Category Archives: Uncategorized

Clément Tricycle

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1902 Clément Tricycle

Offered by Osenat | Fontainebleau, France | June 14, 2015

Photo - Osenat

Photo – Osenat

Clément is a fairly well-known brand among early automobiles. We’ve documented the tangled history of some of Adolphe Clément-Bayard’s companies before and this is kind of a different branch. He founded Clément cycles in 1878 to build bicycles. Motorized bicycles and tricycles came in 1902 after he merged with Gladiator.

This tricycle is powered by a single-cylinder De Dion engine and it is a runner. Use it in the next London-to-Brighton run, if you wish. Clément Cycles morphed into part of Clément-Bayard in 1903 and vehicles like this pretty much disappeared from the automotive landscape shortly thereafter. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $39,900.

Three Turn-of-the-Century Cars

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Three Veteran Automobiles

Offered by Osenat | Fontainebleau, France | June 14, 2015

1899 Bruneau Quadricycle

Photo - Osenat

Photo – Osenat

Bruneau is a very rare manufacturer of early motorcycles, tricycles, and but a handful of quadricycles. Based in Tours, France, very little is known about this marque other than where they were located and what they built. The company existed as early as 1899 and lasted at least up until the outbreak of WWI.

This car is powered by the ubiquitous De Dion single-cylinder engine and features a vis-à-vis seating arrangement. The family of the original owner of this vehicle sold it to the current owner in the 1960s. This is a two-owner car from 1899. It is thought only three of these were built and this is the only one left. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $45,600.

1901 Phébus Quadricycle

Photo - Osenat

Photo – Osenat

Noé Boyer was the director of a branch of Clément-Gladiator – Noé Boyer et Cie – and it would appear that his company built eerily similar quadricycles as those that Clément was putting out. It’s got a bicycle seat in the rear for the driver and the passenger sits in the compartment out front… to act as both windshield and front bumper.

This is powered by a single-cylinder De Dion engine. Phébus built quadricycles up to 1903, when they stopped producing vehicles altogether. But at the same time these primitive cars were on sale, the company was also selling the more traditional Phébus-Aster. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $59,280.

1902 Clément Tricycle

Photo - Osenat

Photo – Osenat

Clément is a fairly well-known brand among early automobiles. We’ve documented the tangled history of some of Adolphe Clément-Bayard’s companies before and this is kind of a different branch. He founded Clément cycles in 1878 to build bicycles. Motorized bicycles and tricycles came in 1902 after he merged with Gladiator.

This tricycle is powered by a single-cylinder De Dion engine and it is a runner. Use it in the next London-to-Brighton run, if you wish. Clément Cycles morphed into part of Clément-Bayard in 1903 and vehicles like this pretty much disappeared from the automotive landscape shortly thereafter. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $39,900.

1972 AAR Eagle

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1972 AAR Eagle 7200

Offered by Motostalgia | Indianapolis, Indiana | June 12, 2015

Photo - Motostalgia

Photo – Motostalgia

Dan Gurney’s All American Racers (AAR) built some amazing Indy cars an F1 racers back in the day. This STP-liveried Indy Car looks amazing – and it’s not just the paint job. It represents classic Indy style. To borrow the old cliché, It looks like it’s going 200 mph just sitting there.

The engine is a turbocharged 2.6-liter Drake-Offenhauser straight-four making 750 horsepower. That is more than today’s Indy Cars. This particular car notched three wins with Wally Dallenbach in 1973 and it’s Indy history includes:

  • 1973 Indy 500 – 16th (with Graham McRae)
  • 1974 Indy 500 – 13th, DNF (with Bill Simpson)
  • 1975 Indy 500 – DNQ (with George Follmer)
  • 1976 Indy 500 – 23rd (with Billy Scott)
  • 1977 Indy 500 – DNQ (with John Martin)
  • 1978 Indy 500 – DNQ (with John Martin)
  • 1979 Indy 500 – DNQ (with Billy Scott)

Interestingly, this was also the very car that Roger Mears made his Indy Car debut in, finishing 6th at California in 1978. In total, 29 of these 7200s were built. This one has been completely restored and has been on display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum and the Riverside International Automotive Museum. It sold at an RM sale last August for $341,000 and is offered now with an estimate between $375,000-$435,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Datsun 1600 Roadster

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1970 Datsun 1600 Roadster

Offered by Mecum | Seattle, Washington | June 5-6, 2015

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

Some old Japanese cars are becoming very collectible. But then there are those that even Joe Car Guy car afford – and that’s what this is. Generally, there aren’t Japanese cars from before about 1960, so the hottest ones right now are from the late ’60s and early ’70s.

The Datsun 1600 was marketed as the Datsun Fairlady 1600 in its home market of Japan. Fairlady was (and still is) not a term that Nissan has really ever used on export models. The 1600 was built between 1965 and the beginning of 1970, making this a very late example. It is powered by a 1.6-liter straight-four making 95 horsepower. And it’s pretty light.

This car is actually very nice and is claimed to have 59,610 original miles, which seems hard to prove. It has great Minilite-style wheels, chrome bumpers, and driving lights. Think of this as a less-common MGB. It’s light and fairly quick. It would be a lot of fun. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Mecum’s auction lineup.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $12,000.

Replicar Cursor

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1985 Replicar Cursor

Offered by Brightwells | Leominster, U.K. | June 10, 2015

Photo - Brightwells

Photo – Brightwells

First off, I’d like to point out that this car is called the Cursor, which is funny because it kind of looks like a computer mouse… with eyes. And three wheels. Yes, this is a three-wheeler and it was built by Replicar Limited of Kent.

It has a fiberglass body and a tubular steel chassis. The engine is a 49cc single-cylinder from a Suzuki moped that drives the lone rear wheel. Top speed is about 26 mph. Most of the cars were single-seaters, although there were less than 10 two-seaters built as well. I’m pretty sure you can technically register this as a moped in the U.K.

Production lasted from 1985 through 1987 with just over 100 built. It’s perfect for today, getting 90 mpg. There are actually two of these in this sale and they both with likely come cheap. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $3,500.

Peerless GT

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1959 Peerless GT

Offered by Russo & Steele | Newport Beach, California | June 5-7, 2015

Photo - Russo & Steele

Photo – Russo & Steele

The Peerless GT is a very attractive four-seat grand tourer that was built in limited numbers in the U.K. between 1957 and 1960. It was the only car Peerless ever built, even though the company could trace its roots back to World War I, when they serviced American Peerless trucks.

It’s a fiberglass body and uses the drivetrain components from a Triumph TR3. The engine is a 2.0-liter straight-four making 100 horsepower, so it slightly out-powers the TR3. Some of these were used in racing and there was even a factory Le Mans effort in 1958. When Peerless folded in 1960, the car lived on through 1962 as the Warwick GT.

Only about 325 Peerless GTs were built. They certainly aren’t common but they are around. Seriously, this is a pretty car, isn’t it? Even if it’s a little Aston Martin-ish, it’s still distinct. $45,000 will buy you the best one around. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Smith Flyer

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1915 Smith Flyer

Offered by Dragone Auctions | Greenwich, Connecticut | May 30, 2015

Photo - Dragone Auctions

Photo – Dragone Auctions

The auction catalog lists this as a 1915 Briggs & Stratton Flyer and then immediately goes on to say that Briggs & Stratton didn’t acquire the rights to build the Flyer until 1919. So it’s either a 1915 Smith Flyer or a later car. Based on what I’m reading, I’d say the former.

This “car” is literally a few pieces of wood with some bicycle tires and a small single-cylinder direct-drive engine out back driving the bizarro-world fifth wheel. The engine on this actually says Briggs & Stratton, so it has a later engine that what Smith originally fitted it with. It makes two horsepower. Prepare to lose drag races against Conestoga wagons.

The Smith Flyer will do 25 mph. Street legality shouldn’t be as high a concern as safety. The car weighs in at 135 pounds. Smith built these between 1915 and 1919 before Briggs & Stratton took over. At any rate, you’ll get a lot of attention putt-putting around in this thing wherever you go. It should sell for between $9,500-$12,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of the lineup.

Update: Sold $7,150.

Falcon-Knight Speedster

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1927 Falcon-Knight Model 10 Speedster

Offered by Bonhams | Greenwich, Connecticut | May 31, 2015

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Falcon-Knight was a company that fell under John North Willys’ corporate umbrella. He founded the company to fill a price gap below the Willys-Knight. Both used the then-prolific Knight sleeve-valve engine.

That engine is a valveless 2.6-liter straight-six making 46 horsepower. The cars were produced in the former Garford truck plant in Elyria, Ohio. Even though they were supposed to be the sort of baby Willys-Knight, the cars were nearly identical to the Whippet, albeit with a different engine.

1927 was the first year for Falcon-Knights and the Model 10 was the only model available. This car features unique, special-ordered Speedster body and it is believed to be the only one like it. The company built cars in 1928 (and a few in 1929) before calling it quits. This one has known ownership history from new. Only 11,041 Falcon-Knights of all body styles were ever built. This one should cost between $18,000-$25,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $28,600.

Mercer Toy Tonneau

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1911 Mercer Type 35 Toy Tonneau

Offered by Dragone Auctions | Greenwich, Connecticut | May 30, 2015

Photo - Dragone Auctions

Photo – Dragone Auctions

We’ve featured a 1911 Mercer Type 35 before – but it was a Raceabout, one of the earliest sporting cars built by any company anywhere. This is the slightly more practical Toy Tonneau style of the same model.

Mercer started building cars in Trenton, New Jersey, in 1910. The 1911 model lineup offered two choices, the Type 30 or the Type 35. This is the latter and it uses a 60 horsepower straight-four.

The Raceabout has always been collectible, the Toy Tonneau less so, although this car was restored to as-new condition in 1960. The restoration was so good that it has held up for nearly 60 years. It’s a great car and would be a welcome addition for collectors of all types. It should bring about $1,500,000-$1,800,000 – less than a Raceabout, but then it is the only 60HP Mercer Toy Tonneau known to exist. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

1910 Chalmers-Detroit

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1910 Chalmers-Detroit Model K ’30’ Touring

Offered by Bonhams | Greenwich, Connecticut | May 31, 2015

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Ready for a history lesson? Erwin Ross Thomas had his hand in the automobile industry almost from the beginning. In 1900 he founded two companies: Auto-Bi (which sold motorized bicycles) and the Buffalo Automobile Company, which built cars (they were pretty much the same company but made different products). Buffalo only built cars through 1902 before Thomas re-named the company after himself and got pretty famous with his Thomas Flyer.

That’s Part I. Part II involves two former Oldsmobile workers on a train in 1906 who had just failed to secure funding for a new venture. When they met Thomas in the dining car, he bankrolled a new company in Detroit, called Thomas-Detroit. It only took two years of the former-Olds employees to tire of Thomas’ manage-from-New York-even-though-the-company-is-in-Detroit style and they convinced Hugh Chalmers, vice president of the National Cash Register Company, to buy out Thomas. So the Thomas-Detroit became the Chalmers-Detroit in 1908. In 1911, the Detroit suffix was dropped and Chalmers soldiered on until they merged with Maxwell in 1922 and ceased production in 1923. Then Maxwell become Chrysler. And here we are today. Ta-da!

Anyway, this beautiful old touring car is powered by a 30 horsepower 3.7-liter straight-four. The Model K ’30’ was the first car designed under the new ownership and they were expensive. Chalmers-Detroit-branded cars were only sold for three model years, making this car rarer than later Chalmers cars. It has been fabulously restored and is gorgeous. It should sell for between $75,000-$90,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $69,300.