Category Archives: Uncategorized

Opel Olympia OL38

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1940 Opel Olympia OL38 Roadster by Glaser

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Munich, Germany | November 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Well, the OL38 generation of Opel’s Olympia didn’t really look like this. The Olympia went on sale in 1935, and just two years later it was updated to the OL38, which remained in production until being interrupted by the war in 1940. It resumed production in 1947 and lasted through 1949, when a fresh generation debuted.

The OL38 was offered from the factory as a two- or four-door sedan as well as a two-door cabriolet. This car received, what is claimed to be, one-off roadster coachwork by Glaser. Power is provided by a 1.5-liter inline-four that made around 35 horsepower. It was capable of 70 mph.

This car was purchased out of Ukraine in 2014 and later restored. It now has an estimate of $22,000-$33,000. Click here for more info.

Mercedes “SSK”

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1929 Mercedes-Benz 710 SSK Roadster by Sindelfingen

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Munich, Germany | November 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The catalog description for this car… does not seem to tell the whole story. Daimler themselves lists a production of 33 combined units of SSK and SSKL cars. The Mercedes-Benz SS saw a total of 111 units. Mercedes goes on to claim that production numbers for any of the “S” models of 1927 through 1933 are difficult to ascertain as cars were being built and rebuilt, with engines swapped around and chassis being shortened.

So RM is saying (I think?) that this car is one of seven examples of the SS that were modified by Mercedes with a shorter chassis. So, yes, it is a short-wheelbase SS (or SSK). But it’s not an actual SSK. Very few original SSKs remain, and most of the extant examples are just shortened SS cars. The price here reflects that. This car has a lower estimate than the stock SS in the sale, at $1,450,000-$2,200,000. A true SSK could bring 5-10x that value.

The car does have a supercharged 7.1-liter inline-six that was capable of over 200 horsepower with the supercharger engaged. It is said that the car was built in 1929 and first owned by a privateer German racer who took the car to the U.S. in the 1930s. It spent over 50 years in the U.S., being restored around 1983. Around 1994, it was restored again in Germany, with the chassis having been replaced at that time (so there’s part of the value loss). You can read more here and draw your own conclusions.

Iso Grifo A3/L Spider

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1964 Iso Grifo A3/L Spider Prototype by Bertone

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Los Angeles, California | October 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The Iso Grifo A3/L was designed by Giotto Bizzarrini for Renzo Rivolta. Styled by Giorgetto Giugiaro at Bertone, the A3/L coupe had an aggressive, muscular stance. They even developed an alloy-bodied race car, the incredibly sleek A3/C. This was the convertible variant of the road car – the lone drop-top prototype.

It says it has a “Corvette engine” – later Grifos got a 5.4-liter Chevrolet 327 V8. So who knows I guess (but it sounds like it’s a 427). Buy it and surprise yourself. This car was initially shown at the 1964 Geneva Motor Show and was later sold to an American. It came into its current collection in 1980 and has been hidden away since.

By 1965 things had soured between Bizzarrini and Rivolta, with the former going on to produce the Bizzarrini A3/C, and Rivolta selling the Iso Grifo GL. This car has an estimate of $700,000-$1,000,000. More info can be found here.

W06 SS by Corsica

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1929 Mercedes-Benz 710 SS Roadster by Corsica

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Munich, Germany | November 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The Mercedes-Benz W06 is one of the best things the company ever produced. It started with the Model S, which evolved into the SS, or Super Sport (and later the revered SSK). The SS was offered in three guises between 1928 and 1933: the 27/140/200, the 27/160/200, and the 27/170/225. Between all variants, just 111 were produced.

Those different numbers come from the car’s 7.1-liter inline-six, which was equipped with an engageable Roots supercharger. So that naturally aspirated 140 horsepower jumped to 200 horsepower if you pushed the throttle to the floor. As is typical of late, RM’s catalog is light on details as to which engine this has, but based on the model year, it is probably the 140-200 horsepower variant.

As we’ve discovered with other Benzes of the era, when sold in the U.K., the cars were given slightly different model names. In this case “710 SS” (based on displacement) in lieu of SS 27/140/200. The original body on this car was damaged in an accident, and it was re-bodied by Corsica prior to 1934. In 1979, it set a record as the most valuable car ever sold at auction in $320,000. Now it has an estimate of $3,850,000-$4,950,000. Click here for more info.

1902 Haynes-Apperson

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1902 Haynes-Apperson Two-Cylinder Surrey

Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | November 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Haynes-Apperson was an important pioneer in the American automotive industry. Elwood Haynes built one of America’s first cars (though he would long claim the first) and partnered with the Apperson brothers of Kokomo, Indiana, to found Indiana’s first car company.

Production started in 1898, and they sold a few hundred examples of their 7/8-horsepower twin in 1901. In 1902, the company expanded the line to two models, both twins: the small eight-horsepower runabout and the 12-horsepower car available as a phaeton or surrey, the latter of which is pictured here.

The car cost $1,800 new, and the two-cylinder engine displaced more than four liters. It carries chassis #74 (though it’s unclear how they were numbering their cars) and is thought to be the oldest operational Haynes-Apperson. A former Harrah collection car, it has run the London-to-Brighton route multiple times. It now has an estimate of $175,000-$200,000. More info can be found here.

Bertone-Bodied FIat-OSCA

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1959 Fiat-OSCA 1500 Aerodynamica Berlinetta by Bertone

Offered by Bonhams | Newport, Rhode Island | October 2024

Photo – Bonhams

The Maserati brothers founded OSCA in 1947 and went on to build sports cars and prototypes. But the secret sauce was their tiny little four-cylinder engine, which Fiat would end up using under license. You could get a Fiat 1500 with an OSCA engine. They built just under 3,100 configured as such.

Most of them wore pretty typical-looking bodies (for the period) from Pininfarina. But because this was Italy in the 1950s, there was always the option of coachbuilding. In this case, Franco Scaglione penned the design, with Bertone carrying out the construction. Only two cars were ever fitted with this body, and this was the only one with an OSCA engine.

The 1.5-liter inline-four was capable of 104 horsepower, and this car is freshly restored. It now has an estimate of $400,000-$500,000. More info can be found here.

Delahaye 135 S

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1936 Delahaye 135 S

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | London, U.K. | November 2, 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Grand Prix racing in the 1930s was a pretty competitive era with various countries flinging their best automakers into the field. France had Delage, Bugatti, and Delahaye all competing at one time or another, and Delahaye’s brightest car of the period was the 135, which it took racing in the form of the 135 S.

Just 20 examples of the 135 S were built, and this is the second-to-last. It was campaigned by Delahaye themselves. It competed at Reims with Alberto Divo behind the wheel and later changed hands that season in the U.K., becoming a vehicle for Prince Bira, who won the 12 Hours of Donington in it. Other entries included:

  • 1939 24 Hours of Le Mans – 8th (with Ian Connell and Rob Walker)
  • 1949 24 Hours of Le Mans – 24th, DNF (with Tony Rolt and Guy Jason-Henry)

That 1949 race ended with the 3.6-liter inline-six failed… as no one had rebuilt it since before the prior Le Mans. The car continued to race into the mid 1950s. In 1970 it was purchased by Rob Walker, who raced it in ’39, and restored. It’s remained with his family since. The car now has an estimate of $1,300,000-$1,950,000. More info can be found here.

Philos Torpedo

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1913 Philos A-4-M Torpedo

Offered by Aguttes | Brussels, Belgium | October 2024

Photo – Aguttes

Philos was based in Lyon, France, and existed from 1912 through 1923. This early car was restored around 2000 and looks like the type of Edwardian car you would see in a children’s movie that took place prior to WWI. It’s so colorful and covered in brass.

This early two-seat Philos is powered by a 1.1-liter inline-four that was rated at eight (presumably taxable) horsepower. The engine was sourced from Ballot. The survival rate for Philos cars isn’t that high, as this is the second one I can recall coming up for sale in the last decade.

It has an estimate of $16,000-$28,000. More info can be found here.

Mercedes 28/95 Sport

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1921 Mercedes 28/95 Sport

Offered by Aguttes | Brussels, Belgium | October 2024

Photo – Aguttes

Mercedes, in its pre-Benz days, launched the 28/95 model in 1914 – just prior to the outbreak of WWI. Like, they only got 25 cars out before the war came, so production stopped and then resumed, with another 550 built before 1924.

It was the first Mercedes with four-wheel brakes (starting in 1923). The engine is a 7.3-liter inline-six that was rated at 90 horsepower in Sport form. And it was sporty: examples raced competitively at the Targo Florio.

This particular car retains a real 28/95 engine, transmission, and axles. It has a modified chassis (Sport cars had a shortened chassis and a lower radiator). This car has a radiator from a different Mercedes and a recreation body in the style of the Targa Florio cars. The estimate is $335,000-$555,000. More info can be found here.

Nacional Pescara Race Car

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1929 Nacional Pescara 3-Litre Competition

Offered by Aguttes | Brussels, Belgium | October 2024

Photo – Aguttes

Nacional Pescara was supposed to be the national motor company of Spain. It had government backing and was spurred on by Argentinian engineer Raul Pateras Pescara. Founded in 1929, Pescara tried to prove the car’s worth via competition, and production got under way in 1930.

The production cars, like this early racing special, were powered by a 3.0-liter DOHC inline-eight that made 125 horsepower. Not bad for a start-up in a country not exactly known for their cars, Hispano-Suiza aside. But the timing was all wrong. Even with all of the government funding, the company only managed to make about 12 production cars and two or three race cars before the money ran out and they closed up in 1932.

This is the only survivor. One of the racers (unclear if it was this one) won rounds during the 1931 European Hillclimb Championship, and this car was entered for the 1932 Monaco Grand Prix, but did not start. It’s been in the same family since the 1940s and now has an estimate of $660,000-$880,000. Click here for more info.