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Plymouth Belmont Concept

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1954 Plymouth Belmont Concept

Offered by Barrett-Jackson | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 18, 2013

1954 Plymouth Belmont Concept

Photo – Barrett-Jackson

In 1953, Chevrolet introduced the Corvette. Ford was working furiously trying to get the Thunderbird launched and Chrysler was wondering what they were supposed to be doing. There were a number of fabulous concept cars from Chrysler in the 1950s, but just about zero of them ever made it to production.

The Belmont was a one-off concept introduced at the 1954 Chicago Auto Show. Styling was by Virgil Exner and the body was made out of fiberglass – a first for Chrysler. The engine is a 3.9-liter V-8 making 150 horsepower. With only two seats, this would have been a perfect car to battle the Corvette and Thunderbird. But perhaps as a DeSoto and not necessarily a Plymouth. But it was not to be and this was the only one built.

It was originally a very nice light blue color but whenever it was restored, it was repainted red. It recently made appearances at Amelia Island and Pebble Beach and is currently looking for a good home – which, with a car of this caliber, shouldn’t be too hard to find. Look for it to bring between $750,000-$1,250,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Barrett-Jackson.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $1,200,000.

Update II: Not sold, Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale 2018.

America’s First Post-War Sports Car

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1947 Kurtis-Omohundro Comet

For sale at Vintage Motors of Sarasota | Sarasota, Florida

1947 Kurtis-Omohundro Comet

Frank Kurtis is an important name in the history of American sports cars. In the late-1930s he built his first midget dirt-track car. Just prior to WWII, he designed a car that would eventually go into (short-lived) production as the Davis Divan.

Kurtis Kraft would be he racing car business. He built five Indianapolis 500 winning cars and nearly 2,000 Kurtis Kraft cars would be built, 120 of which would actually compete in The Greatest Spectacle in Racing. He even built a short run of sports cars for the road (and those were also produced as the Muntz Jet).

The car you see here is often billed as “America’s first Post-War sports car.” It was designed by Frank Kurtis and Paul Omohundro, a man who had worked for Kurtis fabricating race car bodies. The Comet was built around a 1940 Ford chassis and the two men planned to put the car into limited production on donor Ford chassis (it never happened).

The engine was a 1946 Mercury flathead V-8 making about 100 horsepower (it was swapped out years later for a 1949 engine). Omohundro was able to build a lightweight aluminium body that made the car capable of over 100 mph. The car bounced around between owners, garnering little use until it was parked in 1986 and forgotten.

When it was finally rediscovered, a restoration was undertaken and completed in 2007. It has been shown and won awards at multiple prestigious concours’ and while its claim of America’s “first Post-War sports car” can be disputed, it is considered the first documented American “coachbuilt car after the war.”

This isn’t a car that you can find a duplicate of – as it was the only one built. It’s also in the best shape it has ever been in. You can buy it from one of America’s coolest car dealerships in Sarasota, Florida for $390,000. Click here for more info.

1918 Cadillac Coupe

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1918 Cadillac Type 57 Victoria Coupe

Offered by Mecum | Kansas City, Missouri | December 7, 2013

1918 Cadillac Type 57 Coupe

I think this is a very good-looking car. Cadillac has long touted that they are the “Standard of the World” and it’s early cars like this that make you believe it. Yes, they produced cars with twice as many cylinders, but this was one of the first big-engined road cars you could buy.

Cadillac’s L-Head V-8 engine was introduced in 1914 and became the first mass-produced V-8 engine in Cadillac’s 1915 models. It featured 5.2-liters of capacity and made 70 horsepower. The Type 51 was the first model to carry this motor and it evolved over the years, with the Type 61 ending the model’s run in 1923.

The Type 57 was available in the late Teens and this Victoria Coupe was an attractive, if not restrained design that offered a lot of power for those who wanted luxury without all the flash. I’m estimating that this car sells for between $40,000-$50,000. Click here for more from Mecum and here for more on this car.

Update: Sold $29,000.

Sunbeam Tourer

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1919 Sunbeam 16/40 Tourer

Offered by Bonhams | Oxford, U.K. | December 9, 2013

1919 Sunbeam 16HP Tourer

Sunbeam is one of the oldest names in automobiles. Of course, they aren’t around anymore, but the company did date back to 1888, when it was founded as a bicycle manufacturer by John Marston. In 1902, the first cars appeared, under the Sunbeam-Mabley marque, and 1905 brought Sunbeam as a standalone make.

In 1919, the company merged with Talbot and Darracq. That didn’t go so well, and in 1935 the trio became part of the Rootes Group. The final Sunbeam-branded cars rolled off the assembly lines in 1978 and the name continued on as a Talbot model into the 1980s.

The Sunbeam 16/40 was re-introduced in 1919 after WWI ended. It was a slightly updated version of the pre-war 16/20 that dated to 1912. It uses a 3.0-liter straight-four making 40 horsepower.

This Sunbeam is the oldest-known example of the marque backdated to the end of the Great War (in other words, one of the earliest cars made after the armistice). It was parked sometime around 1928 and entered the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu in 1957. It spent 11 years on display before re-entering private ownership and being restored.

This is a good-driving old touring car that can be bought for somewhere in the neighborhood of $73,000-$89,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Bonhams’ auction lineup.

Update: Sold $60,369.

Frazer Nash-BMW

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1937 Frazer Nash-BMW Type 319/2 Cabriolet

Offered by Bonhams | Oxford, U.K. | December 9, 2013

1937 Frazer Nash-BMW Type 3192 Cabriolet

We featured a Frazer Nash last week and described a bit of the history of the company. In the early years, Archibald Frazer-Nash (why is his name hyphenated and the company not?) formed AFN Ltd. after the GN cyclecar failed.

Their original purpose and business model was to import BMWs from Germany and assemble them in the U.K. The cars were marketed as “Frazer Nash-BMW”s and not BMWs. The company was the official British BMW importer between 1934 and 1939, before things between Germany and Britain got a little tense – to say the least.

The BMW 319 was introduced in 1935 and lasted through 1937. It was a version of the 303, which dated back to 1933. The engine is a 1.9-liter straight-six making 45 horsepower. This car has known ownership before the war and it picks up again in the 1960s. The current family who owns the car acquired it in 1978.

This car has covered about 54,000 miles in its life and shows an older restoration that could use attention in spots. It’s been in a museum recently and might need a little work to get it roadworthy. A total of 6,646 BMW 319s were built – a small fraction of which were sold as Frazer Nash-BMWs. This is a cool car that will bring between $65,000-$73,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams’ Oxford sale.

Update: Failed to sell.

Vulcan Touring Car

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1908 Vulcan 20HP Roi-des-Belges

Offered by Bonhams | Oxford, U.K. | December 9, 2013

1908 Vulcan 20HP Roi-des-Belges

There were a couple of Vulcan automobile companies active in the early part of the 20th Century. The car you see here comes from the Vulcan Motor & Engineering Company, which was founded in 1902 in Lancashire, England. And it was the longest-lasting “Vulcan” – the company stopped building passenger cars in 1928 to focus on commercial vehicles and truck production ran through 1953 when it was stopped as the company was under control of the Rootes Group.

Thomas and Joseph Hampson’s first Vulcan was a single-cylinder model, but the model range soon proliferated. This car uses a 3.9-liter straight-four making 20 horsepower. The engine is clean and largely original. This car was delivered new to Australia and didn’t return home to the U.K. until 1989.

Vulcan motor cars are pretty rare today and this one has been recently repainted and the upholstery was recently redone. It’s very drivable and comes with a trailer! It can be bought for somewhere in the neighborhood of $97,000-$110,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams.

Update: Sold $126,479.

Mercedes-Simplex

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1905 Mercedes-Simplex 28/32 Phaeton

Offered by Coys | London, U.K. | December 3, 2013

1905 Mercedes-Simplex 28-32 Phaeton

Daimler was one of the first automobile companies founded anywhere in the world. It was started in 1890 by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach. In 1902, they introduced a model called “Mercedes” and it soon became the name under which Daimler sold cars. In 1926, Daimler would merge with Benz and Mercedes would become Mercedes-Benz.

One of the first Mercedes models was the Simplex. Shortly after its introduction, they followed it with a number of other Mercedes Simplex models (hence I classify it as a separate, short-lived marque).

This model is powered by a 5.5-liter straight-four making 35 horsepower. The 28/32 model was in production from 1902 through 1909. This regal Phaeton was delivered new to the U.S., spending time in the Arturo Keller collection and was restored under his ownership. The restoration still looks outstanding and the mechanicals have been rebuilt more recently.

The Simplex was an important automobile – as it made often-clunky early automobiles easy to operate and standardized the way in which their controls were laid out. These are very rare today and this one is one of the best examples still around. You can read more here and check out the rest of Coys’ lineup here.

Update: Sold $1,174,900.

Victor Electric Highwheeler

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1907 Victor Electric Runabout

Offered by Coys | London, U.K. | December 3, 2013

1907 Victor High Wheel Electric Runabout

There is some confusion as to the origin of this car, but one thing is certain: it is called Victor. It has electric power and it is also a highwheeler of American origin. There was a company in St. Louis which operated from 1907 to 1911 called the Victor Automobile Manufacturing Company and they specialized in highwheelers for the first two years of their existence.

Coys mentions that this is the only Victor ever produced (there is even a tacky homemade plaque on the side of the car proclaiming this “fact”). They mention that the car could’ve been a one-off built in Nebraska, but that there isn’t any proof.

I offer a third possibility: Victor of St. Louis built highwheelers in 1907 that used a two-stroke engine. Perhaps they experimented with an electric drivetrain on one? Who knows. At any rate, the electric system has been completely redone lately and this thing will do about 70 miles on a charge and tops out around 30 mph.

It’s in the U.K. now, but it is available for purchase. It should sell for between $61,000-$88,500. Click here for more info and here for more from Coys in London.

Update: Not sold.

Update II: Sold, Historics at Brooklands, June 2016, $54,145.

1903 Clement

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1903 Clement 12/16HP Rear-Entrance Tonneau

Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | December 1, 2013

1903 Clement 12-16HP Rear-Entrance Tonneau

Here is yet another vehicle (from yet another marque) that can be traced back to Adolphe Clement-Bayard. If you’re keeping score at home, please let me know how many this makes, because I’ve lost count. That mustachioed Frenchman sure had a knack for starting car companies.

Clement began producing cars in 1899. Between then and 1903, they were sold under the Clement and Clement-Gladiator names. In 1903, they became known as Clement-Bayard. Clement-Talbot and that whole story is separate from these companies (although very closely related).

Anyway, this car was sold new to a Spaniard named Don Francisco Serramalera Abadal. He was a major automotive importer and salesman who sold mainly French cars to wealthy clients. He would produce cars under his own name in the 1910s. He managed to win a hillclimb in this car in 1904 (so it does have “competition history”). The restoration is about 40 years old and the flimsy-looking wooden top is removable to turn this into a nice roadster.

The engine is a 2.1-liter straight-four making 12/16 horsepower. This Clement is from the final year of Clement production (of the four short years they were available). It is very nice, even though the restoration is older, and should bring a still-big price. The estimate is between $480,000-$640,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Bonhams’ London auction catalog.

Update: Sold $569,937.

Jaguar C-Type

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1952 Jaguar C-Type

Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | December 1, 2013

1952 Jaguar C-Type

The C-Type was the first purpose-built racing car by Jaguar – although calling it a purpose-built racing car seems wrong, as these were entirely roadable as well. Jaguar did win Le Mans in 1951 with a C-Type (in its first attempt). It kind of set the tone for the next few decades of sports racing cars.

Based around the XK120s mechanicals, the C-Type uses a tuned version of the XK120s 3.4-liter straight-six. Horsepower output was around 205. The chassis and frame were different – this car used a lightweight frame and a sleek aluminium body.

This particular car was originally bought by the Scottish racing team Ecurie Ecosse – it was one of a handful of C-Types that the team would use. Highlights of its competition history include:

  • 1953 9 Hours of Goodwood – 5th (with Jock Lawrence & Frank Curtis)
  • 1953 1000km Nurburgring – 6th (with Lawrence & Jimmy Stewart)

After the 1953 season, David Murray, the founder and head of Ecurie Ecosse, sold the Jaguar to a privateer, who raced it around Europe. The car bounced between owners (and countries) for decades before becoming the backbone of this incredible Ecurie Ecosse collection in 1992.

It is being offered for sale by Bonhams, who call this (of all of the cars from this collection), the one that is “most pure” and “with the best provenance.” It can be yours for between $3,200,000-$4,800,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

S/N: XKC 042

Update: Sold $4,762,011.