Duesenberg J-468

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1934 Duesenberg Model J LWB Custom Beverly Sedan by Murphy

Offered by Barrett-Jackson | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 19, 2012

This long-wheelbase Model J has a “Beverly Sedan” body from Murphy. I really don’t know what “Beverly” refers to, but it was used on a few Model Js and a number of Cords. If anyone knows, please share.

In any case, this car (engine no. 468), painted in an ostentatious (and, in my opinion, pretty ugly) shade of gold, is one of 12 Murphy Beverly Sedans built. Of course, it is claimed that this is the “finest in existence,” but then again, who would claim that they car they are trying to sell is “meh, maybe the fourth or fifth finest in existence?”

It is being offered as part of Barrett-Jackson’s second-annual “Salon Collection” (it even has its own website) at their Scottsdale auction in January. The car is coming from the Imperial Palace Collection where it has been on display for some time. Barrett-Jackson doesn’t publish pre-sale estimates and it’s hard to guess, as their prices are all over the place. I expect this car to either A. not meet its reserve or B. go for more than it should after the crowd is prodded by being told it’s “way under the money.” Watch and see. You can read more here.

Update: Sold $1,430,000.

Bonhams Preservation Sale Highlights (10/12)

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Bonhams held a really interesting sale at the Simeone Foundation in Philadelphia on October 8, 2012. Many of the cars were unrestored survivors but not offered from the Simeone Foundation itself (unfortunately). And some of them were quite interesting, the most interesting of which, I think, still has to be the Woods Mobilette cyclecar that we featured. It sold for $48,300. Our featured Hahn pickup failed to sell. Top sale went to a one-owner 1973 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona for $357,000.

The “interesting sales” portion of this sale consisted of, well… most of the sale. This 1960 Facel-Vega Excellence Sedan is pretty rare and the price showed it, even in “used-car” condition, at $159,000.

But old cars were the name of the game. And barn finds at that. Check out this 1928 Packard Custom Eight Series 4-43 7-Passenger Touring and how, well, creepy it looks. Love it. It sold for $36,000.

And they got even older still: this 1903 Knox Model C Runabout was the oldest car that sold and it brought $69,000.

This 1917 Crane-Simplex Model 5 Dual-Cowl Victoria had wonderful Phaeton coachwork by Farnham & Nelson and is the type of car people dream about coming across in an old garage somewhere. It has never been restored – just preserved, which was the name of the game here and it’s incredible the kind of cars they found that hadn’t been restored. This one sold for $208,500.

Our two other feature cars both sold: the 1904 Buckmobile Runabout for $46,000 and the 1910 McIntrye High-Wheeler for $37,950. Another car I kind of liked was this 1913 Hupmobile Model 32 convertible. It looks gigantic for being a two-seater. It sold for $32,200.

This barn-fresh 1931 Isotta-Fraschini Tipo 8A with Lancefield Faux-Cabriolet coachwork was offered publicly for the first time since 1961. It sold for $186,500.

Not everything was priced exorbitantly. There were some steals to be had. Were I there, I would have definitely bid on this 1926 Buick Standard Six Model 20 Coupe – and probably right up to its $6,900 sale price.

And there were other cars that were just as attractive – in both style and price. You can check them all out here. In any case, this sale proves that there are people who love cars in original condition – even if that means unsightly rust and/or wear. Over-restored cars are pretty on TV or on the lawn at Pebble Beach. But those cars aren’t any fun and they are completely devoid of personality. Give me an 80+ year old car with scrapes and dings and chipped paint and torn seats over some trailer-queen exotic any day.

Autech Zagato Stelvio

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1991 Autech Zagato Stelvio AZ1

Offered by Coys | Ascot, U.K. | October 13, 2012

I would hate to call a car that has been designed by one of the world’s foremost automotive design houses “bizarre” so I won’t. I’ll call it “Japanese,” as they are known for their love of quirky, boxy cars. Milanese design house Zagato created the aluminium body – which even has the signature Zagato “double bubble” roof, if only so slightly – while Autech, a Nissan-owned performance tuning subsidiary, was behind the rest of the car.

The car is based on a Nissan Leopard (a car America received as the Infiniti M30) and has an Autech-tuned 3.0-liter turbocharged V6 under hood making 320 horsepower. They also tuned the suspension and the frame. The entire car was built by hand and a production run of 200 was scheduled, although only 104 made it out the door.

They were very expensive when first released in 1989, but the price has subsided a little bit, with Coys expecting this to fetch between $38,000-$48,000. This is a very rare car – tell me if you’ve ever seen one let alone even heard of it. You can read more about it here, and check out the rest of Coys auction lineup here.

1958 Coronet

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1958 Coronet Convertible

Offered by Coys | Ascot, U.K. | October 13, 2012

Coronet Cars Ltd. produced the three-wheeled Coronet Convertible from 1957 through 1960. The British have had a thing for three-wheeled cars since, well, pretty much ever. Each has excelled in different areas, these three-wheelers, but few are attractive (okay, the original Morgans are pretty attractive). This one kind of is – especially when compared to things like the Reliant Robin.

It’s powered by a 328cc straight-twin located behind the seat. It’s rear-engined and rear-wheel drive. Somewhere between 250 and 500 were built – but only seven still exist. It is very rare and highly sought after – especially by microcar collectors.

No estimate is available because there really isn’t much of a precedent, as these don’t come up for sale all that often. $20,000-$40,000 would be a decent estimate, I guess. For more information, click here. And to check out more from Coys, click here.

1906 Pope-Waverley

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1906 Pope-Waverley Electric Runabout

Offered by RM Auctions | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 12, 2012

From Albert Augustus Pope’s early automotive manufacturing empire comes this 1906 Pope-Waverely Electric Runabout. Waverely was actually founded in 1899 in Indianapolis by the Indiana Bicycle Company. They began by making electric two-seaters. In 1903, the Pope Motor Car Company scooped up Waverely and changed the name to reflect their new corporate overlords.

This model is a three horsepower model with a 60-volt DC motor. The body is a simple runabout with tiller steering. It also has electric lighting and the older restoration still shows well. The Pope empire crumbled quickly, going bankrupt in 1907. Waverely was spun off as an independent marque again in 1908, but some Pope makes lasted longer – up through 1914.

As electric vehicles become popular once again, cars like this are finding a larger collector fanbase and prices will be going up. The price for this car is expected to be between $60,000-$80,000. For more information, click here. And for the rest of the RM Auctions Hershey lineup, click here.

Update: Sold $60,500.

Stanley Mountain Wagon

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1915 Stanley Model 820 Mountain Wagon

Offered by RM Auctions | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 12, 2012

Need to transport 12 people somewhere and don’t want to drive the same bland, 12-passenger Ford E-Series van as everyone else? Could I interest you in a 12-passenger convertible? There is even one surviving 15-passenger variant. Regardless of how many passengers you can carry, the Stanley Mountain Wagon is one of the coolest cars of all time.

These vehicles were available from 1908 to 1916 and used a 30 horsepower, two-cylinder steam engine. They were used for things like sightseeing tours in Yellowstone National Park. There is one just like this at the National Automobile Museum in Reno, and, although it appears average in size in the picture here – they are massive in real life. The wheelbase is only an inch shorter than that of a Ford Excursion – the veritable limousine among SUVs. And they are tall. When I saw the one in Reno, I became instantly fascinated. I just stood there are stared at it and inspected it – perhaps even creeping onto the gravel beyond where you are supposed to stand. Oops, don’t worry, I didn’t hurt anything.

This one has known ownership since WWII, including some well known and important collections. This is also the only Stanley Model 820 with its original, Stanley-built body – although it was restored a number of years ago. Steam vehicles are really cool to start with, but when you add in a very strange bodystyle like this, it just makes it even cooler. This is expected to sell for between $200,000-$250,000. For more information, click here. And for more from RM at Hershey, click here.

Update: Not sold.

Premier’s 1920 Push-Button Transmission

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1920 Premier Model 6-D Seven-Passenger Touring

Offered by RM Auctions | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 12, 2012

There is something about the way the top folds back on some 1920s-era seven-passenger touring cars that makes them look gigantic. And it is a pretty big car – the wheelbase is 10 inches longer than that of a brand new Chevrolet Tahoe.

Premier was founded in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1903 by George A. Weidely and Harold O. Smith. The corporate name of the company would evolve five different times before it went out of business in 1925.

This big touring car has a 3.4-liter straight six making 65 horsepower. It is also equipped with a Cutler-Hammer electro-magnetic shift transmission. It was essentially a push-button transmission with controls mounted on the steering column. The driver could push the button for the gear they wanted to select and the transmission would execute the shift electronically in one-fifth of a second. A modern Ferrari F1 car can shift in less than 100 milliseconds – making the technology on this Premier seem like Fred Flintstone Formula One. It’s still really cool though (you couldn’t get this technology on a Packard until the 1940s).

This car comes from the collection of John O’Quinn and should sell for between $30,000-$50,000. For more information, click here. And for more from RM at Hershey, click here.

Update: Sold $63,250.

1918 Roamer Touring

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1918 Roamer Model C6 Four-Passenger Sport Touring

Offered by RM Auctions | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 11-12, 2012

I’ve seen the Roamer described as a “cheap Rolls-Royce” and if you look at the radiator grille, you can kind of see a resemblance. Maybe “more affordable Rolls-Royce” is a better way of putting it. The Roamer was introduced in 1916 by the Barley Motor Car Company of Streator, Illinois. The company was founded by Albert C. Barley, Cloyd Y. Kenworthy and Karl H. Martin and as moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1917. They would also built cars under the Barley and Pennant names.

The 54 horsepower model you see here was introduced in 1918. It uses a Continental Red Seal straight six. The four-passenger convertible body style is quite attractive – especially in white with bright red interior and wire wheels. Roamer built about 12,000 cars until they closed up shop in 1929 and they are rather rare today.

This one is expected to sell for between $70,000-$90,000. For more information, click here. And for more from RM, here.

Update: Sold $93,500.

Update: Sold, RM Sotheby’s Arizona 2016, $66,000.

Update: Sold, RM Sotheby’s Amelia Island 2020, $95,200.

Northern Runabout

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1902 Northern Runabout

Offered by RM Auctions | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 12, 2012

I have a new general rule: if a car comes up for sale and it’s a marque you can’t recall ever seeing come up for sale, the there is a good – no, better than good – chance that it is an ex-Harrah Collection car. As is this 1902 Northern Runabout.

1902 was the first year for the Northern Manufacturing Company of Detroit. Founded by Charles B. King (who went on to build the King) & Jonathan Maxwell (who went on to build the Maxwell), this marque would last until 1909 when it was merged into E.M.F. This “Silent Northern” has a five horsepower single-cylinder engine and cost $800 in 1902. These cars were also built under license in Sweden as the Norden.

Ownership history is known from new. It was acquired by Bill Harrah in 1956, making him the fourth owner. It was purchased from the collection and restored by its current owner in 1986, with the restoration completing in 1990. It has competed in 10 London-to-Brighton runs and holds the Guinness World Record for being the oldest car driven coast-to-cast across the United States (accomplishing this in 1994). Only 11 are known to still exist.

It is expected to sell for between $70,000-$90,000. For more information, click here. And for more from RM at Hershey, click here.

Update: Sold $66,000.

1960 Dodge Phoenix

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1960 Dodge Dart Phoenix Police Package

Offered by Auctions America | Carlisle, Pennsylvania | October 4-5, 2012

The Dodge Phoenix was not a stand alone model (at least not in the United States). It was a two-year only trim option on the Dart, which, upon its introduction, was not the compact car that most people remember. The Dart was an all-new model for 1960. It was a short-wheelbase (compared with the Polara), entry-level, full-sized Dodge. It undercut the Polara in price – but it’s still a pretty big car.

The Phoenix trim line was tops, above the entry-level Seneca and mid-range Pioneer. This car was spec’d as a Police Package car, even though it was ordered by a 20-year-old hot rodder in Pennsylvania. What the Police Package came with was a high-performance 383 V8 (6.3 liters), a 4.10:1 gear ratio and a heavy-duty three-speed Borg-Warner manual transmission.

The owner replaced the transmission with a four-speed Chevy unit immediately after taking delivery. It isn’t listed what transmission is in the car currently, but, according to the lot description, this was the only high-performance Dart built with a manual transmission – surely it would be more valuable with the three-speed.

Virgil Exner’s finned styling would disappear from the Dart after 1961 – and the car would never look this good again (okay, the muscle-car variant wasn’t so bad). But the Dart became a smaller and more compact, less stylish car with ever new iteration. You don’t see Mopars like this too often – yet there are three 1960 Dart Phoenix’s in this sale alone. And all have rare options.

You can read more about this car at Auctions America’s website here. Or check out the other two and the rest of the auction lineup, here.

Update: Not sold.