Category Archives: Uncategorized

1928 Daimler Double Six Limousine

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1928 Daimler Double Six P150 Limousine

Offered by Barrett-Jackson, Scottsdale, Arizona, January 15-22, 2012

Daimler has one of the most confusing – and interesting – histories of any auto marque. The Double Six is the most glorious of all Daimlers. Daimlers have been used by British royalty since their inception (although the brand is dormant now and they’ve been blatant copies of Jaguars for a very long time).

This car has a 7.2 liter V12 (the “double six”) making 150 horsepower. It is the original engine and the original coachwork. This car is referred to as “the largest British car ever built” which may be true as it weighs in at a solid 8,100 lbs. Fellow Briton Colin Chapman would not approve.

Originally exported to Australia, this car turned up in the Harrah Collection at some point (doesn’t it seem like every rare old car was once parked in Reno?). A Double Six has won Best in Show at Pebble Beach twice since 1999. But both of those cars had lower, slightly more diabolical styling. Because this car lacks such styling, it will not bring similar prices. I’m going with a low ball number of about $350,000. But it could be more. More info on the car here and more from Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale here.

Update: Sold $1,155,000.

Pathfinder Touring Car

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1913 Pathfinder Series XIII A Five-Passenger Touring

Offered by RM Auctions | Phoenix, Arizona | January 19-20, 2012

This 40 horsepower Pathfinder is described as “the only one of its kind in existence,” meaning it is the only 1913 Pathfinder in existence – making it sound rarer than it is. It’s a Series XIII Five-Passenger Touring model with attractive, but average for the time, styling.

This model was originally spec’d with all available electrical equipment – but as you can see, there is a hand crank hanging out the front of the car. At this time, the electric starter had only been on Cadillacs for a year. While this car is quite interesting and worthy of being collected, it is not a Cadillac.

Pathfinder was in production for five short years, from 1912 until 1917, as a sub-marque of the Parry Automobile Company of Indianapolis, Indiana. Later cars became more luxurious with V-12 engines, but this early model has a 281 cubic inch L-head 4-cylinder.

This particular car sold this past summer at an RM Auction for $115,500. You have to wonder when a car pops up at auction twice in a year. Either the new buyer wanted to hurry and try and flip it for a quick profit and that plan went south and they needed to just get rid of it. Or there is something wrong with it. I’m guessing the former. With only six months since it’s last sale, I doubt the market for 1913 Pathfinder’s has changed all that much. More about it here, with auction info here.

Update: Not Sold.

Update II: Sold, RM Sotheby’s Arizona 2016, $121,000.

1971 Ford Torino GT

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1971 Ford Torino GT

Offered by Mecum, January 24-29, 2012, Kissimmee, Florida

The muscle car era was about to end and Ford had the best looking ever Torino on its hands. There were 14 different Torino models available in 1971 and this GT is second only to the Cobra when it comes to sportiness and muscle. The ’71 Tornio GT was available as a convertible or this 2-door “SportsRoof” bodystle. Under the hood, the GT had Ford’s 4.9 liter V8 as standard.

Ford’s competitor to the Torino was the Chevrolet Chevelle – which is far more popular among muscle car types and is generally more collectable. There are dozens of Chevelles at muscle car auctions but there aren’t nearly as many Torinos. This one looks good in light blue with the gray stripe and black hood scoop.

Unless there is something I don’t know about this car (which is possible, the catalog description isn’t up yet), I expect it to bring no more than $35,000. For more info on the car, click here and for more on Mecum’s Kissimmee auction try here.

1955 Flajole Forerunner

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1955 Flajole Forerunner

Offered by Barrett-Jackson | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 15-22, 2012

Designed by American Bill Flajole, this interesting concept car is one of one. It has a 180 horsepower Jaguar engine from an XK120. The curvy Fiberglas body has sparkly purple paint and curves all over the place.

The car has some unique design features – check out the chrome bumper way out there in front. You’d better be careful not to knick that chrome. And then there’s the rear-view mirror, located above the windshield and above the roof, outside of the car. It might seem strange until you realize there is zero visibility out the rear.

That nice sloping fastback – no pesky window seals to disrupt the airflow back to the rear tire sticking up like a spoiler in the back. The car is definitely interesting and it’s one of a kind. So if you want a car no one else has, this one’s for you.

This car sat at Hyman Ltd in St. Louis for quite a while with a $275,000 price tag. You can read the full catalog description here and check out more from Barrett-Jackson here.

Update: Not Sold. Currently for sale at Hyman Ltd in St. Louis for $295,000.

Jaguar XJ220 S

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1993 Jaguar XJ220 S Coupe

Offered by RM Auctions | January 19-20, 2012 | Phoenix, Arizona

The Jaguar XJ220 was the fastest production car in the world at the time of its debut, topping out at 213 mph with a twin-turbocharged V6 engine. It was a sensation – a half-a-million dollar sensation with celebrity owners from Elton John to the Sultan of Brunei (of course). 281 cars were built.

Tom Walkinshaw Racing was there from the beginning to aid in development. They developed the XJ220C race car that competed at Le Mans in 1993 – where it won the GT Class with drivers John Nielsen, David Brabham, and David Coulthard. That win was later revoked because the car that competed didn’t have catalytic converters.

Anyway, TWR built 6 road-going versions of the XJ220C dubbed the XJ220S. Power was upped from the standard 542 horsepower to a staggering 680 bhp. Top speed also jumped, this by 15 mph to 228 mph.

There are only a few of these cars, so they don’t sell too often. The last one I can find was at a dealer a few years ago for $295,000. More info on this car is available here with more on the auction itself, here.

Update: Sold $230,000.

Mecum Kansas City Highlights

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The Mecum muscle car show recently traveled through Kansas City, Missouri. The top sale of the auction was this 1969 Shelby GT500 Convertible.

The restoration on this car was completed in 1997, meaning it isn’t Concours-fresh so it can definitely be driven. It sold for $165,000. Other interesting cars include a 1953 Buick Skylark Convertible seen here:

Finished in its original, attractive color, Ridge Green, this fully-optioned, 188 horsepower Skylark sold for $120,000. The other big sale was an awesome, white 1970 Plymouth Superbird with a 440 Six Pack which brought $122,500. More info on the sale and results can be found at Mecum’s website, here.

Pierce-Arrow Silver Arrow

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1933 Pierce-Arrow Silver Arrow

Offered by Barrett-Jackson, January 15-22, 2012, Scottsdale, Arizona

Originally shown at the New York Auto Show in 1933 where it gathered much interest. A $10,000 price tag in 1933 made this a car that was definitely not for everyone, and only five were built (three survive today).

The modern-day Mercedes-Benz CLS is described as a “four-door coupe” which Mercedes would like us to think was their idea. But this car is a four-door coupe and it’s a tad older than any CLS. It features a V12 that will take this car to a then astounding 115 mph. It’s a sensational car of which very few exist. Among large 1930s American classics, they don’t come much better than this.

This particular car was restored by the Harrah Collection where it remained until 1987. When it crosses the block in January it will be coming from the Blackhawk Collection, where it sat for years with a price tag of about $1.45 million.

More info on the car is available here and more info on the sale at Barrett-Jackson’s website.

Update: Sold $2,200,000.

Bonhams Mercedes-Benz World Highlights

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Bonhams recently held sale at Mercedes-Benz World in Weybridge, Surrey (on the 1st of December, 2011), featured a few interesting sales. Foremost among them was the 1953 Austin-Healey 100S Prototype that was involved in the infamous wreck at the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans. The car was being driven by Lance Macklin who swerved to avoid a Mike Hawthorn’s Jaguar D-Type that was entering the pits. Pierre Levegh in a Mercedes-Benz 300SLR struck the rear of this Healey and was launched into the crowd, killing 83, including Levegh. The car’s infamy definitely played a part in it reaching a hammer price of $1.3 million – especially as it was sold in “barn find” condition seen here:

Other highlights include the red Maserati Quattroporte we featured a few weeks ago, selling for $80,000, falling right in the middle of the pre-sale estimate. Also sold was this super unusual 1912 Lanchester 38hp Detachable Open Drive Limousine for just over $130,000.

The car was owned by a Maharajah – as it seems more and more early British motorcars are – especially those with outlandish or highly unusual bodywork. The fixed roof over the rear passengers is completely removable on this car. The wheelbase is ridiculous and the whole front of the car looks like it was smashed backwards by about five feet. Unusual indeed.

I’ve decided that we’re going to give special mention to the final lot in every sale, as that lot usually tends to not be the most valuable or unusual car sold. It’s kind of overlooked. Like Mr. Irrelevant (the last pick in the annual NFL draft). For this sale it was a 2001 Aston Martin DB7 Vantage Volante very similar (but not exact) to the one below.

As far as I’m concerned, this is one of the most beautiful cars of all time. It’s an extraordinarily pretty car and this one was dark blue with tan interior and had 63,000 miles on the odometer. It sold for almost $47,000 with buyer’s premium.

For complete results, check Bonhams’ website here.

1952 Kleinschnittger F125

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1952 Kleinschnittger F125 Convertible

Offered by Auctions America, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, March 16-18, 2012

This Kleinschnittger (we recommend not trying to say that three times fast as you might actually injure yourself) is one of a handful of rare, interesting post-war European microcars that will cross the block at Auctions America’s Ft. Lauderdale event in March of 2012.

The model is an F125, the 125 standing for the 125cc single-cylinder engine (two-stroke) outputting a sporty 5.4 horsepower (that decimal is very important). A three-speed transmission will propel this 367 pound roadster to a blistering 43 mph.

In all seriousness, this car is quite interesting because not very many survive of the less than 3,000 that were built. There was an F250 follow-up model with a 250cc engine.

Kleinschnittger only existed between 1950 and 1957 in Germany so their cars never really had the chance to make a huge impact on the world. This car is small and cute – two characteristics that have proven to sell strongly at recent auctions. Christie’s sold one (back when they were still selling cars in 1997) for about $22,000. My guess is somewhere between $20,000 and $30,000. It’s in really nice shape and, well, apparently they don’t come up for auction but every 15 years.

Find out more about it here and more about Auctions America in Ft. Lauderdale, here.

Update: Sold $44,000.

Purple Isotta Boattail

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1927 Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A Boattail Tourer

Offered by RM Auctions | Phoenix, Arizona | January 19-20, 2012

Look. At. This. Car. It’s mindblowing. First of all, how many two-tone purple cars do you see? Now, how many two-tone purple cars do you see that grab and hold your attention quite like this. Look at that grille!

This is the second Tipo 8A that we’ve featured that’s being offered in Arizona this January. It is by far the more awesome. The car is immaculate and I’d by dying to put a bid in on it, had I not been aware that RM sold this car back in 2007 for a touch over $390,000. At that time, it undercut the lower end of the estimate by a cool $60,000 – so, by definition it’s a steal. (The car lacked the current grille-work that it has now at that time).

It’s got a 135 horsepower, 7.4 liter Straight 8 engine which isn’t Duesenberg power but it’s no slouch, able to hit 100 mph. The Boattail bodywork is by Carrozzeria Italiana Cesare Sala (not a household name by any means) and it cost $6,000 back in 1927 – on top of the $8,500 chassis price. They weren’t exactly giving these cars away.

RM doesn’t have an estimate handy as of this writing, but $400,000 sounds about right, we’ll see. I’d pay it, conditions willing. More info can eventually be found here and more about RM in Arizona here.

Update: Sold $407,000.