Tag Archives: auctions

Mustang Enduro Prototype

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1980 Ford Mustang GT Enduro Prototype

Offered by Auctions America | Hilton Head, South Carolina | October 31, 2015

Photo - Auctions America

Photo – Auctions America

The third-generation “Fox body” Mustang was built between 1979 and 1993. Ford actually took them racing int the 1980s. In the early 80s, these racing IMSA Mustangs were very boxy and wide. So Ford had three road-going prototypes built in 1982 to “resemble” these boxy racing cars. This is one of them (the other two are red).

The engine is a 5.0-liter V-8 that has been modified to something that more resembles a race engine than the Fox body’s dorky 2.3-liter straight-four base powerplant. Horsepower is generously “more than stock.” Everything else – from the shifter, transmission, drivetrain and suspension – has been customized.

This 14,000-mile car is a very rare prototype and one of the coolest Mustangs built in the 1980s – which, let’s be honest, wasn’t the nameplate’s high point. It should bring between $45,000-$60,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $40,700.

1904 Columbia

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1904 Columbia Mark XLIII Two-Cylinder Rear-Entrance Tonneau

Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | October 30, 2015

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Although many car companies bore his name, Columbia did not bear the name of Albert Pope, who first began building electric automobiles under the Columbia name in 1897. Gasoline-powered cars followed in 1899. Pope’s Columbia merged with the Electric Vehicle Company to form the Columbia Automobile Company in 1899 as well.

The 1904 Mark XLIII was the only two-cylinder car offered by the company that year and it could only be had in 2.9-liter 12/14 horsepower, four-passenger rear-entrance tonneau form. A four-cylinder car was also offered alongside no less than 35 electric variants. Their range was huge – I’m not sure any other American manufacturer was offering this many different cars in 1904. In 1911, the trend had reversed and gasoline was the dominant power source. That year, the company became part of the United States Motor Company, which failed in 1912, taking Columbia with it.

This car was restored in the 1960s and has been owned by the current owner since 2004. It’s very nice. Surviving early Columbias are mostly electrics, which makes this car quite rare. It should bring between $140,000-$170,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $121,950.

MMC Tonneau

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1904 MMC 8HP Rear-Entrance Tonneau

Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | October 30, 2015

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

MMC is the abbreviation for the creatively-named Motor Manufacturing Company. Harry J. Lawson invented the “Safety Bicycle” in the 1870s and later saw the future: automobiles. His plan was to basically own all British motor production by acquiring as many patents as possible. He organized the Great Horseless Carriage Company in 1896. It failed quickly and was re-organized as the MMC in 1898. This company actually built some cars but went bankrupt in 1904. They built a few cars between 1904 and 1907 and were gone by 1908.

This car appears to have an eight-horsepower single-cylinder engine and known ownership history back to 1953. The restoration was finished in 1960, just in time for the car to be featured in a number of films in the 1960s. It was last used on the road in the 1960s and had some touch up work done in the 80s.

It is not road-ready, but it is rare, coming from a marque that had but a brief history and is fairly unknown. MMC is perhaps best known as having been founded by Lawson, who was later convicted of fraudulently raising money for his businesses – including this one. It should bring between $61,000-$92,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $79,383.

October 2015 Auction Highlights

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Into October, Bonhams leads it off with a sale in Belgium that we were unable to feature anything from. The top sale was this 2011 Ferrari 599 SA Aperta for $1,012,638. Complete results can be found here.

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Artcurial sold a lone 1961 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster in Hong Kong this month. It went for an insane $11,180,606.

Photo - Artcurial

Photo – Artcurial

RM Sotheby’s held a sale in Hershey and their catalog was so full of early American marques that we got a little carried away and featured 31 cars from the sale. Oops. A couple of those didn’t sell (the Mitchell Baby Six, the Columbus Electric, the 1909 Stoddard-Dayton, and the Petrel Roadster). The top sale wasn’t a feature car, but this 1913 Pierce-Arrow Model 66-A Seven-Passenger Touring for $830,500.

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

Here are some big sellers from our feature cars, led by the only car to get its “own post”, the Oldsmobile Autocrat, which went for $698,500. Additionally:

Here’s some that we though were pretty good deals, or at least “affordable”:

And here is everything else:

Click here for even more results. Moving across the Atlantic to Germany, Auctionata held a sale in Berlin. The top sale was this 1950 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS Cabriolet by Pininfarina that brought $487,150. Click here for full results.

Photo - Auctionata

Photo – Auctionata

And finally, Mecum’s Chicago sale. Our featured AMX Prototype failed to sell, as did the Victress. The top sale was a 2005 Ford GT for $230,000.

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

The first Bricklin SV1 ever built brought $43,000. Click here for complete results.

Cadillac NART Zagato

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1970 Cadillac NART Zagato

Offered by Stanislas Machoïr | Nice, France | October 17, 2015

Photo - Stanislas Machoir

Photo – Stanislas Machoir

Luigi Chinetti and his North American Racing Team (NART) are legends in American (and worldwide) motoring. He was the man who brought Ferrari to America and the initials of his racing team mark some of the world’s most valuable Ferraris.

In 1969 or 1970, Chinetti met with GM with the idea to create something exotic based on one of their cars. So, using a modified 1969 Cadillac Eldorado chassis, Chinetti (and his son, Luigi Jr., who helped pen the body), created this unique one-off creation.

It is powered by a mid-mounted 8.2-liter V-8 making 400 horsepower. The car is rear-wheel drive as opposed to the Eldorado’s standard front-wheel drive layout. The body was constructed out of aluminium by Zagato in Italy. Styling cues are a mix of both European performance and GM parts bin.

Unfortunately, General Motors never really gave the car any consideration for production but Zagato did show it at the 1971 Turin Motor Show and Chinetti showed it again in New York later that year as well. It’s a super unique piece of history – perfect for collectors of Cadillacs, General Motors concept cars, Zagato concept cars – and even Ferraris. It all ties in. It should bring a respectable $280,000-$450,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

The Big, Pre-Benz Mercedes

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1924 Mercedes 24/100/140 Custom Sport Touring by Fleetwood

Offered by Dragone Auctions | Westport, Connecticut | October 17, 2015

Photo - Dragone Auctions

Photo – Dragone Auctions

The 24/100/140 was the “big” Mercedes. Introduced in 1924, it was on sale for only two short years before the merger of Daimler and Benz – and the creation of Mercedes-Benz. The post-merger car was known as the Mercedes-Benz Type 630 through 1929. It was the long, fast, and heavy Mercedes – one of the peaks of 1920s German motoring.

The engine is a 6.2-liter straight-six that made 99 horsepower – but with the “Kompressor” (supercharger) engaged, power jumped up to 138. Strangely, this big German touring car doesn’t carry a European body. Instead, the new chassis and engine combo was shipped to Mercedes of North America in New York City. The new owner sent it to Fleetwood in Pennsylvania who was operating in its final year of independence in its founding city before being acquired and moved to Detroit.

The car was discovered in the 1970s and restored. Then it was hidden again. When it was pulled out of the garage recently, it showed that it had been well preserved since that restoration over 40 years ago. It’s been awakened and is ready to run. Only 377 of these were built after the Benz merger, so the number beforehand is likely much lower. This one should bring between $1,200,000-$1,400,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Exemplar Concept Car

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1967 Exemplar 1 Concept Car

Offered by Dragone Auctions | Westport, Connecticut | October 17, 2015

Photo - Dragone Auctions

Photo – Dragone Auctions

Here’s a car you’ve never seen before – and we’re comfortable saying that because no one outside of the folks who did the recent restoration has seen this car in decades. It was built with the backing of the Bridgeport Brass Company and the Copper Development Association to showcase that brass and copper provided many functional and styling opportunities on motorcars.

The car started life as a 1967 Buick Riviera and was sent to Carrozzeria Coggiola of Italy. Sergio Coggiola did the body work which is heavily laden with brass and copper – both inside and out. The styling and color palette are wild; check out the rest of the photos. The engine is the standard 360 horsepower, 7.0-liter V-8 out of the Buick.

Only one of these was ever built and it was destined for the crusher after spending two years on the auto show circuit trying to convince major manufacturers of the value of copper and brass. It was saved when the president of the Bridgeport Brass Company bought it and let it sit, covered, at his estate until he died in the 1980s. The Dragones bought it in the 90s and just recently got around to restoring it. It is fresh and should bring between $1,200,000-$1,800,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Pope-Tribune

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1904 Pope-Tribune Model 2 Runabout

Offered by H&H Classics | Duxford, U.K. | October 14, 2015

Photo - H&H Classics

Photo – H&H Classics

Pope-Tribune was one of a number of companies in the Pope Automobile Group of Albert Pope (who actually fought in the Civil War. I wonder how many companies had Civil War veterans as their founders?). Based in Hagerstown, Maryland, Pope-Tribune lasted from 1904 through only 1908.

This was the only model offered in 1904. It consists of a six horsepower single-cylinder engine of 798cc capacity powering a tiny but attractive Runabout body. It cost $650 when new. The Pope-Tribune was the cheapest model in the Pope empire and the factory and marque were never profitable, so they sold the factory at a loss in 1908.

This example was imported into the U.K. in the early 1990s and it competed in the 2014 London-to-Brighton rally. This car should bring between $83,500-$100,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of H&H’s lineup.

Update: Sold $86,240.

1929 Rally

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1929 Rally Type ABC

Offered by H&H Classics | Duxford, U.K. | October 14, 2015

Photo - H&H Classics

Photo – H&H Classics

Automobiles Rally is a little known marque from the Parisian suburbs. It was founded in 1921 by Eugene Affovard Asniere. Cycle cars were the first models the company produced before turning to sporty, low-chassis sports cars. The depression hit the company hard and they closed their doors in 1933.

The Type ABC was introduced in 1927 and lasted through the end of the company. They were the sports models and were campaigned by the factory in races such as the Mille Miglia. Three engines were offered (with a supercharger option on any of them). This car uses a naturally-aspirated 1.1-liter straight-four (the smallest of the three) making about 30 horsepower. Top speed was about 84 mph.

The “ABC” was a sort of abbreviation for the French word meaning “lowered.” These low slung cars are quite sporting and rarely seen. Legend is that MG bought one back in the day for competitive research. This numbers-matching example is quite nice and should bring between $120,000-$150,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $125,910.

September 2015 Auction Highlights, Pt. II

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We’re still in September and there’s still a lot of auctions. First up, Mecum in Dallas. The top sale was actually a charity car, a 2015 Ford Mustang GT by Petty’s Garage for $535,000. Our featured Panoz AIV brought $30,000. The top non-charity car was this 1992 Ferrari 512 TR for $295,000. Click here for complete results.

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

Next up, Bonhams’ liquidations of the Frederiksen Collection in Ebeltoft, Denmark. The top sale was our featured Duesenberg for $2,664,538. The Maybach would’ve been the top sale, but it didn’t meet its reserve. Other million dollar sales included the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Skiff for $1,117,387 and the 1914 Mercedes for $1,401,031. We’ll call this 1924 Lincoln Model L Convertible by LeBaron very well bought for $46,414.

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

The Rolls-Royce Phantom VI exceeded its estimate, bringing $550,098. The Cadillac V-16 Convertible Sedan sold for $429,764. On the less-expensive side of things, the Woods Electric sold for $94,548 and the Renault Victoria went for $120,333. Click here for more results.

Barrett-Jackson’s annual Las Vegas sale was held near the end of September. The top sale was the first 2016 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R that was auctioned for charity. It brought $500,000. The top non-charity car was this 1968 Chevrolet Corvette L88 Coupe for $330,000. Click here for full results.

Photo - Barrett-Jackson

Photo – Barrett-Jackson

Auctionata of Germany held a Ferrari-only sale in Berlin. The top seller was this 1991 Ferrari F40 for $1,217,000. Click here for full results.

Photo - Auctionata

Photo – Auctionata

Finally, Bonhams’ Preserving the Automobile sale in Philadelphia in October – one of our favorite sales of the year. The top seller was a previously-featured Wanderer W25 K Roadster for $319,000. Two of our feature cars failed to sell: the Napier and the Stearns. The most interesting sale has to be this ex-Museum of Science and Industry (of Chicago) 1835 Brathwaite and Ericson “Mississippi” Locomotive for $220,000. It’s believed to be the oldest Southern locomotive in existence and was used by both the North and South during the Civil War.

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Our other feature cars all sold, with the Cleveland Roadster selling for only $7,700. Had I been in Philadelphia for this sale this car would currently be in my garage. Here’s the rest of them:

Click here to see all of the results from this sale.