Tag Archives: auctions

An American Fiat

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1912 American Fiat Model 56 7-Passenger Touring

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

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

A lot of European firms opened an American arm in the early days of the automobile: De Dion-Bouton, Austin, Berliet, Napier, and perhaps most famously, Rolls-Royce, among others. Fiat did, too, and unlike Rolls-Royce (but like the others mentioned above), these cars are often referred to as American Fiats with “American” in the brand name, and not simply specified in the model name (like a Rolls-Royce “Springfield” Ghost).

Anyway, American Fiat was around from 1910 through 1918, when it was cheaper to open another factory than to pay import taxes. The Type 56 was built between 1912 and 1916, the largest car offered in any of those years. It is powered by an 8.6-liter straight-six making an estimated 50 horsepower.

The body is a Seven-Passenger Touring, which was just one of two body styles offered in 1912 (the range would proliferate with time). They were big cars and they weren’t cheap. It’s thought that this car cost in the neighborhood of $4,500 when new. The man who restored this car acquired it in 1952 and it was in his family until 2013. While I don’t know how many were built, not many of these survive. It’s pretty awesome, actually, and should bring between $175,000-$225,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams.

Update: $130,000.

The First Post-War Aston Martin

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1948 Aston Martin 2-Litre Sports

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

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

A few weeks ago we featured the last Aston Martin sold prior to the outbreak of WWII. Well here is the bookend to that car: the first Aston Martin built after the war ended. It is the first car built in the David Brown era – and in fact, the 2-Litre Sports (as it was originally called) would become the DB1. Only 15 examples of the DB1 were built (the 2-Litre Sports included).

Designed by Claude Hill, the 2-Litre Sports features a – you guessed it – 2.0-liter straight-four engine making 90 horsepower. Because they wanted to race this car to get Aston’s name back on the minds of the motoring public, the body was a rush job. It is cycle-fendered while the successive DB1s were all fully-fendered roadsters.

That race they were in such a hurry to enter was the 1948 24 Hours of Spa. And they won it with drivers St. John “Jock” Horsfall and Leslie Johnson. Then David Brown wanted to show the car at the ’48 London Motor Show so they re-bodied it slightly (to what you see here). They didn’t sell it (so David Brown gave it to his son) but they ended up taking orders for more cars (the 14 DB1s). This car put Aston Martin on a path to success that is still going strong.

This car, one of one, is one of the most important Aston Martins in existence. It should sell for between $600,000-$900,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $781,000.

July 2015 Auction Highlights, Pt. II

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There were a bunch of sales in July (and there’s a bunch more in August). It seems like auction houses are really packing the calendar this year. First up in this rundown is RM Sotheby’s Motor City sale. The top sale was this previously featured Duesenberg for $852,500. Both of our new feature cars sold, with the beautiful LaSalle bringing $77,000 and the Ford Explorer Concept $14,300. A car we would’ve loved to have gone home in was this 1932 Packard Eight Phaeton, which sold for $140,250. Click here for complete results.

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

Now we’ll jump to England for Silverstone Auctions’ Silverstone Classic, which they actually broke down into two sales – one for competition cars, and one for everything else. We’ll break it down that way too. First up, the competition cars where this 1959 Cooper Monaco took top sale honors at $342,225.

Photo - Silverstone Auctions

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

All three of our featured F1 cars sold, with the 1983 Osella-Alfa Romeo bringing $126,360. The ’86 Osella sold for $70,200. And the engine-less Toleman TG185 went for $48,266.

We weren’t able to feature anything from the road car portion of this sale, but the high seller was a 1989 Porsche 911 Turbo LE for $249,210. Click here for complete results.

Photo - Silverstone Auctions

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

H&H Classics held a sale at Pavilion Gardens near the end of July. We weren’t able to feature anything from this sale either, but the big seller was this 1966 Jaguar E-Type Series I 4.2 Coupe for $107,530. Click here to see more results, including a host of more affordable cars.

Photo - H&H Classics

Photo – H&H Classics

And finally, we bump into August with Mecum’s sale in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. This is one of those sales where cars are sold at prices mere humans can afford. It’s great. The top sale, however, was this 1968 Shelby GT500KR Convertible for $190,000. Check out full results here.

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

Giannini Sport Prototype

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1968 Giannini Sport 1300 Prototype

Offered by Coys | Nurburgring, Germany | August 8, 2015

Photo - Coys

Photo – Coys

Attilio and Domenico Giannini were brothers who founded a garage in Rome in 1920. They began as part of the Itala service network and entered their first race car, an Itala, in the 1927 Mille Miglia. They later turned their attention to tuning tiny Fiats – and they were very successful (even though the original business closed in the 1960s and the brothers split, each opening their own company). Domenico’s new company is still around, wrenching on Fiats.

This car, a one-off, was built by Giannini before the original company closed its doors. It features a 1.3-liter flat-four. It’s likely the only Giannini product powered by a Boxer engine that still exists. It was a race car, and the aluminium body is very reminiscent of a Lotus 23.

This car has been in a private collection for nearly 40 years and this is the first time it has ever been offered for sale on the open market. It is expected to bring between $110,000-$140,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Coys’ lineup.

Update: Not sold.

McLaren F1 LM-Spec

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1998 McLaren F1 LM-Spec

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 13, 2015

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

The McLaren F1 is the greatest supercar ever built. Period. It was the fastest car ever built for years after it was introduced (it is still the fastest naturally-aspirated road car ever built, nearly 25 years later) and it remains a singular achievement in the automobile world. They are so rare and unlike anything else built.

Only 64 F1 road cars were built out of a total of 106. Seven were prototypes. Two were GTs. 28 were GTRs. And five were LMs. This car is the second-to-last road car built but it has since been upgraded to LM specification. It is not one of the original LMs. The LM was the road-variant of the GTR Le Mans racers.

So McLaren has this program for people in the know (that is, McLaren owners) that allow them to bring their car to the factory to be customized (or upgraded) to suit their needs or desires. This F1 went back to the factory was given an LM-spec engine: a 6.1-liter aluminium V-12 making 680 horsepower. Only one other F1 road car has this engine. It also has some aero bits in the form of the Extra High Downforce Package which includes the front splitter, the rear wing and a few other details, including the wheels.

This car is currently owned by its second owner. These have become so hard to come by and this one has the race engine and the road manners. It will command a huge sum. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $13,750,000.

250 GT Speciale by Bertone

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1962 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Speciale by Bertone

Offered by Gooding & Company | Pebble Beach, California | August 15-16, 2015

Photo - Gooding & Company

Photo – Gooding & Company

Of the myriad of sub-models in the Ferrari 250 range, the SWB Berlinetta is one of the most sought after today. They were race cars, introduced in 1959, and this one is powered by a 3.0-liter V-12 making 240 horsepower.

This car was actually bought new by Nuccio Bertone – yes, of that Bertone. He had a young man working in his coachbuilding business named Giorgetto Giugiaro who he co-designed this car with. The car was modeled after earlier Ferrari race cars with “sharknose” styling.

This 250 GT debuted at the 1962 Geneva Auto Show and was Bertone’s personal ride for a short time before he sold it to a parts supplier in Milan. It had a few more owners before coming stateside in 1966. It later spent 35 years in a Mexican collection. It sports a fantastic restoration and is one of the most recognizable coachbuilt Ferraris of all time. This one-off should bring between $14,000,000-$16,000,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $16,500,000.

Bizzarrini P538

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1967 Bizzarrini P538

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 14-15, 2015

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

We’ve actually tried to feature one of these before but there was a problem. You see, there are two kinds of Bizzarrini P538s. The first batch were built by Bizzarrini in the 1960s. The other batch were built to-order by former-Bizzarrini engineer Salvatore Diomante between the mid-1970s and early 1990s. Not many of either were built. The car we were going to feature months ago was of the latter variety. But this is a true, Bizzarrini-built P538.

It was a race car that debuted at Le Mans in 1966. This wild prototype racer is powered by a 5.3-liter Chevrolet V-8 engine making 365 horsepower. At least two of these were built with Lamborghini V-12 engines.

It’s unknown how many were built in total. It is thought about eight were built by Diomante and at least four by Bizzarrini (at least two of which are V-8 cars like this one). If you’re familiar with numbers, you’ll know that “two” is super rare for just about anything. It’s been beautifully restored and price reflects its greatness: a pre-sale estimate of between $700,000-$900,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

July 2015 Auction Highlights, Pt. I

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First up in July is H&H Classics and their Chateau Impney sale. We featured three cars from this sale and two failed to sell: the Chevron B8 and the New Carden. The top sale was this 1951 Jaguar XK120 Roadster for $164,920.

1951 Jaguar XK120 Roadster

Our featured Allard Palm Beach sold for $138,880. Click here for complete results.

The Nautilus from The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen sold for $49,411 at Coys’ Blenheim Palace sale. Complete results can be found here. Brightwells July sale had this 1935 Alvis 3.5-Litre Drophead Coupe by Charlesworth as the top sale for $114,700.

Photo - Brightwells

Photo – Brightwells

Our featured Gilbern Genie sold for $7,285 and the Marlin 1800 brought $2,635. Full results are here.

Auctions America’s California sale is up next. The top sale was actually a tie between this 2004 Ferrari Enzo and the following 1938 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster by Nawrocki for $1,870,000 each.

Photo - Auctions America

Photo – Auctions America

Photo - Auctions America

Photo – Auctions America

Of our four feature cars from this sale, the top seller was the Pope-Hartford Portola Roadster for $181,500. The Crofton Bug brought a more affordable $22,000. More affordable still was the 1906 Franklin for $19,800. The Sorrell-Manning Special failed to sell. Full results can be found here.

And finally, Artcurial held a small sale in Monaco in July. We featured one car: a 1908 Cadillac. It sold for $23,816. The top sale was this 1989 Aston Martin Lagonda for $174,652. Click here for complete results.

Photo - Artcurial

Photo – Artcurial

The 1983 24 Hours of Le Mans Winner

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1982 Porsche 956

Offered by Gooding & Company | Pebble Beach, California | August 15-16, 2015

Photo - Gooding & Company

Photo – Gooding & Company

Group C was new for 1982 and a whole new wave of closed coupe prototype race cars came flying out just about of all of the world’s major manufacturers. Porsche (and their 956 and 962 models) defined the Group C age with unrivaled success. The 956 was built between 1982 and 1984, with the 962 replacing it for 1985. They are different cars, but one could be forgiven for not being able to immediately differentiate between the two.

This car is powered by a 2.7-liter twin-turbo flat-6 making 630 horsepower. It is not a slow car. The 956 holds the lap record at the Nürburgring. This was one of 10 Porsche factory race cars and it’s competition history includes:

  • 1982 24 Hours of Le Mans – 2nd (with Jochen Mass & Vern Schupppan)
  • 1982 1000km Spa – 1st (with Jacky Ickx & Mass)
  • 1983 24 Hours of Le Mans – 1st (with Al Holbert, Hurley Haywood, & Schuppan)

It was raced a few times after that and then Porsche sold it to Vern Schuppan who kept it until 1996. The new owner restored the car and it has led a privileged life since, having been kept mostly off the track and in the hands of a few other owners. Only 22 Porsche 956s were built and only 10 were lucky enough to be factory race cars. They do not come up for sale often, and this, a Le Mans winner, is one of the best. It should sell for between $7,000,000-$9,000,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $10,120,000.

212 Inter Cabriolet

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1951 Ferrari 212 Inter Cabriolet by Vignale

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

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Another high-dollar Ferrari – but recently, aren’t they all? Even Ferrari 308s are commanding sums into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Is there a Prancing Horse bubble? Well if there is, this is the kind of Ferrari to have your money in. These early, Colombo V-12 cars are the roots of Ferrari.

The 212 Inter (not to be confused with the race-bred 212 Export) was a grand touring car built between 1951 and 1952 only. The bodies were all by the leading Italian coachbuilders of the day, with this car sporting a distinctive Vignale drop-top body. The car looks sort of Aston Martin and Maserati-ish.

The engine is a 2.6-liter V-12 making 170 horsepower. This was car #16 of 78 Inters built and one of only four with this Vignale coachwork. This car spent most of its life in Switzerland and has known ownership history from new. The restoration was completed last year and it’s being offered fresh off an award-winning debut at Pebble Beach in 2014. It should bring between $2,400,000-$2,800,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $2,200,000.

Update: Sold, Bonhams Scottsdale 2020, $1,930,000.