Monthly Archives: July 2022

Railton Cobham

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1936 Railton Cobham Deluxe

Offered by Brightwells | Leominster, U.K. | August 3, 2022

Photo – Brightwells

Here’s one you may not be familiar with. Railton was founded by Noel Macklin, who previously founded Invicta. He named his next company after Reid Railton, a British world speed record holder. The kind of weird part was, Macklin used American Hudson powertrains for his British-built cars (initially inline-eights).

The Cobham, of which this appears to be an early example, was the “small” Railton at this time of its introduction, with power from a 2.7-liter Hudson inline-six. An even smaller Railton would debut in 1938 and was based on Standard mechanicals instead of those from Hudson.

Just 81 examples of the Cobham were produced, either as a sedan or drophead coupe. This is one of about six that remain. It was repainted in 1993, receiving mechanical repairs and upgrades as needed over the years. The pre-sale estimate is $24,000-$30,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold. Offered for sale at half it’s lower estimate above.

Update: Sold Brightwells September 2022, $17,707.

Miller-Ford

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1935 Miller-Ford

Offered by Gooding & Company | Pebble Beach, California | August 19-20, 2022

Photo – Gooding & Company

Few names are as synonymous with Indianapolis as Harry Miller. Maybe Andy Granatelli would be up there for people in the know. And Tony Hulman. Well, all three are in play here, but let’s start with this: legendary Indy car designed Harry Miller was approached by Preston Tucker to design an Indy car around a road car-based engine. This was the “junk formula” era.

Tucker then got his friend Edsel Ford to persuade his dad Henry to fund it. Henry ended up making his franchised dealers foot the bill, but the project went ahead. The result was a two-seater, front-wheel-drive chassis powered by a Ford flathead V8. The bodies were built by Emil Diedt, a famous Indy car name on its own.

Ten examples were produced, but just four qualified for the 1935 Indy 500. None finished due to a design flaw with the steering. Henry Ford scooped all of them up, apparently out of embarrassment/rage, and hid them away in Dearborn. They would slowly be sold off to private customers.

This car escaped not long after, and, just after WWII, was owned by a California-based race team owner who had a 4.4-liter Offenhauser inline-four put in it in place of the flathead. Output now is estimated to be 350 horsepower. In 1948, the car was purchased by team owner Andy Granatelli, who entered it in the 1948 race. So the known competition history for this car, chassis #5, consists of:

  • 1948 Indianapolis 500 – DNQ (with Granatelli)

He actually destroyed the car in practice and it was later rebuilt. In 1949, it was purchased by Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony Hulman and remained with the IMS Museum until 1993. This is a hard car to come by, and it has an estimate of $750,000-$1,000,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $830,000.

Figoni-Bodied Alfa 8C

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1933 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Cabriolet by Figoni

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 18-20, 2022

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

We’ve featured our fair share of Alfa 6C cars, but the 8C is much less common. Part of that is because it was a more racing-focused chassis and part is because the 8C did not return after WWII like the 6C did. This is the most common version of the 8C: the 2300.

Introduced in 1932, it featured a Vittorio Jano-designed inline-eight displacing 2.3 liters. Most of these were race cars, but, during a production run that lasted until 1935, there were 188 road-going examples made.

This car features a swoopy two-tone body by Figoni from his pre-Falaschi days. It’s got known ownership history back to new, including time spent with two-time Le Mans-winning racing driver (both wins in Alfa 8Cs, but not this one), Raymond Sommer. Now it’s got an eye-watering price estimated in the $4,000,000-$6,000,000 range. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

Update: Not sold, RM Sotheby’s Monterey 2023.

Duesenberg J-368

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1930 Duesenberg Model J Limousine by Willoughby

Offered by Broad Arrow Auctions | Monterey, California | August 18, 2022

Photo – Broad Arrow Auctions

Fixed-roof Model Js have never been the most sought after. Maybe in their day when they were used by titans of industry or Gilded Age heiresses to be chauffeured around in. But not now. Everyone wants an open car of some kind, disappearing top convertibles or even touring cars.

So, because of this, many sedans and limousines have been rebodied, and those that haven’t are generally less expensive. Well those days are apparently over. This car features a limousine body by Willoughby, a design that was updated in period as updates became available. It was later reverted to more closely resemble how it looked when new. The 6.9-liter inline-eight was rated at 265 horsepower.

This car was purchased new by the co-founder of Esquire magazine. A restoration by a later owner was completed in 1991, and the car was subsequently donated to a museum, who sold it for profit. The current owner bought it in 2018. The estimate is $1,000,000-$1,500,000. You’re gonna have to find a different “cheaper” entry point into the Model J owner’s club. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $1,000,000.

166 Inter Cabriolet

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1949 Ferrari 166 Inter Cabriolet by Stabilimenti Farina

Offered by Bonhams | Carmel, California | August 19, 2022

Photo – Bonhams

The 166 Inter was Ferrari’s first real road car, and it was built in limited numbers (just 38 were produced) from 1948 through 1950. We’ve featured one of them before, but naturally that one was used in competition.

This car does not look like a race car. It isn’t even immediately recognizable as a Ferrari either. Part of it is the restrained two-door cabriolet body by Stabilimenti Farina, and the other is the very demure beige paint. This car was hand built over a nine-month period that ended in October 1949. It’s powered by a 2.0-liter Colombo V12 that made about 110 horsepower.

This was the 16th Ferrari road car built, and it has been restored. There is now a pre-sale estimate of $1,800,000-$2,200,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

The Most Amazing Car In The World

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1924 Hispano-Suiza H6C Tulipwood Torpedo

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 18-20, 2022

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

For many years I have found this car to be remarkable. And I never thought I’d see the day where it changes hands publicly. Let’s start with the boring: Hispano-Suiza’s H6C debuted in 1924 and was the ultimate iteration of Hispano’s six-cylinder line of the 1920s. Production ended in 1933.

Power is from an 8.0-liter inline-six made about 195 horsepower. But forget mechanicals. This car is all about the body. This is the second H6C chassis, and it was built for Andre Dubonnet, who was one of those guys from that era who did it all. He was a flying ace in WWI, an Olympic bobsledder, a racing driver, and a lover of fine cars. He was like the French Eddie Rickenbacker, if Rickenbacker came from an extremely well-to-do family.

This car is one of three H6Cs with a factory-lowered chassis. Dubonnet sent it to French aircraft builder Nieuport-Astra for a body, and they used 1/8″-thick strips of mahogany (though people have long referred to the wood as tulipwood) to body the car, a process that used thousands of rivets. The body is said to weigh 160 pounds. Which is insane. It was even raced. The car’s competition history includes:

  • 1924 Targa Florio – 6th (with Dubonnet)

He later used it as a road car before selling it. It was discovered in 1950 with shrapnel damage on the tail caused by a WWII bomb. The car was later refreshed and then restored in the 1980s. It’s been at the Blackhawk Collection for a while, and they are presumably getting rid of some stuff. It has an estimate of $8,000,000-$12,000,000.

The car is just magnificent. So much so that I am considering making this the last [regular] post on this site, because really, where can you go from here? We’ll see. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $9,245,000.

Daimler Star of India

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1926 Daimler 45 HP Salon Cabriolet by Barker

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 18-20, 2022

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Big Daimler’s from this era are impressive cars (perhaps none more so than this Double Six). Let’s keep in mind that this is a British Daimler, as the German Daimlers had become “Mercedes” by 1902. The British concern started building cars in 1896, and the last one was sold in 2010. It’s a dormant marque right now under Tata’s control.

But who cars about all of that, because look at this thing. The 45 was the “big” Daimler, with this being of the third model to carry that name, and it was produced from about 1926 through 1927. It would be replaced by the Double Six. Daimler called the 45 the largest production car in the world. Hard to argue. It’s powered by a massive 8.5-liter inline-six.

This car was purchased as a bare chassis by the Maharaja of Rewa for a cost of $7,000. It then went to Barker & Co. of London for a body. The body is actually made of “German silver,” which RM declines to define but is actually a catchall for various alloys. This one has some crazy features, like snakes that come over the front fenders, a single rear door, and an upright V-shaped windshield.

The car remained in India until the 1970s, and RM claims the tires date back to the period the car was built. Another Blackhawk car, this one has an estimate of $1,000,000-$1,500,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $880,000.

Alfa 6C Record Car

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1930 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Gran Sport Testa Fissa

Offered by Bonhams | Carmel, California | August 19, 2022

Photo – Bonhams

Alfa Romeo’s 6C 1750 was a very successful racing car in its day, racking up victories at the Mille Miglia, Targa Florio, 24 Hours of Spa, and Grands Prix all over Europe. If it had speed on track with other cars, why wouldn’t it have speed on a track by itself?

This car is believed to have been ordered new by a Brooklands racing driver as a rolling chassis that was test driven at the factory before being returned to the U.K. Once there, it was fitted with an aluminum body co-designed by three-time Land Speed Record holder George Eyston. The Alfa’s supercharged 1.7-liter inline-six made 102 horsepower in Gran Sport “Testa Fissa” form. This one is rated at 140 horsepower with some slight modern modifications.

Eyston set multiple records in the car during 1930 at Brooklands. A later owner removed the body, which had been damaged by that point, so the one it wears today is a recreation. This beastly looking Alfa is a throwback to the days of insanely dangerous speed record chasing. You can read more about it here.

Update: Not sold.

Isotta 8A Landaulet Imperiale

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1931 Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A Landaulet Imperiale by Castagna

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 18-20, 2022

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The 8A was one of the biggest and grandest exotic luxury cars you could buy at the dawn of the Great Depression. This particular car was sold new to a woman in New York City who traded in another 8A on the purchase. It cost her $9,250 in 1931. Yeesh. Definitely a car for running over poor people.

The body is by Castagna, a familiar name on Isotta Fraschini chassis. The body is an all-weather landaulet limousine cabriolet. That’s a lot of descriptors. Landaulet Imperiale sounds fancier. This means that various parts of the top can come off, probably including the very rear portion or the bit over the driver/chauffeur.

Power is provided by a 7.4-liter inline-eight that made about 115 horsepower in base form. The car has known ownership history since new and was restored decades ago. The pre-sale estimate is $275,000-$375,000. Click here to read more.

Update: Sold $368,000.

Update: Sold, Mecum Monterey 2023, $330,000.

Bugatti Type 22

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1914 Bugatti Type 22 Torpedo by Chauvet

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 18-20, 2022

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

This car looks like a toy. From pretty much every angle, too. The body is by Carrosserie Chauvet, a coachbuilder that was active in the north of France from 1912 until 1929. This is their only surviving body on a Bugatti. It’s a small boattail torpedo with two tiny seats up front and maybe more seating under a hard tonneau behind a second cowl? Hard to say. The photos really leave a lot to the imagination.

The top looks like it would get ripped off of this thing at about 20 mph. Which is probably a good cruising speed here, as the car is powered by a bright red, Ettore Bugatti-signatured 1.4-liter inline-four that made about 30 horsepower.

The Type 22 was a road car, and they were built from 1913 through about 1922. Production totals are not widely known, but it was not many. And even less are left. This one has an estimate of $200,000-$250,000. Read more about it here.

Update: Sold $335,000.