Monthly Archives: May 2022

6C Villa d’Este

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1952 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 GT Villa d’Este Cabriolet by Touring

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 19-20, 2022

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The 2500 version of Alfa Romeo’s 6C was really the best version of the model. Produced from 1938 through 1953 (with a break for the war), the car featured various improvements over its predecessors, which dated back to 1927.

There were some excellent coachbuilt versions of this chassis, including one-offs. But a few of the more “standard” variants also featured bodies from top European coachbuilders. One such model was the Ville d’Este, with bodies by Carrozzeria Touring. It’s powered by a triple-carbureted 2.4-liter inline-six that was rated at 110 horsepower.

The Villa d’Este was a coupe in standard form. It was also the final hand-built Alfa Romeo. Just 36 were built, with only five of those being cabriolets, which makes this one pretty special car. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $456,000.

Ferrari 500 TRC

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1957 Ferrari 500 TRC Spider by Scaglietti

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 19-20, 2022

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The Ferrari Monza was a series of sports racing cars from the early 1950s. Unlike the V12 Testa Rossas, the Monzas were powered by Lampredi four-cylinder engines. The Monzas started with 1953’s 625 TF and included the 500 Mondial and 750 Monza.

In 1956, Ferrari entered the 500 TR, which replaced the Mondial, in World Sportscar Championship races. The following year, that car was upgraded to be the 500 TRC, which was powered by an upgraded 2.0-liter inline-four good for 190 horsepower and 153 mph.

Only 19 examples were built, with this (0706 MDTR) one being #18. Its competition history includes:

  • 1957 24 Hours of Le Mans – 29th, DNF (with Francois Picard and Richie Ginther)
  • 1958 12 Hours of Sebring – 44th, DNF (with Gaston Andrey, Bill Lloyd, and Dan Gurney)

Later, the car was powered by a 289 Ford V8 before being reunited with its factory engine. No pre-sale estimate is provided, but you can read more about it here.

Update: Sold $7,815,000.

Kissel D-11

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1911 Kissel Kar Model D-11 Toy Tonneau

Offered by Mecum | Monterey, California | August 18-20, 2022

Photo – Mecum

Hartford, Wisconsin’s Kissel Motor Car Company was founded in 1906, with production cars coming the following year. For the first dozen or so years, the cars were branded Kissel Kar. Their most famous product would be the Gold Bug Speedster, an early sports car.

The 1910 Model D-10 gave way to the model D-11 for 1911. It’s powered by a 6.3-liter inline-four good for 50 horsepower. It has a four-speed manual transmission with overdrive, which would likely make it a decent tourer. As would the toy tonneau body, which is just a touring car with the rear passenger compartment squeezed in between the rear wheels.

This car was previously owned by the curator of the Harrah Automobile Collection. It’s apparently been in the same ownership since 1988. You can read more about it here.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $135,000.

Issi Microbo

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1954 Issi Microbo 125

Offered by Aste Bolaffi | Turin, Italy | June 10, 2022

Photo – Aste Bolaffi

Issi, which stands for the Italian version of Industrial Experimental Scientific Institute, was never a true automotive manufacturer, but they did produce a few prototype microcars during the post-war microcar boom.

They produced an initial prototype and later two other examples, the second of which was shown at the 1954 Turin Motor Show. This is that car. It’s powered by a 125cc single sourced from motorcycle manufacturer Idroflex. That engine drives the single rear wheel and is supposedly enough to push the car to 70 mph. Which sounds… scary.

It’s unclear what happened to the other two, but this one has definitely survived. The pre-sale estimate is a little eye-watering at $85,000-$105,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Withdrawn.

Marmon Sixteen Limousine

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1931 Marmon Sixteen Limousine by LeBaron

Offered by Mecum | Monterey, California | August 18-20, 2022

Photo – Mecum

Howard Marmon’s Marmon Motor Car Company was in trouble in 1931 when they launched the Sixteen, which had been in development since 1927. The timing was certainly bad, but the company found the resources to produce the Sixteen for three years before production of cars stopped.

The 8.0-liter V16 was rated at 200 horsepower and made the car one of the best American cars you could buy in 1931. Right there with V16 Cadillacs, big Packards, and Duesenbergs. This car wears limousine coachwork by LeBaron with seating for seven. It’s said to be the only limo example with dividing privacy glass left.

Less than 400 Sixteens were built across three years of production. This car has been a part of a few big collections over the years, and you can read more about it here.

Update: Sold $451,000.

Uhlenhaut Coupe

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1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe

Sold by RM Sotheby’s | Stuttgart, Germany | May 5, 2022

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

We rarely feature a car after it sells, but this one sort of snuck up on everybody. The Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart owned both examples of the “Uhlenhaut” coupe until recently, when they decided to part with one of the two. Why? Who knows. Maybe Daimler is cash-strapped. It’s kind of a weird situation when a well-funded museum decides to do a quick cash grab for a priceless piece of automotive history. Supposedly there were conditions on this private auction, like that the new owner isn’t allowed to re-sell it.

Anyway, a little history. This is not a 300SL Gullwing coupe. The 300 SLR was a full-fendered open-cockpit racing car based on the W196 Formula One car. The SLR was the company’s entry into the World Sportscar Championship. The cars won the Mille Miglia and Targa Florio before the program was quickly shuttered after the 1955 Le Mans disaster.

Meanwhile, motorsport chief Rudolf Uhlenhaut designed a road-going coupe version of the SLR, later dubbed the Uhlhenhaut coupes. Two were built. The engine was a 3.0-liter straight-eight that made about 305 horsepower. This coupe could do 180 mph. In 1955.

This one was the second one built and has been owned by Mercedes-Benz since new. It was restored in the 1980s and has been displayed and demonstrated on various occasions over the years. So how did it fare?

Sold: $142,000,000.

Toyota Classic

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1997 Toyota Classic

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | May 2022

Photo – Bring a Trailer Auctions

Toyota’s first production car was called the AA, and it was built in small numbers from 1936 to 1943. In fact, just 1,404 sedans were made. In 1996, still in a weird phase of Japanese-market retro-styled vehicles, Toyota decided to honor the AA with this, the Classic.

Produced just in 1996, the sedan, which actually borrows its rear-wheel-drive frame from the Hilux pickup truck, is powered by a 2.0-liter inline-four that was rated at 96 horsepower. So yeah, it’s bigger than a Nissan Pao but just as quick/slow. All Classics wore the same black/red paint scheme.

They were also only sold in Japan, and just 100 were built. This one was brought to the U.S. earlier this year. Bidding ends today, and the price was approaching $20,000 as of this writing. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $40,500.

Spyker C8 Targa

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2007 Spyker C8 Laviolette Targa

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | May 2022

Photo – Bring a Trailer

The Spyker C8 is a car that is pretty hard to believe that they actually built. And in some kind of numbers too. The design is outlandish, bordering on over-styled. But they are very striking, and the interiors are some of the best ever bestowed on a supercar.

The C8 went on sale in the early 2000s, and the Laviolette featured a fixed glass roof instead of the earlier Spyder’s retractable soft top. This car is the only Laviolette optioned with a targa roof system with two removable panels. That was $16,000 extra. Also, it is one of six Basic Instinct 2 editions. Which is one of the oddest product tie-ins in a movie ever.

Power is from a 4.2-liter Audi V8 that was rated at 400 horsepower when new. It might not make for the quickest supercar ever, but it’s enough to get the job done and sound good doing it. This car has 4,000 miles and is already bidding past $200,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $505,000.

Alfa 2000 Spider Touring

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1960 Alfa Romeo 2000 Spider by Touring

Offered by Oldtimer Galerie | Lucerne, Switzerland | May 28, 2022

Photo – Oldtimer Galerie

The Tipo 102 Alfa Romeo 2000 was the follow up to Alfa’s 1900 model, which dated back to 1950. The 1900 had its moments, but it wasn’t as pretty as this. The 2000 was offered as a two-door Bertone-styled Sprint, a two-door Touring-bodied Spider, and a four-door Berlina, all between 1958 and 1962.

This Spider features a body penned by Carrozzeria Touring and is definitely the best-looking of the bunch. Power is (typically) from a 2.0-liter inline-four that was rated at 113 horsepower in Spider form. Top speed was 110 mph.

Only 3,443 examples of the Spider were built, and this one received a replacement 2.3-liter inline-four good for 140 horsepower sometime in its past. It was restored some time ago and is estimated to bring $75,000-$85,000. Click here for more info.

Lola T70

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1965 Lola T70 Mk I Spyder

Offered by Bonhams | Chichester, U.K. | June 24, 2022

Photo – Bonhams

The T70 was a popular Can-Am car for privateers in the 1960s with over 100 examples produced. Built by Lola in a few different variations (Mk I, Mk II spyder, and Mk III coupe), the T70 was often found fitted with a big American V8. It was a race-winning formula, with drivers like Dan Gurney, Walt Hansgen, and 1966 series champion John Surtees all driving them in period

This chassis, SL70/3, was the first T70 built and was sold new to John Mecom, whose team livery is still on the car today. It ran a number of races that season, including:

  • 1965 12 Hours of Sebring – 52nd, DNF (with John Cannon and Jack Saunders)

Walt Hansgen crashed it at Mosport, and the original Ford engine was removed. It was later restored and part of Mac McClendon’s collection until the 2000s. It currently has a 5.7-liter Chevrolet V8 fitted out back, and that monster is rated at 573 horsepower. The pre-sale estimate is $310,000-$430,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.