1904 Gladiator

1904 Gladiator 14HP Demi-Limousine

Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | November 3, 2023

Photo – Bonhams

The history of Gladiator is interwoven with some of the great early French names: Clement, Darracq, and all of the companies that they begat. Gladiator was founded by Alexandre Darracq and Paul Aucoq in 1891 as a bicycle company. Motorcars followed in 1901 after Gladiator was taken over by Clement (in 1896).

Beginning in 1903, they split the branding for their cars, with shaft-driven cars being sold as Clement-Gladiator and chain-driven cars being offered as Gladiators. This chain-driven car is powered by a 3.2-liter inline-four rated at 14 horsepower.

The car wears demi-limousine bodywork by Leon Molon. It was brought to the U.S. from Argentina in the 1970s and then went to the U.K. in 1982. It has participated in over 35 London-to-Brighton runs and now has an estimate of $360,000-$485,000. Click here for more info.

Bean Pickup

1926 Bean 14HP Commercial Pickup

Offered by Bonhams | Bicester, U.K. | July 17, 2021

Photo – Bonhams

Bean Cars traced its roots back to a foundry that Absolom Harper started in 1822. The Bean name entered the fold in 1907, and the company made car parts prior to WWI. During the war, they produced artillery shells, and by the war’s end, they needed a replacement product. So Bean Cars was born in 1919.

They sold passenger cars for 10 years and light commercial vehicles from 1924 through 1931. This pickup falls in the latter category. The Bean 14 was launched in October 1923. This particular example left the factory as a five-seat Tourer model. It was re-bodied in 1927 as a pickup, and the factory 14-horsepower, 2.3-liter inline-four has been replaced with a much newer 1.6-liter Ford inline-four.

The truck was restored by a historic railway company in the U.K. in the late 1990s. It was purchased by its current owner at a Bonhams auction in 2017, and it’s now expected to bring between $14,000-$21,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $30,950.

Newton-Ceirano

1925 Newton-Ceirano 150S 14HP Tourer

Offered by Bonhams | Paris, France | February 4, 2016

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

The Newton-Ceirano was a short-lived British marque that was just an imported version of the Italian Ceirano, a car that was produced in Turin between 1919 and 1931 by Giovanni and Ernesto Ceirano. Newton & Bennett sold the cars in England as the Newton-Ceirano, specifically, the 150S model.

The engine is a 1.5-liter straight-four. The 14HP rating is for tax reasons, as the 150 Normale model boasted 30 horsepower from this engine. The 150S (or as the catalog has this, the S150) was geared differently and was capable of 65 MPH.

This car has known history since 1949 and was involved in an accident at some point, but repaired by the current owner. It has traveled 400 miles since work was completed. Only a handful of examples from this marque are known, making this very rare. It should bring between $49,000-$60,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

1913 Minerva Tourer

1913 Minerva Type DD 14HP Victoria Tourer by Cann & Co

Offered by Bonhams | Beaulieu, U.K. | September 6, 2014

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Minerva built very nice luxury automobiles between 1902 and 1938, with production of other vehicles picking up after the war and continuing until 1956. Their cars of the 1930s are right up there with Packards and Rolls-Royces and the like, except they were from Belgium. In fact, the Minerva dealer in London in the early years was Charles Rolls (who would become half of Rolls-Royce).

Minerva offered a range of vehicles in 1913. The Type DD uses a 2.1-liter straight-four making 14 horsepower. Minerva cars from 1910 used Knight sleeve-valve engines, this car included. The body is said to be by Cann & Company of London as it wears that company’s tag on the body.

But the history of this car says it was discovered in Australia in 1962 and taken to California. The Australians said the body was local and the rear half of the body had been removed and replaced with a pickup-like rear end. A Minerva Ute. But it has been restored to what it should have looked like in 1913. It is road-ready and should sell for between $67,000-$100,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Bonhams’ auction lineup.

Update: Sold $66,726.

1929 Bean Omnibus

1929 Bean 14HP 14-Seat 30CWT Omnibus by Birch Brothers

Offered by Bonhams | Oxford, U.K. | June 7, 2014

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Here’s a bonus! It’s not from the Banfield Collection but from that collection of Bean automobiles we talked about in another recent post. The 14HP model was introduced in 1924. They were generally passenger cars.

But this is a commercial vehicle. It uses the 2.7-liter, 14 horsepower straight-four from the range, but the body was actually commissioned by an independent bus operator. The bus can seat 14 people and was displayed for a while at the British Commercial Vehicle Museum. It does run and drive and should sell for between $51,000-$59,000. Click here for more.

Update: Sold $42,574.

Awesome Classic Commercial Vehicles

The Michael Banfield Collection

Offered by Bonhams | Staplehurst, U.K. | June 14, 2014


 1915 Peerless TC4 4-Ton Open Back

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

This sale from Bonhams includes quite a number of really awesome commercial vehicles. I don’t have enough time to feature them individually, but because they’re so cool (and you so rarely see them at auction), I thought I’d do two posts that cover the coolest among them (which is pretty much all of them).

This truck is from one of America’s premier luxury car manufacturers. They started building trucks in 1911 and the U.S. Army loved them. The British government bought 12,000 of them between 1915 and 1918, during the First World War. This thing uses a 6.8-liter four-cylinder and was in service with the British government until 1956. It’s beautiful. And it should sell for between $34,000-$42,000. Click here for more.

Update: Sold $72,173.


1922 Tilling-Stevens TS3A Open Top Double Deck Bus

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

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Chicago Motor Buggy

1908 Chicago Motor Buggy Type 112

Offered by Bonhams | Beaulieu, U.K. | September 7, 2013

1908 Chicago Motor Buggy Type 112

Photo – Bonhams

What’s amazing is that the car we featured yesterday was built the same year that this car was. While the Alldays & Onions from yesterday was built in the U.K. and had a windshield and doors and a top and well, you get the idea. This car has wheels – high ones. And a seat. And a steering wheel.

It was made for the rugged roads of rural America. And in that regard, it was successful. As a sales leader, it was not. The company (yes, the marque was actually called “Chicago Motor Buggy”) built this lone model and lasted for this lone year (it was actually a sub-brand of the Black Motor Company). The engine is a 14 horsepower twin. It has chain drive and solid tires and is probably not comfortable to ride in. But it is cool.

It cost $450 when it was new and can do 25 mph. It is one of 13 known to exist and arrived in England in 2007 when it was made running. It is a driver and can be yours for between $31,000-$39,000. Click here for more details and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.