Monthly Archives: November 2018

LaFerrari Aperta

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2016 Ferrari LaFerrari Aperta

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 3-13, 2019

Photo – Mecum

This is Ferrari’s most-recent halo car. They built 500 examples of the LaFerrari Coupe between 2013 and 2016. The roadster version (well, it’s more of a targa) of this hypercar went on sale in 2016 and production wrapped up earlier this year. Only 210 examples were built.

This car is powered by a 949 horsepower gas/electric system made up of a 789 horsepower, 6.3-liter V12 hooked up to an F1-style KERS electric motor that adds an extra 160 horses. This drop-top will hit 217 mph, wigs be warned. It was optioned with a $62,000 carbon fiber hardtop. Take that, insane Porsche options list.

This isn’t the first such example to head to auction, but Mecum has been making a big deal of revealing that they would be selling this one (which only has 174 miles on it). If it sells, it will likely be the biggest dollar car at their massive Kissimmee sale this year. Click here for more info and here for more from Mecum.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $6,100,000.

October 2018 Auction Highlights, Pt. III

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Continuing in a busy October we come to RM’s Porsche 70th Anniversary sale held in Atlanta. The Rothmans-liveried 959 rally car was the top sale at $5,945,000. We will certainly have to award Most Interesting to this 1956 Porsche 356 A Training Chassis that sold for $112,000. Click here for more results.

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Mecum’s Chicago sale also had a Porsche bring the biggest money. In this case, it was a 1979 Porsche 911 Turbo (originally owned by Walter Payton) that sold for $324,500.

Photo – Mecum

The Ford Burma Jeep we featured sold for $8,800 – a steal. Final results can be found here.

Now we’ll jump back across the Atlantic, to Italy, and Bonhams’ Padua sale. The Alfa 155 GTA Stradale was withdrawn, and our featured Horch failed to sell. The top sale was $576,549 paid for this 1960 Ferrari 250 GT Series II Coupe, and more results can be found here.

Photo – Bonhams

Now we start with November’s sales, beginning with Artcurial. The Delaunay-Belleville we featured failed to sell, though the Ligier brought $91,897. Overall, the top seller was this 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster for $1,131,027. Click here for more results.

Photo – Artcurial

Finally, we have Silverstone Auctions’ NEC Classic Motor Show sale. The McLaren we featured failed to sell, and the VW XL1 brought $132,465. The top sale was this 1966 Aston Martin DB6 for $275,176. Click here for expanded results.

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

Bristol 410

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1968 Bristol 410

Offered by Brightwells | Leominster, U.K. | November 28, 2018

Photo – Brightwells

This is a Bristol 410. It looks an awful lot like the Bristol 408 (and the 409 in between). So what’s different about this car? Well, it’s a little more aerodynamic and not quite as upright. It still used the same Chrysler V8 that dated back to the Bristol 407.

In this case, the engine displaced 5.2-liters but still puts out 250 horsepower. The increased aerodynamic efficiency resulted in the slightly higher top speed of 130 mph. Only 82 examples of the 410 were produced, and this one should bring between $36,000-$41,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

Bristol 408

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1963 Bristol 408

Offered by H&H Classics | Buxton, U.K. | November 28, 2018

Photo – H&H Classics

The Bristol 408 was a model offered by Bristol Cars between 1963 and 1966. It came after the 407 and, guess what, before the 409. It was mechanically identical to the 407, but featured significant exterior design changes.

The engine is a 5.1-liter Chrysler V8, supposedly making 250 horsepower. Top speed is said to be about 122 mph. The company only churned out 83 examples, which is sort of the average output for a model from this small company. This example has been repainted but is otherwise original. It should bring between $45,000 and $58,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $43,071.

Two Bristols

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1963 Bristol 408

Offered by H&H Classics | Buxton, U.K. | November 28, 2018

Photo – H&H Classics

The Bristol 408 was a model offered by Bristol Cars between 1963 and 1966. It came after the 407 and, guess what, before the 409. It was mechanically identical to the 407, but featured significant exterior design changes.

The engine is a 5.1-liter Chrysler V8, supposedly making 250 horsepower. Top speed is said to be about 122 mph. The company only churned out 83 examples, which is sort of the average output for a model from this small company. This example has been repainted but is otherwise original. It should bring between $45,000 and $58,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $43,071.

1968 Bristol 410

Offered by Brightwells | Leominster, U.K. | November 28, 2018

Photo – Brightwells

This is a Bristol 410. It looks an awful lot like the Bristol 408 (and the 409 in between). So what’s different about this car? Well, it’s a little more aerodynamic and not quite as upright. It still used the same Chrysler V8 that dated back to the Bristol 407.

In this case, the engine displaced 5.2-liters but still puts out 250 horsepower. The increased aerodynamic efficiency resulted in the slightly higher top speed of 130 mph. Only 82 examples of the 410 were produced, and this one should bring between $36,000-$41,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

Bugatti Type 46 Faux Cabriolet

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1930 Bugatti Type 46 Faux Cabriolet by Veth & Zoon

Offered by Mecum | Las Vegas, Nevada | November 17, 2018

Photo – Mecum

“Convertibles are cool and I want to be cool but I don’t want to be outside,” said someone who ordered a Faux Cabriolet body for a Bugatti. This is a Type 46, one of the most “common” and often-seen Bugatti models. It was built between 1929 and 1936.

Power comes from a 5.4-liter straight-eight that made 140 horsepower. A rare supercharged version, the Type 46S, was offered beginning in 1930. This car carries coachwork from Dutch coachbuilders Veth & Zoon. In all, about 444 examples of the Type 46 were built.

This car was delivered new to the Netherlands, thus the locally-built body. It was restored in the 2000s and looks amazing, if understated, from the outside. I almost made the lead image a shot of the engine, because it’s a work of art. Mecum estimates this car is worth somewhere between $1,150,000-$1,250,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $1,012,000.

Talbot-Lago T120 by Brandone

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1938 Talbot-Lago T120 Roadster by Brandone

Offered by Mecum | Las Vegas, Nevada | November 15-17, 2018

Photo – Mecum

As the name would suggest, the Talbot-Lago T120 was the baby brother of the marque’s legendary T150. Just because it wasn’t as large, expensive, or powerful, doesn’t mean they didn’t have the ability to be just as beautiful.

The T120 is powered by a 90 horsepower, 3.0-liter straight-six and was introduced in 1934. This car carries bodywork from Carrosserie Brandone and it is believed to be the only such body fitted to a T120 chassis.

It has known history back to the 1960s when it was discovered in storage in Saint-Tropez. It was restored decades ago and has been a part of the Academy of Art University Collection for some time. It is expected to sell for between $1,050,000-$1,150,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Mecum in Vegas.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $900,000.

Update: Not sold, Mecum Monterey 2019, $650,000.

Duesenberg J-402

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1930 Duesenberg Model J Dual Cowl Phaeton

Offered by Mecum | Las Vegas, Nevada | November 17, 2018

Photo – Mecum

When the Model J Duesenberg was introduced in 1929 it caused quite a splash. I wonder what it must have been like to see one on the show stand and say “I want one” only to realize that the company would only sell you an engine and chassis for the price of a good-sized house.

You were responsible for taking it somewhere to have a body fitted. This car originally carried a Rollston Town Car body. By the 1950s that had been replaced with a Brunn Convertible Victoria. Whoever restored it in the 1970s built this La Grande-style Dual Cowl Phaeton. So this is not original coachwork, but it looks quite nice in lavender and lilac.

Power is from a 6.9-liter straight-eight making 265 horsepower. It was the king of the road and has a 150 mph speedometer. That speed might sound crazy for a road car designed in the 1920s, but it wasn’t too far from the truth. This is yet another classic coming from the Academy of Art University collection. Click here for more info and here for more from Mecum.

Update: Sold $770,000.

Black High-Wheeler

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1908 Black Surrey

Offered by Mecum | Las Vegas, Nevada | November 15-17, 2018

Photo – Mecum

The Black Manufacturing Company of Chicago had a short but interesting life. Their first cars went on sale in 1908 and they were all high-wheelers. But they sold them under two different brands. There was the budget-minded Chicago Motor Buggy and the slightly nicer but still built-for-rough-conditions Black. The Chicago Motor Buggy was only available in 1908 and 1909.

The 1908 Black lineup consisted of four models, three of which were Surreys. There was the Type 18, Type 118, and Type 20. I have no idea which version this is, but I do know the engine should be a 20 horsepower, 2-cylinder and it would’ve cost somewhere between $575 and $650.

The Black would be available through 1910, but the company also sold a more traditional car under the Black Crow marque in 1909 and 1910. It was a licensed version of the Crow-Elkhart. The high-wheeler example above has only been owned by two families since new and is a pretty rare early American automobile. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $7,700.

Delahaye 235 by Antem

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1952 Delahaye 235 Cabriolet by Antem

Offered by Aguttes | Lyon, France | November 10, 2018

Photo – Aguttes

When you think “coachbuilt” Delahaye, images of windswept cars from the 1930s or 1940s are probably what you imagine. But the company actually survived into the 1950s – 1954 to be exact when rival Hotchkiss acquired them and phased out the name.

Shortly before that, however, Delahaye introduced the 235. It was built between 1951 and 1954 and it actually looked like a modern car (for comparison, check out this 1951 Delahaye legacy model that just looks live an evolution of the earlier coachbuilt stuff). Anyway, the 235 is powered by a 3.6-liter straight-six that made 152 horsepower. Top speed was over 100 mph, and the factory cars carried bodies from Chapron.

Only 85 examples of the 235 were built (they were expensive). Antem bodied 14 of them. Only one was a convertible, this one. It should sell for somewhere in the neighborhood of $230,000-$355,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Update: Sold, Bonhams Paris 2020, $227,058.