Tag Archives: auctions

Delahaye Chapron Cabriolet

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1949 Delahaye 135M Cabriolet by Chapron

Offered by Osenat | Fontainebleau, France | November 6, 2016

Photo - Osenat

Photo – Osenat

For many automobile companies, World War II was sort of an interruption. The cars they started building in the late 1930s would re-enter production upon the cessation of hostilities in 1945 (or shortly thereafter if their facilities were damaged). For instance, Delahaye’s luxurious 135 was introduced in 1935. It, and it’s successive line of cars including the 138, 148, and 168, would remain in production until 1954.

Introduced in 1936, the 135M was a 135 with a larger engine. In this case, it sported a 3.6-liter straight-six making either 90, 105, or 115 horsepower depending on configuration. This model remained in production until Delahaye closed up shop in 1954.

Henri Chapron started his coachbuilding company in 1919 and he really hit his sweet spot in the 1930s and 40s. Cars like this beautiful Cabriolet are among his most stylish work. Owned by the consignor since 2002, this car was restored in 2003 in a gorgeous two-tone paint scheme. The pre-sale estimate is $160,000-$195,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $261,352.

Humber Forecar

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1903 Humber 2¾hp Olympia Tandem Forecar

Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | November 4, 2016

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Thomas Humber began selling bicycles in the 1880s in England and in 1898 introduced their first “car” – a three-wheeler based on a motorcycle, much like the one you see here. More traditional, four-wheeled cars appeared in 1901. A long and interesting history followed, culminating in Humber, as part of Chrysler Europe, being sold to Peugeot and the Humber marque was renamed Talbot, before being phased out in 1986 – 100 years after the introduction of their first motorized vehicle.

Early motorcycles did not have room enough for two riders. So if you wanted the convenience of a motorcycle but the passenger capacity of a small car, a Tandem Forecar like this was your best bet. Many companies that existed in the early days of the automobile that built motorcycles offered similar things. This one is powered by a 2.75 horsepower 403cc single-cylinder engine.

Formerly a part of the Rootes Group Heritage Collection (Humber was owned by the Rootes Group from about 1929 through 1967), this Forecar is among the oldest known Humbers in existence. It will take a slight effort to get it running again, but it has been fastidiously maintained and wants to get back on the road. It should sell for between $43,000-$49,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $45,966.

Tourette Microcar

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1957 Tourette Supreme

Offered by Historics at Brooklands | November 26, 2016

Photo - Historics at Brooklands

Photo – Historics at Brooklands

This incredibly rare, incredible micro, microcar was built by the Progress Supreme Co. Ltd. of Purley, London between 1956 and 1958. Progress Supreme was originally known as the Carr Brothers, probably named after the founders.

This three-wheeled microcar looks like something somebody drove right off a kiddie ride at an amusement park. It is powered by a 197cc single-cylinder, two-stroke engine that makes enough horsepower to scoot this thing up to what has to be a terrifying 55 mph. It weights only 500 pounds and has a thrifty 2.7 gallon gas tank.

This is one of only two known surviving Tourette mircocars of an original production run of just 26. There are replicas, but this is the real thing – one of the rarest microcars out there. The pre-sale estimate is $22,000-$30,000 – but it could go higher. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $38,938.

Ruf RGT

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2001 Ruf RGT

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

Photo - Auctions America

Photo – Auctions America

Ruf Automobile’s RGT is based, quite obviously, on the Porsche 911 and specifically for this first generation of the RGT, the 1998-2004 Porsche 996. This generation of the RGT was available from 2000-2004 and this example was specially ordered by its one-and-only owner and is one of just 14 built.

It’s powered by a 680 horsepower twin-turbo 3.6-liter flat-six. That is more than the standard RGT, but this one was outfitted to swing the balance of “road and track” heavily in “track’s” favor. For instance, it also has a 100 liter endurance fuel tank and a roll cage. The owner got rid of a Porsche Cup car to make room for this… so it had to fill some serious shoes.

So what you’re getting here is a super rare variant of a Porsche Turbo that is technically built by a different manufacturer. But it’s a turbo Porsche on steroids – built to run down pure-bred race cars on the track. You can get newer RGTs than this, but this is the original and one of Ruf’s best models. It should sell for between $80,000-$120,000 – less than a third of what has been invested into it. Click here for more info and here for more from Auctions America.

Update: Sold $73,700.

Vale Special

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1933 Vale Special

Offered by Coys | London, U.K. | October 29, 2016

Photo - Coys

Photo – Coys

This is not an MG, nor is it a Morgan. It’s not even a one-off special, if you can believe it. The Vale Engineering Co. LTD. of London was in existence only briefly, from 1932 to 1936. It was founded by Pownoll Pellew who later in life became a Viscount.

The first cars were based around Triumph mechanicals and this car, like many, is powered by a Triumph-sourced 832cc straight-four which likely produced somewhere around eight taxable horsepower. Thing was, they weren’t powerful or quick enough (top speed was 65 mph) for sports car racing and didn’t offer enough ground clearance for trials racing – but they were good, sporty road cars that exhibited great handling.

Later cars could be had with larger engines, but by then it was too late. In total, 103 Vales were produced and less than 30 survive today. No estimate is provided, likely because they don’t trade hands often enough, but look for it to bring much more than its as-new price of £192. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $29,230.

Intermeccanica Indra

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1972 Intermeccanica Indra Coupe

Offered by Auctionata | Berlin, Germany | October 29, 2016

Photo - Auctionata

Photo – Auctionata

We’ve featured a couple of sports cars from Intermeccanica, a Turin-based automobile manufacturer whose badge included the Union Jack. The company still exists, building replica automobiles in Canada.

The Indra was available as a coupe and convertible between 1971 and 1975. The design and engineering work was done jointly by Bitter and Opel. This early example is powered by a 5.3-liter V-8 from General Motors that makes 230 horsepower.

Only 125 Indras were built and only 36 were of this body/engine combination (as GM stopped supplying engines in 1973). This one carries a relatively recent restoration and looks pretty good. The auction for this car starts at $60,000 and has an estimated sale price of $95,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $75,000.

1897 Daimler

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1897 Daimler Twin-Cylinder 4HP Rougemont Wagonette

Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | November 4, 2016

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Daimler, which is technically a “dormant” brand as of 2008, was founded in Coventry in 1896 by Frederick Simms. He acquired the rights to build Gottlieb Daimler’s cars in the U.K. Eventually they’d move away from the German designs and by the time the end came, their cars were just badge-engineered Jaguars.

This car is powered by a 1.5-liter straight twin rated at four horsepower. Apparently, they were able to increase the power rating by two the following year. This car is a performer: it is described as a “reliable early finisher on the London-Brighton Run.” This is the sort of prototypical vehicle we imagine taking part in that event.

Ownership history is known back to 1905 (which is pretty incredible) and the current owner has had the car for nearly 20 years. This car has never been restored, but just repaired and redone as needed. It’s remarkable. As one of the earliest known surviving British Daimlers, it should sell for between $240,000-$270,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $295,661.

Graham Hollywood

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1941 Graham Hollywood Sedan

Offered by Mecum | Dallas, Texas | November 2-5, 2016

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

There are two separate automotive histories that converged in the late 1930s to allow this spectacular car to come to life. First, the story of Graham: brothers Joseph, Robert, and Ray Graham founded Graham Brothers in 1919 and began building trucks under that name. In 1925, they sold the company to Dodge and a year after Chrysler bought Dodge in 1928, the Graham Brothers brand was shut down.

In 1927, the brothers bought the company that built Paige and Jewett cars and in 1928 started building cars branded as Graham-Paige. Eventually, they dropped the “Paige” and just sold cars as Graham.

Now the other side of the story… E.L. Cord’s automotive empire failed in the 1930s and the brilliant Cord 810/812 “coffin nose” design of Gordon Buehrig was too good of a design to simply disappear. Enter Hupmobile, which by this point in the Depression was also failing. They bought the dies for the Cord but didn’t have any money to build the cars. So Graham stepped in and made a deal to build cars for Hupmobile if they were allowed to build some for themselves, too. In 1940 Graham started building the Graham Hollywood and its sister car, the 1940-only Hupmobile Skylark.

The Hollywood was available in 1940 and 1941 and this well restored example is powered by a 3.6-liter straight-six making 85 horsepower (a supercharged version could be had as well). Unlike the Cord, the Hollywood is rear-wheel drive. Production delays frustrated customers and, despite high initial public interest, the car was considered a flop. Only about 1,500 Hollywoods were ever built and this one is from Graham’s final year of automotive production. They remain a rarity today, but stand as one of America’s most stylishly advanced cars of the immediate pre-war period. This one should bring between $50,000-$65,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $47,000.

Carrera GT

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2004 Porsche Carrera GT

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

Photo - Auctions America

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.

October 2016 Auction Highlights

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We’ll pick up in October where we left off in September: with Bonhams and their Zoute sale in Belgium. The top sale was this 1955 Porsche 356 Pre-A 1600 Speedster that brought $653,361.

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

The Porsche 911R we featured broke the bank, too, bringing $538,062. Complete results can be found here.

Now onto the biggest sale of the month: RM Sotheby’s in Hershey, where one of the Duesenberg‘s we featured came away as the top sale at $2,090,000. The other Duesey, the Prototype Model J, brought $340,000. The Regal was the only no-sale among our feature cars and our Most Interesting award (not to mention well bought) goes to this 1929 Lincoln Model L Five-Passenger Brougham by Brunn that was bought new by gangster Legs Diamond. It sold for $38,500.

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

Other well-bought cars included this Oakland Touring for $44,000 and this Pullman Touring for $51,700. The other Pullman brought $66,000 while a previously-featured White Yellowstone Park Bus sold for $88,000. And finally, the Chalmers sold for $71,500 and the Winton $160,000. Full results can be found here.

Mecum’s Chicago sale ended on October 8th and this 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 429 Fastback was the top sale at $245,000.

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

The Reo The Fifth Touring car we featured failed to sell, having been bid to only $9,000. Click here for complete results.

Artcurial liquidated a collection in France that featured a variety of American vehicles, where the top seller was this 1932 Packard Deluxe Eight Model 904 Convertible Victoria in the style of Rollston for $58,696.

Photo - Artcurial

Photo – Artcurial

The Matford we featured brought $20,010 and the Meteor $8,004. Click here for more results.

Silverstone Auctions held an all-Porsche sale in October and this 1972 911 S 2.4 Coupe was the top sale at $243,925. Click here for complete results.

Photo - Silverstone Auctions

Photo – Silverstone Auctions