Tag Archives: 1974

Mini-Comtesse

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1974 ACOMA Mini-Comtesse

Offered by Brightwells | Leominster, U.K. | July 11, 2018

Photo – Brightwells

ACOMA sarl of Angers, France, existed between 1975 and 1984. They were one of the pioneering French microcar manufacturers and were the largest such manufacturer in France at the end of the 1970s. This, the Mini-Comtesse, was their first model.

The tiny body is made of fiberglass. It features gullwing doors, so you can impress your supercar-driving neighbors. The engine is a 49cc single-cylinder and the single-seat interior is sparse at best. This is technically a five-wheeled vehicle – there is single front wheel (that is the driven wheel) and two wheels out back. There are also two tiny wheels outboard of the driven wheel to prevent Mr. Bean-style Reliant Robin tipovers.

ACOMA produced later models which all seem to be derivative takes on this car. For instance, the later Super Comtesse is a traditional four-wheeler that looks like a construction barrel had a love child with a cartoon pig. Interesting stuff. If you like microcars, this is an interesting one. It will sell at no reserve. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $1,089.

Three Cars from the Jaguar Land Rover Collection

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Three Cars from the Jaguar Land Rover Collection

Offered by Brightwells | Bicester, U.K. | March 21, 2018

1974 Rover P6 3500 Estoura

Photo – Brightwells

Jaguar Land Rover bought the entire 453 car James Hull collection in 2014. Many of those cars were Jaguars, but they had a bunch of other oddballs and are selling a good number of them. We’ll show you three, starting with this Rover P6 Estoura.

The Rover P6 3500 was produced between 1968 and 1977. They’re powered by a 3.5-liter V-8 making 146 horsepower. The cars were four-door sedans and if you wanted a wagon, you had to go to an outside company. Enter FLM Panelcraft, who turned 150 P6 3500 sedans into Estoura estates. It is said that this is one of the finest of this model in existence and you can read more here.

Update: Sold $13,578.

1960 Vauxhall Velox Friary Estate

Photo – Brightwells

This looks like Britain’s idea of a big American wagon. Which it kind of is as it was built by Vauxhall, then a division of General Motors. Well, actually GM didn’t build it as the Velox PA, which was produced between 1957 and 1962, was only offered from the factory as a four-door sedan.

But estate cars were popular and if the factory wouldn’t build them, someone else would. In this case, it was Friary of Basingstoke and the result is beautiful, in a 1960s wagon kind of way. This car is powered by a 2.3-liter straight-six making 83 horsepower. This example was restored at some point.

The Queen had one – and now you can too. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $12,729

1977 Princess 2200 HL

Photo – Brightwells

Brightwells dubbed this sale “affordable classics” and that’s exactly what we have here. Princess was a marque produced by British Leyland from 1975 to 1981 (and for an extra year in New Zealand). It was not an Austin, nor a Morris (though it was produced by the Austin-Morris Division) but was a separate brand entirely.

This is a first generation Princess (of two) and it sports the larger of the two engines offered during its 1975-1978 model run. It’s a 2.2-liter straight-six making 110 horsepower. Two trims were offered, with this being the lesser of them. It’s a super 1970s car if you want a throwback to what is largely considered a sad era for British motorcars. But Princess-branded cars are getting harder to find. Click here for more info on this one.

Update: Sold $3,111.

Rover P6 Estoura

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1974 Rover P6 3500 Estoura

Offered by Brightwells | Bicester, U.K. | March 21, 2018

Photo – Brightwells

Jaguar Land Rover bought the entire 453 car James Hull collection in 2014. Many of those cars were Jaguars, but they had a bunch of other oddballs and are selling a good number of them. We’ll show you three, starting with this Rover P6 Estoura.

The Rover P6 3500 was produced between 1968 and 1977. They’re powered by a 3.5-liter V-8 making 146 horsepower. The cars were four-door sedans and if you wanted a wagon, you had to go to an outside company. Enter FLM Panelcraft, who turned 150 P6 3500 sedans into Estoura estates. It is said that this is one of the finest of this model in existence and you can read more here.

Update: Sold $13,578.

Bristol 411 Series IV

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1974 Bristol 411 Series IV

Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | December 6, 2017

Photo – Bonhams

The fourth series of the Bristol 411 was only sold in 1974. It sports the same styling as the Series III, with revised grille and headlight setup. The engine was also different as Bristol went with more displacement, installing a 6.6-liter version of Chrysler’s V-8. The larger engine wasn’t enough to counteract a lower compression ratio and stricter environmental guidelines as power dropped to 264 horsepower.

This example was restored over a five year period between 2006 and 2011. The Series IV had the shortest production run, but I’m not sure how many were built (of the 287 total). Always rare and always collectible, this Bristol should bring between $59,000-$72,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $58,459.

Two Bristol 411s

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1970 Bristol 411 Series I

Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | December 2, 2017

Photo – Bonhams

The Bristol 411 was the replacement for the short lived 410. It debuted in 1969 and was built in five distinct series until 1976. We’ve previously featured a Series II car and what you see here is a Series I, which was built between 1969 and 1970.

The engine in the 411 was a 6.3-liter Chrysler V-8 making 335 horsepower. Top speed was 140 mph. For the Series II, Bristol added a self-leveling suspension. The styling would get an update for the Series III. Only about 50 examples of the Series I were produced, out of a total production run of 287 cars. This 77,000 mile example should bring between $79,000-$92,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

1974 Bristol 411 Series IV

Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | December 6, 2017

Photo – Bonhams

The fourth series of the Bristol 411 was only sold in 1974. It sports the same styling as the Series III, with revised grille and headlight setup. The engine was also different as Bristol went with more displacement, installing a 6.6-liter version of Chrysler’s V-8. The larger engine wasn’t enough to counteract a lower compression ratio and stricter environmental guidelines as power dropped to 264 horsepower.

This example was restored over a five year period between 2006 and 2011. The Series IV had the shortest production run, but I’m not sure how many were built (of the 287 total). Always rare and always collectible, this Bristol should bring between $59,000-$72,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $58,459.

Alfa Tipo 33 TT 12

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1974 Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 TT 12

Offered by Gooding & Company | Pebble Beach, California | August 18, 2017

Photo – Gooding & Company

The Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 was a series of awesome prototype racing cars built by Alfa between 1966 and 1977. We’ve previously featured the Tipo 33/2 and 33/3, which were two of the earlier designs. The TT 12 was the second-to-last version and it was built between 1973 and 1976.

Prior to this car, the Tipo 33s were V-8 powered. For 1973, they opted to install a 3.0-liter flat-12 that puts out 500 horsepower. The “TT” does not stand for “twin turbocharged” but instead references the car’s tubular chassis. This was a factory race car, owned and operated by Autodelta S.p.A. and under their direction, it competed in the following races:

  • 1975 1000km Monza – DNF (with Henri Pescarolo and Derek Bell)
  • 1975 1000km Spa – 1st (with Pescarolo and Bell)
  • 1975 1000km Nurburgring – DNF (with Pescarolo and Bell)
  • 1975 6 Hours of Watkins Glen – 1st (with Pescarolo and Bell)

That’s just a few of the big races it competed in, as it ended up winning at least one more. For 1976, Alfa replaced the 33 TT 12s with the next generation car and this example was parked. In 1980, Autodelta dealt this car to a collector in California who has owned it since. It’s shown up at the Monterey Historics six times over the years and you can take it there next year. Only six of these were built and this one should bring between $2,400,000-$2,800,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Zagato Zele

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1974 Zagato Zele 1000

Offered by Historics at Brooklands | November 26, 2016

Photo - Historics at Brooklands

Photo – Historics at Brooklands

It seems like every design house has tried their hand at producing a car of their own. Bertone did it a couple of times, Ghia did it for most of the 1960s, and even Pininfarina got in the game in the 1980s. But nobody did it smaller than Zagato with their Zele electric car.

Built between 1974 and 1976, the rear-engined, rear-drive Zele was available in three models, the 1000, 1500, and 2000 – all so-named for their motor wattage. In all, about 500 were made. This is an early 1000 watt model and these all sported a 50 mile range. This model has only covered 99 km in its life. That’s just over a single charge!

This two-seater – in correct original orange paint with black stripe (one of seven original colors available) – was originally owned by another Italian company that worked in the electric car field. It should sell for between $14,500-$17,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $16,687.

Italian Mini

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1974 Innocenti Mini Cooper

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Milan, Italy | November 25-27, 2016

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby's

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The ubiquitous Mini. Produced nearly unchanged from 1959 through 2000 (!), Sir Alec Issigonis’  little two door car of the people is an absolute icon. It is the basis for countless kit cars, and was produced under the banner of quite a number of marques, including: Austin, Rover, Authi, Leyland, Mini (as a brand itself), and Innocenti.

Italian Innocenti built their version of the Mini between 1965 and 1975. They would build another car called the Mini which was based on this car, but carried Bertone bodywork that made it unrecognizable as such. It’s not listed, but we’d guess this car features a 1.3-liter straight-four.

This example is very nice and is ready for the road. The interior looks brand new and although Minis are relatively easy to find, their Italian cousin isn’t seen nearly as often. At any rate, this one should bring between $7,500-$11,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $15,579.

Aston Martin Lagonda

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1974 Aston Martin Lagonda 7.0-Litre

Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | December 6, 2015

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

This is one of the rarest Aston Martins ever built. It’s rarer than the it-won’t-be-sold-to-the-public Bond-only special DB10 that the company built for the new Spectre film. They built 10 of those. They only built eight of these (including the 1969 Prototype that features different styling).

And the styling here is very 1970s Aston. It looks just like a stretched Aston Martin V8, which is essentially what it is. Riding on a longer wheelbase, the Lagonda used the same 5.3-liter V-8 making 320 horsepower. Except for two of them. This and one other car were upgraded to a 7.0-liter V-8 making 480 horsepower. It was tested up to 145 mph before they ran out of room on the test track.

Aston revived the Lagonda name in 1974 for their luxury sport sedan. The model was around for two years before being replaced by the long-running and very boxy Lagonda sedan that people are more familiar with. This car was extremely expensive when it went on sale – perhaps why so few were built.

This car was acquired by Aston Martin 2010 for use on their display stand when they launched a new car (a project which was later cancelled, sending this car to sit in storage since). Interestingly, it was also used on their show stand at the 1974 Earls Court Motor Show. It is being offered from the factory (for the second time) with an estimate of $610,000-$760,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $636,100.

Albany Convertible

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1974 Albany Convertible

Offered by Brightwells | Leominster, U.K. | November 25, 2015

Photo - Brightwells

Photo – Brightwells

Well what do we have here? This certainly doesn’t resemble your average automobile from 1974. It’s always interesting to see what cars people decide to build replicas of… but this car isn’t even a replica. It’s doesn’t look like any singular early 1900s car. It’s just a “modern” version of an old car.

Albany was founded by Bryan and David Shepherd and their little convertibles were available from 1971 through 1997. Over 110 were built by the end of the 1970s. This car is based on Triumph mechanicals and uses a donor 1.5-liter straight-four. It’s Edwardian motoring with modern convenience (well a 1970s Triumph is probably just as reliable as a car from the 1900s).

This car represents a very affordable way to get into old cars, with a pre-sale estimate of $10,500-$13,750. It’s simple to use and you’ll be the only one at your local show in one. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.