Category Archives: Uncategorized

B.A.G. Spatz

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1956 B.A.G. Spatz

Offered by RM Auctions | Madison, Georgia | February 15-16, 2013

1956 B.A.G. Spatz

Photo – RM Auctions

Egon Brütsch built a small two-seat convertible called the 200 or “Spatz.” He allowed prospective licensees to drive it and one, Harald Friedrich, liked it but realized Brütsch’s car was essentially crap. He hired an engineer to fix the issues with it and then put it into production under the name of a new company he formed, Bayerische Autowerke GmbH – or B.A.G. It was powered by the ubiquitous 9.5 horsepower 191cc single-cylinder Sachs motor that really got around in those days. Brütsch was not amused and threatened to take Friedrich to court (he eventually took the next group of people to court, and lost because the design was significantly improved over his original and therefore not an infringement) and Friedrich left the company – but not before 859 could be built and sold. This one should sell for between $30,000-$40,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $32,200.

King S-7

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1959 King S-7

Offered by RM Auctions | Madison, Georgia | February 15-16, 2013

1959 King S-7

Photo – RM Auctions

This King S-7 was not manufactured by the same “King” company we talked about last week. This one was built in Sweden. The S-7 was originally built as a Fuldamobil in Germany but they were licensed all over and some licensed versions were exported. Sweden received some NWF cars but later they built there own S-7 version of the Fuldamobil and called it the Fram-King-Fulda. When that factory burned down, the assets were purchased and production restarted in 1958 or 1959 and it was called the King S-7. It was built until 1962 and 411 were made. It uses a 9.5 horsepower 191cc single-cylinder and should sell for between $35,000-$45,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $47,150.

King S-7

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1959 King S-7

Offered by RM Auctions | Madison, Georgia | February 15-16, 2013

1959 King S-7

Photo – RM Auctions

This King S-7 was not manufactured by the same “King” company we talked about last week. This one was built in Sweden. The S-7 was originally built as a Fuldamobil in Germany but they were licensed all over and some licensed versions were exported. Sweden received some NWF cars but later they built there own S-7 version of the Fuldamobil and called it the Fram-King-Fulda. When that factory burned down, the assets were purchased and production restarted in 1958 or 1959 and it was called the King S-7. It was built until 1962 and 411 were made. It uses a 9.5 horsepower 191cc single-cylinder and should sell for between $35,000-$45,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $47,150.

Duesenberg J-219

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1929 Duesenberg Model J Cabriolet by Murphy

Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | February 8, 2013

1929 Duesenberg Model J-219 Cabriolet by Murphy

Well isn’t this a pretty car. This Model J was introduced for 1929 and it used a 265 horsepower Lycoming straight-eight engine of 420 cubic inches (6.9-liters). Top speed was about 115 mph – depending on what body was attached to it.

This one has a gorgeous cabriolet body by the Walter M. Murphy Company of Pasadena, California. It was sold new to a partner in the Standard Oil Company for an astonishing $14,500 in pre-Depression-era American dollars. It passed between a few owners and was restored for the first time in 1957 and again 20 years later and won Best in Show at Pebble Beach in 1981. Shortly after the dawn of the new Millennium, this car was sold to a Belgian collector and it has remained in Europe since. It currently sports Dutch registration.

Duesenbergs pop up often at collector car auctions but finding the right one can be tricky. You surely can’t go wrong with this Murphy Cabriolet. It is expected to sell for between $1,130,000-$1,450,000. Click here for more well-shot pictures and info. And here for more from Artcurial at Rétromobile.

Update: Sold $1,319,888.

Bugatti Type 54 Grand Prix

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1931 Bugatti Type 54 Grand Prix

Offered by Bonhams | Paris, France | February 7, 2013

1931 Bugatti Type 54 Grand Prix

Whoa. Bonhams dug up a treasure for their Paris sale this year – this is one of only nine Bugatti Type 54 Grand Prix cars built. The Type 54 was an evolution of the Type 51. It was used for the 1931 Grand Prix season. The engine is a 300 horsepower 4.9-liter supercharged straight eight. It was entered in the “Above 3-Liters” category, which was essentially an “anything goes” class. Most of the important pieces on the Type 54 were sourced from other Bugattis. Essentially, they took the best bits of every car they built until one super machine was finished. This particular car won the 1931 Grand Prix of Monza with Achille Varzi driving.

I’d like to list the entire race history of this car, but Bonham’s catalog description looks like it was written in French and run through a mediocre translator to get the English version. As it is, it is almost unreadable and very vague. If you’re thinking of buying this thing and provenance is important to you, I’d get someone on the phone first to make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into.

This car left the Bugatti team ranks at the end of 1931 and was sold to Prince Georg Christian Lobkowicz of Czechoslovakia. He was a “gentleman driver” so to speak and was unfortunately killed in this car during his first outing in it at AVUS in 1932. The car was given to his teammate, Zdenek Pohl, who had it rebuilt but didn’t really use the car until it was obsolete. So he turned it into a two-seat roadster with beautiful coachwork by Oldrich Uhlik (the body for this new car now resides on another chassis and is owned by a 1930s European car hoarder in California – just kidding, Mr. Mullin!).

The next owner, who acquired the car in 1970, had the roadster body removed and an original-style Grand Prix body was constructed for the car by the Peel coachbuilding company. It was re-bodied again in 2005 by Rod Jolley in painstaking detail back to 1931 Monza race condition. It is being offered as one of four surviving Type 54s of the original nine built and the only one whose original mechanical parts have never been removed/separated from the car. It is expected to sell for between $3,300,000-$4,700,000. Read more here (it’s better if you speak French) and check out the rest of the Bonhams lineup here.

Update: Not sold.

1913 Brasier Berline

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1913 Brasier 16hp Berline

Offered by Bonhams | Paris, France | February 7, 2013

1913 Brasier 16hp Berline

Henri Brasier joined the Georges Richard’s automobile company and the new Richard-Brasier company began to produce cars in 1902. That only lasted through 1905, when Richard left the company. So the company that started out with Georges Richard’s full name as the marque, gradually decreased until it was just “Brasier” left.

Brasier started building cars in late 1905/early 1906 and lasted through 1926, after which they were called Chaigneau-Brasier, until the company ultimately closed in 1930. This particular Brasier is a 1913 Sedan with coachwork by Marcel Guilloux of France (if you couldn’t tell where he was from based on his name). It uses a 3.2-liter four-cylinder making 16 horsepower.

The car was bought new by a gentleman in France who walled it up when the First World War broke out. The man perished in the war and the car wasn’t discovered again for 70 years, when the wall he built was demolished during a home redesign. It’s bounced around since, having appeared in a few movies along the way. It is entirely original – a great example of “time warp” condition that makes it perfect for high-class car shows all over the world. It runs well and everything works. It should sell for between $100,000-$130,000. Click here to read more and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Update: Not sold, Bonhams Paris 2020.

Lancia Astura Cabriolet

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1938 Lancia Astura Series IV Cabriolet by Carrozzeria Boneschi

Offered by Bonhams | Paris, France | February 7, 2013

1938 Lancia Astura Series IV Cabriolet by Carrozzeria Boneschi

Many of the classic Lancias of the 1920s are boxy -like the Lambda and Dilambda and even the first generation of the Astura. But in the mid-to-late 1930s, Lancia’s vehicles began to become a little more shapely at the hands of coachbuilders. This Astura Cabriolet looks fantastic.

The Astura took the place of the Lambda in the Lancia lineup. It was introduced in 1931 and was still a rather boxy car. But by the time this Fourth Series car came around (it was the final Series and was introduced in 1937), these wonderful curves were available from such coachbuilders as Carrozzeria Boneschi – a Milan coachbuilder who had a long relationship with Lancia. It looks like something that could’ve come from the best of the French design houses of the period.

The engine is an 82 horsepower, 3.0-liter V8. This car was purchased new by a “Belgian coal-mining magnate” and was kept in storage for a long time. It has been repainted (in its original color), but everything else is entirely original. This is one of 423 Series IV Asturas built before production ended in 1939. It is one of three bodied by Boneschi and the only one still in existence. It should bring between $520,000-$660,000. Read more here and check out more from this sale here.

Update: Sold $893,800.

NWF 200

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1956 NWF 200

Offered by RM Auctions | Madison, Georgia | February 15-16, 2013

1954 NWF 200

Photo – RM Auctions

Fuldamobil had a brand new design in 1953 called the S-1 and they contracted a company called VGM to build the rounded aluminium bodies. It cost more than Fuldamobil was willing to pay and they ended the deal after only three cars were built. VGM contacted NWF, a coachbuilder also in Germany (they built bus bodies) and NWF decided to put it into production. It was identical to the Fuldamobil, but with a different engine – this one being a 197cc single-cylinder making 9.5 horsepower. Only 701 were built and quite a number of those were sold back to Fuldamobil to cover licensing costs. This one is all original and needs some work, but is still expected to fetch between $15,000-$20,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $16,100.

Lloyd LP 600

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1958 Lloyd LP 600 Alexander

Offered by RM Auctions | Madison, Georgia | February 15-16, 2013

1958 Lloyd LP 600 Alexander

There is a guy who lives around here who owns a Lloyd LT 600 Minibus and there is a sticker on a back window that reads, in German, “He who is not afraid of death drives a Lloyd.” These cars were small, but they aren’t as micro as something like… well, anything above. You could actually drive a Lloyd and not fear as much about dying as you would in a Rollera. There was even power to be had – 19 horses to be exact, pumping furiously out of the 596cc Borgward twin. The Lloyd 600 was introduced in 1955 but production stopped in 1957 because the cars were too basic. A revamped model appeared in 1958 with the “Alexander” tag attached – it was nice enough to come with a headliner, windows and a trunk lid! This car is a survivor among the 176,516 built. It should sell for between $15,000-$20,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $13,800.

1959 F.G.L.

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1959 F.G.L.

Offered by RM Auctions | Madison, Georgia | February 15-16, 2013

1959 F.G.L.

Photo – RM Auctions

This tiny Spanish convertible was built by Francisco Gomez Lopez and it was the only one he built. The design is solid and the car is well built – Lopez was a certified engineer who ran a repair shop. It uses a 197cc single-cylinder making 8.5 horsepower. The rest of the car is sourced from other cars of the time. It seems as if he was uninterested in further production, as this was the lone example built. It was restored in 2001 and should sell for between $20,000-$25,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $32,200.