Tag Archives: auctions

M3A5 Grant II

Posted on by
Reply

1942 Baldwin M3A5 Grant II

Offered by Auctions America | Portola Valley, California | July 11-12, 2014

Photo - Auctions America
Photo – Auctions America

The M3 Lee was designed prior to America’s entry into WWII. They were operational around the time Pearl Harbor was attacked. In 1942, a new variant, the M3A5 was introduced. The “Grant II” – as it was called – used a GM engine and was built by Baldwin Locomotive Works.

This tank was shipped new to Australia and uses a 12-cylinder diesel making 375 horsepower. It will do 25 mph and cost the new owner between $300,000-$400,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $276,000.

Panhard EBR-90

Posted on by
Reply

ca.1963 Panhard EBR-90

Offered by Auctions America | Portola Valley, California | July 11-12, 2014

Photo - Auctions America

Photo – Auctions America

The Panhard EBR (which is the French abbreviation for “Armored Reconnaissance Vehicle”) was designed prior to World War II but didn’t actually go into production until 1950. It was produced in three versions, with the 90-mm cannoned version you see here starting production in 1963.

It’s an impressive setup: eight-wheel drive. It’s powered by a 200 horsepower Fiat 6.0-liter flat-12. About 1,200 were built and the last ones left the French military in 1987. This one should cost between $100,000-$125,000. Click here for more.

Update: Sold $28,750.

June 2014 Auction Recap

Posted on by
1

Onto June’s highlights. First up was Bonhams’ sale in Greenwich, Connecticut. The top sale there was a crazy sum for this 1975 Lamborghini Countach LP400 Periscipica. The price? $1,210,000. Yikes!

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

The legendary Fitch Phoenix brought $253,000. And our featured Stoddard-Dayton sold for $170,500. This cool 1927 Essex Super Six Boattail Speedabout caught my eye for $55,000.

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Our featured De Dion-Bouton went for $93,500. And the 1911 Reo Express sold for $22,000. Click here for full results. Continue reading →

Packard Super Eight

Posted on by
Reply

1940 Packard Custom Super Eight One-Eighty Convertible Sedan by Darrin

Offered by RM Auctions | Plymouth, Michigan | July 26, 2014

Photo - RM Auctions

Photo – RM Auctions

The Packard 180, as it is sometimes known, is more correctly called a Custom Eight Super One-Eighty. The model was new for 1940 and was Packard’s top-of-the-line offering. The chassis and engine were the same as the One-Sixty, but the One-Eighty was more luxurious. It was essentially a replacement for the ultra-grand Twelve.

The engine is a 5.8-liter straight-eight making 160 horsepower (which was more than Cadillac’s V-8 in 1940). A number of different bodies were offered, but Howard “Dutch” Darrin’s are perhaps the nicest of all Packards produced immediately prior to WWII. This four-door Convertible Sedan is quite a bit rarer than any of its two-door counterparts. It is estimated that less than 20 Convertible Sedans like the one you see here were built and only nine remain.

This car was sold new in Illinois. The restoration was completed in 1994 and the car was soon acquired by Otis Chandler. It now comes from the Richard & Linda Kughn collection with a pre-sale estimate of $225,000-$300,000. It’s incredibly rare and one of the more gorgeous four-door sedans you will ever see. You can see more here and check our more from this sale here.

Update: Sold $236,500.

An Incredible, 1901 Benz

Posted on by
Reply

1901 Benz Ideal 7HP Twin-Cylinder “Contra-Motor” Vis-a-Vis

Offered by Bonhams | Stuttgart, Germany | July 12, 2014

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

What’s so incredibly cool about this horseless carriage cannot be summed up in just one point. First, it’s from Benz – the originator of the automobile (you could argue otherwise, but we’ll ignore you). And it’s about as early a Benz as you can get your hands on that isn’t a replica or on permanent display.

The Benz Ideal was an evolution (and final iteration) of the Benz Patent Motorwagen, the earliest of automobiles, that featured a horizontally-mounted single-cylinder engine between the rear wheels. By 1901, competitors were many and they had advanced in design. So for the Ideal, Benz kept the engine between the rear wheels but added coachwork up front to make it look like many of the other vehicles on the market.

The Ideal, towards the end of its run (read: 1901), was offered with a two-cylinder engine. It’s a 2.1-liter flat-twin making seven horsepower. Ownership history here is known from new and this car completed (and won its class) in the London-to-Brighton run in 1937. The restoration was completed in 1972. You can purchase this fascinating piece of automobile history – and use it – for between $150,000-$200,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams’ inaugural Mercedes-Benz sale.

Update: Sold $641,004.

GT40 Roadster

Posted on by
Reply

1965 Ford GT40 Roadster Prototype

Offered by RM Auctions | Monterey, California | August 15-16, 2014

Photo - RM Auctions

Photo – RM Auctions

We’ve already featured a Ford GT40 Prototype, but what we haven’t featured is a Ford GT40 Roadster Prototype. That’s right, back in the 60s, Ford was adventurous and decided a GT40 with the roof chopped off might be a good idea. I can’t vouch for how good of an idea it was at the time, but it is certainly pretty awesome now.

Ford actually built a few of them, but this is the only one that has maintained its identity over all the years. The other three roadsters were converted to coupes or used as spares (at least one has been converted back to a roadster). This is the eighth GT40 Prototype built (of the twelve, total) and one of four roadsters.

This one uses a 4.7-liter Ford 289 V-8. It was a test car, mostly, and was never entered in competition. The most on-track action it ever saw was in the vintage racing circuit over the past 25 years. During testing, it was driven by Carroll Shelby, Jim Clark, and Ken Miles. It’s a once in a lifetime chance to get an as-built GT40 Roadster and it will likely cost you around $5 million. Click here for more info and here for more from RM in Monterey.

Update: Sold $6,930,000.

Update: Sold $7,650,000.

Coachbuilt Jaguar Mk VII

Posted on by
Reply

1953 Jaguar Mk VII Cabriolet Prototype by Beutler

Offered by Artcurial | Le Mans, France | July 5, 2014

Photo - Artcurial

Photo – Artcurial

The Jaguar Mk VII wasn’t an exciting car. It shared a similar style to the Bentleys and Rolls-Royces of the era – or really, any large British sedan. It was built between 1950 and 1956 as four-door sedan only. And if that’s the case, then what do we have here?

A two-door version, of course, built as a stylish (for the era, although you could argue “plain” today) by Swiss coachbuilder Beutler. It features an all-aluminium body around the base Mk VII mecahnicals: a 3.4-liter straight-six making 160 horsepower. The car was shown initially at the Geneva Motor Show before being packed away back at Jag headquarters and eventually sold and registered in 1964.

The car retains its original engine, which as been refurbished, and the interior has been “renovated.” The catalog description does not mention a “restoration” anywhere. At any rate, this is a one-of-a-kind Jaguar that can be yours for between $82,000-$110,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Artcurial in Le Mans.

Update: Sold $217,162.

DB HBR5

Posted on by
Reply

1959 DB Panhard HBR5 Coupe

Offered by Artcurial | Le Mans, France | July 5, 2014

Photo - Artcurial

Photo – Artcurial

Charles Deutsch and Rene Bonnet began building cars together in 1938. Based near Paris, the 24 Hours of Le Mans became their goal, and in the 1950s, their cars competed there numerous times. This very car raced there three different years.

Their HBR series of cars were produced between 1954 and 1959 and they built several hundred of them with different engines available. This car has a very unique – almost aircraft-like – two-panel windscreen. It had a few engines over the years (depending on which class it was competing in at Le Mans) and was last raced with an 848cc flat-twin. It’s competition history includes:

  • 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans – 31st, DNF (with Alejandro de Tomaso and Colin Davis)
  • 1960 24 Hours of Le Mans – 19th (with Robert Bourharde and Jean-Francois Jaeger)
  • 1961 24 Hours of Le Mans – 21st (with Edgar Rollin and Rene Bartholoni)

This is a three-time factory entry at the 24 Hours. It was active in hillclimbs until 1970 and has been restored to its distinctive “Vitrine” two-windshield configuration. It should sell for between $165,000-$215,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $160,860.

Koenig Evolution Testarossa

Posted on by
Reply

1987 Ferrari Testarossa Koenig Competition Evolution II

Offered by Artcurial | Le Mans, France | July 5, 2014

Photo - Artcurial

Photo – Artcurial

The Ferrari Testarossa sort of defines 1980s exotic sports cars (along with the box-ified Countach). But what happens when you need more than just a Testarossa? Well Koenig happens, that’s what.

We’ve featured another Koenig-tuned Ferrari in the past, but this one is decidedly cooler and more extreme. It started life as a Testarossa but within a year of its manufacture, it was in the hands of Koenig Specials in Munich. They applied their Competition Evolution package to it (and later, re-worked it to look more like a 512 M at the front). There’s a little F40 look to it at the back too, no?

The engine is the standard 4.9-liter Flat-12 but it has been tuned to make 800 horsepower. A lot has been revised here and more than you can see. Technical bits have been bettered so that this thing drives a little less wild than it looks. Koenig only modified 21 Testarossas with this (or a similar) package. It should sell for between $110,000-$165,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $160,860.

Felday 5

Posted on by
Reply

1966 Felday 5 Prototype

Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | June 27, 2014

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Peter Westbury is a London-born race car driver. He had a single Formula One start in 1969 and mostly drove sports cars. He had his own company, Felday Developments, that he started in 1965. In a speed trials race in 1964, he had a chance to compete in the Ferguson P99 4WD race car.

So he took that info with him back to Felday. The Felday 4 was a four-wheel drive race car with a 2.0-liter V-8 engine from BRM. Jim Clark raced it at Brands Hatch. The Felday 5 looked very similar to the 4, but it had a spaceframe chassis. It also had four-wheel drive.

The original engine was a 7.0-liter Ford V-8 prepped by NASCAR team Holman-Moody to make 500 horsepower. Westbury told the press that he might enter this car in the new Can-Am series in North America, if he could find a sponsor. He couldn’t. This car only drove a single race, retiring with driver Mac Daghorn at Brands Hatch the same day Jim Clark drove the Felday 4.

This car was part of the Group 7 class, which was abandoned for 1967. So it had nowhere to compete. It passed around a few owners before someone put a Chrysler V-8 engine in it and re-configured it for rear-wheel drive and raced it briefly in the early-1970s.

This car is offered in “as-it-was-put-away-in-the-1970s” condition and lacks the four-wheel drive system. I think it’s super-interesting. And I now kind of also want to meet Peter Westbury. This car is expected to sell for between $25,000-$34,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Bonhams Goodwood Festival of Speed Sale lineup.

Update: Sold $56,844.