Tag Archives: 1962

APAL-Porsche

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1962 APAL-Porsche 1600 GT Coupe

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

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

APAL, or Application Polyester Armé de Liège, was an automobile company that operated in Liege, Belgium from 1961 through 1998, when they relocated to Germany. Most of the cars produced by the company over the years are either kits or replicas.

Edmond Pery, founder of APAL, was a fiberglass specialist. So his cars were all constructed of that material. The 1600 GT was based on the Porsche 356. The body is fiberglass and the chassis is Volkswagen, the wheelbase of which is a foot longer than a 356. The engine is a rear-mounted 1.6-liter flat-four making 60 horsepower.

Only about 150 of these coupes were built between 1961 and 1965 and only about 30 of those have an engine from a 356. This car is one of very few in the U.S. and has been here for quite some time. It has recently been restored and is now offered for sale. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $88,000.

DB4GT Zagato

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1962 Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato

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

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

This is one of the Holy Grail Aston Martins. The DB4GT itself is a rare, highly sought-after machine – but those handful of Zagato versions are really where it’s at. The DB4 was produced by Aston Martin between 1958 and 1963. The DB4GT came out in late 1959. It was a lightweight, high-performance version of the standard 2+2 road car.

The engine in the GT (including this car) is a 314 horsepower 3.7-liter straight-six. That’s actually serious horsepower – even today. About 75 standard GTs were built. But this is one of only 19 Zagato cars.

The car is instantly recognizable with that grille as an Aston. But the soft, sloping rear end makes it obviously a work of Zagato. This is car #14 and it was shipped new to Australia where it led a life as an independent racer. It went back to the U.K. in the 1990s, was restored in 2002 and has been shown all over the world. What’s truly impressive: not one of the 19 DB4GT Zagatos has traded hands in more than 10 years. This truly is a car that rarely comes up for sale. RM compares it to the 250 GTO and they aren’t wrong. While it won’t bring $30+ million dollars, it will definitely bring multiple millions. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $14,300,000.

250 GT Speciale by Bertone

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1962 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Speciale by Bertone

Offered by Gooding & Company | Pebble Beach, California | August 15-16, 2015

Photo - Gooding & Company

Photo – Gooding & Company

Of the myriad of sub-models in the Ferrari 250 range, the SWB Berlinetta is one of the most sought after today. They were race cars, introduced in 1959, and this one is powered by a 3.0-liter V-12 making 240 horsepower.

This car was actually bought new by Nuccio Bertone – yes, of that Bertone. He had a young man working in his coachbuilding business named Giorgetto Giugiaro who he co-designed this car with. The car was modeled after earlier Ferrari race cars with “sharknose” styling.

This 250 GT debuted at the 1962 Geneva Auto Show and was Bertone’s personal ride for a short time before he sold it to a parts supplier in Milan. It had a few more owners before coming stateside in 1966. It later spent 35 years in a Mexican collection. It sports a fantastic restoration and is one of the most recognizable coachbuilt Ferraris of all time. This one-off should bring between $14,000,000-$16,000,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $16,500,000.

DB4 Vantage Convertible

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1962 Aston Martin DB4 Series IV Vantage Convertible

Offered by Bonhams | Newport Pagnell, U.K. | May 9, 2015

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

The Aston Martin DB4 is the car that started a styling trend that would continue for over a decade in a handful of models. They’re beautiful cars with a lightweight body, as designed by Carrozzeria Touring. They were built between 1958 and 1963 in five different series with each successive series featuring slight styling tweaks.

This is a Series IV car. It is also a “Vantage” car – Aston speak for the biggest and baddest available. In this case, it means it features a triple-carbureted version of the DB4’s 3.7-liter straight-six, making an impressive 266 horsepower. Vantage cars were only available beginning with the Series IV launch in 1961.

Of the total 1,110 DB4s built (not counting DB4GTs), only 136 hard tops were built with the Vantage engine. An even fewer 32 convertibles had the same motor. Only 70 DB4 Convertibles were built in total. And yes, this car is a pre-Volante terminology Aston Martin “convertible.” It’s a rare car.

This car was purchased new by actor Peter Utsinov and it is left-hand drive. It has seen very little use since the mid-1980s and has never been restored. It will need a little attention before you take it out on the road, but that shouldn’t hamper the price too much – it is estimated to bring between $1,400,000-$1,500,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $2,332,827

Abarth Spider Tubolare

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1962 Abarth 1000 Sport 131-MC Spider Tubolare

Offered by Bonhams | Goodwood, U.K. | September 13, 2014

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Abarth cars are some of the hardest to find information on. They tuned some cars and they built their own race cars – and the records are only in the hands of marque specialists (if they exist at all). This Spider Tubolare is a race car, and one I’d honestly never heard of until now.

There was a new wave of sports prototype car building going on in the late-1950s and early-1960s. Tubular spaceframe chassis construction offered a stiff, lightweight alternative to traditional chassis design. And it allowed a company like Abarth to swap engines in and out of the mid-engined layout depending on what races they wanted to enter. This car uses a 1.0-liter straight-four that was installed in period to compete in the European Hill Climb Championship.

This car has been owned by Fabrizio Violati since the 1970s and has been a part of his Maranello Rosso collection for nearly 40 years. As it’s been on display for a while, it needs a complete refreshening to be usable. In any case, it should sell for between $200,000-$250,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $198,786.

Ferrari 250 GTO

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1962 Ferrari 250 GTO

Offered by Bonhams | Carmel, California | August 14, 2014

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Here it is. This is the car that everybody has been – and will be – talking about for some time. It’s the rarest, most desirable car on earth – and this is the first time one has come up for public auction in a long time. And it will sell, at no reserve. It will break every record on the book. Between private parties, 250 GTOs have reportedly sold for $50 million. Bonhams didn’t publish an estimate, but if you call the department for an estimate like they recommend, they’re well within their rights to laugh at you. You’re looking at a $30-$60 million car. The final price is anyone’s guess.

The GTO was a homologation model for the 250 to compete in the FIA Group 3 category. They were GT cars that put themselves on the podium at Le Mans in consecutive years, behind a single prototype entry (another Ferrari). The engine is a 300 horsepower 3.0-liter V-12. There were two types of 250 GTOs: those with the 3.0-liter engine, and those with the 4.0-liter engine (referred to as “330 GTOs”). This car was the 19th GTO built of 39 (this includes eight that have the re-designed 1964 body work and the three with the 4.0-liter engine). So 28 have this style body and a 3.0-liter V-12.

The original owner of this originally grey car was French racing driver Jo Schlesser. The competition history of this car is as follows:

  • 1962 Tour de France Automobile – 2nd (with Schlesser and Henri Oreiller)
  • 1962 Coupes du Salon – DNF (Henry Oreiller was killed when he crashed this car).

Schlesser took the car back to the factory and they rebuilt it for 1963 and sold it to a new owner, who used it in hillclimbs. That man sold it to another, who also raced it. Then, in 1965, he sold it to Fabrizio Violati for $4,000. It has been in Violati’s family since, and the centerpiece of his San Marino-based Maranello Rosso Collection. He used it regularly and the car has never really sat for that long. It’s great when someone acquires a car for a reasonable price and uses it, unafraid of the value at stake. Violati passed away in 2010 and the collection is, at least partially, being dispersed.

This is the 250 GTO that has been in one person’s possession the longest. These cars so rarely trade hands and when they do, the price is extraordinary. I just hope whoever buys it uses it and doesn’t lock it away hoping for a return on investment down the road. Sadly, that’s what the collector car market has almost become. Whatever the final price may be, Bonhams stands to make a killing on buyer’s premiums for this car alone. You can read more here and see more from Bonhams here.

Update: Sold $38,115,000.

Tojeiro EE

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1962 Tojeiro EE Buick Coupe

Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | December 1, 2013

1962 Tojeiro EE-Buick Coupe

Bonhams 2013 London sale has something amazing going for it: seven Ecuri Ecosse team cars and their famous team transporter are all being offered for sale. Let’s start with the team’s story…

Ecurie Ecosse – which is French for “Team Scotland” – was a Scottish racing team whose cars were always painted in this dark “Flag Blue Metallic” paint. The team was founded in 1952 by David Murray and Wilkie Wilkinson. They competed in Formula One, Formula Two and the 24 Hours of Le Mans – which they won, twice. The original team disbanded in the 1960s but their roster of former drivers is illustrious to say the least: Innes Ireland, Masten Gregory, Roy Salvadori, John Tojeiro and Jackie Stewart.

The last two have something in common: this car. The team had raced Jaguar D-Types in the 1950s and by 1962, they needed something new. So Murray met with Tojeiro, who had been designing his own sports racers for a few years, and had him build the team a new race car. The Tojeiro EE (for Ecurie Ecosse) was the result.

It was ready, literally, just in time for the 1962 24 Hours of Le Mans. It was Climax-powered for that race where it finished 38th (a DNF) with drivers Jack Fairman and Tom Dickson. For the 1963 British national sports car season, the team fitted a new aluminium-block 3.5-liter Buick V-8 making around 230 horesepower and hired a young man named Jackie Stewart to drive the car. He managed to win one race with it.

This car has been at Goodwood a few times in the past decade and is coming from an amazing Ecurie Ecosse collection. Only two of these cars were built (the other had a Ford V-8 the last time it was raced). This one should sell for between $290,000-$370,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this awesome sale.

Update: Sold $350,265.

The Only 1962 Davies Special

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1962 Davies Special

Offered by Bonhams | Francorchamps, Belgium | May 25, 2013

1962 Davies Special

Can-Am was one of the most interesting race series ever devised. The rules were essentially “anything goes” when it came to car construction – something that leads to innovation, unlike most of the “spec” series that operate in the U.S. today. The lot description calls this a “Cam-Am” Special but Can-Am didn’t start until 1966. This car was likely intended for the USRRC, which was also innovative and interesting.

Fred Davies was a race car engineer who worked for Bill Sadler (who built cars that looked similar to this in Canada). In 1961 he left Sadler and moved to California to build cars under his own name and design. He built one car – this one – with the intention of entering it into American road races.

The engine is a Chevrolet V-8 (displacement unknown, although I know it’s big) and the body is aluminium. The gearbox is by Huffaker – a name heavily associated with road racing back in the day. But Davies never ended up racing it. In fact, he used is as a road car for a few years before parking it. In 1975 he sold it to a dealer overseas who sold it three years later to a Belgian – who had no idea what it was. He registered it with the FIA as a Huffaker Genie – a car it resembles.

He restored it once and raced it until he sold it in 1983 to a Swedish amateur driver. It was raced in Sweden until 2004 when the current Belgian owner acquired it. This is a one-off race car and the only “Davies” out there. It is entirely raceable and can be yours for $120,000-$160,000. Click here for more and here for more from Bonhams at Spa.

Update: Did not sell.

Superamerica Coupe Aerodinamico

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1962 Ferrari 400 Superamerica SWB Coupe Aerodinamico by Pininfarina

Offered by RM Auctions | Lake Como, Italy | May 25, 2013

1962 Ferrari 400 Superamerica SWB Coupe Aerodinamico by Pininfarina

The Ferrari Superamerica line of cars was the top-of-the-line model from an already top-of-the-line manufacturer. They used big V-12 engines and many had custom bodywork. They were intended for Ferrari’s most elite clients.

The 410 Superamerica was a super-fast, super-serious grand tourer. In 1959, Ferrari switched from the 5.0-liter V-12 to the 4.0-liter V-12 and the 400 Superamerica was born. The powerplant in this car makes 340 horsepower. It could do 160 mph and Enzo himself drove one. It was offered in two wheelbase lengths and it was the first Ferrari road car offered with disc brakes.

This car was sold new to the U.S. and features breathtaking bodywork from Pininfarina. The Coupe Aerodinamico body is just awesome. It’s both muscular and sleek – almost like a prototype of the forthcoming 500 Superfast. It passed through a number of owners in a number of different countries before being acquired by its current owner: Skip Barber.

Superamericas are some of the most collectible Ferraris. I’ve seen a few different numbers as far as production goes: I’ve seen “14” for the number of 400 Superamericas with this specific Pininfarina-designed body. RM says this is #12 of 36, but I’m unsure if they are referring to 400 Superamericas total, or just the SWB cars. Why am I unsure? Because I’ve also seen 47 as the number for total models built. Well there you go, the info is in there somewhere for you, make of it what you will. Oh, the price? A very large amount. Like between $2,500,000-$3,000,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $2,839,200.

Classic London Double Decker

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1962 AEC Routemaster

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Stoneleigh Park, U.K. | February 23, 2013

1962 Leyland Routemaster

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

There is something iconic about almost everything in London. The Taxis are like nowhere else in the world. The phone booths. And these wonderful, old double-decker buses. London Transport actually had a say in their design and they’ve become one of the many symbols of a great city.

These are big – it has seating for 57 passengers (25 downstairs and 32 up top). It’s powered by a 115 horsepower 6.9-liter diesel (though the catalog description lists it as a 9.8-liter as well). I was once standing near the exit of the All England Club in Wimbledon and a double-decker bus was coming up a short hill on the way out. A police officer told everyone to get out of the way because the under-powered bus could not stop once it started up the hill or it wouldn’t make it. Perhaps 115 horsepower isn’t quite enough for a 57-passenger bus – even if it is made of aluminium.

Of the 2,876 Routemasters built, about 1,280 still exist – which is a good survival rate for a vehicle that was meant to be used until there was nothing left. This bus was in service from 1962 until 2004 (which is crazy). This is a chance to own one of the most iconic vehicles of the U.K. It is expected to sell for between $31,000-$44,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Silverstone’s Race Retro & Classic Car Sale.

Update: Sold $31,460.