Does this look like a Dual-Ghia to you? Well if it does, that’s because it essentially is. Chrysler had a relationship with Ghia during the 1950s that led to some fantastic concept cars, including this. But Chrysler passed on putting this one into production.
So in stepped Gene Casaroll, a Detroit-area businessman, who arranged to put it into production as the Dual-Ghia. The Firebomb remained a one-off Chrysler concept powered by a 270 horsepower, 5.1-liter V8. This car is also the reason some people refer to the Dual-Ghia as the “Dual-Ghia Firebomb,” which is not accurate.
The car has been hanging around the Blackhawk Collection for years and is now offered for sale as part of Mecum’s “Gallery,” alongside quite a few other Blackhawk cars. You can see more about it here.
The World Sportscar Championship produced some pretty awesome race cars in the 1980s, including this, the Lancia LC2. Group C was where all the big dogs played during this era. The LC2 was Lancia’s factory-backed entry between 1983 and 1986.
The fun part about this car is that it is actually Ferrari-powered. It’s got a twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V8 that can be boosted to over 800 horsepower. Group C cars are not for the faint of heart. Only seven LC2s were built, six of which wore a factory Martini livery like this one. The competition history for this chassis, which was the first one built, includes:
1983 24 Hours of Le Mans – 34th, DNF (with Alessandro Nannini, Paolo Barilla, and Jean-Claude Andruet
This is the LC2 that later spent time in the Blackhawk Museum. It’s now available by Girardo & Co. with a price available upon request. You can read more about it here.
Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Elkhart, Indiana | October 23-24, 2020
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
The Tatra T87 is a special car. Designed by Hans Ledwinka and Erich Ubelacker, it was based on the earlier T77, which was a very low-production car from the mid-1930s. The T87 went on sale in 1936 and lasted through 1950… you know, with an interruption for the war.
It had a streamlined body, a rear-mounted 3.0-liter V8, and suicide front doors. Horsepower was a modest 85, but the car had an incredibly low drag coefficient and could hit 100 mph. After production ceased, Tatra retrofitted some of the T87s with the 2.5-liter V8 from the 603. This is one of those cars.
Not a cheap car in its day, the T87 was produced in limited numbers with just 3,056 examples completed. It’s a beautiful, streamlined masterpiece, with design elements lifted from the German zeppelins of the era. It’s one of the coolest cars in this sale, and, like the others, it will sell at no reserve. Click here for more info and here for more from RM.
Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Elkhart, Indiana | October 23-24, 2020
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
A couple of companies have built Jeeps or Jeep-like vehicles. It started with American Bantam, then there was Willys, Ford, Jeep (of course), and more. American Motors produced the prototype for this tactical truck in 1946, and it was further refined by some of the engineers from the original Bantam Jeep project.
The 1/4-ton “Mighty Mite” was produced for the Marine Corps between 1959 and about 1962. It is powered by a 55 horsepower 1.8-liter V4. It has four-wheel drive and tops out at about 62 mph. This is the “long wheelbase” version, as the M422 variant was six inches shorter.
Just 2,672 examples of the M422A1 were produced. When compared to WWII-era Jeeps, that’s just a tiny, tiny percentage. This well-restored example is going to sell at no reserve. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Elkhart, Indiana | October 23-24, 2020
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
Mazda Motor Corporation was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Company. In 1931 they introduced the Mazda-Go, a motorcycle-based three-wheeled delivery truck. It had no top and a cargo box out back.
In 1959, that vehicle was replaced by the K360. Production lasted for 10 years, and about 280,000 of them were built in total. Once quite popular in Japan, they aren’t seen very often today, especially in the U.S.
This ex-Weiner Microcar Museum car is powered by a 356cc twin that made 11 horsepower. It sold for just over $25,000 in 2013 and is now selling at no reserve. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Elkhart, Indiana | October 23-24, 2020
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
RM has rescheduled the sale of this monster Indiana collection for late October instead of the beginning of May. But that’s not going to stop us from talking about some of these great cars now! That is partially because this is more or less the only auction catalog available anywhere on the internet at the moment.
The Griffith is an awesome little beast. They have a short wheelbase, a lot of power, and are notoriously difficult to drive at the limit. It’s kind of like a Shelby Cobra – a British sports car (in this case, a TVR Grantura) with a big Ford V8 stuffed under the hood marketed by an American company. Jack Griffith was a TVR repair guru in the U.S., and he initially tried to shove a Cobra’s V8 into a Grantura.
Eventually, he figured it out and started selling 289-powered Griffiths. This car is actually the only one ever built with a 260ci (4.3-liter) Ford V8. Only 261 examples were ever built, 192 of which were supposed to be U.S.-market cars. The rest were branded as TVRs in the U.K. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
For Sale by Ascott Collection | Vaucresson, France
Photo – Ascott Collection
The Venturi 600 LM was the ultimate Venturi race car. It all started in 1993 when Venturi attacked Le Mans with seven 500 LM race cars. Five finished, and for 1994, a new series appeared: the BRP Endurance Championship for GT cars.
So they built one 600 LM, powered by a twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 that made 570-600 horsepower depending on the boost pressure. At least four 500 LMs were updated to 600 LM specification. This (CLM0003) is one of those cars, and its racing history includes:
1993 24 Hours of Le Mans (as a 500 LM) – 42nd, DNF (with Costas Los, Johannes Bardutt, and Claude Brana)
In 1996, the car was updated again to 600 LM-S specification by the factory. This included revised bodywork and a power increase to 640 horsepower. It failed to qualify for Le Mans that year. It’s been restored and is now for sale in France with a price available upon request. Click here for more info.
Update: Sold, RM Sotheby’s Le Mans 2023, $325,569.
Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Elkhart, Indiana | May 1-2, 2020
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
Here’s a rare one. The TZ and TZ2 were classic Alfa Romeo sports racing cars of the 1960s. They are quite sought after and very valuable. In 2010, Alfa Romeo introduced a “TZ3” to celebrate 100 years of the marque.
Based upon its newly-adopted corporate cousin, the Dodge Viper SRT-10, the TZ3 features unique bodywork by Zagato and is powered the Viper’s 8.4-liter V10 that, in this car, makes 600 horsepower.
Only nine road-going versions were built, along with one Corsa racing variant that was actually powered by a V8. The cost when new was over a million dollars, and they were sold behind closed doors directly to collectors. This one has only covered 201 miles since new. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
For Sale at Classicmobilia Limited | Buckinghamshire, England
Photo – Classicmobilia Limited
Donald Healey wasn’t just about building lithe sports cars, as the vehicle you see here does not appear to be all that sporty. But, when it was introduced, the Elliott was claimed to be the fastest closed production car in the world.
It is powered by a 2.4-liter Riley inline-four good for 104 horsepower. Most Elliotts were homely two-door sedans, but some of the 101 chassis built were sold as rolling chassis for aftermarket, coachbuilt bodies. That was the case here and why this car wears a woodie estate body by British coachbuilder Hobbs.
Only two of the 17 Hobbs woodies that were built are known to survive, and this one is about as nice as you could expect. The Elliott was built between 1946 and 1950, and it was one of Healey’s early successes. This one is for sale in the U.K. for about $155,000 Click here for more info.
The 1907 Renault Vanderbilt Racer was another big sale, bringing $3,332,500. Two old German cars sold, but the final sales prices were not listed, presumably because the new buyer is weird. They were the Opel Phaeton and the Demarest Benz. The other Benz failed to sell, as did a previously-featured Boyer and Knox.
RM’s Amelia sale boringly saw this 2003 Ferrari Enzo sell for the most money (there were so many cool classics here, so a late model Ferrari is kind of a bummer). It sold for $2,782,500.
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
All of our feature cars sold, led by two Duesenbergs. The Stationary Victoria sold for $1,325,000, and the Convertible Coupe brought $1,132,500. Cars that crossed the $100k mark included the Talbot-Lago at $250,000 and the Muntz Jet at $117,600.
Aguttes’ March sale might just be the last one we get to recap for while, considering that most sales in late March and heading into April and May have been either canceled or postponed until later in the year. You know, pandemic and all.
