Williams FW12

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1989 Williams-Renault FW12C

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | St. Moritz, Switzerland | September 9, 2022

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

For 1988, Williams returned to naturally aspirated power for their FW12. The car transformed into the FW12C for 12 of 1989’s 16 races. During the ’89 season, Williams employed drivers Riccardo Patrese and Thierry Boutsen.

The engine was a 3.5-liter Renault V10 that made about 650 horsepower. This car, chassis #10, was initially used as a spare car before being used in competition. It’s race history includes:

  • 1989 French Grand Prix – 3rd (with Riccardo Patrese)
  • 1989 German Grand Prix – 4th (with Patrese)
  • 1989 Hungarian Grand Prix – 16th, DNF (with Patrese, from pole)
  • 1989 Belgian Grand Prix – 19th, DNF (with Patrese)

The car was later purchased directly from Williams. It has its engine still, though it is said to be incomplete. You can read more about it here.

Update: Not sold.

Lancia Epsilon

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1912 Lancia Epsilon Victoria by Quinby

Offered by Gooding & Company | London, U.K. | September 3, 2022

Photo – Gooding & Company

Lancia followed a pretty straightforward naming convention in its early years. They started with the “Alfa” and followed the Greek alphabet straight down to Epsilon for their fifth model (not counting the Dialfa).

The Epsilon was offered in 1911 and 1912, and just 357 were made. They were likely not cheap, either. This one was imported to the U.S. when new and bodied locally by J.M. Quinby. Power is from a 4.1-liter inline-four that was rated at 60 horsepower. Three wheelbases were offered, with different body styles for each. A lot of options for such low production.

This car has been on static museum duty for some time and is not currently running. Despite this, the Epsilon was such a solid, well-built car for its day that it remains sought after today. The estimate is $150,000-$215,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

Duesenberg J-164

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1931 Duesenberg Model J Arlington Sedan by Derham

Offered by Worldwide Auctioneers | Auburn, Indiana | September 3, 2022

Photo – Worldwide Auctioneers

There have been some great Duesenberg sedans coming out of the woodwork this year. This four-door sedan features blind rear quarters (no rearward side windows), which was sometimes called a Club Sedan. Derham called theirs the “Arlington,” which sounds much more dignified.

Five Derham Arlington sedans were built, four of them on the short-wheelbase Model J chassis like this one. And power came from a 6.9-liter inline-eight rated at 265 horsepower. This one was purchased new by a Peruvian singer who likely kept it at his New York home before taking it to other countries. It later spent time under ownership in Paris and Cairo. Exotic.

The car came back to the U.S. in 1957. It has not been restored but was apparently repainted at least once, though it isn’t made all that clear in the catalog when that happened. No estimate is available, but you can read more here.

Update: Sold $857,500.

Coachbuilt 230SL

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1964 Mercedes-Benz 230SL Coupe Speciale by Pininfarina

Offered by Gooding & Company | Pebble Beach, California | August 19-20, 2022

Photo – Gooding & Company

The W113 was Mercedes-Benz‘s first real SL class, in the terms we think of it today. It was the “replacement” for the 300SL and 190SL, and three models were offered between 1963 and 1971. There was the initial 230SL, which was sold from 1963 through 1966. It was replaced by the short-lived 250SL and then by the 280SL.

The 230SL was powered by a fuel-injected 2.3-liter inline-six rated at 148 horsepower. The W113 was sold with a removable hardtop, which earned the cars the nickname “Pagoda.” They all had that removable hardtop. Except this one.

Pininfarina wanted to design a true coupe version of the car, and Mercedes sent them a 230SL to do just that. Tom Tjaarda styled it. The design is interesting… from the fenders on back. The front end is a little droopy. There were 19,831 230SLs built, and only one coupe. The pre-sale estimate is “in excess of $1,000,000.” Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $1,215,000.

Indiana Fire Truck

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1936 Indiana Model 86 Fire Truck

Offered by Mecum | East Moline, Illinois | November 17, 2022

Photo – Mecum

Guess where this company was based. Indiana? Yes… well, for part of the run anyway. By the time this truck was built, the Indiana Motors Corporation was actually based in Cleveland, Ohio, as a subsidiary of White, who phased it out around 1940.

Indiana trucks were produced initially by the Harwood-Barley Manufacturing Company of Marion, Indiana. They built trucks and buses and were eventually acquired by Brockway before becoming part of White.

The Model 86 featured a Hercules inline-six engine. And that’s about all of the technical details I have. This is said to have been originally built as a fire truck for use in Delaware. Now it’s offered at no reserve. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $29,700.

TVR Tuscan Challenge

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1999 TVR Tuscan Challenge

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Silverstone, U.K. | August 26-27, 2022

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

The first TVR Tuscan was a car built in the 1960s. It was essentially a V8- (or V6)-powered version of the Grantura. The name was reused on the somehow more-wild Tuscan Speed Six of 1999-2006. In the intervening years, a Tuscan Challenge one-marque racing series took place.

Beginning in 1989, the Tuscan Challenge spec race car ran in a single-make series put on by TVR. The last season was around 2006. The cars resembled the early-1990s Griffith and Chimaera but actually debuted before either car. It’s somewhat unclear how many race cars were built in 1989 and later updated and modified, or how many they continued to build new over the next decade. This one was built new by TVR in 1999.

It’s powered by a either a 4.4-liter or 4.5-liter V8. Race wins for this chassis totaled four in the 1999 season and three the following year in which it took second in the championship. It now has an estimate of $79,000-$91,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

Pope-Hartford Race Car

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1910 Pope-Hartford Model W 50HP Racer

Offered by Bonhams | Carmel, California | August 19, 2022

Photo – Bonhams

Pope-Hartford was the longest-lasting of all of the marques of Colonel Albert Augustus Pope. The first cars were sold in 1904, and the brand continued on through 1914. In 1910, they offered a Model T, with the Models W and Y following for 1911.

Power in the Model W is from a 6.4-liter inline-four that made about 50 horsepower. The car is thought to have received its racing-style body prior to WWII. It was purchased by early sporting car collector Lindley Bothwell in the 1950s and raced in that decade at the Santa Catalina Island and Pebble Beach Sports Car Races.

Bothwell died in 1986, and his collection was not dispersed until 2017. Prior to that, this car was used in the movie Seabiscuit, presumably where the horse’s owner fills his horse barn with pre-war racing cars and then later removes them again in favor of horses. It’s a quick scene, but there is some real eye candy in it. The pre-sale estimate here is $400,000-$500,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $445,000.

Ferrari 625 F1

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1954 Ferrari 625 F1

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 18-20, 2022

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Formula One didn’t technically come into existence, by that name anyway, until 1950. Prior to that there was just a European Championship, in which Ferrari debuted in 1948. So this car, then, is from the first decade of Ferrari’s open-wheel racing program.

In 1952 and 1953, Formula Two was actually the pinnacle of motorsport, as determined by its governing body, the FIA. So the best drivers all tooled around in F2 cars for a couple of years before Formula One again became the World Championship decider in 1954.

Ferrari’s Aurelio Lampredi-designed F2 car for 1952 and 1953 was the 500. When the Scuderia had to shift back to F1, they took 500 chassis and modified them into 625 F1 spec. And this, chassis 0540, is one of those cars. The engine in the 625 was a 2.5-liter inline-four equipped with dual Weber carburetors for an output of up to 227 horsepower.

This car started out as the fourth of five 500 F2 cars before being retrofitted and re-serialed by the factory as a 625 F1. It was campaigned at both levels by Ecurie Francorchamps, a Belgian F1 team. It was later owned by Donald Healey and Pierre Bardinon.

This real-deal Ferrari monoposto from the golden age of F1 racing now has an estimate of $3,000,000-$4,000,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

Coachbuilt Corvair

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1960 Chevrolet Corvair Coupe Speciale by Pinin Farina

Offered by Gooding & Company | Pebble Beach, California | August 19-20, 2022

Photo – Gooding & Company

The first Corvairs were sold for the 1960 model year, which is when GM Styling VP Bill Mitchell shipped this example to Italy to have Pinin Farina take a stab at designing around the platform.

That platform featured a rear-engined flat-six that, on this example, displaces 2.4 liters and makes about 80 horsepower. The car was shown at the 1961 Paris and Turin Motor Shows before being revised by Tom Tjaarda. It re-debuted at the 1963 Geneva show in its current 2+2 configuration.

Then Pinin Farina kept it in their private collection until 1996. But the exercise wasn’t for nothing: the second-generation Corvair rolled out in 1965, with some styling cues lifted from this car. It’s now one of the most expensive Corvairs anywhere in the world, with an estimate of $300,000-$500,000, which seems… steep. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $315,000.

Jomar Mk II

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1956 Jomar Mk II

Offered by Bonhams | Carmel, California | August 19, 2022

Photo – Bonhams

Jomar was founded by Raymond Saidel, who inherited a sports car dealership in New Hampshire in 1950. The first Jomar cars, the creatively named Mk I, were based on Dellow chassis from England wrapped in aluminum bodies and powered by tiny Ford engines.

The Jomar Mk II of 1956 used a TVR chassis and a Coventry Climax engine. This example is the third Mk II built and features a 1.1-liter Coventry Climax engine rated at about 85 horsepower. The body is in aluminum, and it’s been restored and updated with a few modern safety features for historic racing.

This car actually competed throughout the U.S. in 1957 and 1958 and has more recently seen time on track during events such as the Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Laguna Seca. The pre-sale estimate is $80,000-$120,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.