Monthly Archives: January 2020

December 2019 Auction Highlights

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Not a lot of action in December, but Mecum did wrap up a sale in Kansas City that saw this 2005 Ford GT sell for $247,500. Gotta love it when the consignor of this car couldn’t be bothered to provide halfway decent photos (these are extremely pixelated). Hopefully, the car fared better during that ownership than the pictures show.

Photo – Mecum

The Graham Series 97 we featured sold for $22,550. More results can be found here.

Bonhams’ Bond Street sale saw the Alfa Romeo we featured fail to sell, though the 550 GTZ Barchetta brought $769,393. The overall top sale was $3,167,224 for this 1961 Aston Martin DB4GT Lightweight. Complete results can be found here.

Photo – Bonhams

Into 2020 we go with Mecum’s Kissimmee sale. No surprises here that the top sale was the Bullitt Mustang for $3,740,000. The Duesenberg we featured from this sale sold for $522,500. Not too far behind that was the Dodge Charger Daytona that sold for $346,500. I think we have to award Most Interesting to the 1968 Challenger 2 land-speed record streamliner that sold for $561,000.

Photo – Mecum

The Chrysler Prowler we featured sold for $27,500. The L88 Corvette did not sell. Complete results can be found here.

BH Auction had its first sale of 2020 in January, and the Lotus 88B we featured is still available. The top sale was this 1987 Ferrari F187 that sold for $1,717,578. More results are available here.

Photo – BH Auction

Finally, we have Bonhams in Scottsdale, where the top reported sale was a Ferrari we featured a while back, a 1951 212 Inter Cabriolet for $1,930,000. Leading the way among our feature cars was the 1901 Winton at $142,800. This 1955 Lancia Aurelia B24S Spider America brought $810,000 and is awarded Most Interesting, mostly because it’s beautiful in this color.

Photo – Bonhams

The other Winton brought $140,000, and the Boyer and a previously-featured Kurtis failed to sell. More results from this sale can be viewed here.

Hispano-Suiza Alfonso XIII

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1913 Hispano-Suiza Alfonso XIII Boattail

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Paris, France | February 5, 2020

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Hispano-Suiza had only been around for about eight years when they introduced the Alfonso XIII in 1912. Named for the King of Spain (who enjoyed and purchased their cars), the Alfonso is considered to be one of the first sports cars. Not all of them were sporty, however.

Power is supplied by a 3.6-liter inline-four good for 64 horsepower. This car rides on the long-wheelbase chassis and carries a reproduction boattail body. A two-seater body dating back to at least the 1920s accompanies the car and is believed to be the car’s original.

Ownership history is known back to the early 1920s, when it was bought by a university student in England, who would own the car until his death in 1978. It’s only had three owners since. This is one of the best cars of its era, and it’s rare to see such a fine example changing hands. You can see more about it here and more from RM in Paris here.

Update: Not sold.

Ferrari 126 C3

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1983 Ferrari 126 C3

Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | February 7, 2020

Photo – Artcurial

Ferrari’s 126 series of F1 cars were used between the 1981 and 1984 Formula One seasons. The 126 C3 was one of two cars used by the Scuderia for the 1983 season. The first was the 126 C2B, which was essentially their 1982 car with a flat bottom.

The C3 was a lighter version of the 126 C2B and used a carbon/kevlar shell. A 600-horsepower turbocharged 1.5-liter V6 provided the power. The car debuted halfway through the season, and four chassis were built. The competition history for this car includes:

  • 1983 Austrian Grand Prix – 2nd (with Rene Arnoux)
  • 1983 Dutch Grand Prix – 1st (with Arnoux)

The car fell back into reserve car status and was sold at the end of the season to the French Ferrari importer. But this car helped Ferrari win the constructor’s title for the 1983 season. It should now bring between $666,600-$1,111,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $1,583,200.

Shelby Series I Prototype

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1999 Shelby Series I Prototype

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Phoenix, Arizona | January 17, 2020

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The Shelby Series 1 was a legitimate, home-grown American sports car. It was the first Shelby-branded car to start from a clean-sheet design. They managed to produce just 249 examples – all in 1999.

Power is from a 4.0-liter Oldsmobile Aurora V8. That may sound lame, but remember that engine was also the basis for Olds’ Indy car engine around this time. Power in the Series 1 production cars was rated at 320 horsepower, and a top speed of 170 mph was reported.

This is actually a pre-production prototype and demonstration car. A couple of these prototypes were built. Later on, after the Series 1 program went bust, a Series II was introduced, but never advanced beyond the prototype stage. At no reserve, this car is expected to fetch $120,000-$150,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $91,840.

Update: Sold, Mecum Indy 2020, $115,500.

Devin D

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1958 Devin D

Offered by Bonhams | Paris, France | February 6, 2020

Photo – Bonhams

Bill Devin’s Devin Enterprises operated out of California between 1955 and 1964 and specialized in fiberglass kit cars. During their brief existence, they also sold some actual cars. One such model that was available as a complete, turn-key car was the D, which was introduced in 1958.

While it was also available as a kit, the Devin D was offered by the company ready to go with the option of two different engines: one from VW and one from Porsche. It used a custom ladder frame and a fiberglass body. This car is powered by a 100 horsepower, 1.8-liter Porsche flat-four.

Only 46 Devin Ds were produced. With its very Porsche-like design, this D is a more affordable alternative to its period Porsche competition. It is expected to bring between $89,000-$130,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams in Paris.

Update: Sold $100,914.

Dyna-Veritas

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1952 Dyna-Veritas Cabriolet

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Paris, France | February 5, 2020

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Veritas was a sports car manufacturer that was founded in the wake of WWII in West Germany. They got their start by modifying BMW 328s. That eventually gave way to building sports cars and even single-seat race cars. They definitely caught the racing bug, and soon realized it was expensive.

In order to fund their racing program, they started producing this road car. Called the Dyna-Veritas, the car is powered by a Panhard Dyna-sourced 745cc flat-twin that produced 38 horsepower. Coupe and convertible body styles were offered.

The front-wheel-drive convertible was bodied by Baur, and only 176 examples of the Dyna-Veritas were built. This is one of 10 surviving examples and is selling without reserve. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $75,978.

Bizzarrini BZ-2001

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1991 Bizzarrini BZ-2001 Prototype

For Sale at Speed 8 Classics | Malle, Belgium

Photo – Speed 8 Classics

This was a car I had a poster of on my wall as a kid. It’s a wild concept that carries the Bizzarrini name. The Wikipedia blurb for it was clearly written by either the car’s designer or current owner.

At any rate, it was based around the Ferrari Testarossa, and the team that built it tried to get Lamborghini to take an interest and put it into production. That didn’t pan out, and this remains the only example built. It looks more modern than 1991, which is a testament to its design. There weren’t that many mid-engined drop-tops in 1991.

Power is from a 4.9-liter flat-12 that made 390 horsepower. Top speed was said to be over 180 mph, but I’m not certain anyone ever got near that speed in this car. It’s a cool little piece of supercar history, and it’s popped up here and there over the years, though it is unclear how many times it has changed hands. It’s now for sale in Belgium, with a price available upon request. More info can be found here.

C8 Double 12

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2002 Spyker C8 Double 12S

For Sale at Classic Youngtimers Consultancy | Uden, Netherlands

Photo – Classic Youngtimers Consultancy

Modern Spykers are pretty surreal cars. They have some of the best interiors of any car you’ll find, and their overall aero-inspired look is quite unlike anything else. The Spyker C8, in some form, has been on sale since 2000. We’ve featured one of their base C8 Spyder models, but this is a much rarer beast.

The Double 12 is, I think, the ultimate version of the first generation of the C8. Produced between 2002 and 2003-ish, the car was the road-going version of the Double 12R race car. The 12R was supposed to be homologated to race at Le Mans, but Spyker didn’t have the capacity to do so. There ended up being just 15 built, and only one was powered by a 4.0-liter BMW Motorsport V8 good for 450 horsepower (the other cars had lower-tune Audi powerplants).

That technically makes this a factory one-off. It was kept by Spyker founder Victor Muller in his office for years and now shows just over 500 miles. It’s for sale in the Netherlands with a list price of $613,415. Click here for more info.

H6B Transformable Cabriolet

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1925 Hispano-Suiza H6B Transformable Cabriolet by Belvallette

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Phoenix, Arizona | January 16, 2020

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

This French-built Hispano-Suiza is from the middle of the H6 line and is one of many such cars built by the company to carry a beautiful coachbuilt body. The H6B was introduced in 1922, and the entire line lasted through 1933.

This car is bodied by Belvallette of Paris. It’s a four-door convertible, with suicide doors up front and a semi-formal three-position convertible top. The engine is a 135 horsepower, 6.6-liter inline-six. The original owner of the car is known, but the trail goes dark for over 60 years before the car reappeared in 1984 in original condition.

Since restored, the car has resided in a few prominent U.S.-based collections since. It is now estimated to be worth between $375,000-$425,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $445,000.

Bremen Sebring

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1985 Bremen Sebring

Offered by Barrett-Jackson | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 14, 2020

Photo – Barrett-Jackson

Kit cars get a bad rap, and while it is sometimes deserved, I always remember that “hey, someone thought this was a good idea.” In this case, that someone was Al Hildebrand, the importer of the Sterling (aka the Nova) kit car who decided he could improve upon that already-popular idea.

The Sebring is Volkswagen-based, and this car is powered by a flat-four from a Porsche 914 (displacement unknown!). It’s actually in really good shape, as many of these were not cared for as this one has been. The dashboard even has a TV monitor in it.

The coolest part of this car is that it doesn’t have doors. Instead, the entire canopy flips forward to allow access to the cabin. Founded around 1970, Hildebrand’s Bremen, Indiana-based company lasted until 1988. They offered other kits as well, along with V6 and turbo V6-powered Sebrings. This one is selling at no reserve. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $7,700.