Jensen GT

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1975 Jensen GT

Offered by Historics at Brooklands | July 8, 2017

Photo – Historics at Brooklands

Brothers Richard and Alan Jensen built their first Austin Seven-based cars in the mid-1920s. In the 1930s they began modifying Fords before turning to full scale production of their own designs in 1935.

In 1972 the company introduced the Jensen-Healey, the best-selling car in company history. It was a two-door convertible that lasted through 1976, when the company folded. A year prior to that, they presented this “shooting brake” version of the Jensen-Healey, and called it the GT. This wagon-esque car featured a tiny rear seat and shared the Healey’s 2.0-liter straight-four (which was a Lotus-designed engine) that makes 144 horsepower.

This is, perhaps, the best-looking Jensen GT I’ve ever seen. Well-restored, it’s a 61,000 mile car in bright Atlantic Blue with a large cloth sunroof, chin spoiler and wire wheels. The GT was only produced for a span of eight months, with just 511 cars constructed before Jensen closed up shop. This one should bring between $17,900-$23,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $20,194.

June 2017 Auction Highlights, Pt. II

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We’re back with more from June, starting with H&H Classics’ second June sale, this one held at Woodcote Park. The top seller was this 1966 Aston Martin DB6 Vantage, featuring the world’s tallest antenna, which brought $317,992.

Photo – H&H Classics

The Tojeiro-Climax we featured failed to meet its reserve. More results can be found here.

We move across the Channel to Osenat’s June sale. The Tracta we featured brought big money ($786,394) – but it wasn’t enough to dethrone this 1939 Bugatti Type 57C Cabriolet by Gangloff from the top of the sale sheet. It brought $1,414,979.

Photo – Osenat

Both of our other feature cars sold, with the other Bugatti in the sale bringing $321,130 and the Turcat-Mery $120,423. Click here for complete results.

Back to the U.K. for Brightwells’ Modern Classics sale. We weren’t able to feature anything from this sale, but the top sale was $97,257 for this 1995 Porsche 911 Turbo. More results from Brightwells can be found on their site here.

Photo – Brightwells

Next up: Barrett-Jackson’s “Northeast” sale. The top sale here was a basically brand new 2017 Ferrari 488 Spider that sold for $434,500 – which was definitely not a great deal for the buyer, as you can buy one of these off the lot for less (even with the same options). Someone got caught up in the auction fervor…

Photo – Barrett-Jackson

The Tiffany neo-classic we featured brought $13,200. You can see the rest of the results here.

Finally, we have Auctions America on the West Coast in Santa Monica. The top sale was this 1960 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster that sold for $1,100,000.

Photo – Auctions America

The Ferrari 599 GTO we featured failed to sell, but the Duesenberg brought $880,000. And the spacey Tatra 603 sold for $41,800. Click here for complete results.

Lombardi Grand Prix

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1971 Lombardi Grand Prix

Offered by Artcurial | Monaco | July 2, 2017

Photo – Artcurial

So what do we think it says about the design of an automobile if it is produced by a couple of different companies under a couple of different names? Does this mean that the design is solid and popular and so in-demand that a bunch of companies are all clamoring to build it? Or does it mean that one company tried, failed, went out of business and sold the design to someone else?

The Lombardi Grand Prix went on sale in 1968 and was sold through 1972. It was also sold as the OTAS Grand Prix, the Giannini 1000 Grand Prix, and the Abarth Scorpione. The car’s underpinnings are borrowed from the rear-engined Fiat 850, meaning this car is powered by an 843cc straight-four making 43 horsepower. Top speed is 99 mph. It won’t set the world on fire, but it’s small, light, and nimble enough to be loads of fun.

This example has been thoroughly gone through, having been restored about five years ago. They only built a few hundred of these and this one is expected to bring between $33,500-$45,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $27,247.

Lambretta Mink

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1968 Lambretta Mink Prototype

Offered by Historics at Brooklands | July 8, 2017

Photo – Historics at Brooklands

Primarily known for their scooters, Lambretta was a brand name owned by Innocenti. They operated out of Milan between 1947 (the height of scooter-mania in Italy) and 1972 (when both brands were sold to British Leyland – a death sentence).

Lambretta did try their hand at vehicles other than scooters, but their products apparently never progressed beyond three wheels. There were commercial vehicles, and this prototype microcar. This car was not built by the Lambretta factory but was constructed by the UK Lambretta importer. Production never began and this was the only example made.

Top speed of this Lambretta scooter-powered (200cc, single-cylinder) microcar is 30 mph. It’s a one-off, 4,000-mile car and it should bring between $11,500-$16,500. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $15,866.

Ruf Yellowbird

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1989 Ruf CTR Yellowbird

Offered by Artcurial | Monaco | July 2, 2017

Photo – Artcurial

The so-called “Yellowbird” is the car that put Ruf Automobile on the map. Built from 1987, the CTR (which stood for “Group C Turbo Ruf”) was not actually based on a Porsche Turbo, but instead the 911 Carrera 3.2 of 1987.

Ruf had their way with the stock motor and by the time they were done with it, it was a twin-turbocharged 3.4-liter flat-six that was seriously underrated at 469 horsepower (it was actually likely closer to 500 or more). It was a monster supercar in its day, having a higher top speed than just about anything, topping out at a whopping 213 mph, with 60 arriving in about 3.6 seconds. It outperformed everything from Ferrari and Lamborghini upon introduction and the only thing Porsche had on it was that the 959 was quicker to 60.

It’s a legendary machine that actually looks better than the 911 Turbos (930) that it sort of competed against. If you’re familiar with the Yellowbird, you’ll notice that this car doesn’t quite look right. And you’re correct. The original owner of this car ordered this CTR from Ruf and it looked like all of the other 28 Yellowbirds that Ruf built. The current owner acquired it in 1992 and wanted something that was more usable on the track.

By 1995 it had the appearance it has now, with a full roll cage, an RSR-type spoiler out back, slight exterior trim changes, and racing wheels and tires. But it is still a true, factory-built Ruf CTR – one of only 29 completed. Ruf later converted another 25 Porsche 911 Carreras to CTR specification, but those cars are still titled as Porsches (as Ruf is designated as a separate manufacturer).

This is the first one of these I can remember seeing for sale. They’re legendary, and rightfully so. This one is expected to bring between $560,000-$900,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Artcurial’s Monaco lineup.

Update: Not sold.

Big, Early Hotchkiss

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1908 Hotchkiss 16/20HP Type T Roi des Belges by A. Descoins & Fils

Offered by Bonhams | Goodwood, U.K. | June 30, 2017

Photo – Bonhams

Hotchkiss began life as an arms manufacturer and moved into cars in 1903. They survived WWII and some of their post-war cars are pretty attractive. They merged with Delahaye in 1954 and passenger car production stopped the following year. The marque soldiered on with commercial vehicles until 1971.

Hotchkiss was one of a few fairly large French automakers that existed prior to the outbreak of WWI that built properly large touring cars. This is not a small automobile. It seems like that the larger the company in France in this period, the smaller the cars. De Dion-Bouton, Renault, and Panhard et Levassor all produced relatively small cars at this time (sure, they made some large ones too).

What’s remarkable is that the Type T was the company’s smallest model for 1908! It’s powered by a 3.1-liter straight-four rated at 16/20 horsepower. The Type T was not built in large numbers and this example was discovered in a barn. The restoration finished up in 1998 and it’s still spectacular. The current owner bought it in 2000 and has taken pride in driving it thousands of miles in rallies. It’s the oldest Hotchkiss known to have its original body and it should sell for between $100,000-$120,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $212,710.

OSI 1200 S

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1965 OSI 1200 S Cabriolet

Offered by Artcurial | Monaco | July 2, 2017

Photo – Artcurial

OSI – or Officine Stampaggi Industriali – was an Italian company that stamped parts for other cars. It was founded by Luiggi Segre, the head of Ghia. They built parts for the likes of Innocenti, Fiat, and Ford. But at the 1963 Turin Motor Show, OSI presented a car of their own, this, the 1200 S.

Powered by a Fiat 1.2-liter straight-four, the car features a body designed by Giovanni Michelotti. It’s an attractive small car, reminiscent of small Fiat spiders of the day. It looks great with the full rims and whitewalls.

Built between 1964 and 1966, it could be had as a coupe or convertible. Artcurial says only 28 of these were built, but other sources list that number as high as 280. A different source says about 200 were sold. However you stack it, they’re extremely rare. To be the only one one your block with one will set you back between $40,000-$60,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $27,247.

June 2017 Auction Highlights, Pt. I

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We kick of June’s results with one from May, RM Sotheby’s in Villa Erba, Italy. The top sale was the Talbot-Lago Teardrop Coupe we featured. It sold for $3,757,824. The Talbot-Lago T26 we featured was also a million dollar seller, bringing $1,252,608. Would-be million dollar sales that failed to hit their reserves included the McLaren P1 GTR and a previously-featured, Pebble Beach-winning Mercedes-Benz 680 Torpedo Roadster. We’ll give Most Interesting to this 1935 Bugatti Type 57 Atalante Prototype that brought $3,382,041.

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Our other four feature cars all sold, with the WRE-Maserati leading the way at $814,195. The Aston Martin V8 Vantage Zagato brought $513,569 and the Lancia Delta S4 Stradale a similar $551,147. The other Lancia we featured came in at $313,152. Click here for all of the results from this sale.

H&H Classics is holding two sales in June, the first of which was at the National Motorcycle Museum. The Rover we featured sold for $7,464. As is seemingly always the case, the top seller at this H&H sale was an E-Type, specifically a 1971 Jaguar E-Type Series III Coupe for $67,456. Click here for more results.

Photo – H&H Classics

Now we move to Bonhams Greenwich sale where two of our feature cars failed to sell: the Rickenbacker and Pierce-Arrow. The Rambler we featured sold for $73,700. The Bugatti was a strong seller, bringing $676,000, but it wasn’t enough to be the top sale, which went to this 1990 Ferrari F40 for $877,250 (which, compared the recent F40 prices, was kind of a steal). Complete results can be found here.

Photo – Bonhams

Next up, Aguttes in Lyon. The top sale was this 1993 Mercedes-Benz E60 AMG that brought an impressive $156,885.

Photo – Aguttes

The Venturi we featured failed to sell. Check out complete results here.

Finally: Mecum in Portland. The top sale was this 1968 Chevrolet Camaro Yenko for $395,000.

Photo – Mecum

The Plymouth Savoy we featured failed to sell. Mecum’s site has the rest of the results.

Bentley Woodie Wagon

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2003 Bentley Arnage T 4WD Station Wagon by Pininfarina & Genaddi Design

Offered by Artcurial | Monaco | July 2, 2017

Photo – Artcurial

The Bentley Arnage, Bentley’s big sedan that they built from 1998 to 2009, was, and still is, a great-looking car. It was a front-engine, rear-wheel drive, four-door sedan. But what happens when your giant luxo-barge doesn’t have enough room from the groceries, the dog, and a sheet of plywood? Well you go spend $900,000 at a few posh design shops and transform that big British boat into a wagon. And then you put wood paneling on the side, Ford Country Squire-style.

I love it when people with too much money don’t know what to spend it on so they build a ridiculous car (pro-tip, you can always just send that spare change my way). The Arnage T was introduced in 2002 and is powered by a 459 horsepower, twin-turbocharged 6.8-liter V-8. Top speed was 170 mph and 60 arrived in 5.5 seconds. Pretty stout for a 15-year old sedan weighing over 5,000 pounds.

This one owner car was sent to Genaddi Design in the U.S. to be turned into a wagon, something Bentley didn’t build. He also needed it converted to four-wheel drive because this was to be his exclusive transport at his house in the Alpine village of St. Moritz, Switzerland. The 4WD system has a Cadillac Escalade to thank for its engineering (and some parts).

When completed it was shipped to the owners home in Monaco, but they weren’t happy and sent it to Pininfarina to add some final touches (and re-do the interior). This is the kind of car that draws strong opinions one way or the other and for the record, as big fans of wagons and the Arnage, we love it. If you’re the kind of person who needs his or her Bentley to be rarer than your neighbors Bentley, then here’s your ride. It should bring between $90,000-$180,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Bugatti Brescia Modifie

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1923 Bugatti Type 23 Brescia Modifie Torpedo by Lavocat et Marsaud

Offered by Bonhams | Chichester, England | June 30, 2017

Photo – Bonhams

Bugatti Brescias are so tiny. They’re like pocket-sized exotics. The “Brescia” name was applied to post-WWI Bugatti Type 13s. The Type 13 entered production in 1910 and went on hiatus for the First World War. Post-war, it soldiered on through 1926.

In 1920, Bugatti debuted the Type 23 Brescia, which had a longer-wheelbase. It’s powered by a 1.5-liter straight-four that made enough power to propel this car to approximately 70 mph (!). The body is a racy torpedo from coachbuilders Lavocat et Marsaud. It’s such a tiny car that the two seats contained within are offset, so the passenger sits slightly behind the driver.

Remarkably, this car retains its original bodywork and most of its original components, something that not many Brescias do (mostly because many of the Type 23 cars were later shortened to Type 13 configuration). The third (and most recent) restoration was completed in 2010. Only about 200 of these were built and only 19 are known to remain, with this being among the most original. It should bring between $710,000-$840,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.