Vallée Vis-à-Vis

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1897 Vallée Vis-à-Vis

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Paris, France | February 3, 2016

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

Vallèe is a name that pops up a few times during the course of automotive history. For instance, Paul Vallèe built microcars in the 1950s. Henri Vallèe, however, is the man behind this car. He got his start working with Amadée Bollée in the 1880s, building a steam car. Vallèe set up shop as a bicycle manufacturer shortly thereafter and built his first car in 1895.

Production followed in 1897 and offered a range of four different models. This is a four horsepower (second from the smallest) model powered by a 2.2-liter flat-twin. Production continued until 1902 when the company shifted focus to motorcycles before shutting down a few years later.

This is one of two known Vallèe automobiles in existence. This car is all original except for it’s paint and top. It’s pretty interesting and is coming from a Swiss collection. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $93,700.

Update: Sold, RM Sotheby’s, London 2016 $114,061.

November 2015 Auction Highlights, Pt. III

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This is the first time we’ve ever had to break our auction recap into three separate posts for a single month. Auctionata of Germany had a little sale, where this 1989 Ferrari Testarossa sold for $121,950. Click here for more.

Photo - Auctionata

Photo – Auctionata

Next up, we’ll jump back in time a little bit for Coys’ Frankfurt Motor Show Sale where this 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera 2.7 RS Touring was the top sale at $821,900.

Photo - Coys

Photo – Coys

Our featured Iso Lele failed to sell and complete results can be found here. We featured two cars from Brightwells’ November sale and the Albany failed to sell. The Marion brought $30,211. Two cars tied for the top sale, both selling for $87,611. They were this 1972 Jaguar E-Type Roadster (first below) and a 2014 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 319 CDI BlueEfficiency 4×4 McLaren Motorhome (second below).

Photo - Brightwells

Photo – Brightwells

Photo - Brightwells

Photo – Brightwells

Click here for complete results. Next up, Bonhams’ London sale. The Maserati Mistral Spyder sold for an undisclosed amount. The Sunbeam Tiger and Lagonda Rapide failed to sell. The top seller was this 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Coupe for $1,337,930.

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Our featured Aston Martin Lagonda sedan brought $636,100. Click here for complete results. Finally, we move across the U.K. to H&H Classics’ Chateau Impney sale. Our featured Marcos failed to sell. The top sale was this 1936 Bentley 4¼-Litre Pillarless Coupe by Gurney Nutting for $300,175.

Photo - H&H Classics

Photo – H&H Classics

Our featured TVR Tamora brought $27,932. Click here for more results.

Heine-Velox

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1921 Heine-Velox Twelve Limousine

Offered by Barrett-Jackson | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 30, 2016

Photo - Barrett-Jackson

Photo – Barrett-Jackson

The Heine-Velox is an interesting car. Gustav Heine owned a very successful piano company in San Francisco. In 1903, he decided he wanted to build a car, so he did. Three 45 HP cars were built and shown but before production could get underway, the San Francisco earthquake destroyed the company and he returned to rebuild his piano business.

The piano business bounced back and in 1921 Heine went about his plans to build a car again. This time he approached it differently, wanting to build the ultimate car. It would use a 6.4-liter V-12 engine making 87 horsepower. Heine built five cars – a Victoria convertible, three sedans and this, the Limousine, which was unfinished when the company folded.

Not one of the five cars was ever sold. Heine retained possession of them and gave a few away. Three of the cars are known, one was assumed destroyed, and the other one disappeared in 1993. Once a resident of the Blackhawk Collection, this car has been on display in a Chinese auto museum since 2006. Everything about it has been restored to perfection. See more here and more from this sale here.

Update: Sold $99,000.

Jensen-Ford

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1936 Jensen-Ford Tourer

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Phoenix, Arizona | January 28-29, 2016

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

Brothers Richard and Alan Jensen began building car bodies (officially) in 1934. That’s when their company was founded that bore their name. Their company is best known for the Interceptor and Jensen-Healey sports cars of the 1960s and 1970s.

Among their first ventures was a limited run of Jensen-Ford four-seat convertibles. Powered by an 85 horsepower 3.6-liter Ford V-8, about 30 of these very pretty Tourers were built between 1934 and about 1936. Only three of these were left-hand-drivers (this among those three) that were exported to the U.S. One of them was owned by Clark Gable.

This car underwent a six year restoration that was completed in 2013. It’s a beautiful car – one not many people have heard of and it should appeal to Ford and British car collectors alike. It’s one of the first British-built/American-powered factory hot rods. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $247,500.

1900 Créanche Voiturette

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1900 Créanche Type A Voiturette

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Paris, France | February 3, 2016

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

Créanche was a French automobile manufacturer that existed in the very early days of automobiles. There were so many manufacturers of that period, many of which built just a handful of cars. Some lasted for a few years, like this one, which operated from 1899 through 1906.

Most of their cars were De Dion-powered and by 1904 the company offered five different models. This one is powered by a four horsepower, 477cc single-cylinder engine. This example was restored from an original car and the body was reconstructed to match the original in 1972.

This is one of two known survivors of the Créanche brand. It comes from a private Swiss collection (as do three other very interesting cars from this sale). Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $56,240.

Chevrolet El Morocco

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1957 Chevrolet El Morocco Convertible

Offered by Barrett-Jackson | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 30, 2016

Photo - Barrett-Jackson

Photo – Barrett-Jackson

The ’57 Chevrolet is one of the most classic automotive designs – especially the Bel Air line. Two-door Bel Airs are highly sought after – convertibles even more so. But this isn’t a Bel Air… right?

Sort of. Reuben Allender was a rich man in the 1950s and he thought it was a good idea to sell a working man’s Cadillac based on a Chevrolet. He built some cars in 1956 and then tried again in 1957. Taking a Bel Air as a starter, the car was decked out with a bunch of options and featured a few external styling tweaks as well. The engine was the top-of-the-line 4.6-liter V-8 making 220 horsepower.

The most interesting part about this car is that it was sold through Chevy dealerships with a full factory warranty, yet the El Morocco was never a General Motors-produced vehicle. 1957 production totaled between 27 and 35 units, with only three believed to be convertibles. It’s the rarest ’57 Chevy there is. And it shouldn’t come cheap. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $181,500.

Porsche 918 Spyder

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2015 Porsche 918 Spyder

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Phoenix, Arizona | January 28-29, 2016

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

Supercars are changing. With a shift to environmentally-friendly cars and ever-tightening emission regulations, automakers are having to adapt. To build wild, desirable cars, they’re having to go hybrid. But it’s not all bad, as an electric motor adds power.

In this case, there is a 4.6-liter V-8 engine making 608 horsepower mounted behind the driver. Additionally, there are two electric motors – one of them (that makes 154 horsepower) drives the rear wheels in conjunction with the gas engine and 7-speed transmission. The other electric motor drives the front wheels directly with another 125 horsepower. That is a total of 887 horsepower. Not too shabby.

The 918 Spyder launched for the 2014 model year and 918 units were built through June of 2015. This car has a lot of options, including the insanely-priced $80,000 Weissach package that adds a lot of carbon fiber in place of other trim, reducing the car’s weight by 99 pounds. That’s almost $809 per pound. If Colin Chapman worked off of that pricing scheme, he would’ve been the richest person alive.

This 1,500 mile example is an instant classic. It will always be collectible and they aren’t impossible to come by right now. But that won’t always be the case. Get it while you can. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale. (Also, Barrett-Jackson has an identical car for auction across town).

Update: Sold $1,595,000.

Hemi Challenger Convertible

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1970 Dodge Challenger R/T Hemi Convertible

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 15-24, 2016

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

Rare Hemi week continues with this, Dodge’s bad-boy muscle car from 1970. The original Challenger model was produced between the 1970 and 1974 model years only. The 1970 model is the most collectible, followed by the ’71s.

What 1970 had and the other years didn’t was a Convertible. The R/T performance package was also available (it included beefy brakes, etc.). Only 1,070 R/T Convertibles were sold in 1970. Guess what, the Hemi makes it even rarer. Long the Holy Grail of muscle cars, the 1970 Hemi ‘Cuda Convertible had 14 built. Only nine Hemi Challenger Convertibles were ever made. Of those nine, this is one of four cars equipped with an automatic transmission.

The 425 horsepower, 7.0-liter “426 Hemi” V-8 is a numbers matching example on this low-mileage, restored car. In fact, it has covered less than 1,500 miles since the restoration was completed. It’s must-have muscle if you’re in that game. Click here for more info and here for more from Mecum.

Update: Sold $1,650,000.

The Real Testarossa Spider

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1986 Ferrari Testarossa Spider by Pininfarina

Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | February 5-6, 2016

Photo - Artcurial

Photo – Artcurial

The 1980s were a weird time. Cars from that era are just now beginning to be looked upon fondly… because nostalgia can tint things. For instance, Ferrari built a rear-mid-engined sports car (12 cylinders, no less) with zero intentions of ever taking it on a track. It was boxy and angular – the style of the day. And they built a lot of them – 7,177 to be exact.

The Testarossa appeared on Miami Vice and its popularity took off. It was a car that all of the rich people in the 80s wanted. A lot of them wanted convertibles, too, after they saw this car. But Ferrari said no.

So what’s the story here? Commissioned by Ferrari, Pininfarina designed and built this lone authentic Spider and gifted it to Gianni Agnelli, then head of Fiat. Other companies would offer “conversions” where they’d basically hack apart a Testarossa to make it into a convertible, but only one – this one – has a factory history.

The engine is a 4.9-liter flat-12 making 390 horsepower, which doesn’t seem outrageous, but the top speed was still 180 mph. This might be the first time that this car has ever come up for public sale. It is iconic and will likely remain the most valuable Testarossa in the world. Artcurial estimates a sale price between $750,000-$1,000,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $1,355,870.

’68 Hemi Charger

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1968 Dodge Charger R/T Hemi

Offered by Russo & Steele | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 27-31, 2016

Photo - Russo & Steele

Photo – Russo & Steele

There’s three generations of classic Hemi Dodge Chargers that are really collectible. First is the 1966-1967 model. Then came this one. And finally, the 1971-1974 model. This is the most famous body style of the original Dodge Chargers. It is the one that Bo and Luke Duke tore around in.

This is a Hemi, meaning it is powered by a 7.0-liter V-8 rated at 425 horsepower. This is also an R/T car, meaning is has the “road and track package” which adds dual exhaust and heavy duty brakes, among other things (including the standard 440 engine or the optional Hemi).

This car has a rare 4-speed transmission and is the only such example with this color paint, which is actually quite nice. It’s been exceptionally restored. Only 467 1968 Chargers were equipped with the 426 Hemi and this is one of the nicest. Click here for more info and here for more from Russo & Steele.

Update: Sold $242,000.