Chenowth Indianapolis

1961 Chenowth-Chevrolet Indianapolis

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Amelia Island, Florida | May 22, 2021

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Once upon a time, there was a company called San Diego Steel Products, and they made exhaust headers. It was owned by a guy named Chuck Chenowth, and he wanted to go racing at Indianapolis. He built an Indy roadster and stuffed a 4.2-liter Chevrolet V8 up front in an era when an Offenhauser-powered Anything dominated each race. Bold move.

It’s got Hillborn fuel injection and a Lehman front-drive unit to operate the fuel and water pumps as well as an Offenhauser gearbox and Halibrand wheels. The body was actually designed by Don Kuzma, another legendary name of the period. The Chenowth name is still around, although primarily associated with off-road racing today.

Unfortunately, this car never made a 500. It failed to arrive for the 1960 race and failed to qualify in 1961. It was more successful on the USAC short-track circuit, where it was driven by the likes of Tom Sneva, Mike Magill, and Greg Weld. It was restored near Cincinnati in the 1980s and is now offered with an estimate of $175,000-$225,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $156,800.

1953 RGS Atalanta

1953 RGS Atalanta

Offered by Bonhams | Amelia Island, Florida | May 20, 2021

Photo – Bonhams

Atalanta Motors Ltd was active in Middlesex, England, from 1937 through 1939. They built less than 20 cars in that time, but they were held in very high regard. After WWII, the company was purchased by Richard G. Shattock, a former army member and race car driver.

He built a run of specials – 11 apparently – using the Atalanta marque and his initials. They were raced, and some were sold as standalone bodies. This was the third example produced and features aluminum bodywork. The powerplant is a 3.4-liter Jaguar inline-six good for 160 horsepower.

Clues as to the car’s early history indicate that it was probably raced before it was registered for street use. It arrived in the U.S. in 1970 as a pure racing car and was purchased by the current owner in the late 1980s. The current restoration was performed thereafter, but it has been on static display for some time. No pre-sale estimate is available. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $285,500.

BMW 502 by Baur

1956 BMW 502 Cabriolet by Baur

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | April 2021

Photo – Bring a Trailer Auctions

The BMW 502 was the V8-powered version of BMW’s six-cylinder 501. The 501 went on sale in 1951 and the 502 in 1954. Confusingly, there was also a “501 V8” model sold, with a detuned version of the 502’s.

The 502 was also better appointed than the 501, which made it expensive. They only sold 190 in the first sales year. The standard body style was a sedan, but Baur-built coupes and cabriolets were also available. This car is one of 57 cabriolet examples.

This one is powered by a 3.2-liter V8 sourced from a later BMW 3200L. The 502 was Germany’s first post-war V8-powered car. With a single carburetor, this engine was rated at 140 horsepower when new. The removed factory 2.6-liter V8 is included with the car.

This car was restored between 2011 and 2013, and it looks pretty fantastic. It’s been at Pebble Beach and is being offered out of a museum. The bidding is already at $125,000 as of this writing, and it is scheduled to end two days from this posting. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $275,000.

March CG891

1989 March-Judd CG891

For Sale by RM Sotheby’s | 2021

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The March Racing Team was a Formula One constructor founded by Max Mosley, Alan Rees, Graham Coaker, and Robin Herd in 1969. They built race cars for F1, F2, F3, IMSA, and IndyCar. This CG891 was their F1 car for the 1989 season.

The 1989 season was also the year March’s fortunes in F1 would come undone. Their financial situation deteriorated to the point where the team was taken over by their primary sponsor, Leyton House (a Japanese real estate company), mid-season.

Leyton House Racing was an F1 constructor (although more of a re-branded March team) in 1990 and 1991. It was purchased by someone else and renamed back to March for 1992 before disappearing forever. The CG891 was one of the first F1 cars designed by Adrian Newey and is powered by a 3.5-liter Judd V8 making 610 horsepower. The competition history for this chassis (02) includes:

  • 1989 Monaco Grand Prix – 11th, DNF (with Ivan Capelli)
  • 1989 United States Grand Prix – 21st, DNF (with Capelli)
  • 1989 French Grand Prix – 14th (with Mauricio Gugelmin)
  • 1989 Hungarian Grand Prix – 22nd, DNF (with Capelli)

This car retains its race engine and largely looks like it did when it pulled off the track for the last time. It’s been static for a while, so it’s gonna need some work. RM is offering it for about $522,500. Click here for more info.

Duesenberg J-281

1933 Duesenberg Model J Dual-Cowl Phaeton by LaGrande

Offered by Bonhams | Amelia Island, Florida | May 20, 2021

Photo – Bonhams

There are quite a few striking Duesenberg Model J bodies that were offered by various coachbuilders. In fact, just about every one of them is pretty striking. But none more so than the in-house dual-cowl phaeton penned by Gordon Buehrig.

The LeBaron dual-cowl phaeton was one of the first body styles introduced on the Model J after its introduction. Buehrig improved it a bit for those produced by LaGrande, which was actually a pseudonym for the Union City Body Company – a Cord subsidiary. They called it LaGrande, I guess because it sounded fancier. The only thing that would make this car better is to change the red to green.

Like other Js, this car is powered by a 6.9-liter inline-eight capable of 265 horsepower. It’s one of 12 such examples built with this bodywork, all of which survive. However, this chassis was originally delivered with engine J-334 and a Murphy convertible sedan body. J-281 was from a Rollston town car and was swapped into this car during original ownership. This body was added later on but is the real deal.

You can read more about this car here and see more from Bonhams here.

Update: Sold $1,655,000.

Inter-State Indianapolis Re-Creation

1911 Inter-State Fifty Race Car

Offered by Bonhams | Amelia Island, Florida | May 20, 2021

Photo – Bonhams

Thomas F. Hart founded the Inter-State Automobile Company in Muncie, Indiana, in 1908. Production of automobiles began the following year, and an Inter-State was on the grid at the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911. The cars were pretty good, but financial problems led to the company being reorganized in 1914. They shifted to war production during WWI and never resumed making cars. The new owners sold the factory to General Motors after the war, and the Sheridan was later built there.

In 1911, Inter-State offered two models: the popular Forty and the Fifty, which was only available as a seven-passenger touring car. This is what this car started as, but it was later converted to a replica of the 1911 Inter-State Indianapolis race car.

It uses an Inter-State chassis and a Fifty engine – which was a 6.4-liter inline-four rated at 50 horsepower. It’s a pretty monstrous four-cylinder, and I have either seen this car in person or a very similar Inter-State. But the pistons are about the size of your thigh.

The original car must not exist anymore, as this one was used during the centennial celebration of the 500, where it was driven by Buddy Lazier for a lap around the track. It will sell at no reserve. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $184,800.

500K Roadster by Windovers

1935 Mercedes-Benz 500K Three-Position Roadster by Windovers

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Amelia Island, Florida | May 22, 2021

Photo – Bonhams

Mercedes-Benz offered a variety of factory body styles for their 500K touring car. These included sedans, various roadsters, and the very popular cabriolets. But there were outside coachbuilders that also put their personal touch on examples of this chassis. And this one is brilliant.

The 500K was sold between 1934 and 1936 before it was replaced by the 540K. It is powered by a supercharged 5.0-liter inline-eight that was rated at 160 horsepower with the supercharger engaged. Top speed was over 100 mph.

Only 41 500Ks were sold as bare chassis to be bodied by independent coachbuilders. This car features one-off coachwork from Windovers, a British coachbuilder. It’s a three-position roadster, meaning the top can be all the way up, all the way down, or at an awkward place in the middle.

The car was purchased by the current owner in 2006 and later restored. It has a real Count Trossi SSK vibe to it, which is awesome. No pre-sale estimate is available, but you can read more about it here. Check out more from this sale here.

Update: Sold $1,600,000.

Austin Metropolitan

1956 Austin Metropolitan Coupe

Offered by Historics Auctioneers | Ascot, U.K. | May 15, 2021

Photo – Historics Auctioneers

A few weeks ago we featured a Nash Metropolitan, which is what this car is usually referred to as. But, it was actually built under four different brands including Nash, Hudson, Metropolitan, and Austin. The easy way to identify an Austin is the right-hand-drive layout.

Actually, Austin built them all and then shipped most of them to the States for sale by Nash/Hudson/AMC. Metropolitans aren’t uncommon in the US (I love them), but the Austin version sure is. This one is still in England though.

Power is from a 1.5-liter inline-four (sourced from the Austin A50 Cambridge) that made about 68 horsepower. While the Metropolitan launched in the US in 1953, they didn’t go on sale in the UK until the very end of 1956, making this a very early UK model. Austin-branded production continued through 1959. There were no ’60 models in the UK, and 1961 cars were just known as “Metropolitans” as they were in the US. Both coupes and convertibles were available.

This one looks good and should bring between $20,000-$25,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $16,992.

Fiat 500 Albarella

1968 Fiat 500F Albarella by Savio

Offered by Bonhams | Monaco | April 23, 2021

Photo – Bonhams

This car started life as a diminutive Fiat 500. It’s technically a 500F, which was an updated model sold from 1965 through 1973. Later in the run, it was considered the base model to the “luxury” 500L. But that doesn’t really matter here because Carrozzeria Savio chopped the roof off of it and redesigned the bodywork to turn it into a beach car.

Beach cars were all the rage in the 1950s and into the 60s. Savio was based near Turin and was one of many coachbuilders that modified Fiats for beach/resort use. It retains a rear-mounted 499cc inline-twin that was factory rated at 21 horsepower.

Only 20 of these were built, and this one has remained with the same family since new. Of course, it was kept at the family’s “holiday villa along the Adriatic Sea.” Must be nice. Unrestored, it should sell for between $18,000-$30,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $38,829.

Ferrari 550 GTLM

1997 Ferrari 550 Maranello GTLM

Offered by Bonhams | Monaco | April 23, 2021

Photo – Bonhams

Ferrari’s 550 Maranello was a front-engine V12-powered grand tourer. And its design has aged very well. These were pretty hot cars in the late 1990s. But Ferrari never took them racing. Not officially anyway.

That didn’t stop some privateer teams from seeing promise from the quick car. This car was built by a French team called Red Racing, with Ferrari’s approval. It was the first 550 race car built and was campaigned from 1999-2002 in the Spanish and French GT championships along with some races in Italy. It was purchased by XL Racing in 2003 and modified to ACO LMGT specifications. Its competition history includes:

  • 2003 24 Hours of Le Mans – 34th, DNF (with Ange Barde, Michel Ferte, Gael Lasoudier)
  • 2004 24 Hours of Le Mans – Did not arrive

So it has Le Mans history, which is pretty cool. It’s had two owners since and retains a 600-horsepower, 5.5-liter V12. The estimate is $590,000-$830,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold for a shady and undisclosed amount.