Tag Archives: 1953

Siata 300 BC

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1953 Siata 300 BC Barchetta by Bertone

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Amelia Island, Florida | March 12, 2016

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

Giorgio Ambrosini’s Siata somehow survived until 1970, but it was the 1950s where they made their mark. The first cars were modified Fiats and their first homemade model was the 1951 300 BC Barchetta.

The car is very light (as you can see, the tires look like they were stolen off a bicycle) and it’s powered by a 51 horsepower 1.1-liter Fiat straight-four. Earlier cars had Crosley motors. This model was aimed at Americans who needed an agile SCCA weapon.

This is car #38 of 40 that were bodied by Bertone (another handful or two were also built, some with bodies by Motto). It’s been in the U.S. since new and was first road-registered in 1989, having been primarily used for competition up to that point. For most of its life, it was driven twice a year to keep it running. It’s been repainted and the interior redone, but otherwise it’s largely original. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $198,000.

Coachbuilt Classics at Rétromobile

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Coachbuilt Classics at Rétromobile

Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | February 5, 2016

1951 Salmson G72 Coupe by Saoutchik

Photo - Artcurial

Photo – Artcurial

Salmson, the French auto manufacturer, built cars up through 1957. They had a range of sedans and two-doors. This is a G72, a model introduced in 1950. Most G72s were sedans, but some of them were sent to coachbuilders for something a little more fancy. Power was supplied by a 2.3-liter straight-four.

This car was bodied by Saoutchik, the legendary French coachbuilder. It was repainted some 25 years ago but otherwise it is original. Only 254 of this series of the G72 were produced and this one carries a one-off body. It should bring between $175,000-$240,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $207,019

1953 Renault Frégate Ondine Cabriolet by Ghia

Photo - Artcurial

Photo – Artcurial

The Renault Frégate was Renault’s executive sedan that they built between 1951 and 1960. Estate wagons were available as well, under different names. Renault showed a convertible at the 1953 Paris Motor Show, but it never entered production. Later, three more examples were shown and two disappeared. It is believed this is the only survivor of those cars.

The body is actually made of some kind of polyester blend. We’re really not sure what that means, but the engine is likely a 2.0-liter straight-four. The restoration was completed in the 1990s and it is believed that this car was used by legendary French singer Edith Piaf in the 1950s. It is the only car like it and it should bring between $87,000-$110,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Artcurial.

Update: Sold $86,814.

1939 Graham-Paige Type 97 Supercharged Cabriolet by Pourtout

Photo - Artcurial

Photo – Artcurial

The Graham brothers of Dearborn, Michigan, began producing their own trucks in 1922 after years of modifying Fords. That company was bought by Dodge in 1925 and the brothers joined Dodge’s board. But when Chrysler took over Dodge in 1928, the Graham brand was soon phased out. Good thing the brothers bought the Paige-Detroit Motor Company in 1927.

So in 1928, the Graham-Paige marque was introduced. In 1938 they introduced a bold (and awesome) new style that they built in low quantities through 1941. After the war, the automotive portion of the company was acquired by Kaiser-Frazer (which never reintroduced the Graham-Paige automobile brand), but Graham-Paige, strangely, soldiered on as a real estate company into the 1960s before becoming the Madison Square Garden Corporation. Weird, huh?

Anyway, the Type 97 Supercharged was built in 1938 and 1939. It is powered by a supercharged 3.5-liter straight-six making 115 horsepower. This car left Graham-Paige as a coupe (they didn’t offer a convertible) and made its way to France to be bodied by Pourtout in Paris. It may be the only such car with this body. It has been restored and should sell for between $165,000-$215,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $186,985.

Update: Sold, RM Sotheby’s Amelia Island 2017, $770,000.

1949 Delahaye 135MS Coupe by Ghia

Photo - Artcurial

Photo – Artcurial

The Delahaye 135 was one of their best models. It lasted (in some form) between 1935 and 1954. The 135MS was the sportiest version – sometimes it was a race car, and sometimes it was a road car. It was the final Delahaye car available for purchase before the brand was phased out.

Bodies for the car varied widely. This car, with its covered wheels and sort of boxy design, was styled by Ghia in Turin. It’s beautiful. The engine is a 3.6-liter straight-six making 120 horsepower. It was built for the Shah of Iran who owned it until the late 1950s when it went back to Europe. Since then it spent time in the Blackhawk Collection and the John O’Quinn collection. The restoration was carried out sometime in the early 1990s. It’s a wonderful car and one of three Delahaye 135s styled by Ghia. It should sell for between $210,000-$285,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $180,307.

1951 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport by Dubos

Photo - Artcurial

Photo – Artcurial

The Talbot-Lago T26 Record was a car introduced by Talbot-Lago in 1946. In late 1947, a Grand Sport version was introduced, which included a more powerful 4.5-liter straight-six making 190 horsepower (in this form). Grand Sport cars (that weren’t race cars) were all sent out to coachbuilders to have some of the best designs of the period attached to them.

This one went to Carrossier Louis Dubos near Paris for this elegant cabriolet that, while originally black, looks glorious in white. Never completely restored, mechanical bits have been redone as needed. This is one of three T26s bodied by Dubos and the only Grand Sport to wear one of their bodies. It should sell for between $260,000-$350,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $293,834.

Cadillac Series 62 Coupe by Ghia

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1953 Cadillac Series 62 Coupe by Ghia

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Phoenix, Arizona | January 28-29, 2016

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

When you think of 50s Cadillacs, you think big fins. But 1953 was a pre-fin year and everything was a little more restrained. The Series 62 was the entry-level Cadillac from 1952 through 1968 when it’s name was changed. The series was introduced in 1940.

In 1953, Ghia of Italy ordered two Cadillac Series 62 Convertible chassis and had them shipped to Italy. They applied this gorgeous, stylized black coupe body with gold accents all around. The engine is the standard 5.4-liter V-8 making 210 horsepower.

This car has slightly different styling than its sister car at the front and passed through the Blackhawk Collection more than 20 years ago before its current owners acquired it around the time of its restoration. As a 1950s American chassis with an Italian body – and it being one of two – it will be pricey. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $1,430,000.

8V Elaborata

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1953 Fiat 8V Elaborata by Zagato

Offered by Bonhams | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 28, 2016

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

The Fiat 8V was a short-lived sports car from Fiat produced between 1952 and 1954. Of the 114 cars built, only about 40 had factory bodywork – the rest were all done by coachbuilders and this Zagato-styled “Elaborata” coupe is one of just five such cars built by the famous Italian coachbuilder.

The engine is a 2.0-liter V-8 making 110 horsepower (Fiat would’ve called the car the “V8” but Ford already had that trademarked). This car was sold new to someone in Milan and was then campaigned heavily throughout Europe through the late 1950s.

The car was most recently restored in 2011. Fiat 8Vs rarely trade hands (although we’ve featured a few of them) and when they do, it usually means big money. That will likely be the case here, as Bonhams has declined to publish an estimate. In any case, you can read more here and see more from this sale here.

Update: Not sold.

Update: Sold, Gooding & Company Pebble Beach 2017, $1,485,000.

212 Inter by Vignale

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1953 Ferrari 212 Inter Coupe by Vignale

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | New York, New York | December 10, 2015

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

This is a very stylish car, but we probably don’t need to tell you that. It looks like something you’d see parked at Villa d’Este (Good news: just read the lot description and this car has not been shown there – so here’s your very hard-to-get ticket to that show).

The 212 Inter was one of Ferrari’s earliest road cars. Only 82 were built between 1951 and 1952 and only six of those were Vignale Coupes. This was the first. The car is powered by a 2.6-liter Colombo V-12 making 170 horsepower.

This car was shown by a Ferrari dealer at the 1954 San Remo Concours d’Elegance before being returned to Ferrari and shipped to Luigi Chinetti in the U.S. (who sold it to a guy in Milwaukee). He ruined the engine and swapped it out. Fast forward to 2009 when the car was owned by an Indiana man who had it restored – and the original engine was located and put back in the car. Now the car is just about perfect – including that beautiful color combination. It can now be yours. Click here for more info and here for more from RM.

Update: Not sold.

Victress Roadster

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1953 Victress S1A Roadster

Offered by Mecum | Chicago, Illinois | October 8-10, 2015

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

The Victress Manufacturing Company was one of many fiberglass sports car builders that popped up in the 1950s – and many of these were based, like Victress, in California. Doc Boyce-Smith’s company offered four body styles, the S1A being the most popular. It is thought that Victress made about 200 bodies for the S1A. Most were assembled by people other than the factory.

Victress would later be taken over by fiberglass rival La Dawri. This early car is powered by a 3.9-liter Dodge V-8. This example has been well restored and looks great. If you’re looking for something unique and distinctly American, look no further than this piece of fiberglass history. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $150,000.

Cisitalia 505 DF

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1953 Cisitalia 505 DF by Ghia

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | London, U.K. | September 7, 2015

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

Piero Dusio’s Cisitalia is most well-known for their sports cars and race cars in the immediate post-war period. The Cisitalia 202 is a highly sought after Italian sporting classic. But as time went on, open-top sports cars needed to give way to slightly more sensible cars if the company were to survive.

Unfortunately that strategy didn’t work either. The 505 DF is one of the rarest Cisitalia models. Introduced in 1953 at the Geneva show, it was based on the Fiat 1900 and uses the Fiat’s 1.9-liter straight-four making 79 horsepower. The very pretty body is by Ghia. It’s so smooth, with very few lines. Look how slick that rear panel looks. You can’t even see the door gaps.

Sold new to a Swiss owner, this car spent a lot of its early life in Switzerland before going to Germany. The restoration was completed in 2011. At most, 10 of these were built and only two survive. The other one is not roadworthy, making this the best one in the world. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $224,224.

EMW 327

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1953 EMW 327 Drophead Coupe

Offered by Coys | Essen, Germany | April 18, 2015

Photo - Coys

Photo – Coys

The history of the automobile in the immediate aftermath of World War II is pretty interesting. In the United States, many car manufacturers resumed production of their pre-war models, but in Europe, the widespread destruction threw everything into chaos. BMW’s pre-war manufacturing activities took place in Eisenach. But the Soviet Union held the territory when production resumed in 1946.

And BMW was headquartered in Munich. So the Soviet Eisenach factory was producing BMWs without BMWs consent. When the Eisenach factory came under control of the East German government and BMW sued to get their name (and badge) back. So the Eisenach factory changed its name to EMW (Eisenach Motor Works) and continued producing pre-war BMWs, like the 327 you see here.

The 327 was first introduced in 1937 and was built through 1941. Production resumed in 1946 with all 1946 through 1951 cars being badged as BMWs (although they were not sold, officially, by BMW). Cars built from 1952 through the end of production in 1955 were badged as EMWs. EMW would later go on to become Wartburg.

The engine is a 2.0-liter straight-six making 55 horsepower. This car was in a museum for the last five years and was recently restored. It is a numbers matching car. Only 505 327s were built after the war, with an unknown split between BMW and EMW. This one should sell for between $140,000-$185,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

NASCAR Corvette

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1953 Chevrolet Corvette Roadster Race Car

Offered by Barrett-Jackson | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 17, 2014

Photo - Barrett-Jackson

Photo – Barrett-Jackson

The Corvette is one of America’s signature automobiles – it’s the signature American sports car of all time. And America’s most-popular form of motorsport is NASCAR… so it’s only natural that there exists a Corvette with NASCAR history.

Ed Cole sent a few Corvettes south to be turned into race cars in 1955/1956. Two of them were destined for NASCAR (this one and a 1955 model). The ’53 ‘Vette seen here was given a high-output 1956 engine: a 4.3-liter V-8 (remember, the Corvette didn’t get a V-8 until 1955), making a minimum of 240 horsepower.

This car is said to have ran on the beaches of Daytona and at tracks such as Martinsville, Raleigh and Bowman Gray Stadium (although I have been unable to verify this). This is a super-rare piece of racing and Corvette history and should command a large sum. I actually saw this car in person this year and got to see it drive (video here, it sounds great!). I asked the representative of ProTeam Corvette who was guarding the car if they were selling anything interesting from their reserve collection this year and he failed to mention that this very car was going to cross the bliock. Oh well, I can buy it now if I so choose. Click here for more info and here for more from Barrett-Jackson.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $2,000,000.

Here’s some actual video of it:

A Very Unique Lancia Aurelia

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1953 Lancia Aurelia PF200 C Spider by Pinin Farina

Offered by RM Auctions | Monterey, California | August 15-16, 2014

Photo - RM Auctions

Photo – RM Auctions

The Lancia Aurelia is an interesting car in that it could be had as a fairly plain sedan or an outrageous roadster like this. And prices are all over the board too. The model was produced between 1950 and 1958 with a total of 18,201 produced.

Pinin Farina got their hands on some Aurelias and built wild Jet Age bodies on them. This particular car was shown at the Geneva and Turin motor shows in 1953. Pinin Farina built seven or eight “PF200” (their designation) cars and it is thought that only three lacked a roof. And all of them were different.

The engine is a 90 horsepower 2.0-liter V-6 but it is all about the style. It is #2 of the three open-top cars and it rides on a very rare Aurelia B52 chassis, of which only 98 were produced. The car completed a 10-year restoration recently and has been in the same hands for nearly 50 years. This is your chance to acquire a one-off Pinin Farina concept car for between $1,000,000-$1,500,000. Read more here and check out more from RM here.

Update: Sold $1,100,000.

Update II: Sold, RM Sotheby’s Amelia Island 2017, $1,248,500.