Monthly Archives: March 2021

Facel Vega Facel II

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1963 Facel Vega Facel II

Offered by Historics Auctioneers | Ascot Racecourse, U.K. | April 17, 2021

Photo – Historics Auctioneers

Facel SA was a French company that started as a component manufacturer that turned toward coachbuilding and eventually automobile production. Their first cars went on sale in 1954, and the company ended up bankrupt in 1964. The Facel II was their last gasp.

It’s a two-door, four-seat grand tourer that went on sale in 1962. It’s powered by a 6.3-liter (383) Chrysler V8 good for 355 horsepower. Top speed was 135 mph when equipped with an automatic transmission like this one. The cars were quick in their day – faster than a Gullwing, a DB4, and a 250 GT.

Only about 180 were produced through the end of the road in 1964. This one was on the London Motor Show stand and spent 25 years in storage before being restored in 2017. It is now expected to sell for between $360,000-$430,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

HSV VS GTS-R

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1996 Holden HSV VS GTS-R

Offered by Webb’s | Paraparaumu, New Zealand | March 21, 2021

Photo – Webb’s

Body styles of Australian vehicles changed like every three years. It was like how the Americans did it in the 60s. The “VS” was the I-don’t-even-know-what generation of the Holden Commodore, and it was produced between 1995 and 1997 (although the Ute stayed in production through 2000).

HSV – or Holden Special Vehicles – is Holden’s badass car arm, like an Australian SVT or AMG. They produced a few versions of the VS Commodore, including the GTS. Well, they upped that to GTS-R spec in 1996. It’s powered by a 5.7-liter stroker V8 rated at 288 horsepower and mated to a six-speed manual transmission and a limited-slip rear differential. Hot stuff for 1996.

Only 85 were built, 10 of which went to New Zealand. This is one of those. It was first registered in 2008 and is said to be one of four of the 10 New Zealand cars that have remained there. The pre-sale estimate is $165,000-$185,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Austin Seven

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1927 Austin Seven Chummy

Offered by H&H Auctioneers | Duxford, U.K. | April 14, 2021

Photo – H&H Auctioneers

The Austin Seven (or 7) was a landmark British car. It was like the British Model T – it was extremely popular, cheap, and reliable. It helped put the UK on wheels. It was introduced in 1923, and variants of it remained in production until 1939. The car was licensed all over the world, including by Rosengart in France, BMW in Germany, and American Austin in the US. Its legendary status was cemented when the original Mini was launched in 1959 as the “Austin Seven.”

The 747cc inline-four made approximately seven horsepower, hence the name. It had a three-speed manual gearbox and what we now think of as “conventional” controls. Quite a few body syles were offered, including this four-seat “Chummy” tourer.

This particular car has been in dry storage for some time and could probably do for some reconditioning. It is selling at no reserve alongside a few other Seven variants. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $15,929.

Zedel Type P Torpedo

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1923 Zedel Type P 15HP Torpedo

Offered by Aguttes | Neuilly, France | March 21, 2021

Photo – Aguttes

Ernest Zurcher and Herman Luthi founded Zedel in Switzerland in 1896. In 1903, they set up a second manufacturing location in France, and it was successful enough that the Swiss location eventually closed, making Zedel a predominantly French marque thereafter. It was taken over by Donnet in 1919, and the marque was changed to Donnet-Zedel in 1924.

The Type P is said to feature a “large displacement” inline-four that was rated at 15 taxable horsepower when new. The body is the story here, though. It looks long and low. It is long, but I think the shadows are making the roof look much more “chopped” than it really is. It makes it look menacing.

The pre-sale estimate on this car is $12,000-$18,000. You can read more about it here and see more from this sale here.

Update: Sold $21,429.

Lagonda 2.6 Drophead

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1952 Lagonda 2.6-Litre Drophead Coupe

Offered by Bonhams | Bicester, U.K. | March 20, 2021

Photo – Bonhams

Lagonda has an interesting history of being a marque, then a model, then a marque again. The 2.6-Litre was the first model produced by Lagonda after the company was acquired by David Brown, who paired it with his other baby, Aston Martin.

The 2.6 was produced between 1948 and 1953, and just 510 examples were built, split between four-door sedans and two-door drophead coupes. The engine is a 2.6-liter inline-six that, in Mk II form as seen here, made 125 horsepower.

The current owner of this car bought it five years ago, and it was restored prior to that. It carries a pre-sale estimate of $83,000-$110,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $105,632.

Demeester Torpedo

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1905 Demeester 8HP Torpedo

Offered by Aguttes | Neuilly, France | March 21, 2021

Photo – Aguttes

Reading is hard. It has taken me far too long to realize that this car was built by Demeester, of Courbevoie, France, and not by Deemster, of London. Automobiles Demeester was founded in late 1905 by Leon Demeester and Dominique Lambejack.

The company built small cars, starting with twins and singles and eventually progressing to a line of four-cylinder cars before the company closed in 1914. This very early example is powered by a 1.1-liter inline-four that made eight horsepower. Demeester bragged that its eight-horsepower four-cylinder engine was the smallest such powerplant in the world.

This car has been in the ownership of the same family since 1966. It even retains its original bodywork. Side note, based on other sources, the 1.1-liter four may not have been introduced until 1907, meaning this car could’ve been built a little later than it is currently titled. It should sell for between $24,000-$36,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $126,439.

Sunbeam Stiletto

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1968 Sunbeam Stiletto

Offered by Historics Auctioneers | Ascot Racecourse, U.K. | April 17, 2021

Photo – Historics Auctioneers

The Rootes Group was like England’s version of AMC, and to continue the metaphor, that would make BMC Britain’s GM. So, BMC had a hit on their hands with the Mini, and Rootes introduced a small car competitor called the Hillman Imp. It featured a rear-mounted engine and a rear-wheel-drive layout.

Much like the Mini, the Imp was sold under a few different nameplates, including the Singer Chamois, Hillman Husky, and the Sunbeam Stiletto. The Stiletto was a “sporty” version of the Imp and it went on sale in 1967. The body style was different too, as this car is more of a fastback coupe than the 2-door sedan Imp. Production lasted through 1972.

The stock engine was a 55-horsepower, 875cc inline-four. This hot-rodded example has a Rover K-Series 1.8-liter inline-four making 120 horsepower. It is also teal (check) and has Minilite-style wheels (check). Stilettos are rare: only 4,735 of the first series examples were produced. This one will sell at no reserve. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $26,892.

Chrysler Turbine Car

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1963 Chrysler Turbine Car

For Sale by Hyman Ltd. | St. Louis, Missouri

Photo – Hyman Ltd.

The Jet Age was about more than just planes. Jet-inspired styling was all over cars of the era. Different companies even teased jet-powered cars. But none of those companies moved the needle more than Chrysler did with their Turbine Car.

The body was designed by Ghia, and the car was meant to be a public-road test program to study, I guess, the real-world viability of this whacky concept. Kind of like how autonomous Volvos are running over people in Arizona in today’s world.

Power is from a Chrysler-designed turbine engine that weighed 410 pounds and made 130 horsepower at 36,000 rpm (!) and 425 lb-ft of torque. The car could do 120 mph – and it could run on just about any fuel aside from leaded gasoline, including diesel and cooking oil.

They built 55 of these between 1963 and 1964. 50 of those were lent to the general public on three-month leases that wrapped up in 1966. Much like GM did with their EV1, Chrysler had 45 of the cars destroyed at the end of the program. Nine cars ended up being saved, all of which still exist. Only two are in private hands, with this being one of them.

These are cars that don’t change hands often. This one went from Chrysler to the Harrah collection, stopped at Tom Monaghan’s collection, and then to the current collection in the 1980s. It is operational but hasn’t been used much. This is a rare chance to get a car that is impossible. Impossible that it was built. Impossible that it works. And impossible to find. Click here for more info.

Falcon Mk II

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1965 Falcon Mk II

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Online | March 27, 2021

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

Falcon Shells produced kit cars and fiberglass sports car bodies in England between 1956 and 1965. The Mk II was, well, their second model, and it was a take on the Ashley, which company founder Peter Pellandine produced before starting Falcon.

The model was on sale from the get-go, as the company introduced a hardtop in 1957. The Mk II was really just a body that you’d buy and fit to the chassis of your choice. Their next car, the Competition (or Mk III) was sold as a full kit.

This one is based on a Ford Prefect and is powered by a 1.2-liter inline-four. It’s a cool piece of 50s sports racing history and should sell for between $35,000-$42,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

1906 Haynes

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1906 Haynes Model O Runabout

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | Online | March 2021

Photo – Bring a Trailer Auctions

Elwood Haynes and the Apperson brothers (Elmer and Edgar) were American automotive pioneers. In 1894, they built one of the country’s first gasoline-powered automobiles. Four years later, they were selling cars to the public under the Haynes-Apperson brand. But it wouldn’t last long, as it appears Haynes wasn’t all that easy to get along with (he would later take credit for building America’s first car… by himself).

The Appersons started their own company, and Haynes soldiered on with the hyphenated marque for about two years until he dropped the Apperson name in 1904. Cars built thereafter were just known as Haynes, making this 1906 Model O a very early example of the marque, which lasted through 1925.

The Model O was only sold in 1906 and was offered as a touring car or a runabout. It’s powered by a 4.6-liter inline-four rated at 30 horsepower. This particular car has been in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum collection since 1968, having been restored about a decade earlier. It comes with its “winter body” – a closed coupe sort of thing to keep the weather out when it was cold. The bidding is off to a strong start, and the auction is slated to end tomorrow. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $85,584.