1904 Wilson-Pilcher

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1904 Wilson-Pilcher 12/16hp Four-Cylinder Four-Seat Phaeton

Offered by Bonhams | London, England | November 2, 2012

In 1898, Walter Wilson and his partner, Percy Pilcher, attempted to make an aero-engine and beat the Wright Brothers to powered flight. Unfortunately, Pilcher was killed in a gilding accident in 1899. So, in 1900, Wilson set up shop in Westminster, London to build automobiles bearing both his name and that of his late friend.

The car seen here is powered by a 2.7-liter four-cylinder making 12/16 horsepower. Wilson was a brilliant engineer who designed and built everything himself, inventing numerous things along the way. In 1903, the company was bought by Armstrong-Whitworth and moved to Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Production continued until 1907.

When the First World War broke out, Wilson joined the Royal Navy but eventually found himself working alongside William Tritton and developing the world’s first tank, receiving a sizable reward for doing so. In the late 1920s, he would invent the pre-selector gearbox which would be used on various vehicles from Armstrong-Siddeley cars to buses and railcars.

This particular car is the 52nd Wilson-Pilcher built after they moved to Newcastle. It is believed about 100-200 cars were built in total and this is thought to be the only survivor. It was retained by the factory from new and given to Walter Wilson’s son as a gift. He eventually passed it on to his son who loaned it out to museums – including The Tank Museum in Bovington. In 2006, the Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust volunteered to restore the car and now it is being offered for sale for the first time in history.

It is expected to sell for between $290,000-$350,000. For more information, click here. And for more from Bonhams in London, click here.

Update: Sold $325,000.

All-Cars Charly

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1978 All-Cars Charly

Offered by Mecum | St. Charles, Illinois | October 26, 2012

I am ecstatic that this car exists in this condition and is being offered for sale. So many cars have been built over the years and their collectibility can fluctuate wildly from the time they are built. For some cars, people think they will never be collectible and they disappear from the earth. Other are used – as they should be – and then neglected. This one is all-original, complete, and unrestored. It looks as if it were vacuum-sealed off the end of the production line. It’s unusual – but it isn’t exotic and someone had to really love it to keep it this nice for this long. Thank you, whoever you are.

Autozodiaco was an Italian company that built dune buggies based on VW Beetles in the 1970s. At some point, they designed this strange-looking three-wheeled microcar and then sold the rights to All-Cars Srl of Pianoro, Italy. In production from 1974 through 1985, the Charly used a 49cc single-cylinder engine from Moto Morini. I’m not sure what the power rating was, but the transmission has 4-speeds so it may have a decent top end.

All-Cars built variations of the Charly for a number of years and it was sold as the “Snuggy” in some countries. The body is fiberglass and you don’t see them often – especially not in this incredible condition. The price won’t be extreme, but it should be a high-water mark for the model. I hope you like microcars, because the world’s foremost museum of microcars is going to be auctioned off by RM Auctions in February and we’ll be featuring as many as possible. You can read more about this car here and check out the rest of Mecum’s St. Charles lineup here.

Update: Sold $5,250.

Ogle SX1000

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1963 Ogle SX1000 GT

Offered by RM Auctions | London, England | October 31, 2012

David Ogle formed Ogle Design in 1954, coming in contact with the automotive industry in 1959, where they designed cars like the Reliant Scimitar GTE, the Reliant Robin, and and the Bond Bug as well as a few motorcycles for BSA/Triumph. Of course, these things happened later in the company’s life. In the late 1950s, David Ogle decided to build a few cars himself, the most popular was this, the SX1000 GT.

Based on Mini mechanicals, the SX1000 GT used the Mini Van chassis and the 997cc four  – although this particular car (as did others) uses the 1275cc straight-four from the Mini Cooper S. Top speed is supposedly around 110 mph. Only 66 of these fiberglass cars were built before David Ogle was killed in a car crash in one of the cars in 1962. Production wound down until they ran out of parts to make more. This is car #63 of 66 and was personally registered to Ogle himself.

Restored eight years ago, this is thought to be the best of the 26 surviving SX1000s. Ogle Design still exists as Ogle Noor and these cars have a small but loyal following. It’s very rare and very cool. You can expect for it to sell for between $29,000-$35,000. For more information, click here. And for more from RM in London, click here.

Update: Sold $23,400.

1904 Richard-Brasier

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1904 Richard-Brasier Four-Cylinder 16HP Side-Entrance Tonneau

Offered by Bonhams | London, England | November 2, 2012

No, the guy who started this company was not that full of himself that he thought his first and last names needed to be on the company letterhead. Richard Brasier was not a person – in fact, Richard-Brasier (that hyphen is important!) was actually founded by two people: Henri Brasier and Georges Richard. (Ironically, Georges Richard sold cars under the name “Georges Richard” before Brasier joined him, so yeah, maybe he was a little full of himself).

Henri Brasier left Mors in 1901 and cars were offered as Richard-Brasiers beginning in 1902. It was short-lived, however, as Georges Richard left the company in 1905 to found Unic. Beginning in 1905 the cars were known simply as “Brasier.” And here is an rare example of this very fleeting marque.

This model, from the last year of production before switching names, uses a 2.3-liter straight-four making 16 horsepower (rated by the factory at the time it was built). It’s a large car for such a small power rating, as the company offered models up to 40 horsepower as well. The history of this car is known from 1975, when it entered display at a Dutch museum. It is definitely a driver, having run London-to-Brighton every year since 2000 (with one exception).

This is a truly glorious automobile from the pioneering days of motoring and it would be worth any serious collector’s time to think carefully about acquiring it. It is expected to sell for between $350,000-$480,000. For more information, click here. And for more from Bonhams’ Veteran car sale, click here.

Update: Sold $358,000.

Update: Sold, Bonhams London-to-Brighton 2023, $424,222.

Ferrari 250 Tour de France

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1959 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Berlinetta ‘Tour de France’ by Scaglietti

Offered by RM Auctions | London, England | October 31, 2012

There are perhaps few cars that have had more variations of them built than the Ferrari 250. The backbone of the series is the Colombo V12 displacing 3.0 liters. Power output was model-specific, and this car puts out 247 horsepower, which is about mid-range for a Tour de France model (they ranged from 237-256 between the different series).

The 250 GT Tour de France came about after a special Pinin Farina-designed and Scaglietti-built special won the 1956 Tour de France road race that was held all over France. The designation was never official but was used to describe the cars by the factory. The design was put into production and a total of 79 were built between 1956 and 1959. They were built in four distinct series. This is a Series IV car, the 30th of the 36 built (Series IV are the most numerous). What sets it apart is the fact that it has but one vent behind each of the side windows as well as uncovered headlights (although some export models had the headlight covers fitted, making this even rarer).

Right from the get-go, this car was used for competition. It competed in hill climbs all over Italy in the hands of its first owner, reaching the podium in its class multiple times and winning a few as well. After only three years on the circuit, the car exchanged hands for the first time, and then hopped from here to there, spending years in some of the world’s great collections.

It has competed in the historic Mille Miglia and was restored by its current owner, who acquired it in 2002. While the ‘Tour de France’ 250 GT may not be a 250 GTO, their prices have risen steadily over the years and they remain one of the most collectible (and by that I mean “expensive”) variants of the 250 GT. Only serious Ferrari collectors need apply, as the pre-sale estimate is listed at $2,900,000-$3,850,000. For more information, click here. And for more from RM in London, click here.

Update: Sold $3,160,000.

RM 2012 Hershey Highlights

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RM Auctions’ 2012 sale in Hershey, Pennsylvania had a bunch of really old, really cool cars for sale. We featured the cream of the crop (at least from our perspective) and most of those sold. The one-of-a-kind South Bend Surrey failed to sell. So did the Stanley Mountain Wagon and 1915 Peerless. The top sale went to the Barrelside Model J Duesenberg for $1,292,500. Our other featured Duesenberg, the Murphy Sport Sedan, was the second-biggest sale at $792,000. One of the interesting cars we didn’t get a chance to feature was this 1914 Jeffrey Four Five-Passenger Touring that sold for $40,700.

1914 Jeffrey Four Five-Passenger Touring

One big seller was a horse-drawn fire wagon. There were three of these at this sale, but this was far exceeded the other two, at $396,000. It’s an 1894 Silsby Fourth Size Horse-Drawn Steam Pumper. It was pretty decked out and everyone seemed happy when it sold.

1894 Silsby Fourth Size Horse-Drawn Steam Pumper

Other interesting sales included this 1912 Baker Electric Model W Runabout. There’s something about the tires on this thing that make it look like it’s ready to go tackle some trails somewhere. It sold for $85,250.

1912 Baker Electric Model W Runabout

Other alternative-propulsion vehicles included our featured 1900 Milwaukee Steam Runabout for $44,000. The 1906 Pope-Waverley Electric Runabout brought $60,500. And the 1906 Columbus Model 1000 Electric Stanhope sold for $52,250. This 1913 Simplex 38HP Five-Passenger Touring, while not electric or steam-powered, was still cool at $214,500.

As was this 1910 White Model G-A Five-Passenger Touring that sold for $66,000.

There was an interesting selection of American cars from the 1950s and 60s that included this very rare 1966 Studebaker Daytona Sport, which sold for only $10,450.

Kaiser and Frazer were also represented. This 1949 Kaiser Deluxe Convertible sold for $57,200.

1949 Kaiser Deluxe Convertible

And this 1950 Frazer Manhattan sedan brought $49,500.

This 1903 Ford Model A Rear-Entry Tonneau is the oldest known Ford in existence being  one of the first three cars built by the Ford Motor Company. It came from the John O’Quinn  collection and sold for $264,000.

1903 Ford Model A Rear-Entry Tonneau

As many old Fords as you see at auctions, you don’t see too many pre-1920 Chevrolets. This sale had one and its a great looking car. It’s a 1918 D-Series V-8 Touring car and it sold for $46,200.

1918 Chevrolet D-Series V8 Touring

Our featured 1918 Roamer Five-Passenger Touring car sold for $93,500. And the 1920 Premier Model 6-D sold for $63,250. This 1919 Renault Type EU Torpedo seemed especially cheap at $49,500.

1919 Renault Type EU Torpedo

Another car I found interesting was this 1910 Metz Two Runabout. It also sold for $49,500.

1910 Metz Two Runabout

Our other two feature cars were the 1902 Northern Runabout for $66,000 and the 1906 American Tourist Roi des Belges Touring for $110,000. For complete results, check out RM’s website, here.

Alloy 300SL Gullwing

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1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Alloy Gullwing

Offered by RM Auctions | London, England | October 31, 2012

I’m beginning to think I’ve missed the heyday of custom ordering automobiles. No longer can you go to your local dealer and tick boxes for absurd options that included special engines or go-fast bits from race cars – or, insanely, the type of metal your car is made out of.

Most of Mercedes-Benz’s legendary 300SLs were steel-bodied cars, save for the aluminium hood, doors and trunk lid. Only 29 of them were “Alloy” bodied cars, that is, aluminium all the way around. The cost for this special option was very high and the weight savings around 175 lbs.

These cars were intended for privateer racing teams and were available beginning in 1955, the same year Mercedes-Benz withdrew from competitive motorsport. Other sporting changes made to the Alloy cars included suspension upgrades and those awesome Rudge knock-off wheels. There was also a “special” engine available (to all Gullwings, according to Mercedes) that used a competition camshaft, adding 15 horsepower. This car has that as well, so it’s 3.0-liter straight six makes 215 horsepower.

This is car #21 of the 29 built and its ownership history is known from new. An Alloy 300SL is the most desirable version of an already must-have classic (not counting any of the earlier racing versions). This one has no stories and would be a joy to own – and maybe even flog a little on the backroads. I just hope that the new owner is into that sort of thing, and not into storing this in a bunker somewhere, waiting for prices to rise so they can turn around and cash in. Gooding & Company sold one of these earlier this year for over $4 million. This should do likewise. You can read more here and check out more from RM in London here.

Update: Not sold.

Koenigsegg CCX

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2008 Koenigsegg CCX

Offered by RM Auctions | London, England | October 31, 2012

Boom. The top speed of the car we featured yesterday was 15 mph. This car will do 245 mph. Yeah, that’s a McLaren F1 difference in top speed (they topped out at 231 with the rev limiter). This is one of the finest and fastest legitimate modern supercars in existence.

Christian von Koenigsegg’s first hand built road car was delivered to its new owner in 2002. The CCX model you see here was introduced for 2006 with an eye toward entering the American market (with emissions compliance, etc.). It uses a Koenigsegg-designed twin-supercharged 4.7-liter V8 making 806 horsepower with 62 mph coming in a scant 3.2 seconds.

The top on this car is removable and can be stowed in the trunk at the front of the car – it fits in there just perfectly and is a really neat design feature. Even neater are the doors: they are not gullwing doors nor are they “Lambo” scissor doors. They are what Koenigsegg refers to as “dihedral synchro-helix” doors. In other words, instead of just flipping forward, they go out, then rotate forward for a truly alien look. Coolest. Doors. Ever.

It’s a quick car – and that small spoiler on the back helps keep it planted. It exists thanks to Top Gear, which tested the first CCX (and it had an “off” into some tires when their test driver, The Stig, lost it at high speed). The wing was introduced and the car topped their lap chart, although the time was, jokingly, credited to “KoenigseggisseggggnignigsegigisegggnigseggniggseggCCX with Top Gear wing.”

It’s also pretty rare. Only 27 were built and this is one of only eight that are in right-hand drive configuration. It is expected to sell for between $380,000-$460,000, the high-end of that being only about $100,000 less than the price as new. Then again, it only has 1,700 miles on it, so it’s almost new. You can read more here and check out more from RM in London, here.

Update: Sold $397,000.

Walker Electric Delivery Van

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1909 Walker Model 15 Van

For Sale at Hyman Ltd | St. Louis, Missouri

Talk about aerodynamics having come a long way. You can tell this electric delivery van was designed for utility and not comfort because of the solid state tires and big square, featureless body. The entry door is located in a very Isetta-like front-of-the-vehicle position (there’s one at the rear too). How cool.

The Walker Vehicle Company of Chicago, Illinois began producing electric trucks such as this in 1907. They were convenient because they were quiet, easy to operate, and didn’t smoke up the already crowded and polluted streets of cities like New York, where this van was in the service of Hearn’s Department Store.

The van has a 3/4-ton load capacity and with a full set of charged batteries, it can hit speeds up to 15 mph with a range nearing 40 miles from the 3.5 horsepower rear-mounted motor. I’m sure 15 mph in this thing is plenty fast. The interior is immaculate for a 100+ year-old commercial vehicle with varnished wood and a fresh seat. As rare as early commercial vehicles are, early electric commercial vehicles are even rarer. And, strangely, there is at least one other 1909 Walker electric out there.

This one will set you back a hefty $99,500. For more information, click here.

1953 Monterey Woodie Wagon

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1953 Mercury Monterey Station Wagon

Offered by RM Auctions | Grapevine, Texas | October 20, 2012

I think this woodie wagon is way cool. 1953 was the second year for the Mercury Monterey as a stand-alone model (it started as a trim line on the 1950 Mercury Eight). 1953 was the first year for the four-door wagon bodystyle.

Under the hood is a 125 horsepower 4.2-liter flathead V8. I really dig the styling – woodwork on a 1950s wagon is just a solid look. This car was utilitarian by design and by fate. What I mean is that it’s a four-door wagon – fit for a family. Two-door wagons (although this was not offered as such) have a high-survival rate do to their unique style and desirability. Only five Mercury Monterey (four-door) wagons are known to exist (it was the 14th built).

The interior of this car is amazing. It is black and turquoise. Well, instead of talking about it, here’s a picture, tell me this is a color combo that doesn’t blow you away:

Love it. This car is coming from the fairly large Charlie Thomas Collection – you can see the rest of the offerings here – and is expected to sell for between $70,000-$90,000. For more information, click here.

Update: Sold $44,000.