Tag Archives: 1939

57C Aravis Special Cabriolet

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1939 Bugatti Type 57C Aravis Special Cabriolet by Gangloff

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 19-20, 2022

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Among the most valuable Bugattis – and pre-war cars in general – are variations of the Bugatti Type 57. This particular car is a rare version called the Aravis Special Cabriolet with coachwork by Gangloff, who were also responsible for the Stelvios.

This is a Type 57C, which indicates a racing chassis powered by a supercharged 3.3-liter inline-eight capable of 160 horsepower. This car is one of three Gangloff-bodied Aravis cars in existence, of what is thought to be six built (in addition to six from Letourneur et Marchand). Only two of the remaining three were factory-supercharged examples, with this being one of them.

In 1959, the coachbuilder Graber was hired to put a fixed roof on the car, a configuration it was rescued from after being purchased by its current owner in 1993. It has a replacement engine, but of the correct type. You can read more about it here.

Update: Sold $1,545,000.

Frazer Nash-BMW 327/80

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1939 Frazer Nash-BMW 327/80 Cabriolet

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Hendon, U.K. | March 5-6, 2022

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

Frazer Nash was the official British importer for BMW cars between 1934 and 1939. The cars were sometimes slightly modified by Frazer Nash before being sold, and they were all sold in the U.K. under the Frazer Nash-BMW marque. BMW’s 327 was built between 1937 and 1941 (and again after the war for a short period).

Frazer Nash only managed to import 19 of them before the outbreak of the war. BMW offered the 327 with the 328‘s more potent 2.0-liter inline-six. It was rated at 80 horsepower, hence the model designation here. In Germany, these were referred to as the 327/28.

This car was restored in 2005 and is one of 12 known to exist. You can read more about it here and see more from this sale here.

Update: Sold $184,888.

Sunbeam-Talbot 4-Litre

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1939 Sunbeam-Talbot 4-Litre Sports Saloon

Offered by Brightwells | Leominster, U.K. | October 23-28, 2021

Photo – Brightwells

Sunbeam-Talbot was a short-lived marque and part of the myriad of Talbot-branded cars over the decades. The brand came into being in 1935 when Rootes merged Sunbeam and Talbot into a single marque. In 1954, after dealing with confusion in relation to the French Talbots, Rootes dropped the name and Sunbeam soldiered on alone.

The 4-Litre model was introduced in 1939 and was made in very limited numbers into 1940. This was the company’s largest model and was derived from the Humber Super Snipe. It’s powered by a 4.1-liter inline-six that made 100 horsepower. It topped out at 85 mph.

WWII cut short the 4-Litre’s production run, and only 229 were built. Just 44 of those were Sports Saloons. This example was restored in 1991 and is one of two Sports Saloon 4-Litres known to exist. It should sell for between $39,000-$44,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $34,671.

Series 75 Town Car by Brunn

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1939 Cadillac Series 75 Town Car by Brunn

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | Online

Photo – Bring a Trailer Auctions

This series of the Cadillac Series 75 was produced in 1936 and 1937. Most of them were bodied by Fisher or Fleetwood, but a few escaped GM as bare chassis, including this car, which wears Town Car bodywork by Brunn. This means that the driver’s compartment can be “open” or closed, while the rear passenger compartment is always closed.

Two of these were built for the same guy, but the other one was lost in a fire in the 1950s. In 1966, this, the surviving example of the two, was purchased by its current owner… who was only 16 at the time. Imagine driving a used coachbuilt American classic as your first car.

Power is from a 5.7-liter V8 that was rated at 135 horsepower when new. The car was restored over a period of 50 years. I guess that makes it a “labor of love” because I couldn’t imagine tinkering on the same car for 50 years. At any rate, this one ends on Saturday. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $130,000.

Lagonda V12

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1939 Lagonda V12 Sports Saloon

Offered by Bonhams | Bicester, U.K. | July 25, 2020

Photo – Bonhams

Someone shopping for a large British luxury car in the late 1930s had some solid choices. There was of course Bentley and Rolls-Royce, but you could also choose from the likes of SS, Alvis, Brough Superior, Railton, and Lagonda.

In 1936, Lagonda introduced the V12, which featured a 4.5-liter V12 designed by W.O. Bentley and rated at 180 horsepower. It was the company’s first car to feature more than six cylinders. Production started in 1938 and ended at the outbreak of war in 1940.

Just 189 examples were produced. Lagondas have always been very exclusive cars, but the V12 is exclusive even by Lagonda standards. This one is largely original and is one of the final examples built. Its stately four-door sedan body will hold back the value a bit when compared to sportier body styles and open cars, but it should still command between $75,000-$100,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Update: Sold, Bonhams, London, October 2020, $80,004.

Sharknose Graham

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1939 Graham Model 97 Sedan

Offered by Mecum | Kansas City, Missouri | December 5-7, 2019

Photo – Mecum

The “sharknose” Graham was introduced for 1938 and it was a pretty radical design. The design lasted into 1940, and four models were offered in 1939: the Model 96 (which could be had in Special or Custom form) and the Type 97 (which was available in base or Custom form). Both Type 97 models were supercharged.

The 3.6-liter inline-six featured a Graham-designed supercharger that allowed for about 115 horsepower. The auction catalog does not note that this car is supercharged, but if it were a Model 97 from the factory, it would’ve been.

As great as the cars look today, they weren’t strong sellers when new. Graham managed to move only about 3,600 units in 1939. By 1940, they switched to producing the Hollywood, but the company was doomed. You can see more about this car here, and more from this sale here.

Update: Sold $22,550.

Alfa 256 Touring Coupe

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1939 Alfa Romeo Tipo 256 Coupe by Touring

Offered by Gooding & Company | Pebble Beach, California | August 16-17, 2019

Photo – Gooding & Company

The Tipo 256 is a very rare pre-war Alfa based on the 6C 2500. It was a racing car that was introduced in 1939. A few things differentiate the 256 from other racing variants of the 6C, one of them being that the Tipo 256 was actually prepared by Scuderia Ferrari in Modena, and not by Alfa themselves.

Power is from a 125 horsepower, 2.5-liter inline-six. Other features include a shortened frame, larger fuel tank, lowered radiator, three Weber carburetors, and a stiffer suspension. This car was originally built as a Spider Siluro and it’s competition history includes:

  • 1940 Mille Miglia – 36th, 7th in class (with Giovanni Maria Cornaggia Medici and B. Gavazzoni)

It competed in a number of other Italian road races in 1939 and 1940, when production of the 256 ceased. In all, it is believed that 20 examples were built. This one, like at least a few others, was re-bodied after its racing career ended. This Touring body you see above was fitted in 1941.

It remained in Italian hands until coming to Washington state in 2012. This marks the first time this chassis has ever been offered for public sale, and it is expected to fetch between $2,750,000-$3,500,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $2,755,000.

The Oldest Porsche

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1939 Porsche Type 64

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 15-17, 2019

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Ferdinand Porsche’s fingerprints are all over the German automobile industry. He helped engineer the original VW Beetle in the 1930s as well as cars for Wanderer, Auto Union, and Zundapp. In 1937 he designed the Type 64 and it wore his name – and his alone – for the first time.

Three examples were built between 1939 and 1940 – all race cars. They have a speed record car kind of look to them and that’s because they were commissioned by the German government to compete in a race from Berlin to Rome. And partially to celebrate the launch of the Volkswagen.

They shared the VW Type 1’s running gear: a rear-mounted 32 horsepower flat-four. The body was construed by Reutter, who would go on to help build Porsche’s post-war 356. Only one example was built before the war began, and the German government took possession of that car.

The race being canceled due to hostilities didn’t deter Ferry Porsche from building two more cars, the third of which used the same chassis as the first, after it was damaged in an accident. The second car didn’t survive the war, supposedly thanks to some joy-riding American GIs, but that third car was retained by the Porsche family until 1949 when it was purchased by racing driver Otto Mathe, who kept the car until his death in 1995.

This car, which is nicely described in the catalog as the missing link between the VW Beetle and the Porsche 356, is the oldest Porsche automobile in existence and was the third car ever built by Porsche. With Porsches as hot as ever, it is likely to break the bank in Monterey. Stay tuned! Click here for more info and here for more from RM.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $17,000,000.

1939 Imperial

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1939 Chrysler Imperial Sedan

Offered by H&H Classics | Duxford, U.K. | March 20, 2019

Photo – H&H Classics

The Imperial is one of Chrysler‘s classic nameplates. Last used on a kind-of-sad Y-body sedan in 1993, the name dates to 1926. Between 1931 and 1933, Imperials were the best product Chrysler had and rivaled the best from Cadillacand Lincoln. And for a little while, Imperial was a brand in its own right.

The 1937-1939 Imperial was produced in fairly limited numbers and in two distinct series. This five-passenger sedan model has an unknown production total, as sedan production between the Imperial, Saratoga, and New Yorker combined to total 10,536 units. It’s a C-23 series Imperial (the Custom Imperial C-24 cars were even more expensive and much rarer).

The 5.3-liter inline-six was good for 130 horsepower and a 95 mph top speed. This particular car was assembled as a knock-down kit in England and is said to be one of 16 right-hand drive examples built – and the only one remaining. It’s a big European version of a pre-war American sedan. It is being sold at no reserve. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $14,861.

Citroen Traction Avant 11BL Cabriolet

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1939 Citroen Traction Avant 11BL Cabriolet by Clabot

Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | February 8, 2019

Photo – Artcurial

The Traction Avant was one of a few cars produced worldwide that saw a pre-war introduction and continued post-war success. Part of that probably had to do with the financial state of France after WWII and the associated engineering costs for developing a new vehicle. It’s kind of crazy that a car designed for 1934 was still being sold in a Western country in 1957.

There were a number of variants and also a number of coachbuilt models. The 11CV model went on sale in 1934 and can be further divided into two sub-models. This is an example of the 11BL, which meant that it is powered by the 11CV 1.9-liter inline-four but rides on the 7CV chassis.

This car is one of three Cabriolets bodied by Robert Clabot, and if the design looks vaugely Saoutchik-like, that’s because Clabot was once employed by Jacques Saoutchik. This flamboyant example of a common French car should bring between $285,000-$400,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.