Monthly Archives: August 2020

Kurtis 500E

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1956 Kurtis 500E

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Auburn, Indiana | September 3-5, 2020

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Frank Kurtis built quite a few race cars in his day, but he only built one 500E. In fact, he only built three cars in 1956 in total, two of which were Novi-powered 500Fs. The E was produced for the Federal Engineering race team, and it was an evolution of the earlier 500D, except the engine was tilted to the left and the fuel cap shifted places on the tail.

The engine would’ve been an Offenhauser inline-four. The car currently houses a mock-up of an Offy, but it’s not actually powered. The competition history for this chassis includes:

  • 1956 Indianapolis 500 – 7th (with Bob Veith)
  • 1957 Indianapolis 500 – DNQ (with Billy Garrett)
  • 1958 Indianapolis 500 – 14th, DNF (with Bob Christie)
  • 1959 Indianapolis 500 – 14th, (with Jimmy Daywalt)
  • 1960 Indianapolis 500 – 17th (with Shorty Templeman)
  • 1961 Indianapolis 500 – 10th (with Norm Hall)
  • 1962 Indianapolis 500 – 21st, DNF (with Chuck Hulse)
  • 1964 Indianapolis 500 – Never arrived

Yeah, it was raced at Indy, a lot. It was supposed to go back in ’64, but they never ended up preparing it. The car’s trail went cold, until John Snowberger, went on the hunt for his dad’s old race cars (his father, Russ, was Federal Engineering’s crew chief for many of those Indy appearances). He found a rusty old frame in a Detroit-area shop, which later turned out to be the remains of the 500E. It has been semi-restored, and is now expected to bring between $90,000-$120,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $68,200.

August 2020 Auction Highlights

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The auction world started picking up steam in August, with most houses turning to online or partial-in-person sales. First up is Silverstone Auctions, where this 1972 Lamborghini Miura SV sold for $2,503,366.

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

The one-off RA4 Vanguard failed to sell, but the Zenos brought $26,506 and the Benova $41,231. More results are available here.

Next up is Gooding & Company, a sale from which we featured two cars. Both sold. The Duesenberg brought $1,012,000, and the VLF sold for an undisclosed amount, WHICH IS LAME. You should assume they paid $15,000 for it, and then refuse to buy it from (presumably) whoever is about to try and flip it for an insane profit (based off of that $15,000 number). The top sale was this 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB Long Nose for $3,080,000. Go here for more results.

Photo – Gooding & Company

Bonhams’ “Quail” sale was held in Los Angeles this year. The cars with the four largest estimates all failed to sell (including the Offener Tourenwagen), leaving this 1959 Porsche 718 RSK Spyder atop the heap at $2,232,500.

Photo – Bonhams

The Grid-Porsche didn’t seller either. The Adams Probe sold for $184,800, and the Mason Tourist King brought $201,600, which seems strong. Check out the other cars that sold here.

RM’s Monterey sale also shifted to the internet (they called it “Shift/Monterey”). The top sale was a 2001 Ferrari 550 GT1 Prodrive for $4,290,000.

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

To start, a BMW M1 Procar we featured a while back sold here for $913,000. The Duesenberg from this sale sold for $781,000, and the Fiat Wonderful Coupe brought $181,500. All of our feature cars actually sold, which I guess means they were well-selected. The Ferrari 365 GT 2+2 sold for $176,000, the Edwards America convertible $148,500, and I’m pretty sure a previously-featured Fiat 1100 Allemano cabriolet sold for $158,000. Complete results are available here.

H&H had another online sale this month, and two of the cars we featured from last month failed to sell again (see: Willys-Knight and Renault). The good news is that the Hupmobile found a new home for $32,396. The top sale was actually this 2007 Jaguar XKR (with crazy low mileage) for $36,814. More results can be found here.

Photo – H&H Auctioneers

Finally, the FAM cabriolet prototype was withdrawn from the otherwise all-motorcycle Bonhams auction.

Chalmers Model 11

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1912 Chalmers Model 11 Touring

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Auburn, Indiana | September 3-5, 2020

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Many early car companies were started by engineers or industrialists. Chalmers was founded by a sales guy (sort of). The short version is the Thomas car company would become the Thomas-Detroit car company in 1906. Hugh Chalmers was a high-up at National Cash Register in Dayton, Ohio, and he was a helluva salesman. He was lured to a struggling Thomas-Detroit in 1908.

One of the conditions was that the name be changed to Chalmers-Detroit (sorry, E.R. Thomas). By 1910, they dropped the “Detroit” and were known simply as Chalmers through 1924. Chalmers had officially merged with Maxwell in 1922 after a being sort of common-law married for the previous few years. Walter Chrysler bought out Maxwell/Chalmers in 1923, and the rest is history.

1911 was actually Chalmers’ best year when they were the 8th largest automaker in the U.S. The 1912 range consisted of four models, including the 30-horsepower, 3.7-liter inline-four-powered Model 11. This large tourer is expected to bring between $18,000-$25,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $10,750.

Tatra 12

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1930 Tatra 12 Convertible

Offered by Dorotheum | Vosendorf, Austria | August 29, 2020

Photo – Dorotheum

The Tatra name first appeared in 1919 as the marque for cars built by an industrial company that built railroad cars and carriages. They had already produced some cars under the NW marque, but the new-and-improved post-WWI Tatras would lead to some impressive pre-and-post-war cars.

The 12 was introduced in 1926 as an evolution of the earlier 11. One big difference was that the 12 had four-wheel brakes. It’s powered by a 1.1-liter flat-twin making 14 horsepower. It was not a sporty machine. But that was not the intent. At this point, the company wanted to move cars people could afford.

This example has been in the same care since 1959 and is largely original aside from a repaint. Only 7,525 examples of the Tatra 12 were produced by the time it was replaced by the Tatra 57 in 1933. This one should sell for between $14,000-$21,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $20,436.

Epperly Indy Roadster

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1961 Epperly-Offenhauser Indianapolis

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Auburn, Indiana | September 3-5, 2020

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Quin Epperly is another legendary mid-century name associated with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His cars first showed up at the 500 in 1955 and would continue to run there until the mid-engined revolution took hold.

This car is another Offy-powered roadster, originally equipped with a 255ci inline-four. The competition history for this chassis includes:

  • 1961 Indianapolis 500 – 33rd, DNF (with Don Branson)
  • 1962 Indianapolis 500 – 5th (with Bobby Marshman)
  • 1963 Indianapolis 500 – 28th, DNF (with Bud Tingelstad)

Like so many other Indy roadsters, it was once part of the Bob McConnell collection for a number of years. It has been restored to its 1962 500 livery. It really looks the part of bad-ass Indy roadster, doesn’t it? The pre-sale estimate is $350,000-$450,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $407,000.

1932 BMW 3/20

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1932 BMW 3/20 AM1

Offered by Dorotheum | Vosendorf, Austria | August 29, 2020

Photo – Dorotheum

In 1904, a car company sprang up in Eisenach, Germany, that sold vehicles under the Dixi brand. In 1928, BMW took over that company. BMW dated back to 1916, but they didn’t produce their first car until after taking over Dixi. The Dixi 3/15 was an Austin Seven built under license, and they were branded as BMWs from 1929 through 1932.

The followup to the Dixi 3/15 was the BMW 3/20. That technically makes this the first BMW car, as the Dixi was not initially a BMW. It still used the Austin engine – a 788cc inline-four making 20 horsepower. The car itself was larger than its predecessor and was built in four versions, with this, the AM1, being the first.

The 3/20 was manufactured between 1932 and 1934. These early BMWs are very rare. Most pre-ware Bimmers offered at auction are just 328s. These are unusual. And interesting. It should bring between $14,000-$21,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $23,843.

Kurtis 500B

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1953 Kurtis 500B

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Auburn, Indiana | September 3-5, 2020

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Frank Kurtis was a legendary race car designer, and his 500B was an iteration of his earlier 500/500A cars. They first hit the track in about 1953, and they would be competitive for a few years thereafter, although they would eventually be topped by later, greater cars.

It’s powered by an Offenhauser inline-four, and the competition history for this chassis includes:

  • 1953 Indianapolis 500 – 10th (with Jimmy Davies)
  • 1954 Indianapolis 500 – DNQ (with Davies)
  • 1955 Indianapolis 500 – 3rd (with Davies)
  • 1956 Indianapolis 500 – 28th, DNF (with Al Herman)

This car was formerly part of the Bob McConnell collection, and it wears its 1955/1956 “Bardahl Special” livery. Only eight examples of the 500B were built, and this was the last. It’s an Indy podium finisher and is expected to bring between $350,000-$450,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $550,000.

Steyr-Fiat

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1964 Steyr-Fiat 1100 D

Offered by Dorotheum | Vosendorf, Austria | August 29, 2020

Photo – Dorotheum

This is a shameless weird-marque grab. I love that the alphabetical list on this site is an amazing collection of different marques, and Steyr-Fiat is a rare one. There isn’t much special about this car other than who made it, and the fact that I turned down featuring a 120-year-old Peugeot to squeeze this in makes me a little naseous.

The Fiat 1100 was a small sedan produced between 1953 and 1969 across a few different models. The base 1100 gave way to the 1100 D in 1962. It was powered by a 50 horsepower, 1.2-liter inline-four.

Steyr, of Austria, produced the 1100 under license, along with some other Fiats. In some cases, they fitted their own engines instead of Fiat’s, along with other mechanical modifications. And they were sold as “Steyr-Fiats” for a period of time (with a unique front badge listing both names). This is the type of car you will only ever find in Central Europe. This one should bring between $7,000-$11,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $8,174.

Glas 1300 GT Cabriolet

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1966 Glas 1300 GT Cabriolet

Offered by Dorotheum | Vosendorf, Austria | August 29, 2020

Photo – Dorotheum

It wasn’t that long ago that we featured a Glas 1300 GT – the coupe version of this car, which was built by Hans Glas GmbH in Dingolfing, Germany, between 1964 and 1967, when BMW took over. Over 5,000 coupes were made (including 1700 GT models), and the convertible is much rarer.

Power is from a 1.3-liter inline-four making 74 horsepower. This car has the rare five-speed gearbox, and the body was designed by Frua. Drop-tops were introduced in 1965, and only 242 examples of the 1300 cabriolet were built.

This car has known history back to new, much of it spent in Germany. The coupe we featured sold for less than $18,000 earlier this year. This car carries an estimate of $71,000-$94,000. No roof? More money. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $81,747.

Austro-Adler

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1912 Austro-Adler 14/17HP

Offered by Dorotheum | Vosendorf, Austria | August 29, 2020

Photo – Dorotheum

I’m sitting here browsing the ultimate automotive encyclopedia. It’s three volumes and weighs a ton. It covers everything. But it does not mention the Austro-Adler. Here is the story: Adler, the German car company, built their first car in 1900. In 1907, a shop opened in Vienna. They were selling Adlers as Austro-Adlers, and that’s because the cars underwent a sort of “final assembly” there to get around import taxes.

It was gone by 1918, and it is unknown how many cars they moved. This is the only known survivor, and it is fantastic. It’s a boxy touring car with a sporty folding windshield and big artillery spoke wheels that are wearing white letter tires.

This model was not an actual Adler model. It is thought that perhaps the Austrians bumped up the power ratings for resale. The prevailing theory is that this is actually an Adler 7/17 model renamed for resale. It’s got an inline-four that I would estimate to be around 1.8-liters in capacity. This unusual and rare tourer is expected to sell for between $59,000-$82,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $149,515.