Carrera GT

Posted on October 24, 2016 by classiccarweekly

2004 Porsche Carrera GT

Offered by Auctions America | Hilton Head, South Carolina | November 5, 2016

Photo – Auctions America

The Porsche Carrera GT was introduced at the 2000 Paris Motor Show (here’s the Prototype) and it went on sale in 2003 for the 2004 model year. It was the first true production Porsche supercar since the 959 (we don’t count the 911 GT1 as a “production” supercar). The run of 1,270 cars ended in 2007.

This car is powered by a 605 horsepower 5.7-liter V-10 engine – an odd choice for a Porsche automobile, a company that usually uses flat-style powerplants. Top speed is a supercar worthy 205 mph but even with that performance, these were built specifically for the street – no race variant was ever built. The Carrera GT was followed in the Porsche supercar line by the 918 Spyder.

Only 24 miles are on this car, making it, likely, the lowest-mileage Carrera GT in private hands. Delivered new to Ohio, it is still in delivery condition. It’s basically your last chance to buy a brand-new Carrera GT. It should sell for between $850,000-$950,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $800,000.

Vanquish Roadster Prototype

Posted on August 3, 2015 by classiccarweekly

2004 Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Roadster Prototype

Offered by Bonhams | Carmel, California | August 14, 2015

Photo – Bonhams

The Vanquish (also called the V12 Vanquish in the beginning) was Aston Martin’s flagship car (and supercar) in the early oughts. It was built between 2001 and 2007, with the final two model years available solely in Vanquish S form. The car was only every sold as a two-door coupe. There was never a convertible.

Except for this. A second generation Vanquish went on sale in 2013 and a convertible Volante variant was introduced for the ’14 model year. But for the original car, this is the only convertible. It was built by Zagato and shown at the 2004 Geneva Auto Salon. It was later shown at the “concept and prototype green” at Pebble Beach where the current owner managed to acquire it.

The car began life as a Vanquish testing mule but when converted by Zagato it was made entirely roadworthy. It was even wind-tunnel tested to make sure it was quiet in the cabin. The engine is the standard Vanquish 5.9-liter V-12 making 460 horsepower. 1,492 Vanquish coupes were built. But this is special. It is legally in the U.S. and has over 13,000 miles on it. Bonhams is estimating a sale price of $700,000-$850,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $660,000.

Lincoln Mark X Concept

Posted on November 3, 2014 by classiccarweekly

2004 Lincoln Mark X Concept

Offered by RM Auctions | Farmer’s Branch, Texas | November 14-15, 2014

Photo – RM Auctions

Lincoln has been trying desperately to reinvent itself as of late – trying to hold off a fate like that of sister company Mercury. This is the type of car it needs. The newest iteration of the Ford Thunderbird was kind of a dud. Perhaps it would have worked better as this.

The 2004 Mark X Concept is based around a Thunderbird, but has all of the Lincoln bits on it. It looks better than the T-Bird it’s based around, honestly, and uses a 280 horsepower 3.9-liter V-8.

It’s a true concept car – only one made. But it does run and drive (although getting it road-registered could be tricky – check local listings). There are a number of Ford concept cars at this sale, but this is one of the best (if not the coolest). You can read more here and see more from RM’s sale of the Sam Pack Collection here.

Update: Sold $129,250.

Bonhams at Petersen Automotive Museum – Results

Posted on November 23, 2011 by classiccarweekly

Bonham’s November 12th, 2011 auction at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles sold a few interesting cars that we’ll talk about here. One that did not sell was the 1906 Holsman Model G-10 High-Wheel Runabout we featured here a few weeks ago.

On the upper-end of things was a 1955 Cadillac Fleetwood 75 Limousine that was once owned by Elvis Presley. It’s Elvis-association brought in $172,000 – which is a lot, but then again, this is a lot of Cadillac. This result would appear to show that, in this case, Elvis’ name is worth approximately $100,000.

On the interesting side was this 1981 Phillips Berlina T-Top:

Neo-classics were all the rage in the late 1970s and early 1980s. There were quite a number of companies sprouting up in the U.S. that sol old-style cars on modern running gear. Every one of them looks like something Cruella de Vil would drive. This particular car from the Phillips Motor Car Company is built upon a C3 Corvette chassis and uses the donor car’s L82 V8. Chances are you could find numersou Excaliburs or Zimmers for sale at any one time, but this Florida-built Phillips is much rarer. It sold for $10,350.

The next car was featured in the the Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise movie Minority Report. It’s a 2004 Lexus that is fairly memorable from it’s role in the film (if you happened to see it). The car was featured prominently in the movie ads and at least one Lexus campaign if I recall correctly.

It doesn’t have much in the way of an interior – just a driver’s seat, a steering wheel, and some video screens. In the movie it was run on fuel cells (as that was the world-saving technology being touted as “the future” in 2004). Whether it runs or not in real life is another story. This car would work best as a pretty sculpture that sits in the middle of your collection. It brought $101,790.

Going back more than a hundred years we find this wonderful 1902 Autocar Type VIII Rear-Entrance Tonneau:

This car is a driver and is eligible for the London-to-Brighton Run. It’s attractive rear-entrance tonneau bodywork is a kind of marvel. Like three-door coupes today with their hidden rear-doors, this was an early attempt to build a somewhat sporty-looking two-seater with extra hidden seating and space behind the driver. Autocar traces its roots back to 1897 but they built their last “car” in 1911. They are still in business today, making large “vocational” trucks – thus making them, off the top of my head, America’s oldest vehicle manufacturer that’s still operating today. This car sold for $64,350.

Finally, we come to this 1951 Studebaker Land Cruiser Sedan.

It’s not remarkable – Studebaker made a good number of these – but it’s fresh (2007) restoration really looks good. It has a 120 horsepower V-8 and Studebaker’s stand-out “Bullet Nose” design. There’s just something about this car that struck me as intriguing. Do you agree or am I crazy?

For complete results, click here. Individual car pages are linked above.