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Messerschmitt KR 175

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1953 Messerschmitt KR 175

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

Messerschmitt KR 175

Photo – RM Auctions

We already featured a Messerschmitt KR 200, which was the successor to this car, the original Kabinenroller, the KR 175. Introduced for 1953, the Fend Flitzer offshoot used a rear-mounted 174cc single-cylinder making nine horsepower. Top speed was 50 mph and the bubble canopy was used instead of a door. As production only lasted through 1955, total output was much smaller than the KR 200, with about 15,000 KR 175s built. They cost 2,100 DM back in 1953 but today should sell for $35,000-$45,000 USD. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $23,000.

Bond Minicar Mk A

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1950 Bond Minicar Mk A

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

1950 Bond Minicar Mk A

The Bond Minicar (retroactively given the “Mk A” identifier) was introduced in 1949 and was sold through 1951. The body, as you can see in this unpainted example, is aluminium and the whole car weighed in at 308 pounds. This non-Deluxe model uses a 122cc single-cylinder making five horsepower. In total, 1,973 were made and it was deemed successful enough to spawn six successors with a total combined production of over 20,000 cars. This was the one that started it all for Bond. It should sell for between $10,000-$15,000, much more than the about £260 it originally cost. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $10,350.

Inter 175A

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1955 Inter 175A Berline

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

1955 Inter 175A Berline

The Inter was built by S.N.C.A.N. of Lyons, France from 1953 to 1956. As its name suggests, it uses a 175cc engine. Only about 300 were built. What I like about it is the boat-ness of it (don’t be fooled, it is not amphibious!). It has that one headlight poking out the front and that lone windshield wiper that comes down from the roof of the car. That and how the body is narrow with a chrome belt line (or water line) and the wheels are located outboard – it kind of looks like the Reyonnah we featured a few weeks ago. It should sell for between $40,000-$50,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $161,000.

 

Chrysler Diablo Concept

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1956 Chrysler Diablo Concept by Ghia

Offered by Barrett-Jackson | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 19, 2013

1956 Chrysler Diablo Concept

Barrett-Jackson always seems to get some old concept cars to cross the block at their Scottsdale sale. This year is no exception. This Chrysler Diablo Concept was offered at RM’s 2008 Monterey sale, where it reached a high bid of $1.2 million and failed to sell. It was also listed as a 1958 for that sale. Barrett-Jackson lists it as a 1956 and I’ve seen it listed elsewhere as a 1957.

When Virgil Exner arrived at Chrysler, he was tasked with creating their concept cars from 1954. As many of the classic American coachbuilders had gone by the wayside, Exner turned to Italy and Ghia, one of the most respected Italian coachbuilders to construct the body for this car, which was designed by Exner with the use of a wind tunnel, hence its streamlined, aerodynamic look. The car is giant – based on the Chrysler 300 platform, it is one of the largest convertibles ever built by Ghia. The engine is a modified 6.4-liter V8.

This car is one of one and is in perfect condition. The details are fantastic – to emblem-ize the Diablo name, Exner used a pitchfork, which can be found on the rear fins. This car has been in a private collection for the past 25 years. Like I said before, this car failed to sell four and a half years ago for $1.2 million, but that’s about the price it should bring here. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Barrett-Jackson’s auction lineup.

Update: Sold $1,375,000.

Delahaye 135 MS by Figoni et Falaschi

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1938 Delahaye 135 MS Coupe by Figoni et Falaschi

Offered by RM Auctions | Phoenix, Arizona | January 18, 2013

1938 Delahaye 135 MS Coupe by Figoni et Falaschi

Guess what my favorite feature of this car is. It isn’t the beautiful Figoni & Falaschi-styled body. It’s that French flag on the grille. How cool. I almost didn’t feature this car, but that colorful grille alone sold me on it – that and I’ve yet to feature a Delahaye 135 MS – however I have done a 135 M.

So what’s the difference? More horsepower, of course. While the M lumbered around with up to 115 horsepower, the 3.6-liter straight six in the MS offered 160 horsepower. The “Teardrop” bodystyle is the most famous style from French coachbuilders Figoni & Falaschi. It’s also the one that it usually shown as the “typical” French coachbuilt body of the period. It is certainly nice.

This car was on the Figoni et Falaschi stand at the 1938 Paris Salon and disappeared shortly thereafter, being rediscovered in 1964. It was restored in the late 1980s and was acquired by John O’Quinn in 2006, who had it restored again. It is being offered with an invitation to the 2013 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, which it could win. It should sell for between $1,000,000-$1,400,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of RM’s Arizona lineup.

Update: Sold $1,540,000.

Ferrari F50

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1995 Ferrari F50

Offered by Gooding & Company | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 18, 2013

1995 Ferrari F50

Photo – Gooding & Company

You’re looking at my favorite supercar of all time. Well, at least my favorite Ferrari halo car of all time. While its predecessor, the F40, was a hard-nosed race car for the road – and its successor, the Enzo, was all business and not much style – the F50 was less about track times and more about celebrating 50 years of Ferrari and being outrageous in the 1990s. Mission accomplished.

This F50, #71 of 349, was delivered new to Roger Penske. It has only covered 655 miles in its life, making it almost brand new. Built from 1995 through 1997, the F50 used a 4.7-liter V12 making 513 horsepower. It could hit 202 mph and 60 in 3.7 seconds. The performance was astonishing for the mid-90s and the eccentric looks were like nothing else on the road. But you can still see hints of the F40 in there, which is quite an accomplishment for something so unlike most other Ferraris.

This like-new example comes with its factory hard top and is one of 302 Rosso Corsa F50s built and one of only 56 U.S.-spec cars delivered. The suggested retail price for an F50 in 1995 was right round $500,000 and they have appreciated since day one. This one should sell for between $800,000-$1,000,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of the Gooding auction lineup.

Update: Sold $1,375,000.

Mercedes 500K Cabriolet A

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1935 Mercedes-Benz 500K Cabriolet A by Sindelfingen

Offered by Gooding & Company | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 18, 2013

1935 Mercedes-Benz 500K Cabriolet A by Sindelfingen

Last week (or the week before, I’ve lost track) we featured a MB 540K. This was that car’s immediate predecessor. The 500K was introduced by Mercedes in 1934 and last until 1936. This car is brilliant in gray and black with red interior – it’s dark and menacing, just like the 1930s Germany that spawned it. It defines luxury and style of a time and place – and that was Germany in 1935.

The engine is a supercharged 5.0-liter straight eight making 160 horsepower (with the supercharger engaged). Only 342 500Ks were built, and only 33 carried Mercedes-Benz’s in-house Sindelfingen Cabriolet A coachwork and only 11 of those still survive. This car is imposing – especially with twin rear-mount spares.

This one managed to survive because it was purchased new by a Swedish Baron, who kept it at his castle. It was parked in 1948 and sold in 1950, and then it hopped from owner to owner, being restored for the first time in 1963. It remained in Sweden until 1983 when it went to a collector back in West Germany. It was expertly restored in the late 1980s and has been preserved since. The 20+ years of use give this car a patina that makes it appear to have never been restored since new, which is really cool. It is being sold from a Dutch collection and should bring between $2,500,000-$3,000,000. For more info (and gorgeous pictures), click here. And for more from Gooding, click here.

Update: Sold $2,750,000.

Here are some videos of a similar car:


Cisitalia Spider Nuvolari

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1947 Cisitalia 202 SMM Spider Nuvolari

Offered by Gooding & Company | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 18, 2012

1947 Cisitalia 202 SMM Spider Nuvolari

Cisitalia was founded in 1946 by Piero Dusio in Turin. They started by building little single-seat race cars with an eye on Formula One (Dusio entered one F1 race in a Cisitalia but DNQ’d). Instead, the company shifted focus to road-going sports cars and in 1947 the 202 SMM was introduced.

Because it was proper Italian form to send your new sports cars to the circuit, the 202 made its debut at the 1947 Mille Miglia, the first running of the race after the war. Five were entered and one was driven by Tazio Nuvolari, who despite great odds, came home second. After that, the 202 SMM was nicknamed “Spider Nuvolari.” My favorite design feature of this body, by Stabilimenti Farina, are the little fins at the back of the car. The engine is a 60 horsepower 1.1-liter straight-four.

This was one of the first 202s built and by 1949 it was in the hands of an American doctor in New York, who never raced it. But when he sold it in 1951, the new owner took it racing in the SCCA and beyond. Some highlights of its career include:

  • 1952 6 Hours or Vero Beach – 11th (with owner Paul Ceresole)
  • 1952 12 Hours of Sebring – 18th, DNF (with Ceresole & J. Greenwood)
  • 1953 12 Hours of Sebring – 34th, DNF (with Ceresole & Logan Hill)

By 1953, the car wasn’t exactly competitive and it passed from collector to collector until it was restored in the 1980s. Yes, the restoration is a bit old (you can see it in the seats) the body and paint look great. It is one of about 28 ever built and should sell for between $700,000-$850,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Gooding in Scottsdale.

Update: Sold $650,000.

1928 Stearns-Knight

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1928 Stearns-Knight F-6-85 6-Passenger Roadster

Offered by Bonhams | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 17, 2013

1928 Stearns-Knight F-6-85 6-Passenger Roadster

Frank Ballou Stearns founded the F.B. Stearns company in 1899 to build cars under the Stearns name. Around this time, Charles Knight was developing his “Silent Knight” sleeve-valve engine and in 1911, Stearns became the first American automaker to use a Knight sleeve-valve engine in their cars. It was at this time that the Stearns name disappeared on the cars and was replaced by the Stearns-Knight moniker.

Stearns continued to run the company until 1925, when he sold it to John North Willys, who kept the company operating and separate from his WillysOverland mini-empire. Willys kept it open as long as he could, shutting it down in December of 1929 at the beginning of the Depression. This 1928 F-6-85 Roadster is one of two known Roadsters still extant with the 8.5-liter straight-six. The model was only offered from 1927-1929.

This car has known ownership from new and has recently undergone a five-year $300,000 restoration that concluded in 2000. It’s a big convertible, the sportiest of models offered from Stearns-Knight, a marque you don’t see very often. It should sell for between $125,000-$150,000. Click here for more info, and here for the rest of the Bonhams lineup.

Update: Sold $126,000.

Porsche RSK

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1959 Porsche 718 RSK

Offered by Gooding & Company | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 19, 2013

1959 Porsche 718 RSK

The Porsche RSK-series of sports racing cars got its start in 1957 on the heels of the 550 Spyder program. They stuck with the mid-engine, rear-wheel drive layout for this car, and some of the styling cues seem to have bee carried over from the 550 as well. The engine had more power: it was a 1.5-liter flat-four making 148 horsepower. The cars were nimble and quick, grabbing class wins all over the world. This was a privateer car all its racing life, and it’s race record includes the following:

  • 1959 4 Hours of Alamar (Cuba) – 4th (with owner Roy Schechter)
  • 1959 Nassau Speed Week, Nassau Trophy Race – 14th (with Schechter)
  • 1960 12 Hours of Sebring – 2nd (with Schechter, Bob Holbert & Howard Fowler)
  • 1960 Riverside Grand Prix – 3rd (with Schechter)

After Riverside, Schechter sold the car and it would become a fixture in a prominent Porsche collection for many years, until 1999. It was restored in 2006, but it is still one of the most correct and undamaged 718s you will likely find. It should sell for between $2,800,000-$3,200,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Gooding in Arizona.

Update: Sold $3,315,000.