Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Berkshire, England | June 2024
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
Here’s the Bristol we’ve been missing. Between 1965 and 1967 Bristol churned out just 74 of these, which explains why it has taken so long for one to pop up at auction. It went on sale a year before the 408 exited production and quickly follow it out.
Power in the 409 is provided by a 5.2-liter Chrysler V8 that made 250 horsepower. It also has a three-speed automatic transmission. Yet another example of American power and European design.
This one was acquired by its current owner in 1994 and has been on display at a museum in Greece. It now has an estimate of $31,000-$44,000. Click here for more info.
Offered by Artcurial | Le Mans, France | June 20, 2023
Photo – Artcurial
The standard Fiat 600 looked nothing like this. It looked like a Fiat 500. And the Multipla version looked like a minivan microcar. This Jeep-like thing used bits from the standard 600 and Multipla, but it isn’t just a re-bodied 600.
The Jungla was conceived as an Italian military Jeep that could be dropped out of cargo aircraft. Most of the running gear was lifted from the 600, including the 633cc inline-four. It was repainted red at some point in the past was was put into a collection in 2019.
Only about 600 examples of the Jungla were produced, and they remain fairly uncommon. This one has an estimate of $21,000-$32,000. Click here for more info.
Offered by Historics Auctioneers | Ascot Racecourse, U.K. | May 21, 2022
Photo – Historics Auctioneers
This car represents the end of the line for Alvis. It was launched in March 1966, and the final cars rolled off the line in August 1967. Interesting tidbit, the similarly styled TE 21 was available by special order through 1967 as well.
Power is by the same 3.0-liter inline-six that powered this entire line of cars, which basically covered the entirely of Alvis’ post-war production (well, since the 1950 TA 21 anyway). Output increased to 150 horsepower in the TF, which was offered both as a two-door sedan or a two-door drophead coupe. The bodies were by Park Ward.
Only 106 examples of the TF 21 were produced, and only seven of those were convertibles with a manual gearbox like this one. It now has a pre-sale estimate of $92,500-$117,500. Click here for more info.
Offered by Aguttes | Neuilly, France | December 12, 2021
Photo – Aguttes
Alfa Romeo’s 2600 is one of their best-looking cars, especially the Touring-bodied Spider and Bertone-styled Sprint. The 2600 was sold between 1962 and 1968, with body styles including coupes, convertibles, and sedans.
What we have here is the very rare Sprint Zagato. It honestly looks like someone grafted the front end of an alternate-reality 1990s Alfa Romeo onto a 1960s coupe body. But it’s not, it’s an original period Zagato creation. The engine is the same as other 2600s: a 2.6-liter twin-cam inline-six that was rated at 165 horsepower in SZ form with triple Solex carburetors. Top speed was 134 mph, thanks in part to the increased aerodynamics of that redesigned front end.
Only 105 examples of the SZ were ever produced, and this one has known ownership history since new. It was restored in 1992, and it is expected to fetch between $115,000-$170,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
This may look like a Haflinger built by a refrigerator company but… oh wait, that’s sort of exactly what it is. When Iso Rivolta shifted from appliance to motorcycle manufacture after WWII, they also expanded into other territories, including microcars and sports cars.
So why not give off-road vehicles a go? This was the only one built, and it’s powered by a Fiat inline-twin sourced from a 500 Giardiniera. Apparently Iso sent it to Fiat for evaluation, and they liked it and wanted to take over, but Renzo Rivolta refused.
So the little truck returned to Iso, where it was used as a service truck. It’s the only one like it, and it’s expected to sell for between $21,500-$32,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
Offered by Dorotheum | Salzburg, Austria | October 16, 2021
Photo – Dorotheum
The Puch brand existed under the Steyr–Daimler-Puch corporate umbrella and was primarily known for building motorcylces and scooters, in addition to military vehicles. There were cars, too, but for most of the time the company used its resources to build cars for other manufacturers. Occasionally, the company thought “hey, we could build this for us, too.”
And that’s what we have here. The Puch 500 is, quite obviously, a Fiat 500 built under license in Austria. It’s badged as a Puch, and they had their own range of models different than those produced by Fiat. For instance, this is a “D”, which were built between 1959 and 1967. It’s actually been tarted up to look like a 650 TR II, which was a sport model.
The 650 TR II was powered by a 40-horsepower, 660cc inline-twin. This car has just such an engine. It was built to this spec in the 2000s, with it being registered as a 650 TR II in 2011. The pre-sale estimate is $33,000-$44,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
Offered by Gooding & Company | Pebble Beach, Florida | August 13-14, 2021
Photo – Gooding & Company
The mid-1960s were a time for change at Indianapolis. The mid-engined revolution was in full swing by ’66, and the previous year was the first time that a majority of the field was made up of rear-engined cars. The British cars were back in force in 1966, with Lola leading the way with their Ford-powered T-90.
Three T-90s were built, and all three were on the grid at the 1966 Indy 500. This is one of two powered by a 4.2-liter Ford quad-cam V8. Fuel injected, it makes about 425 horsepower. The competition history for this chassis, 90/2, includes:
1966 Indianapolis 500 – 6th, DNF (with Jackie Stewart)
1966 Langhorne 150 – 3rd (with Al Unser Sr.)
1966 Fuji 200 – 1st (with Stewart)
As most old race cars do after their time on track is finished, this car passed around between a few owners. In this case some of them believed this to be the ’66 500-winning car of Graham Hill. The current owner bought it under that assumption in 1995. After much research, it was discovered it was not. In 2017, the car was restored back to its Bowes Seal Fast Special livery that Stewart ran in 1966.
It’s got a pretty interesting history and the 100% right look of an early rear-engined Indy car. The pre-sale estimate is $1,000,000-$1,400,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale. Also… can we take a second to ponder the insanity that Stewart finished SIXTH and was still not running at the end of the ’66 500? The fifth-place finisher wasn’t running either. Talk about attrition…
Offered by Mecum | Glendale, Arizona | March 18-20, 2021
Photo – Mecum
Cars with flat-six engines mounted out back are supposed to be very sporty, almost race cars. Or so I hear. So why was the Corvair labeled a danger, and why did Chevy never make sit sportier than the base model ever was?
Enter Don Yenko, who would become even more famous for modifying Camaros in the late 1960s. He started by hotting-up Corvairs into “Stinger” form. He wanted to make the Corvair SCCA eligible, but it didn’t really fall into a pre-existing category. So he modified an example to fit. But the SCCA required 100 production examples before that version would be race-eligible. So 100 1966 Yenko Stingers would end up being built. This is #50.
The changes from the base car varied from example to example. This car has a “Stage II” flat-six rated at 190 horsepower. It also has four carburetors, a limited-slip differential, a front spoiler, and a four-speed manual transmission. It’s a cool car and among the coolest of Corvairs. Read more about this one here and see more from Mecum here.
Offered by Dorotheum | Vosendorf, Austria | August 29, 2020
Photo – Dorotheum
It wasn’t that long ago that we featured a Glas 1300 GT – the coupe version of this car, which was built by Hans Glas GmbH in Dingolfing, Germany, between 1964 and 1967, when BMW took over. Over 5,000 coupes were made (including 1700 GT models), and the convertible is much rarer.
Power is from a 1.3-liter inline-four making 74 horsepower. This car has the rare five-speed gearbox, and the body was designed by Frua. Drop-tops were introduced in 1965, and only 242 examples of the 1300 cabriolet were built.
This car has known history back to new, much of it spent in Germany. The coupe we featured sold for less than $18,000 earlier this year. This car carries an estimate of $71,000-$94,000. No roof? More money. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Essen, Germany | June 24-27, 2020
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
John Britten’s Arkley was a kit car launched in 1970. The SS was a fiberglass re-body for cars such as the MG Midget or Austin-Healey Sprite. This car is based on a 1966 Austin-Healey Sprite.
Power is from a 1.1-liter inline-four from a Morris Minor, and the car features front cycle fenders with the headlights perched between them and the hood. You can still clearly see the Sprite underpinnings along the sides of the car near the doors.
About 1,000 Arkley kits were produced during the initial run. The rights were sold in the late 1980s and were available again for a short time thereafter. This one is offered at no reserve from RM’s “Essen” sale, which has been pushed back to June and is now online-only. You can read more about the car here and see more from this sale here.
