Monthly Archives: August 2019

340 America Vignale Coupe

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1951 Ferrari 340 America Coupe Speciale by Vignale

Offered by Bonhams | Carmel, California | August 16, 2019

Photo – Bonhams

The 340 was the first in Ferrari’s line of America cars that sort of culminated in the ultra-rare 365 California. Produced between 1950 and 1952, the 340 was intended as a grand tourer, but, being Ferraris, that didn’t stop some from being pressed into racing duty. In 1951, a 340 America won the Mille Miglia.

Power is from a 4.1-liter V12 making 220 horsepower. The engine was actually derived from Ferrari’s Grand Prix motor. Only 23 examples of the 340 America were produced, with two of those actually being cars converted from earlier 275 S models. Eleven of them were bodied by Vignale.

Five of those 11 were coupes, including this one. At a cost of $25,000 when new, the car was kept around Southern California in its early years before being acquired by the current owning family in the late 1950s. It’s remarkably untouched after 60+ years, with chipping paint and great patina. If only all old Ferraris looked this authentic. No estimate is available, but you can read more here and see more from Bonhams here.

Update: Sold $3,635,000.

Lancia 037 Group B

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1983 Lancia 037 Rally Group B

For Sale at Girardo & Co.

Photo – Girardo & Co.

Lancia, though a shell of its former self, has produced some cool cars over the years. Perhaps none more so than the 037 (yes, I include the Stratos in that assessment). The car was essentially a purpose-built rally car meant to dominate Group B – but the company had to build road cars in order to satisfy the FIA’s homologation requirement.

So Lancia built 207 of the road cars. Requirement satisfied. And then they dominated Group B, winning the 1983 WRC constructor’s title. It also won three consecutive European Rally Championships (’83-’85). The 037 holds the distinction of being the last rear-wheel-drive car to win the World Rally Championship.

Power is provided by a mid-mounted, supercharged 2.1-liter inline-four that makes 325 horsepower. This car has such a great, hunkered-down look. And check out photos from the rear. You can almost hear it barking. A competition car from birth, the race history for this chassis includes:

  • 1983 Targa Florio – 2nd (with Carlo Capone)
  • 1983 Rally Sanremo – DNF (with Andrea Zanussi)
  • 1984 Rally Sanremo – 4th (with Fabrizio Tabaton)

This car competed in WRC events (the last two above), as well as other rounds of the European Rally Championship. It competed with multiple different teams and wore a few different racing liveries over the years. The Olio Fiat livery it wears today has been there since 1984. Oh, and this car is currently road registered in Monaco, so there’s that added bit of insanity.

A note on these cars… it would appear that Girardo & Co. is the world expert in the Lancia 037. A quick browse of their “sold” history shows three (!) 037 rally cars and four road cars. I think the only people to have sold more 037s was Lancia themselves. So I guess you can’t go wrong here. You can check out more on this car here.

July 2019 Auction Highlights

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We shifting gears a little bit now. From here out, our monthly auction rundowns will only cover auctions from which we actually featured cars. Sorry all others, I don’t have the time. Life is busy. That also means it will be a straight-shot chronologically (well, based on when the results are published anyway). Previous rundowns used to be broken up a little bit, as we’d only feature one result from any particular auction house per highlight post. Not anymore!

We start this time around with Bonhams in Goodwood, where the top seller, by some margin, was the Williams F1 car we featured. It sold for $3,385,271, while the other F1 car – the Toyota roller – brought $86,416. Rounding it out was the Lister Storm for $583,311. Most Interesting goes to this 1956 Cooper T39 that sold for $151,228. Click here for more results.

Photo – Bonhams

Next up is Brightwells’ Leominster Classic & Vintage sale. This 1961 Jaguar XK150S coupe was the top sale at $134,401.

Photo – Brightwells

Cars we featured included the Maudslay ($74,264), the Mitsuoka Roadster ($26,130), and the Dennis flatbed (not sold). Final results can be found here.

Historics held a sale at Brooklands in July, and this 1981 Porsche 911 Turbo took top sale honors, selling for $114,822.

Photo – Historics Auctioneers

All three of our feature cars sold, with the Jensen bringing the most: $84,016. The Bristol 411 sold for $49,708, and the Healey $22,404. Click here for complete results.

Aguttes’ all-Citroen sale saw the Coupe Concorde we featured fail to find a new home. The Citela concept car we featured a while back also failed to sell here. Top money went to this 1968 Citroen DS 21 Cabriolet for $238,579.

Photo – Aguttes

Two other previously-featured concept cars did manage to sell here. The Eco 2000 SA 109 went for $1,137 and the Tubyk $7,156 – both way down from what they brought not all that long ago at a different sale. More results are available here.

Finally, we have Silverstone Auctions. Fresh feature cars in this sale consisted of the Renault 5 Turbo 2, which sold for $100,258. The top sale was $1,030,431 for this 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300SL.

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

A previously-featured AC Aceca sold here for $167,096. Final results are available here and here.

De Tomaso P70

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1965 De Tomaso P70

Offered by Bonhams | Carmel, California | August 16, 2019

Photo – Bonhams

There were a lot of cooks in the kitchen when it came to getting this car built. And that’s probably a big part of the reason only an example or two were ever completed. Let’s start with the backstory: Carroll Shelby was killing it with his Cobras, including the legendary Daytona Coupes. But there were rumblings that McLaren was about to drop a huge 7.0-liter monster on the Cam-Am and USRRC circuits.

To hedge his bets while he waiting to find out if he would be taking over Ford’s GT40 program, Shelby teamed up with Alejandro de Tomaso to one-up McLaren before they got too far ahead. The car was engineered by de Tomaso and the body was designed by Peter Brock, who had also designed the Daytona Coupe. The body was then constructed by Fantuzzi in Italy.

Already featuring adjustable aerodynamics, Ol’ Shel wanted a lightweight powerplant. But it never got that far. Shelby got the GT40 gig and bolted from this project, and De Tomaso ended up showing the car at the 1965 Turin Auto Show as the “Ghia de Tomaso.”

Then it went into storage, staying put long after de Tomaso was gone. In 2004, the car’s body panels were discovered, and a very rough version of the car won awards at the 2005 Quail Motorsports Gathering. It was then restored and is now fitted with a 350 horsepower, 4.7-liter Gurney-Weslake V8. It’s expected to fetch between $2,000,000-$3,000,000 – which is a lot for a historic racing car with no racing heritage to speak of. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Siata Berlinetta

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1952 Siata 208 CS 2+2 Berlinetta by Bertone

Offered by Bonhams | Carmel, California | August 16, 2019

Photo – Bonhams

Though Siata could trace their roots back to 1926, they didn’t actually begin producing their own cars until 1948. Their great, sporty, Italian cars were a flash in the pan, however, and they disappeared by 1975 after spending nearly a decade producing a not-sporty, retro-styled convertible called the Spring.

Perhaps the most desirable car produced by the firm was the 208, which was offered in two forms including the S (roadster) and CS (coupe). They were built between 1952 and 1955 in small quantities, and fewer than 20 examples of the CS were built. Some of 208 S examples looked like an AC Ace, but every one of them was coachbuilt. A 125 horsepower, 2.0-liter V8 provides the oomph.

This Bertone-bodied coupe was ordered new by Stanley Arnolt (who was closely associated with the carrozzeria). It was also displayed at the 1952 Paris Auto Show. Fifty years later, it was restored, and it is now offered with a pre-sale estimate of $850,000-$950,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.