Bocar XP-5

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1959 Bocar XP-5

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 19-20, 2016

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

Bocar is one of those car manufacturers from the 1950s that built sports and racing cars in limited numbers. Most people haven’t heard of them and even fewer have actually seen an example. This is about as close as most will come to actually seeing a Bocar. And from the looks of it, you won’t see a nicer one.

Bob Carnes founded Bocar (which comes from the first letters of his first and last name) in Lakewood, Colorado, in 1957. Carnes started with the XP-1 through XP-4, which were essentially one-offs. With the XP-5, he began building production cars, including this one that was one of two team cars for the Meister Bräuser team in SCCA competition.

It’s passed through a few different owners since its period competition history ended and was in the possession of one owner for over 40 years. It was restored by the current owner in 2014 and is an award winner at Amelia Island. The engine is a 4.6-liter Corvette V-8 making 315 horsepower.

Only 15 of this type were built and good luck finding a prettier example. This 160 mph rocket cost somewhere around $8,700 when new and should bring much more this August. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $412,500.

June 2016 Auction Highlights

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We move into June, but not before flashing back to April for Coys’ Ascot sale. We didn’t feature anything from this sale, but the top seller was this 1932 Bentley 4-Litre Saloon by Thrupp & Maberly for about $205,000. Click here for full results.

Photo - Coys

Photo – Coys

Next up, Bonhams in Connecticut where a previously featured Templar Touring failed to sell (as did the Frick Special). The top sale was this 2005 Ford GT for $291,500.

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Two of the cars we featured brought an identical amount: $24,200 (the Car-Nation and the K-R-I-T), while the Jowett sold for $34,100. Click here for complete results.

Now on to Russo & Steele’s Newport Beach sale. We didn’t get to feature anything from this sale either, but the top seller was another Ford GT, this time a 2006 for $292,600. Click here for more results.

Photo - Russo & Steele

Photo – Russo & Steele

Onward then, to The Finest and their inaugural sale held in Hershey. Our featured Delage Shooting Brake failed to sell, but this 1968 Lamborghini 400GT 2+2 was the top sale at $577,500. Click here for more results.

Photo - The Finest

Photo – The Finest

And the final auction for this rundown, Mecum’s Portland sale. The top sale here was this 1965 Shelby GT350 that went for $305,000. Our featured Chandler brought a very affordable $13,000. Click here for full results.

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

Delahaye 148 by Antem

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1949 Delahaye 148L Berlinette by Antem

Offered by Artcurial | Le Mans, France | July 9, 2016

Photo - Artcurial

Photo – Artcurial

The Delahaye 148 was actually part of the 135 line that was first introduced in 1935. The 148 is the long wheelbase version. The line lasted until Delahaye’s demise in 1954 (with a break for the war).

This car began life as a 135 Competition model that competed in the Monte Carlo Rally when new. In 1949, the car was re-bodied by Antem with the long, sporty coupe you see here (it seems like Antem only built really long narrow cars). In 1979, the body was removed from the 135 chassis and sold. In 1988, the body found its way onto a Delahaye 148 L chassis (that was originally fitted with a Letourneur et Marchard Sedan body).

The engine is original to the chassis and is the type from a 135 M: a 3.5-liter straight-six making 115 horsepower (with three carburetors). It’s a unique, one-off body with an interesting history from a desirable manufacturer. It should bring between $225,000-$315,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $276,265.

Connaught L2

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1948 Connaught L2

Offered by H&H Classics | Chateau Impney, U.K. | July 10, 2016

Photo - H&H Classics

Photo – H&H Classics

Connaught Engineering was founded as a Formula One team in Send, Surrey, by Rodney Clarke and Mike Oliver. Connaught campaigned a factory F1 effort from 1952 through 1959. During that time, the company also built a limited run of road-going sports cars (that, of course, doubled as weekend road racers).

Connaught’s two sports cars, the L2 and the L3, were both based on their Type A Formula 2 racer. This lightweight car is powered by a 102 horsepower, 1.8-liter straight-four. Top speed is 104 mph. This example, the first L2 built (and thus, the first Connaught road car built) was first owned by British driver Kenneth McAlpine and has competition history in his hands.

Only six Connaught L2s were built (three prototypes and three production examples). This one was restored in the early 1990s after a decade in an Australian museum. It’s a very rare car with good history. It should bring between $100,000-$130,000. Click here for more info and here for more from H&H.

Update: Sold $104,397.

Saleen S7 Twin Turbo

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2006 Saleen S7 Twin Turbo

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Plymouth, Michigan | July 30, 2016

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

We’ve recently featured a Saleen S7 – the standard, naturally aspirated version of America’s most outlandish supercar. But what we have here is the more powerful version of Steve Saleen’s Irvine, California-built, gill-riddled, street-legal monster.

This version of the S7 is powered by a twin-turbocharged 7.0-liter Ford V-8 making 750 horsepower. That’s enough power to propel this thing to 60 mph in 2.8 seconds – all the way up to its 248 mph top speed. And it’s a legitimate car – not some thrown-together-in-a-barn sort of thing. They built these between 2005 and 2009 (the original S7 went out of production in 2006).

This car has only been driven about 300 miles since new. A recent service means it’s ready to add to that number, and rapidly. Only 13 Twin Turbo S7s were built in 2006 (and production fell off a cliff after this model year), making this is one of the final S7s built. It’s a true American supercar – and the best version of it. Click here for more info and here for more from RM.

Update: Sold $632,500.

Costin-Nathan Prototype

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1966 Costin-Nathan Prototype

Offered by H&H Classics | Chateau Impney, U.K. | July 10, 2016

Photo - H&H Classics

Photo – H&H Classics

The Costin brothers are probably better well known by the companies they founded than by their names themselves. Mike Costin co-founded Cosworth while brother Frank Costin worked at Lotus and co-founded Marcos before joining Roger Nathan in 1965 to build a prototype race car.

Costin did the chassis and body and Nathan worked on the engine. That engine was a one-liter straight-four tuned to the max, putting out 100 horsepower. The chassis is made of tube-framed steel at both ends with plywood in the middle. The body on this prototype is aluminium (later cars were fiberglass). Now a coupe, it was originally an open-top roadster. This is the original Works prototype racer and was campaigned in period by Roger Nathan.

Nathan did win the 1966 Coupe de Paris in this car before selling it in early 1967 (when it was converted to a coupe). The engine was also replaced at this time and now carries a Twin-Cam Lotus 1.6-liter straight-four. The car is being offered from the estate of the man who bought it in 1967. It raced for a few seasons before being parked and is being offered in as-parked condition. It’s the perfect project car for someone who wants a car that is eligible for many historic races. It should sell for between $36,000-$43,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $105,855

Duesenberg J-386

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1933 Duesenberg Model J Convertible Coupe by Bohman & Schwartz

Offered by Mecum | Monterey, California | August 18-20, 2016

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

Doesn’t this just look like a classic Hollywood-owned car from the 1930s? It is. It was purchased new by Academy Award-winning actress Marie Dressler and she had a LeBaron Convertible Sedan body fitted to it. She didn’t own it long before it was acquired by producer/director Roy Del Ruth, who took it to Pasadena to have Bohman & Schwartz (the duo that sprang up when Murphy went out of business in 1932) put this awesome body on it.

This is the only Bohman & Schwartz-bodied Convertible Coupe on a LWB Model J chassis. From the side, the car looks gigantic. Most of the LWB cars had big Phaeton bodies on them… not the two-door convertible type. It’s incredibly imposing. It is powered by a 265 horsepower 6.9-liter straight-eight engine.

There are only six LWB Convertible Coupe Model Js in general, making this pretty much one of one (which most Model Js were anyway). Bohman & Schwartz only bodied 14 Duesenbergs and 10 of those 14 consisted of modifying existing coachwork. It has been part of the Harrah Collection, the Blackhawk Collection and has resided in the Imperial Palace Collection as well. It’s a fantastic example of 1930s automotive elegance and excellence. Click here for more info and here for more from Mecum.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $3,600,000.

Update: Not sold, Mecum Indianapolis 2017, high bid of $3,000,000.

Update: Sold, Mecum Monterey 2018, $3,850,000.

Porsche 912 Prototype

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1965 Porsche 356B/912 Coupe Prototype

Offered by Mecum | Monterey, California | August 18-20, 2016

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

Porsche really hasn’t produced that many different models over the years (by name, at least). So imagine trying to restore one and you go out and buy a parts car only to discover that it is one of six original factory prototypes for the car you are restoring. Guess what: you change the focus on the car you are restoring. That’s what happened to the discoverer of this car.

Anyway, the Porsche 911 was introduced to replace the 356 in 1963. Porsche 356 production continued through 1965 and to hedge its bet on the new six-cylinder 911, Porsche introduced the four-cylinder 912 as they phased out the 356. It was basically a 911 body with a 356 engine in it. This car carries an engine from a 1964 model year 356SC. That means it is a 1.6-liter flat-four making 95 horsepower.

The 912 isn’t nearly as collectible as the 911 (and never will be). They are still in the price realm of mere mortals, but they won’t be forever. But what will always be high-priced and collectible are numbers-matching factory prototypes of legendary sports cars. This fits that bill. Only two of these survive, so here’s your chance. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $600,000.

1914 Saxon

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1914 Saxon Model A Roadster

Offered by H&H Classics | Chateau Impney, U.K. | July 10, 2016

Photo - H&H Classics

Photo – H&H Classics

The Saxon was a car that was originally conceived by Hugh Chalmers, who had been successfully producing cars under his own name for some time. The cars went on sale at the tail end of 1913, being built in Detroit (the company would move to Ypsilanti in 1922 as a last-ditch effort to save the company, which failed later that year).

1913 through 1915 Saxon production consisted of a single model, the Model A, and it was offered as a two-passenger Roadster only. Costing $395 when new, the car is powered by a 1.4-liter straight-four making 12 horsepower.

This example is thought to be the second-oldest Saxon in existence and was restored in the late 1970s for Don “Big Daddy” Garlits. This is not the type of car I picture Don Garlits driving around in. Anyway, it’s been in the U.K. since 2011 and was once owned by the grandson of the Saxon Motor Company founder. It should sell for between $15,000-$19,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $14,953.

Oldsmobile IRL Support Vehicle

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1999 Oldsmobile Bravada IRL Support Vehicle

Offered by Mecum | Denver, Colorado | July 8-9, 2016

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

Okay, so this is sort of a weird one, I’ll admit. The Oldsmobile Bravada is not a collectible car. Never has been, never will be. It was Oldsmobile’s only SUV they ever made as their unfortunate demise preceded the SUV explosion we’ve had of late.

This is a second-generation Bravada (of three) and a platform mate of the Chevy Blazer and GMC Jimmy. The 1996-2001 Bravada was powered by a 4.3-liter V6 making 191 horsepower. This truck was actually used by the Indy Racing League as a support vehicle. It says “Official Pace Vehicle” but it doesn’t have a lightbar, so it isn’t clear if it was used to pace races or to drive wrecked racers back to the infield care center.

The graphics are kind of cool and you’d definitely have the coolest Bravada around. This was the first Bravada produced for the 1999 model year and it has covered only 10,926 miles since new. It is AWD and is really nice all around. It should bring a little more than your average used SUV. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $11,000.