if you had the upgraded “S” version). Top speed in this version is about 60 mph. The “S” also had a shorter wheelbase, as Fiat offered the standard 510 in just one length.

This example was sold new to Denmark and the current owner acquired it in 2001. It’s been cared for by conscientious owners its entire life. One of the last 510s built (of about 14,000 total), this big Fiat should bring between $26,000-$32,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $25,309.


1914 Calcott 10½HP Two-Seater with Dickey

Offered by Bonhams | Beaulieu, U.K. | September 2, 2017

Photo – Bonhams

Calcott Brothers started building bicycles in 1886 and, like many other bicycle manufacturers, turned to motorcycles – for them in 1904. The next logical step, cars, followed in 1913. The marque was acquired by Singer in 1926 and phased out after the head of the company passed away.

Bonhams is actually offering three different Calcott cars in this sale. This 10.5HP model is an example of the first model the company produced. Introduced in 1913, these were built through 1917. It’s powered by a 1.5-liter straight-four making, you guessed it, 10.5 horsepower. Most Calcotts were light cars and this one is quite pretty in bright blue with matching rims. This ex-museum car has been in storage since 2015 and needs a little work to make it roadworthy, but it’ll be worth it. It should bring between $19,000-$26,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $23,820.

1923 Daimler Tourer

1923 Daimler TS 6.30 Tourer

Offered by Bonhams | Beaulieu, U.K. | September 2, 2017

Photo – Bonhams

Bonhams has been killing it with their Beaulieu Sale the past few years. Because this time of year is so jam packed with great sales, we ended up doing this sort of thing last year too. So we’re going to squeeze four cars from the 20s (and one from the teens) to make sure we’re capturing the most interesting cars that we aren’t likely to see again for some time.

The British version of Daimler was founded in 1896 and actually lasted through the 2007 model year. This large tourer from 1923 is powered by a 5.0-liter, sleeve-valve straight-six making 30 horsepower. It’s a model that dates back to 1913, so I guess it was a little long-in-the-tooth a decade later – but you’d be hard pressed to tell as this six-seat tourer looks quite nice. The body is by Maythorn.

The car does run and has been in present ownership since 1993. It should be a relatively affordable large classic as it carries a pre-sale estimate of $26,000-$32,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $22,331.

Fiat 510 Sedan

1925 Fiat 510 De Luxe Berlina

Offered by Bonhams | Beaulieu, U.K. | September 2, 2017

Photo – Bonhams

When one thinks of old Italian cars, it’s easy to think of just things that are sporty or just things that are small. But there were also big sedans – just like those from France, the U.K., and America. In fact, Fiat’s Tipo 510 was the biggest car they built at the time. It was available for the 1920 through 1925 model years.

The engine is a 3.4-liter straight-six making 46 horsepower (or 53 if you had the upgraded “S” version). Top speed in this version is about 60 mph. The “S” also had a shorter wheelbase, as Fiat offered the standard 510 in just one length.

This example was sold new to Denmark and the current owner acquired it in 2001. It’s been cared for by conscientious owners its entire life. One of the last 510s built (of about 14,000 total), this big Fiat should bring between $26,000-$32,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $25,309.

1914 Calcott

1914 Calcott 10½HP Two-Seater with Dickey

Offered by Bonhams | Beaulieu, U.K. | September 2, 2017

Photo – Bonhams

Calcott Brothers started building bicycles in 1886 and, like many other bicycle manufacturers, turned to motorcycles – for them in 1904. The next logical step, cars, followed in 1913. The marque was acquired by Singer in 1926 and phased out after the head of the company passed away.

Bonhams is actually offering three different Calcott cars in this sale. This 10.5HP model is an example of the first model the company produced. Introduced in 1913, these were built through 1917. It’s powered by a 1.5-liter straight-four making, you guessed it, 10.5 horsepower. Most Calcotts were light cars and this one is quite pretty in bright blue with matching rims. This ex-museum car has been in storage since 2015 and needs a little work to make it roadworthy, but it’ll be worth it. It should bring between $19,000-$26,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $23,820.