Category Archives: Uncategorized

1911 Delaunay-Belleville Phaeton

Posted on by
Reply

1911 Delaunay-Belleville HB4 22CV Phaeton

Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | November 4, 2018

Photo – Artcurial

Yes, please. What’s not to love about a round grille, pre-WWI French touring car? Especially one that is finished in red, green, wood, and brass. Delaunay-Belleville was founded in 1903 and they quickly became a premier French luxury marque. They were the choice cars for some of Europe’s top kings of the time.

Power is from a 4.8-liter straight-four rated at 22 taxable horsepower when new. It’s a big tourer, but the French weren’t exactly known for stuffing big engines in their cars (then or now). Gotta love a car whose windshield doesn’t extend up to meet the top, so the top is instead anchored to the front fenders with leather straps.

Only about 100 HB4 cars were produced by the factory and only a handful remain. This one has known history back to the 1970s. Delaunay-Belleville actually lasted until the late 1940s, but cars from this pre-WWI era were their finest work. This one should bring between $105,000-$140,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Rambler Model E Runabout

Posted on by
Reply

1903 Rambler Model E Runabout

Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | November 2, 2018

Photo – Bonhams

Thomas B. Jeffrey‘s Rambler premiered in 1900 and the first models went on sale to the public in 1902. The Model E was new for 1904 – it was the most basic model the company offered. This car is listed in the catalog as a 1903 model, meaning it was probably built at the end of that year.

Power is from a seven horsepower, single-cylinder engine. This car rides on a 78″ wheelbase, the shortest offered in 1904. It features tiller steering and seating for two.

This car was sold new in Virginia, where it remained with its original owner until 1956. It was restored twice, most recently in 1995 and has competed in the London-to-Brighton run on multiple occasions. It should bring between $60,000-$66,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams.

Update: Sold $62,756.

1894 Peugeot

Posted on by
Reply

1894 Peugeot Type 5 2½HP Twin-Cylinder Two-Seater

Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K | November 2, 2018

Photo – Bonhams

This is the type of car I love to write about. It is right up there among the oldest cars ever featured on this site (though Bonhams refers to it as an “1894-5”). Peugeot built their first car in 1889. This car carries chassis number 164, making it a pretty early car. They built 40 cars in 1894, and 72 in 1895. This sounds basic, but they were the first company to put rubber tires on their cars.

The Type 5 is powered by a 1.0-liter V-twin making 2.5 horsepower – a Daimler design built under license by Panhard et Levassor. It is believed that Peugeot retained this car for over a year before selling it and it could’ve actually been completed sometime in late 1893, but it wasn’t officially sold until 1895. It is also thought that this could be one of five famous Type 5 cars used in a Paris-Rouen race in 1894.

Only 14 examples of the Type 5 were built. This one still runs, drives, and is used – as it is entered in this year’s London-to-Brighton run. This is as much a piece of history as it is a usable car. It’s the type of thing you only see in factory museums. This car is estimated to bring between $400,000-$530,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $463,202.

Alfa 155 GTA Stradale

Posted on by
Reply

1993 Alfa Romeo 155 GTA Stradale Prototype

Offered by Bonhams | Padua, Italy | October 27, 2018

Photo – Bonhams

The Alfa Romeo 155 was Alfa’s “compact executive car” built between 1992 and 1998. In some trims, this was a downright good-looking car (and still is). They used it in DTM and various touring car series throughout Europe. After some victory in ’92, Alfa decided to build a road-going series of 155 GTA Stradale cars like Mercedes and BMW had been doing for years.

Built by Abarth, the cars were to use a turbocharged 2.0-liter straight-four capable of 190 horsepower. It’s got 4-wheel-drive and an aero kit was added to make it appear boxier and more DTM-like. Company executives wanted a V6, and then they realized how expensive it would be to actually produce a run of these things…

So the project went nowhere. And this was the only example produced. First road-registered in Germany in the late 1990s, the car has accumulated 40k kilometers through a handful of owners. It’s pretty awesome and will cost a serious enthusiast between $210,000-$250,000 to purchase. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Bonhams’ Padua lineup.

Update: Withdrawn from sale.

24HP Darracq

Posted on by
Reply

1903 Darracq 24HP Model JJ Rear-Entrance Tonneau

Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | November 2, 2018

Photo – Bonhams

There seems to be a Darracq at Bonhams’ London-to-Brighton sale every year. And we never get to feature it. Not this year!. This 24HP Darracq was restored in the 1990s and is still winning awards. It successfully completed the 1903 Paris-Madrid race with its first owner, even though the race was halted due to fatalities.

Power is from a 4.7-liter straight-four good for 24 horsepower. Top speed is about 50 mph and this car is actually a little smaller than it looks. Most rear-entrance tonneaus are quite large, but just look at how compact the wheelbase looks for an estimate of this car’s size.

This is a high-quality car, as all big Darracqs of this vintage are. It is one of two in existence and should bring between $730,000-$860,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $779,115.

Comuta-Car

Posted on by
Reply

1979 Comuta-Car

Offered by Mecum | Chicago, Illinois | October 25-27, 2018

Photo – Mecum

The Sebring-Vanguard CitiCar was an electric microcar built between 1974 and 1977. This tiny wedged-shaped, bug-eyed thing was available in some very 1970s colors. About 2,300 were built. Hilariously, the company billed themselves as America’s sixth-largest automobile manufacturer, which was technically true.

The design was purchased by Commuter Vehicles Inc. in 1979. This new company built pretty much the same car, but badged as the Comuta-Car, with a Comuta-Van variant available as well (but mostly for the Postal Service). Production lasted through 1982 and some kits may have been sold after that. By then, 2,144 Comuta-Cars had been built.

This example is fitted with a 12 horsepower electric motor that runs on four batteries. It has a terrifying 50-mph speedometer and a plastic body. It will sell at no reserve, so go get it. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Twin-Cylinder Star

Posted on by
Reply

1904 Star 7HP Twin-Cylinder Two-Seater

Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | November 2, 2018

Photo – Bonhams

Star, like many early motor manufacturers, got their start as a cycle company. Edward Lisle’s company produced its first car in 1898, and by the time WWI broke out, the company was one of Britain’s largest automobile companies.

Introduced in 1900, the twin-cylinder Star was one of a few models the company was producing that were based on the pioneering designs of Panhard and Mercedes. It’s powered by a 1.4-liter straight-twin producing seven horsepower.

This car cost £320 when new and should bring between $110,000-$130,000 early next month. It has participated in the London-to-Brighton run multiple times and can be your ticket into that event too. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $113,559.

Matra Murena

Posted on by
Reply

1981 Talbot-Matra Murena

Offered by Osenat | Fontainebleau, France | October 20, 2018

Photo – Osenat

The Bagheera was a 2-door sports car produced by Matra (technically Matra-Simca, then Talbot-Matra once Chrysler Europe sold out to PSA). The successor to that car was this, the Murena, which was technically marketed as the Talbot-Matra Murena but is often referred to simply as the Matra Murena. It was available from 1980-1983.

Different specifications were available, and this example is a base trim car with a 1.6-liter straight-four capable of 88 horsepower. Top speed was 113 mph, so consider it more of a hot hatch than a die-hard sports car.

It’s an interesting little car from a dying manufacturer. There was no successor to the Murena, as it was Matra’s final original road car. Only 5,640 of the 10,680 units produced had the 1.6-liter engine. This is a cheap way to buy an unusual classic sports car and get into the car collector world. It should bring between $9,000-$11,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Alpine A110 1300 S

Posted on by
Reply

1969 Alpine A110 1300 S

Offered by Leclere-MDV | Paris, France | October 21, 2018

Photo – Leclere-MDV

The Alpine A110 is perhaps the most well-known car the little French company ever produced. Now part of Renault, the once-independent Alpine always had strong ties to Renault, and they built the A110 in a few different forms for almost two decades, from 1961 through 1977.

This is how they mostly looked, and we’ve previously featured a 1600 S variant. The yellow example above is powered by a 1.3-liter Renault straight-four from a Gordini R8 that makes 120 horsepower. The 1300 S (which was for “Super”) was offered between 1966 and 1971 only.

This example was recently overhauled and is ready to run. These are great-looking, great-sounding little cars. Only 868 were built, and they’re one of the best sports cars that France ever offered. This one should bring between $57,000-$80,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $105,158.

Frazer Nash Super Sports

Posted on by
Reply

1930 Frazer Nash Super Sports

Offered by Brightwells | Bicester, U.K. | October 24, 2018

Photo – Brightwells

The first two models from Frazer Nash were the quite-similar Fast Tourer and Super Sports. This is a later example of this early model, which was available from 1925 through 1930.

This car is fitted with a replacement 1.5-liter Meadows straight-four that was installed in 1930 when this car was being used as a demonstrator. No gearbox or rear differential came with the car and they instead use a series of chains and sprockets connected to the rear axle. It’s strange, but these were very fast cars in their day.

Only 165 examples combined between the Fast Tourer and Super Sports were produced, making this car very rare. It’s usable (and has been used frequently) and was acquired by the current owner 55 years ago. It should bring between $195,000-$235,000. Click here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $265,436.