Tag Archives: auctions

Delage D8 by Chapron

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1931 Delage D8 Roadster by Chapron

Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | February 7, 2014

1931 Delage D8 Roadster by Chapron

Photo – Artcurial

The Delage D8 was introduced in 1929 and this 1931 model uses the 4.1-liter straight-eight, in this case making 102 horsepower. The body is by Henri Chapron and I would describe it as “restrained elegance.” It’s not flashy – but it is also earlier than the other three cars in this post. Dramatic design really flared up the farther they got into the 1930s.

This car was restored in the 1960s and has been maintained since. It would be a relatively inexpensive way to get behind the wheel of a Delage D8 – it’s expected to sell for between $550,000-$675,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Artcurial.

Update: Sold $438,318.

Delage D6 70 Coach Panoramique

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1937 Delage D6 70 Coach Panoramique by LeTourneur et Marchand

Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | February 7, 2014

1937 Delage D6 70 Coach Panoramique by LeTourneur et Marchand

This sale is packed with amazing cars and I don’t have time to feature them all (why does Retromobile have to be so close to the Arizona auctions!?). I’m stacking today’s post with four beautiful Delage automobiles, starting with my favorite of the bunch.

The Delage D6 was in production (in several different iterations) from 1930 through 1954 (with a break for the war). The D6-70 was built for 1937 and 1938 only. It uses a 2.8-liter straight-six making 78 horsepower. The body is the remarkable Coach Panoramique style by LeTourneur & Marchand.

This is a very desirable, very usable car and it is expected to sell for between $135,000-$200,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Artcurial.

Update: Sold $101,342

904 Carrera GTS

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1964 Porsche 904 Carrera GTS

Offered by RM Auctions | Paris, France | February 5, 2014

1964 Porsche 904 Carrera GTS

The Porsche RS 61 race car was the final version of the 718 series and it went out of production in 1961. It remained competitive for another year or so, but by the end of 1963, Porsche had to have something else representing it on racetracks. Enter the Carrera GTS.

Designed to compete in the FIA GT class, the Carrera GTS (they couldn’t officially call it the 904 for legal reasons – thanks, Peugeot) was new for the 1964 model year (and made through 1965). The car would win its class at Sebring and Le Mans that year alone. This car was the first 904 delivered new to the U.K. and likely the only one painted in this color. It raced in privateer hands in races held all over the U.K. In 1968 it was sold to an owner in the U.S. and the current owner acquired it in 1997.

It has been restored and uses Porsche’s 185 horsepower 2.0-liter flat-four. The body is fiberglass and it is a quick car, topping out at 160 mph. This is the last Porsche race car that I’m pretty sure you can get away with driving on the road. That makes it more or less an early supercar and the last one like it Porsche built for quite some time.

Only 120 of these cars were built. This one should sell for between $1,360,000-$1,900,000. Click here for more info and here for more from RM in Paris.

S/N: 904-045.

Update: Sold $1,724,246.

Marlboro Steam Car

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1900 Marlboro Steam Runabout

Offered by Bonhams | Paris, France | February 6, 2014

1900 Marlboro Steam Runabout

Photo – Bonhams

The Marlboro Motor & Carriage Company began producing steam cars in Marlboro, Massachusetts in 1899. The company was founded by Orrin P. Walker and existed only through 1902.

The engine is a Mason steam engine and this car cost $700 when new. About 30 were sold in 1900 and production ramped up. But then sales quickly dropped off and the company had all of its capital invested in product that was sitting in showrooms. And that was it for the short-lived company – out of business it went.

It’s amazing that any of their cars survived for 114 years. This one was restored and the current owner acquired it in 2011. It was for sale in St. Louis for $79,500 but is expected to sell at this auction for between $68,000-$96,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Update II: Sold, RM Sotheby’s London 2017, $12,146.

Gordini Type 24 S

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1953 Gordini Type 24 S

Offered by RM Auctions | Paris, France | February 5, 2014

1953 Gordini Type 24 S

This is the first car RM Auctions announced for their sale in Paris this February… and they announced it last fall. I’ve been waiting to feature it since the day I saw it because I knew it was awesome and I knew it was rare.

Much like Enzo Ferrari, Amédée Gordini tuned and raced cars in the 1930s. After the war ended, he also started producing race cars under his own name. Unlike Ferrari, he never really built purpose-built road cars and his little company shut down in 1957 and he later sold the rights to his name to Renault. Imagine “Ferrari”-trim level Fiat 500s. Not a pretty sight.

But what he did in his day holds up – like this Type 24 S. The engine is a powerful 265 horsepower 3.0-liter straight-eight underneath an aluminium body. This car was a Gordini-factory race car and its competition history includes the following:

  • 1953 24 Hours of Le Mans – DNS
  • 1953 Tour de France Automobile – 1st or 2nd (with Jean Behra)*
  • 1953 Carrera Panamericana – 76th, DNF (with Jean Behra)
  • 1954 12 Hours of Reims – 28th, DNF (with Behra and Franco Bordoni)
  • 1954 Tour de France Automobile – DQ (with Andre Guelfi and Julio Quinlin)
  • 1954 Coupe de Salon at Montlhery – 1st (with Behra)
  • 1955 1000km Buenos Aires – 5th (with Elie Bayol and Harry Schell)
  • 1955 Mille Miglia – DNF (with Bordoni)
  • 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans – DNS

So it never started at Le Mans, big deal. The bodywork that the car currently wears was added for the 1955 24 Hour race, but it had an accident in practice and didn’t get to race. This car was sold after 1955 and used by privateers in many events. It has had five owners in its life, all French.

Only 32 Gordinis of all types were built in their 11 years of construction. This is the only one like this and it is expected to sell for between $4,075,000-$5,435,000. You can read more here and see more from RM in Paris here.

*The auction catalog lists this car as the winner, but my other sources say it placed second. S/N #36.

Update: Failed to sell, high bid of $3,346,750.

Mecum Kissimmee 2014 Highlights

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Mecum’s Kissimmee sale is so huge that it gets it’s own recap. That and because it is sandwiched between the Arizona and Retromobile sales. The top sale was the “Real McCoy” Corvette for $2,300,000. Our featured Duesenberg from this sale failed to sell (as did a previously featured Model J). The second top-seller was this unrestored all-original 1971 Plymouth Hemi Cuda for $560,000.

1971 Plymouth Hemi Cuda

Corvettes accounted for five of the six biggest sales (the Cuda above being the odd man out). This 1968 Corvette L88 Coupe was the third top seller at $530,000.

1968 Chevrolet Corvette L88 Coupe

Some feature Corvettes that did not sell were the Sledgehammer Corvette, the Corvette Challenge race car, and the Corvette-related Callaway C7R. The ZR1 Convertible sold for $130,000. And now on to the interesting cars. This 1976 Trivette MC certainly qualifies as interesting. It sold for $9,000.

1976 Trivette MC

The Lincoln Quicksilver sold for $27,000. This 1915 White 5-Ton Stake Bed Truck sold for $27,000.

1915 White 5-Ton Stake Bed Truck

And our featured old truck, the FWD Model B, sold for $23,000. This 1963 Aquila is a Volkswagen-based kit car. It looks sportier than the Beetle it replaced. It brought $9,500.

1963 Aquila

There were a lot of cool cars in this sale, but this 1969 Subaru 360 is the last one I’ll show you. It sold for $11,000. Check out the rest of the results here.

1969 Subaru 360

2014 Scottsdale Highlights III

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Next up from Scottsdale is Gooding & Company’s results. The top sale was our featured Ferrari 250 GT Series I Cabriolet for $6,160,000. The second-biggest sale was our featured BMW F1 GTR Longtail for $5,280,000. Interesting sales were topped by this 1952 Ferrari 212 Inter by Vignale for $1,787,500.

1952 Ferrari 212 Inter by VignaleAnother cool Ferrari was this 1961 Ferrari 250 GT Coupe Speciale by Pininfarina for $2,365,000.

1961 Ferrari 250 GT Coupe Speciale by Pininfarina

Our featured Siata Daina sold for $247,500. The Cunningham C-3 brought $550,000. This super cool 1972 Alpine A110 1800 slipped under my radar and I didn’t get to feature it. It brought $302,500 anyway.

1972 Alpine A110 1800

Other cool cars included this 1954 Arnolt-MG Cabriolet for $110,000.

1954 Arnolt-MG Cabriolet

This sale’s featured Duesenberg sold for $2,090,000. The Hispano-Suiza K6 sold for $621,500. And finally, this 1923 Citroen Type C2 TL Drophead Coupe sold for $59,400. Check out full results here.

1923 Citroen Type C2 TL Drophead Coupe

And our final bit of coverage from Scottsdale is Russo & Steele’s sale. Our featured McKee Mk IV brought $260,000. The top sale was this 1966 Lamborghini 350GT for $742,630.

1966 Lamborghini 350GT

Cool cars have to be topped by this 1958 Plymouth Sport Suburban Wagon that sold for a strong $65,000. You can check out full results here.

1958 Plymouth Sport Suburban Wagon

Lion-Peugeot

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1913 Lion-Peugeot 10HP Type VD Torpedo

Offered by Bonhams | Paris, France | February 6, 2014

1913 Lion-Peugeot 10HP Type VD Torpedo

So what’s weird about the name of this car? It was established independently of the Peugeot we all know today. In fact, Lion-Peugeot was founded in 1906 by Robert Peugeot – a member of the same family who had founded Peugeot years earlier.

In 1910, the brothers agreed to combine companies and produce cars at the same factory and by 1916, Lion-Peugeot ceased to exist (although Peugeot’s logo to this day is a lion). This car is powered by 2.0-liter V-4 making 10 horsepower.

This car was restored in the 1970s and has been a part of the French classic car scene for a long time. Only about 800 Type VDs were built and not many survive today. This is a rare car tied to the early days of a major worldwide automobile manufacturer. It should sell for between $55,000-$68,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams in Paris.

Update: Not sold.

Callaway C7R GT1

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1997 Callaway C7R GT1

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 24, 2014

1997 Callaway C7R GT1

In 1997 Reeves Callaway wanted to go racing. In order to enter the GT1 category (the top class at the time) – which was based on production sports cars – Callaway would have to have built road-going examples of whatever they wanted to race. Unfortunately, they never got around to the road car part.

But they did built two GT1 racing prototypes (both of which are said to be easily adaptable to a road car – it does have two seats, after all). They failed to qualify for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but did race in the 1997 24 Hours of Daytona – and managed to find themselves leading at the halfway point before the car broke. It’s lone competition outing was:

  • 1997 24 Hours of Daytona – 54th, DNF (with Boris Said, Johnny Unser, Ron Fellows, and Enrico Bertaggia)

The car uses a mid-mounted Corvette-based 6.3-liter V8 making 640 horsepower. The car is all-Callaway and not lifted from a Corvette as is the case with most other Callaways. This is an awesome performance car that was ultimately forced out of competition for lack of road cars. It is one of only two built and is seriously cool. It should sell for between $275,000-$350,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Mecum’s Kissimmee lineup.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $150,000.

Early Four-Wheel-Drive Truck

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1918 FWD Model B 3-Ton Truck

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 22, 2014

FWD Model B 3-Ton Truck

In 1908, Otto Zachow and William Besserdich built a four-wheel drive car they called the “Battleship.” This led to the more-or-less immediate founding of their Badger Four-Wheel Drive Auto Company. In 1909 they began producing cars under the FWD (for “Four-Wheel Drive”) marque. They dropped “Badger” from the company name in 1910.

The military loved four-wheel drive trucks so the company, sensing a huge opportunity (and perhaps an oncoming war) switched to just truck manufacture. They introduced two prototypes as war started raging in Europe. The U.S. didn’t place any orders, so FWD demo’d the truck for the U.K. where they did get an order. By 1916 the U.S. had come around and placed huge orders for a company that, up to this point, had only built about two dozen vehicles.

The Model B was one of the workhorses of the Allied powers during WWI. Production was about 3,000 for the U.K., 82 for Russia, and 14,473 for the U.S. They are powered by a 36 horsepower, straight-four engine. On the correct solid rubber tires on which this example rides, the truck could reach speeds of 16 mph.

After the war, many of these trucks were sold as surplus and entered service doing just about everything else in the civilian realm. That’s how awesome examples like this managed to survive. You can read more here and check out more from Mecum here.

Update: Sold $23,000.