Super Snipe Drophead Coupe

1950 Humber Super Snipe Mk II Drophead Coupe by Tickford

Offered by Historics Auctioneers | Windsor View Lakes, U.K. | July 18, 2020

Photo – Historics Auctioneers

The Humber Snipe was first introduced in 1930 and was produced until 1948. The Super Snipe went on sale in 1938 and lasted until the Rootes Group was absorbed by Chrysler in 1967. The second-generation Super Snipe was produced in three distinct series between 1945 and 1952.

This Mk II example is one of 124 bodied as a Drophead Coupe by Tickford (there were 8,361 Mk II cars built in total). Historics notes that about 12 of them were produced specifically for the Royal Family while traveling through Africa. Only 26 are known to exist.

The Mk II featured a wider track, seating for six, and a column-shifted transmission. The 100 horsepower, 4.1-liter inline-six remained unchanged from its predecessor. This car was restored in the early 1990s and is now offered at no reserve. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $27,443.

Simca Sport

1950 Simca 8 Sport Cabriolet by Facel

Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | October 27, 2019

Photo – Artcurial

Simca’s two-door model range is a bit confusing, especially cars built around 1950. The Simca 8 was new in 1937 and was re-introduced after the war, with production continuing through 1951. It was a rebadged Fiat 508C, and it was Simca’s bread and butter.

Company president Henri Pigozzi had Pininfarina mock up a coupe version of the 8, which was popular. It went on sale as the Simca Sport in 1950. Later, in 1952, an updated version called the Simca 9 Sport went on sale and was built alongside the Sport, which was also referred to as the 8 Sport. Right.

This Facel-bodied cabriolet is powered by a 1.2-liter inline-four capable of 50 horsepower. The car had a single owner from new until the early 2000s. It should now bring between $38,000-$60,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $32,210.

Fiat-Daniela

1950 Fiat-Daniela 750 Testa d’Oro

Offered by Bonhams | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | October 7, 2019

Photo – Bonhams

Small Fiats were the basis for many Italian sports cars after WWII. What quite a few enterprising individuals did was take a Fiat 500, bore it out to 750cc, replace some other internals, and go racing.

Daniela built five or six cars powered by 750cc Fiat engines. This car’s original engine went missing, and it’s now powered by a 105 horsepower, 1.1-liter Fiat inline-four. It hasn’t really been used much since the 1990s and is begging for restoration.

A previous owner had the car from 1958 through 1990, during which time it was raced in Nassau, Watkins Glen, Bridgehampton, and Lime Rock. It’s a pretty cool little thing and should sell for between $35,000-$45,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $106,400.

Healey Tickford

1950 Healey Tickford Saloon

Offered by Bonhams | Beaulieu, U.K. | September 7, 2019

Photo – Bonhams

The Donald Healey Motor Company built a number of limited-run sports cars between 1945 and 1954. Healey then turned his attention to the Austin-Healey and Jensen-Healey, both of which were produced in much higher numbers than these earlier cars.

The Tickford Saloon was bodied by the British coachbuilder Tickford (thus the name) and is powered by the same 2.4-liter Riley inline-four used in earlier cars like the Westland, Sportsmobile, and Silverstone. Claimed output was 106 horsepower. Top speed was 96 mph. Bonhams notes that this was one of the fastest cars in its day. It was, apparently, a slow day.

In all, 222 examples of the Tickford were built, which makes it the most popular Healey model produced (not counting the Nash-Healey or any of the other hyphenated cars). This one was once part of the Aalholm Automobile Collection and should bring between $24,000-$30,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $21,483.

Kurtis Sports

1950 Kurtis Sports

Offered by Gooding & Company | Amelia Island, Florida | March 8, 2019

Photo – Gooding & Company

Look familiar? No this is not a Muntz Jet. It’s the pre-Muntz Jet: the Kurtis Sports. Race cars built by Frank Kurtis dominated the Indy 500 in the 1950s, and he built some road cars as well.

The first Sports was built in 1948 and was based on a wrecked 1941 Buick. Power is from a 5.4-liter Cadillac V8 making 160 horsepower. It’s a good-looking car – good enough that when Earl Madman Muntz acquired the production rights to the car and moved production to Illinois, he didn’t really have to change that much.

Only 16 examples of the Kurtis Sports were produced before it became the Muntz Jet. This example was restored by Arlen Kurtis, Frank’s son, and has pretty extensive ownership history. Extremely rare today, the car should bring between $275,000-$350,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $263,200.

Bristol 401

1950 Bristol 401

Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | April 8, 2018

Photo – Artcurial

When WWII ended, it left some companies wondering what they were going to do – especially those who were focused 100% on wartime production like the Bristol Aeroplane Company was. But if you’ve mastered production of vehicles (be it airplanes or trucks), cars are a logical next road to go down. And that’s just the path Bristol took.

Their first car was the 400 and this 401 two-door sedan was their second automobile. The first Bristols were sort of based on BMW models, which is probably why this thing looks a lot like a BMW 327. The 401 was available from 1948 through 1953 and a convertible variant, the 402, was built in 1949 and 1950 only. Only 611 examples of the 401 were built.

The aluminium body is by Touring and the engine is from the BMW 328. It’s a 2.0-liter straight-six making 85 horsepower. Bristol is still out there, barely, as one of the most exclusive car companies on the planet. To get your hands on this one will run you between $50,000-$75,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Artcurial’s lineup.

Update: Sold $38,167.

Two Single-Seaters at Rétromobile

Two Single-Seaters at Rétromobile


1952 Gordini Type 16

Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | February 9, 2018

Photo – Artcurial

Amédée Gordini started working on cars in the 1930s. He built his first single-seaters right after WWII and now the Gordini brand is owned by Renault. As a team, Gordini competed in Formula One between 1950 and 1956. This is their 1952 racer… or at least that’s when it debuted.

The Type 16 was developed as a Formula 2 car for the 1952 season, which was what the regulations were for the World Driver’s Championship that year. It’s powered by a 2.0-liter straight-six and it was the third example built, debuting at the 1952 French Grand Prix. This car’s lengthy race history includes:

  • 1952 French Grand Prix (Reims, F2) – 1st (with Jean Behra)
  • 1952 French Grand Prix (Rouen, F1) – 7th (with Behra)
  • 1952 Italian Grand Prix – DNF (with Maurice Trintignant)
  • 1953 Argentinian Grand Prix – DNF (with Carlos Menditeguy)
  • 1953 Dutch Grand Prix – DNF (with Harry Schell)
  • 1953 Belgian Grand Prix – DNF (with Behra)
  • 1953 French Grand Prix – DNF (with Trintignant)
  • 1953 British Grand Prix – DNF (with Trintignant)
  • 1953 German Grand Prix – DNF (with Trintignant)
  • 1953 Swiss Grand Prix – DNF (with Trintignant)
  • 1953 Italian Grand Prix – 5th (with Trintignant)
  • 1954 Argentinian Grand Prix – DQ (with Behra)
  • 1954 Belgian Grand Prix – DNF (with Behra)
  • 1954 French Grand Prix – 6th (with Behra)
  • 1954 British Grand Prix – DNF (with Clemar Bucci)
  • 1954 German Grand Prix – DNF (with Paul Frère)
  • 1954 Swiss Grand Prix – DNF (with Bucci)
  • 1954 Italian Grand Prix – DNF (with Bucci)
  • 1954 Spanish Grand Prix – DNF (with Jacques Pollet)
  • 1955 Argentinian Grand Prix – DNF (with Pablo Birger)

Wow. That’s a lot of F1 races for one chassis over four different seasons (with some pretty big names from the era as well). The car was not necessarily competitive at the end of its career as F1 advances at a pretty breakneck pace, but it was still out there, grinding laps. The car was acquired in the 1970s by Christian Huet, who wrote the book on Gordini. The car was offered to him by Gordini himself before passing away.

It’s well-documented and currently has a different engine installed, although a 2.0-liter F2 engine does come with it. Apparently, Gordini only built 33 single-seater cars and 14 of those are in the Schlumpf hoard. This one should bring between $1,100,000-$1,700,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.


1950 AGS Panhard Monomill

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Paris, France | February 7, 2018

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Here’s a strange, one-off single-seater. Called the Atelier Guérin Special, or AGS, this car was built by Pierre Guérin in Grenoble, France. It’s based around a Panhard car of the era and, quite unusually for an open-wheel race car, features front-wheel drive.

It’s powered by an 850cc Panhard twin. Apparently it was raced in period, but it isn’t really known where, though it did compete in some hillclimb events in Italy more recently and that’s probably where its specialty lies.

It finally left its hometown in 1990 and its then-new owner kept the car for 20 years. A few others have enjoyed it since then and now it’s on the open market. It’s a unique, period-correct time attack car waiting for a new owner to take it to the track. It should bring between $30,000-$40,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $39,452.

Ferrari 195 Inter Coupe

1950 Ferrari 195 Inter Coupe by Touring

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Maranello, Italy | September 9, 2017

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Ferrari’s 195 Inter was the road-going version of the 195 S race car and was one of Ferrari’s first road cars. We’ve featured a Ghia bodied example before, but this car carries a two-door coupe body by Touring – one of three 195 Inters bodied by that particular Carrozzeria.

The 195 Inter is powered by a 2.3-liter V-12 making 130 horsepower. This is actually the first chassis of this model constructed and it was shown at the 1951 Turin Motor Show by its first owner. It found its way to the U.S. in 1959.

First restored in 2007, it debuted at the 2008 Pebble Beach Concours. Only 25 examples of the 195 Inter were built, making them extremely rare today. It may not be the sportiest Ferrari road car, but it helped launch the firm as the world’s premier GT manufacturer. It should sell for between $1,300,000-$1,750,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of RM’s all-Ferrari lineup.

Update: Sold $1,078,636.

L’Uovo

1950 Ferrari 166 MM/212 Export by Fontana

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 18-19, 2017

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

This early Ferrari is certainly a unique design. Check out how short that windshield is. Driving it has to feel as if you are just strapping yourself to an engine and hanging on for dear life. It sort of has a proto-pontoon fender look to it, but it all curves inward at the passenger compartment before the bobbed rear end. It’s aggressive, racy, and screams “competition Ferrari.”

This car was purchased new by the Marzotto brothers in Italy in 1950. It has serious competition history in period, including:

  • 1950 Targa Florio – DNF (with Umberto Marzotto)
  • 1950 Mille Miglia – DNF (with Umberto Marzotto and Franco Cristaldi)
  • 1951 Mille Miglia – DNF (with Giannino Marzotto and Marco Crosara)
  • 1952 Mille Miglia – DNF (with Guido Mancini and Adriano Ercolani)

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t super successful in it’s day, but it still ran at the biggest races in the world. After the 1950 racing season the car was rebuilt by Carrozzeria Fontana, with the body you see here having been constructed at that time. Dubbed “L’uovo,” or the egg, it was designed to be aerodynamic and light.

After the 1952 season, the original 166 MM engine was replaced by an engine from Ferrari’s newer 212 Export model, which would mean that it carries a 2.6-liter V-12, which makes 175 horsepower (though this is unclear from the catalog description). In 1953 the car made it’s way into Californian ownership. In 1986, an Italian buyer brought the car home from the U.S. and had it restored. Displayed infrequently, the car has competed in the modern Mille Miglia a few times in the last 20 years.

This one-off, big money Ferrari will go under the hammer next month. For more information, check out RM Sotheby’s site here and see more from this sale here.

Update: Sold $4,500,000.

Ferrari 166 MM

1950 Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta by Touring

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Amelia Island, Florida | March 11, 2017

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

You’re looking at one of the earliest Ferraris. The 166 MM was one of the first Ferrari models – produced after only the 125 S, 159 S, 166 S, and the 166 Inter. The “MM” stood for “Mille Miglia”, the famous Italian road race that Ferrari won (actually finished 1-2) in 1949 with cars similar to this.

The cars are powered by a 2.0-liter V-12 making 140 horsepower. The Barchetta body is by Touring and, of Touring’s 25 Barchettas, this is #23. Only 32 166 MMs were built in total. One of the first owners of this car was a racing driver. And he took it racing. The competition history for this chassis includes:

  • 1951 Mille Miglia – 6th in class (with Eugenio Castelotti and Giuseppe Rota)
  • 1953 Mille Miglia – DNF (with Ambrogio Arosio and Italo Di Giuseppe)

In early 1954, the car was already owned by someone else and racing hard in the United States. It’s been a respected car in the collector community pretty much since, winning awards at Pebble Beach as early as 1979. It’s Ferrari Classiche certified and retains all of its major original components. A Ferrari 166 is a hard to come by, but must-have for any serious collector. This is a great example and it’s expected to bring between $8,000,000-$10,000,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of RM Sotheby’s lineup.

Update: Not sold.