Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | February 7, 2020
Photo – Artcurial
Ferrari’s 126 series of F1 cars were used between the 1981 and 1984 Formula One seasons. The 126 C3 was one of two cars used by the Scuderia for the 1983 season. The first was the 126 C2B, which was essentially their 1982 car with a flat bottom.
The C3 was a lighter version of the 126 C2B and used a carbon/kevlar shell. A 600-horsepower turbocharged 1.5-liter V6 provided the power. The car debuted halfway through the season, and four chassis were built. The competition history for this car includes:
1983 Austrian Grand Prix – 2nd (with Rene Arnoux)
1983 Dutch Grand Prix – 1st (with Arnoux)
The car fell back into reserve car status and was sold at the end of the season to the French Ferrari importer. But this car helped Ferrari win the constructor’s title for the 1983 season. It should now bring between $666,600-$1,111,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
We pick up in October with Artcurial, where a rough sell-through rate had this backdated 1980 Porsche 911 sell for $158,875 – more than anything else in the sale. The Simca cabriolet we featured brought $32,210. Full results can be found here.
Photo – Artcurial
Next up is Mecum’s Chicago sale. A previously-featured Delahaye failed to sell here again, and the Atterbury truck brought $77,000. The big seller here was this 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 429 Fastback. It sold for $275,000. More results are available here.
Osenat’s October sale saw our featured Flipper fail to find a new home. But that didn’t stop this 1981 Ferrari 308 GTSi from going home with its new owner for $64,791. Click here for more results.
Photo – Osenat
Mecum’s tractor auction in Davenport, Iowa, in November also featured a whole day of classic trucks, the most expensive of which was this 1934 Ford Roadster Pickup at $104,500.
Photo – Mecum
The Fordson prototype brought $90,750, and the Erskine failed to sell. More results are available here.
Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | October 27, 2019
Photo – Artcurial
Simca’s two-door model range is a bit confusing, especially cars built around 1950. The Simca 8 was new in 1937 and was re-introduced after the war, with production continuing through 1951. It was a rebadged Fiat 508C, and it was Simca’s bread and butter.
Company president Henri Pigozzi had Pininfarina mock up a coupe version of the 8, which was popular. It went on sale as the Simca Sport in 1950. Later, in 1952, an updated version called the Simca 9 Sport went on sale and was built alongside the Sport, which was also referred to as the 8 Sport. Right.
This Facel-bodied cabriolet is powered by a 1.2-liter inline-four capable of 50 horsepower. The car had a single owner from new until the early 2000s. It should now bring between $38,000-$60,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
We’ll start with Historics at Brooklands, who originally had an old Maxim fire truck in their catalog that mysteriously disappeared (from the catalog). The top sale was this 1968 Aston Martin DB6 Volante that brought $787,534.
Photo – Historics at Brooklands
The awesome (and purple) TVR Cerbera we featured sold for $20,648. Mark my words: when these are eligible for U.S. importation, these prices are going to go way up. Click here for more results from this sale.
Next up is Aste Bolaffi’s sale in Milan. If you ever wanted to own a Siata (that isn’t a Spring) but didn’t want to spend a ton of money, this was the place to be. The 1500 TS we featured sold for $25,774. The biggest money was paid for this 1972 Ferrari Dino 246 GT. It sold for $369,814. Click here for complete results.
Photo – Aste Bolaffi
We move to RM Sotheby’s in Auburn, Indiana for their spring sale at that location. The top automotive lot was this 1930 Cord L-29 Convertible Phaeton Sedan for $157,300.
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
The Hupmobile Skylark we featured sold for $15,400 and the Haynes Touring went for only $10,560, a figure that made me nauseous, as do most of the results, as there were quite a few I would’ve stepped up to buy had I been there.
Finally, we move to Artcurial’s sale on June 17. Amid a pretty tough sell-through rate, this 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB stole the show at $2,175,046.
Photo – Artcurial
Speaking of a tough sell-through rate, the Alpine A310 we featured, along with a previously-featured Hommell coupe, failed to find new owners. The good news is that the CG 1300 sold for $64,454, and the BMW Z1 brought $41,626. The rest of the results can be found here.
Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | June 17, 2019
Photo – Artcurial
While Alpine was affiliated with Renault for most of their existence, they weren’t taken over by the company until 1973, which makes the A310 the final product introduced by an independent Alpine.
The cars used a tubular steel chassis with fiberglass bodywork and a rear-mounted engine, and the early models were all four-cylinder cars. In 1976, an update was released which saw the introduction of a 2.7-liter V6 good for 148 horsepower. Top speed was 137 mph.
This car comes from the A310’s best sales year: 1979, when 1,381 of these were sold. In all, 9,276 V6-powered A310s were built, with an additional 2,340 four-cylinder models. This car is selling at no reserve with a pre-sale estimate of $39,000-$50,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | June 17, 2019
Photo – Artcurial
By the late-1980s, BMW wasn’t producing a two-door sports car. Sure, they had the M3 but that was an extension of the 3-Series lineup, and not its own thing. Then in 1989, the Z1 was introduced. It featured vertically-sliding doors that disappear into the door sills – a kind of bizarre feature that you aren’t really likely to find on any other cars.
Power is from a 2.5-liter inline-six making 168 horsepower. Although designed in the 1980s, the car appears more modern, like something to come out of the wild 90s. And since then, the design has held up well. While production only lasted through 1991, the Z1 was eventually succeeded by the Z3 in 1996.
Only 8,000 of these were made, and they were not sold new in the US. In fact, they didn’t really start appearing over here until the 25-year rule ran its course. This car, selling at no reserve, is expected to fetch between $45,000-$67,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | June 17, 2019
Automobiles CG was founded in 1966 by Jean Gessalin and brothers Abel, Albert, and Louis Chappe. Their primary business was building bodies for other manufacturers, as well as assembling cars for other companies. But CG was also an automotive manufacturer in its own right until the company closed in 1974.
The 1300 was the final model introduced by the company, in 1972. Production lasted for about 18 months, and only 95 examples were churned out. CG cars were Simca-based, and this car is powered by a 1.3-liter inline-four from the Simca Rallye 2. Output was 80 horsepower in base form, or 94 when equipped with optional go-fast bits, which I think this car has.
CG is not very well remembered today (and neither is Simca for that matter), especially when compared with its peers, like Alpine. Very rare, this car should bring between $56,000-$90,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
We’ll pick up where we left off last time, Scottsdale. This time it’s Russo & Steele, where this2012 Lexus LFA blew everything else away, selling for $412,500. Complete results can be found here.
Photo – Russo & Steele
Now we’re on to Retromobile in Paris, where RM Sotheby’s led it off with a huge number for this 1987 Ferrari F40 LM: $5,489,215.
The second sale of the Retromobile week was held by Bonhams, and we featured a lot of cars from this event. On the extreme one end of the spectrum was the Red Bug buckboard we featured. It sold for $4,958. Now a quick rundown of no-sales from this auction: the Clement-Bayard, the beautiful Darracq, the 1911 Renault, the Bellanger, and a previously-featured Horch. The overall top sale was this 1939 Mercedes-Benz 540K Cabriolet A for $1,794,086.
Finally, we have Silverstone Auctions and their Race Retro Classic Car sale. The biggest money was the $381,813 paid for this 1958 Porsche 356A Speedster.
Photo – Silverstone Auctions
The Ginetta G4 we featured sold for $40,824, but the De Tomaso Longchamp Spider failed to find a new home on the block. You can see more results from this sale here.
1939 Citroen Traction Avant 11BL Cabriolet by Clabot
Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | February 8, 2019
Photo – Artcurial
The Traction Avant was one of a few cars produced worldwide that saw a pre-war introduction and continued post-war success. Part of that probably had to do with the financial state of France after WWII and the associated engineering costs for developing a new vehicle. It’s kind of crazy that a car designed for 1934 was still being sold in a Western country in 1957.
There were a number of variants and also a number of coachbuilt models. The 11CV model went on sale in 1934 and can be further divided into two sub-models. This is an example of the 11BL, which meant that it is powered by the 11CV 1.9-liter inline-four but rides on the 7CV chassis.
This car is one of three Cabriolets bodied by Robert Clabot, and if the design looks vaugely Saoutchik-like, that’s because Clabot was once employed by Jacques Saoutchik. This flamboyant example of a common French car should bring between $285,000-$400,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | February 8, 2019
Photo – Artcurial
Here is another Serenissima road car that never got beyond the prototype stage. This unregistered car was shown at the 1968 Turin, Geneva, and New York motor shows. It looks eerily reminiscent of a De Tomaso Mangusta, but with bits of other cars of the era sprinkled in that you just can’t put your finger on.
The design was done by Tom Tjaarda at Ghia. Interestingly enough, Giovanni Volpi, who owned Serenissima, was good friends with Alejandro de Tomaso, who owned Ghia at the time. They joined forces to build this car, which is perhaps why it has that Mangusta DNA in its blood.
Power is from a 3.5-liter V8 that was good for 320 horsepower. This car is still owned by Volpi, who has not used it in a long time. It will require a recommissioning before use, but it is the only example built. Therefore, it should command between $450,000-$675,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
