Liberty Touring

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1922 Liberty Six Model 10-D Special Touring

Offered by RM Auctions | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 10-11, 2013

1922 Liberty Six Model 10-D Special Touring

The Liberty Motor Car Company was founded in 1916 by Percy Owens – who had been a sales manager at two other automobile companies. The company built a lone six-cylinder model throughout its entire existence – which lasted until it went under and was bought out by Columbia in 1923.

The Model 10-D was the final version of the Liberty Six. Introduced in 1921, it used a 56 horsepower version of the 3.4-liter straight-six. This Special Touring model is one of 10 Libertys known to exist. It was once owned by Bill Harrah and was sold off from his collection in 1986. It is currently being offered from the estate of John O’Quinn.

Pre-sale estimates have not been published as of this writing, but this car should bring between $30,000-$50,000. Edit: RM just posted them and I just missed it – the actual estimate is $40,000-$60,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $19,250.

September Results I

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Before we get to some September auction results, there was one more sale from late August I’d like to cover. It was Silverstone’s CarFest South sale and the top sale was this 1952 Bentley Mk VI Special for $82,520. It might look like a Volkswagen Bugatti replica kit car, but it’s a Bentley. You can check out full results here.

1952 Bentley Mk VI Special

Next up, Bonhams’ Beaulieu sale. The top sale there was this 1926 Sunbeam 3-Litre Super Sports Twin Cam Tourer for $246,605.

1926 Sunbeam 3-Litre Super Sports Twin Cam Tourer

Our featured Chicago Motor Buggy failed to sell. Interesting cars were topped off by this 1913 De Dion-Bouton Type DX Touring. It’s a car I wanted to feature but didn’t get to it. It sold for an attainable $24,185.

1913 De Dion-Bouton Type DX Touring

Our other three feature cars all sold. The Healey Duncan brought $59,119. The Alldays & Onions Tonneau sold for $68,077. And the sole surviving road-going Aster sold for $39,413. Other interesting cars included this 1916 Rauch & Lang Model BX6 Electric Brougham. It sold for $33,143.

1916 Rauch & Lang Model BX6 Electric Brougham

And finally, from the weird category, this 1971 SAVIEM TP3L39 4×4 Gun Bus. I think it’s a hunting car, but I really don’t know. Anyway, it was cheap, bringing only $1,254. Check out full results here.

1971 SAVIEM TP3L39 4x4 Gun Bus

The next auction that this post will cover was Auctions America’s Auburn Fall sale. Top sale was our featured Duesenberg Murphy Convertible Coupe for $1,540,000. Interesting cars included this 1950 Sunbeam-Talbot Mk I Convertible. It sold for $21,450.

1950 Sunbeam-Talbot Mk I Convertible

And how about this 1982 Freeway II? You don’t see these everyday. It sold for $5,225.

1982 Freeway II

Annoyingly, I somehow neglected to feature this 1919 Columbia Six Five-Passenger Touring. This happens every time Auctions America has a huge sale. Something is always overlooked because the catalog is too huge and hard to sort through. This one sold for $11,550.

1919 Columbia Six Five-Passenger Touring

A previously featured Duesenberg Sport Sedan sold at this sale for $962,500 – about $150,000 more than when it sold a year ago. Another Duesenberg, our featured Dual-Cowl Phaeton, sold for $858,000. Our featured Flxible Starliner bus failed to sell. Interestingly, there are about 10 Abbott-Detroit models known to exist. Two of them were in this sale. This 1917 Speedster sold for $19,800. Check out full results here.

1917 Abbott-Detroit Speedster

One more set of highlights: Mecum’s Dallas sale. Our featured Checker Aerobus failed to sell. Top sale was this 1967 Chevrolet Corvette L88 Convertible that happened to be the 1967 NHRA/A Sports Champion. It sold for a ludicrous $3,200,000.

1967 Chevrolet Corvette L88 Convertible

Our featured Chevelle Z16 brought $200,000. A previously-featured Duesenberg failed to sell at this sale. Check out full results here.

Rolls-Royce Hunting Car

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1925 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Torpedo Sports Tourer by Barker & Co.

Offered by Barrett-Jackson | Las Vegas, Nevada | September 28, 2013

1925 Rolls-Royce Phantom I by Barker

The Rolls-Royce Phantom I was the successor to the Silver Ghost. The first Phantom was introduced in 1925 – making this a launch-year model. It was available from either Rolls-Royce or Rolls-Royce of America. This is from the British arm of the company.

This is actually a really interesting car and I’ve been monitoring it as it sat at the Auto Collections in Las Vegas, where it’s been for sale for a little while. This car was ordered new by Umed Singh II – the Maharaja of Kotah in India. Rolls-Royces were popular among Maharajas (India was under British rule at the time) and a Maharaja Rolls is a thing that pops up every now and then.

The Maharaja had this Torpedo Sports Tourer body put on the car by Barker & Co. of London – the supplier for many of the bodies on early Silver Ghosts. Barker & Co. would be acquired by Hooper (another popular Bentley/Rolls coachbuilder) in 1938. The engine in this car is a 50 horsepower (or “sufficient,” in Rolls-speak) 7.7-liter straight-six.

India is a land of exotic game and many kings of the day liked to go hunting. This car was well-equipped with enough firepower (including a tow-behind machine gun!) to go hunting on his family’s private estate. This has been referred to as the “Tiger Car” as it packs enough punch to take down a Bengal Tiger.

1925 Rolls with Gun

It’s a really awesome car that has the potential to bring a lot of money. You just don’t see outrageous Rolls-Royces like this – especially one armed like a tank. Only 2,269 British-built Phantom Is were built – and there’s only one like this. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Barrett-Jackson’s Vegas lineup.

S/N: 23RC

Update: Not sold, high bid of $450,000.

Connaught L3

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1953 Connaught L3

Offered by Bonhams | Chichester, U.K. | September 14, 2013

1953 Connaught L3

Connaught Engineering was founded after World War II by two ex-RAF pilots who happened to own a car dealership in Surrey. Well, automobile production took a little while to ramp back up in Britain and the two men, Rodney Clarke and Mike Oliver, got a little impatient and decided to build their own cars instead of wait.

They acquired some chassis from Lea-Francis and had the cars bodied elsewhere. They were little, two-seat sports cars – a craze that was just taking off across the U.K. This was the second model and it features a 1.8-liter straight-four making 122 horsepower and an upgraded suspension compared to the earlier model.

This is one of the last road cars they made as they quickly turned to single-seaters – which would compete in Formula One through 1959. This car has known ownership history from new and was restored in Italy within the past 10 years. It is thought that Connaught only built about 17 road cars of all types, making this extremely rare. It should sell for between $130,000-$180,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Bonhams’ Goodwood lineup.

Update: Not sold.

S/N: L3 7120

Invicta S1

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2009 Invicta S1

Offered by Bonhams | Chichester, U.K. | September 14, 2013

2009 Invicta S1

There are a bunch of people with money out there that think it is their duty to build the world’s greatest supercar. Newsflash: it isn’t. I’m not saying that’s the case with this car – because it was more of a “let’s revive a revered and dead company and build what they would be building had they never gone out of business in the first place” sort of thing.

The Invicta car company shut off the lights back in 1950 (for the second time – the original company closed in 1935 before returning in 1946). In 2002, some investors produced a concept of a new sports car called the S1. Deliveries started in 2003 (I think they were 2004 models) and the company built this lone model through about 2011 (they closed down in 2012).

The body is carbon fiber and the most of the components come from other road cars – including the engine, which, in this car, is a 320 horsepower version of Ford’s SVT 4.6-liter V-8 (a 5.0 could be had with almost twice the power). Top speed is about 170 mph and the car cost upwards of $150,000 when new.

You might be wondering why I’m featuring this car, and here’s my answer: so many of these little car companies pop up with a concept car and then no one ever knows if the thing actually goes into production or not. I was always unsure about this one (I’ve never seen one – have you?) but now I have proof that Invicta S1s were actually produced (I just don’t know how many). But you never see them for sale.

This one should sell for between $93,000-$120,000. Oh, and yes, those are the actual headlights and body-colored wheels, they aren’t aftermarket add-ons. You can find out more here and see more from this sale here.

Update: Not sold.

S/N: 006

A Scuderia Ferrari Alfa 8C-35 Grand Prix Car

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1935 Alfa Romeo 8C-35 Grand Prix

Offered by Bonhams | Chichester, U.K. | September 14, 2013

1935 Alfa Romeo 8C-35 Grand Prix

Before Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren there was Alfa Romeo, Mercedes-Benz, Maserati and Auto Union. The 1930s were a thrilling (and scary) time in Grand Prix racing and some of its all-time stars came from that era: Caracciola, Nuvolari, Rosemeyer, Varzi and more. And so did one other man: Enzo Ferrari. Scuderia Ferrari began as a race team in 1929 – becoming the Alfa Romeo factory team. It wasn’t until after the war that he started building his own cars.

This is a special, special car. It’s an 8C-35 – it uses a supercharged 3.8-liter straight-eight engine making 330 horsepower – quite a sum for 1935. This is an actual Scuderia Ferrari team car driven by Nuvolari (and more). The Ferrari-era history of this car is not known, but legend holds that Nuvolari won the 1936 Coppa Ciano with it. Toward the end of 1936, this car was sold to a privateer – Hans Ruesch, who raced it as often as possible. Some of his driving career in the car is as follows (including 3 European Championship – the precursor to Formula One – eligible races in 1937, as noted by asterisk*):

  • 1936 Donington Grand Prix – 1st (with Ruesch and Dick Seaman)
  • 1936 Mountain Championship at Brooklands – 2nd (with Ruesch)
  • 1937 South African Grand Prix – 4th (with Ruesch)
  • 1937 Grosvenor Grand Prix – 5th (with Ruesch)
  • 1937 Finnish Grand Prix – 1st (with Ruesch)
  • 1937 Grand Prix des Frontieres – 1st (with Ruesch)
  • 1937 Bucharest Grand Prix – 1st (with Ruesch)
  • 1937 German Grand Prix* – 8th (with Ruesch)
  • 1937 Monaco Grand Prix *- 8th (with Ruesch)
  • 1937 Swiss Grand Prix* – 15th, DNF (with Ruesch)
  • 1937 Mountain Championship at Brooklands – 1st (with Ruesch)

Ruesch sold the car in 1939 after much success (and a few major repairs). The car came into the hands of Dennis Poore during the war and he maintained the car for 40 years, using it in a fair number of events. It was sold at auction in 1988 and was restored to its 1930s-era look in the late-1990s. The current owner acquired it about 10 years ago and has used it in some historic events as well. This is the only surviving example of an 8C-35 and it should sell for between $8,600,000-$10,000,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams at Goodwood.

Update: Sold $9,511,542.

S/N: 50013

Silk Cut Jaguar

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1987 Jaguar XJR-8

Offered by Bonhams | Chichester, U.K. | September 14, 2013

1987 Jaguar XJR-8

The XJR-line of Jaguar sports racing cars was a nine-year program that Jaguar initiated (with the help of the race car specialists at Tom Walkinshaw Racing) with the aim of dominating both the World Sportscar Championship and the IMSA Camel GTP Series. The cars were impressive – winning Le Mans twice – and the experience led Jaguar to produce two other-worldly road-going supercars: the XJ220 and XJR-15.

The XJR-8 was the fourth iteration and it was focused solely on the WSC. The Silk Cut livery began in 1986 and was a staple of Jaguar endurance cars through the early 1990s. The difference between and XJR-6 and the XJR-8 is mostly engine-related, as they share the same basic structure underneath. The engine is a 7.0-liter V-12 making in the neighborhood of 750 horsepower.

The racing resume of this car includes:

  • 1987 24 Hours of Le Mans – 5th (with Eddie Cheever, Raul Boesel, and Jan Lammers)
  • 1987 1000km Spa – 1st (with Martin Brundle, Johnny Dumfries, & Boesel)

Raul Boesel would go on to win the 1987 WSC Driver’s championship, with TWR-Jaguar winning the Teams Championship. After it’s racing career, the car was acquired from the TWR team by an unnamed racing driver who has owned it since. It has been freshened and is ready to run. Apparently, only four were built (or at least run by this team that had factory support). It should sell for between $1,400,000-$1,900,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams at Goodwood.

Update: Sold for a mysterious sum of less than $1.4 million.

S/N: 3.87

Mercedes 290 Cabriolet A

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1934 Mercedes-Benz 290 Cabriolet A by Sindelfingen

Offered by RM Auctions | London, U.K. | September 8-9, 2013

1934 Mercedes-Benz 290 Cabriolet A

What I like about this sale is that there are a bunch of Mercedes-Benzes of intermediate prestige. Yes, 500K and 540K Benzes are wonderful but you never see 380s or 290s at these big, fancy auctions.

Thus, why I’m featuring this car instead of the 540K Special Roadster from the same sale. The Mercedes-Benz 290 was known internally as the W18 and it was available in two different wheelbases. This is the shorter one. The engine is a 2.9-liter straight-six making 60 horsepower. The wheel wells on this car seem to ride really high, giving this an almost-SUV-like appearance. It might be good off-road. It looks like a car that some Nazis would use to chase down Indiana Jones.

Only 3,566 short-chassis cars were built (which is a fairly high number compared to other cars of the era). The Cabriolet A (seen here) was the sportiest of the various body styles offered, but it was almost the most expensive. My favorite feature here is the dual rear-mount spares (I’m a sucker for those). This is a rare car with an older restoration that has had some use. It should still bring between $390,000-$465,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of RM’s interesting London auction lineup.

Update: Sold $435,000.

S/N: 109942.

Maserati 250S

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1957 Maserati 250S by Fantuzzi

Offered by RM Auctions | London, U.K. | September 8-9, 2013

1957 Maserati 250S by Fantuzzi

In 1955, Maserati moved to replace its A6GS sports racing cars with a new car called the 200S, later the 200SI. In 1957, they upgraded the 200SI with a bigger engine and re-christened it the 250S. Only four were built. This is one of them.

The engine is a 2.5-liter twin cam straight-four making 253 horsepower. They were enlarged versions of the 2.0-liter from the 200SI and they were very quick cars – faster than the Ferrari V12s they competed against early on. But the program was cancelled when Maserati gave up racing after 1957. The sleek body is by Fantuzzi.

This is the only 250S that was actually born with a 2.5-liter engine (the other three all had 2.0-liter engines that were bored out to 2.5-liters). It went from the factory to the Jim Hall/Carroll Shelby distributorship in Dallas, Texas. Jim Hall raced it in some SCCA events in the South in 1958. Carroll Shelby drove it too.

This car is in almost entirely original condition – which is remarkable because it appears to be exquisite. It’s been used in some historic events and they engine had a massive overhaul in 2010, but the body has never been restored. It is race ready and should sell for between $3,900,000-$4,600,000. Click here for more info and here for more from RM in London.

Update: Sold $3,340,000.

S/N: 2432.

Beautiful 370 S Mercedes

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1932 Mercedes-Benz 15/75HP Mannheim 370 S Sport Roadster

Offered by RM Auctions | London, U.K. | September 8-9, 2013

1932 Mercedes-Benz 1575HP Mannheim 370 S Sport Roadster

I think this is a very attractive car. I actually like it a little more than I do those swoopy 500K roadsters. This, the Typ Mannheim 370 S was a version of the Mercedes-coded W10 that was introduced in 1929. It uses a modified version of an earlier Ferdinand Porsche-designed chassis and a 3.7-liter straight-six making 75 horsepower.

The 370 S was the fourth iteration of the W10, being produced from 1930 through 1933. It used the shortest wheelbase of all the cars in the series and was only available in roadster or sport cabriolet form. This one was born as a Sport Cabriolet but was converted to a roadster when restored between 2004 and 2006.

Only 195 370 S cars were built in total and apparently only seven of them carry roadster bodies like this. This style of elegant and sporty early Mercedes-Benz is quickly becoming my favorite MB style of all time. I want this triple black 370 S roadster. It should sell for between $1,115,000-$1,480,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $1,208,900.

S/N: 87123.