1923 Willys-Knight

1923 Willys-Knight Model 64 Tourer

Offered by H&H Classics | Online | July 22, 2020

Photo – H&H Classics

Willys-Overland hopped on the sleeve-valve-engine train in 1914 when they launched the Willys-Knight brand. It came to be after Willys purchased New York’s Edwards Motor Car Company and moved their operations to the old Garford plant in Elyria, Ohio.

The Knight was available through 1933, and it was the only Willys-branded product offered between 1921 and 1930. Power is from a 3.0-liter Knight sleeve-valve inline-four rated at 40 horsepower when new. Sleeve-valve engines were expensive to produce, yet Willys built nearly half a million Knight-branded cars during the marque’s run.

This example presents well with shiny black wire-spoke wheels, nice blue paint, and a retractable black top. It is said to have remained with its original-owning family for about 90 years before being purchased by the consignor in 2015. It is now expected to fetch between $17,500-$22,500. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Update: Not sold, H&H Auctioneers online, August 2020.

Update: Not sold, H&H Auctioneers, August 2021.

Inaltera GTP

1976 Inaltera-Cosworth GTP

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Online | July 14-22, 2020

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Jean Rondeau was a racing driver that drove open-wheel and saloon cars before moving on to sports racing prototypes in 1976 when he joined the Inaltera team. Inaltera was a wallpaper company, an industry whose natural extension is prototype sports cars to contest Le Mans.

This example, the first of three built, was the team’s test car. It is powered by a 3.0-liter Cosworth V8. Though it did not compete at Le Mans in 1976, it would enter the race the following year. It’s competition history includes:

  • 1977 24 Hours of Le Mans – 4th (3rd in Class), with Jean Rondeau and Jean Ragnotti

After that, Inaltera pulled out of motor racing. Rondeau ventured on, building similar cars under his own name. He would later become the only person to win Le Mans with a car bearing his own name.

This car went to Switzerland after the 1977 season along with the other two Inaltera chassis. The current owner acquired all three later that year and sold the other two, keeping this one. It is now offered with an estimate between $510,000-$625,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $440,902.

Renault AZ Landaulette

1909 Renault Type AZ Landaulette

Offered by H&H Classics | Online | July 22, 2020

Photo – H&H Classics

Early Renaults have such a distinct look with their curved hoods set ahead of a bulkhead-mounted radiator. The Type AZ was produced in 1908 and 1909 and was a mid-size car. This example is proof that you don’t need the largest car a company offers in order to fit it with a fancy body.

This Landaulette was bodied by Lucas of London and features a covered, but otherwise open, driver’s compartment with a closed rear passenger compartment with a convertible top. The car is powered by a 2.4-liter L-head inline-four rated at 14 horsepower.

This example spent time in the U.S. before returning to Europe in 1990. Since then, it’s been repainted and has spent time a few private collections. It should now sell for between $56,000-$63,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Update: Not sold, H&H Auctioneers online, August 2020.

Sebring-Vanguard CitiCar

1976 Sebring-Vanguard CitiCar

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Auburn, Indiana | September 3-6, 2020

Photo Courtesy RM Sotheby’s

Robert G. Beaumont founded Sebring-Vanguard in Sebring, Florida, and set about producing a golf cart-inspired electric car that was street legal. The Bugeyed wedge was a design inspired by the times and featured a big safety bumper up front, side-hinged doors, and two seats.

Power is from an electric motor (the CitiCar retained much of the inspirational golf cart’s mechanical bits). Early cars had 2.5 horsepower, and the final run had a mighty six. In 1976, Sebring-Vanguard was the sixth-largest automotive manufacturer in the United States.

About 2,300 were produced between 1974 and 1977 when the design and production rights were sold to a company called Commuter Vehicles, who re-launched an updated version as the Comuta-Car in 1979. This one is all-original and will sell at no reserve. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $2,200.

Venturi 260 Atlantique

1993 Venturi Coupe 260 Atlantique

Offered by Artcurial | Monaco | July 21, 2020

Photo – Artcurial

This is the kind of weird European cottage industry stuff I expect to see in a Monegasque auction. Venturi, which originally produced cars in France, is now based in Monaco. Their heyday was the early 1990s, and they produced a dizzying array of models considering the company wasn’t around for all that long.

The Atlantique was a fiberglass-bodied series of cars featuring a mid-engined, rear-wheel-drive layout. There were turbo and naturally aspirated versions, both with a 3.0-liter V6. But prior to that car’s introduction in 1994, there was the Coupe 260 Atlantique, which wasn’t technically part of the “Atlantique” line. It went on sale in 1991, and just 25 examples were produced through 1993.

The car was based on the 260 APC, a design that dated to the 1980s, and is powered by a 2.8-liter V6 that made 260 horsepower. It was lighter than the APC, and all were finished in this lovely shade of blue. This example was the final one built, and it is expected to fetch between $56,000-$78,000. Click here for more info, and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $65,501.

Nash Statesman Fastback

1951 Nash Statesman Custom Brougham

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | August 27-29, 2020

Photo – Mecum

The Statesman was a full-sized car offered by Nash for a short period of time. It wasn’t their only full-sized car, but it slotted in below the Ambassador in the Nash product line. Despite being on sale for only six years (1950-1956), it spawned two distinct generations.

This Statesman Custom Brougham was from the final year of the first generation. The Custom was the top of three trim levels, and was offered in three body styles: a two-door sedan, a four-door sedan, and a two-door Brougham. The latter had a distinct fastback style that is pretty awesome for 1951.

Photo – Mecum

Two-door Broughams were the rarest of all 1951 Nash cars, regardless of what model and trim combo you picked. For instance, only 38 Statesman Custom examples were built. Thirty-eight. That’s it. Could you imagine a major car company today producing less than 50 examples of one of their models? It’s crazy.

Power is from a 3.0-liter inline-six that made 85 horsepower when new. This is a cool car from a once-great manufacturer. And I can’t imagine how rare it is today. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $19,800.

Update: Sold, Mecum, Indianapolis, October 2020, $27,500.

Brooke Double R

2009 Brooke 260RR

Offered by Historics Auctioneers | Windsorview Lakes, U.K. | July 18, 2020

Photo – Historics Auctioneers

Brooke Kensington was a company that produced a road-legal open-wheeled two-seater in the 1990s. They only built nine cars before the design was sold to a new company, Brooke Cars Ltd. The cars were similar, though the new Double R models were updated and better-looking.

The two-seat side-by-side layout remained, but the engine choices changed. This car is powered by a 260 horsepower, 2.3-liter Cosworth inline-four. Power output on other cars ranged from 200 to 400 horsepower. I can’t imagine how the 400-horse version drives. Other equipment includes a six-speed gearbox, a Quaife limited-slip differential, OZ Racing wheels, and a carbon-fiber engine cover.

The Double R only weighs 1,120 pounds, making the car a complete rocket. Production remained very limited like its predecessor, although I’m not sure how many were actually built. This car has a pre-sale estimate of $15,000-$20,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $24,648.

Bugatti 57S Atalante

1937 Bugatti Type 57S Atalante

Offered by Gooding & Company | London, U.K. | TBD…

Photo – Gooding & Company

Gooding & Company calls this “the most desirable of all road-going Bugattis,” which seems a tad hyperbolic considering some of the other Bugattis out there. The Type 57 S was a lowered version of the already-great Type 57, which was introduced in 1934.

This car was built with a naturally aspirated 3.3-liter inline-eight, but after Bugatti sold a few Type 57 SCs with superchargers, most of the base 57 S cars came back to the factory to get fitted with a supercharger, which this car has (though it was added much later on). Output is rated at 220 horsepower.

Jean Bugatti was company founder Ettore’s son and designed an aluminum body for the 57 S dubbed “Atalante.” It’s a low two-door coupe very similar to the famed Atlantic. Only 17 were built, four of which are locked away in a French museum that I don’t much care for. This one carries a pre-sale estimate “in excess of $8,500,000”. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale, whenever it ends up being held.

Update: Sold $10,016,185.

Alta A200

1968 Alta A200

Offered by Dorotheum | Vosendorf, Austria | July 10, 2020

Photo – Dorotheum

Well, we’ve already covered the early history of the Fuldamobil. But, with the exception of Sweden, we didn’t really touch on the export markets or the license-built versions. It was sold as the Nobel in a few markets and was even produced in India.

Two different companies built them in Greece: Attica and Alta. Alta was based in Athens between 1962 and 1978 and built microcars, motorcycles, and light commercial vehicles. The A200 is powered by a Heinkel 200cc single.

It was the last Fuldamobil variant still in production when it was axed in 1974. This is a nice one, and you can read more about it here. More cars from this sale can be viewed here.

Update: Sold $10,778.

Fram-King Fulda

1961 Fram-King Fulda

Offered by Dorotheum | Vosendorf, Austria | July 10, 2020

Photo – Dorotheum

History lesson: the Fuldamobil was a microcar built in Fulda, Germany, originally by Elektromaschinenbau Fulda and later by a company whose initials were NWF. The first Fuldamobils went on sale in 1950. Fulda didn’t have the capacity to build that many cars, so they contracted with NWF in 1954 to build them.

NWF built the smaller-engined cars, including some under their own name, while Fulda introduced better versions of theirs. The Fulda S7 debuted in 1957 in Sweden as the Fram-King Fulda, which was built there under license. Power should be from something approximating a 191cc single making just shy of 10 horsepower.

The Fram-King Fulda was built for a short time… until the factory burned down. Production resumed in 1958/1959, and the cars were then sold as the King S-7. So either this car is actually earlier than it is registered as, or it’s really a King (FKF is what many Fuldamobils are known as). Either way, they’re the same car. Click here for more info on this one.

Update: Sold $11,566.