Tag Archives: auctions

Frisky Family Three

Posted on by
Reply

1959 Frisky Family Three

Offered by RM Auctions | Madison, Georgia | February 15-16, 2013

1959 Frisky Family Three

Photo – RM Auctions

The Frisky was one of those cars that was produced by multiple companies – all of whom couldn’t help but go bankrupt at some point. The second company to use the Frisky trademark was Frisky Cars Ltd and they introduced the Family Three in late 1958. It was essentially a three-wheeled version of the Frisky Coupe that could be driven with a motorcycle license. The company was reorganized the following year (1959) and the model names were changed. This car uses a rear/mid-mounted 197cc single-cylinder making 9.5 horsepower. It could do 50 mph and should sell for between $15,000-$20,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $57,500.

Goggomobil Dart

Posted on by
Reply

1958 Goggomobil Dart

Offered by RM Auctions | Madison, Georgia | February 15-16, 2013

1958 Goggomobil Dart
Photo – RM Auctions

Goggomobil was a German microcar company, but in 1959, Buckle Motors of Sydney, Australia designed a two-door roadster based on the small Goggomobil Coupe. Somehow, they were able to market the cars under the Goggomobil name and they called it the Dart. It used the same 293cc straight-two making 14 horsepower (with an optional upgrade to 392cc and 18 horsepower). The body was fiberglass and it was produced through 1961. Only about 700 were built. It’s an Australian car with a German name and it could be yours for $35,000-$45,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $54,050.

New-Map Baby

Posted on by
Reply

1939 New-Map Baby

Offered by RM Auctions | Madison, Georgia | February 15-16, 2013

1939 New-Map Baby

Photo – RM Auctions

This unrestored pre-war microcar from French motorcycle manufacturer New-Map is very rare. New-Map was founded in 1920 in Lyon and it built its first itty-bitty car in 1938. It was called the Baby and it used a 100cc single-cylinder Sachs engine – the same one from their motorcycles. Only about 1,000 were built. In 1946 they re-introduced the car with a 125cc engine but it only lasted one year. This one should bring between $15,000-$20,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $21,850.

PTV 250

Posted on by
Reply

1959 PTV 250

Offered by RM Auctions | Madison, Georgia | February 15-16, 2013

1959 PTV 250
Photo – RM Auctions

PTV sold their Spanish-built microcars from 1956-1961. Two models were offered, the 250 and the 400. Both were tiny two-door convertibles that differed only in engine size. The 250 used a rear-mounted 247cc single-cylinder making 11 horsepower. Top speed was around 45 mph. Most of the cars were sold in Spain, although same made it to Portugal. Between the two models, a total of around 11,000 were sold. This one will sell again for between $40,000-$50,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $46,000.

Authi Mini

Posted on by
Reply

1968 Authi Mini 1275C

Offered by RM Auctions | Madison, Georgia | February 15-16, 2013

1968 Authi Mini 1275C

Wait, just a plain ol’ Mini Cooper after all these weird cars? Well, kind of. It isn’t a Morris or Austin or even a Mini-badged Cooper. It’s not even British-built. Authi – of Pamplona, Spain, – built the Mini under license from 1968 through 1975. This is from their first year of production and it has the 1275cc Mini engine (1.3 liters) making about 54 horsepower. Authi was an automotive production plant, primarily, and built cars for BMC under the Austin brand. But the Mini they branded themselves. The Authi plant became part of SEAT in 1976. They built about 140,000 Minis with their name on it, but you hardly ever see them. This one should sell for between $20,000-$30,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $28,750

Bond Minicar Mk F

Posted on by
Reply

1959 Bond Minicar Mk F

Offered by RM Auctions | Madison, Georgia | February 15-16, 2013

1959 Bond Minicar Mk F

The Mark F iteration of the Bond Minicar was the second-to-last version offered for sale. Built from 1958-1963, the Mk F is differentiated from its immediate predecessor by its  larger engine – a 247cc single-cylinder making 12 horsepower. There were different body styles offered – this is a hardtop. It was capable of 55 mph and there was a four-seat version available (I honestly can’t tell if this has four seats or two). Only 6,493 were made in total. This one, with some of the tiniest looking wheels in comparison to overall car size I’ve ever seen, should sell for somewhere in the range of $15,000-$20,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $11,500.

Lamborghini’s First Road Car

Posted on by
3

1966 Lamborghini 350GT

Offered by RM Auctions | Phoenix, Arizona | January 18, 2013

1966 Lamborghini 350GT 2+2

Ferruccio Lamborghini’s tractor company made him a small fortune by the late 1950s. He liked cars and owned Alfas, Maseratis and Ferraris. When his Ferrari broke and he tried to tell Enzo Ferrari how to improve it, Enzo basically told him to take a flying leap. So Lamborghini set up his own company and hired Giotto Bizzarrini (from Ferrari, who would later run his own company) to design him a V-12 engine.

The engine was a 3.5-liter aluminium V-12 making 280 horsepower. The two-seat grand touring body was designed by Gian Paolo Dallara (who came over from Ferrari and who would also later run his own company). Performance was brisk – 60 mph came in 6.8 seconds and it topped out at 158 mph.

When new, it cost $15,600 – or about $118,000 today (which really doesn’t seem that all that much considering what a stripper Gallardo will run you). It was a success and allowed Lamborghini to continue on making cars. Only 135 of these were built so they are exceedingly rare when compared with Ferrari’s of similar vintage. It should sell for between $345,000-$425,000. Click here for more info and here for more from RM in Arizona.

Update: Not sold.

Minerva Convertible Sedan

Posted on by
1

1931 Minerva Model AL “Windswept” Convertible Sedan by Rollston

Offered by Bonhams | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 17, 2013

1931 Minerva Model AL Windswept Convertible Sedan by Rollston

Minerva is one of the great makes of the 1930s. They built big, powerful, imposing cars for the rich elite. The cars came adorned in the fanciest coachwork from the most respected of coachbuilders. This particular Minerva meets all of the above criteria.

Dutchman Sylvain de Jong started manufacturing bicycles under the name Minerva in Antwerp, Belgium in 1897 before moving onto automobiles. In 1930, the Model AL was introduced. It uses a 6.6-liter sleeve-valve straight-eight making between 120-130 horsepower. The wheelbase of 152 inches was one of the longest you could get, giving the folks at Rollston a lot of room to work with when crafting this exquisite “windswept” convertible sedan. The “windswept” referring to the distinct “in-motion” look the car has when sitting still – the sharp angle of the doors, A & B pillars and roofline.

Rollston provided some of the most expensive coachwork you could buy in the 1930s and the Minerva AL chassis was also near the top of its own list. In fact, it was so expensive, only about 50 were ever built and you had to have deep pockets to get one. This car was purchased new by the son-in-law of R.J. Reynolds (of tobacco fame). Over the years, it has maintained its exclusive price, with a pre-sale estimate of $900,000-$1,100,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams in Scottsdale.

Update: Did not sell.

Update II: Sold, RM Auctions, New York, 2013: $660,000.

Simple Success

Posted on by
1

1906 Success

Offered by Barrett-Jackson | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 17, 2013

1906 Success

When John C. Hidgon founded the Success Auto-Buggy Manufacturing Company in St. Louis, Missouri in 1906, he probably thought to himself, “With a name like Success, how can this endeavor not be a, well, success?” Unfortunately he went out of business in 1909.

Well he had the right idea anyway – a low-cost, rugged high-wheeler for developing parts of the country where roads weren’t paved and wages weren’t high. The Success (no model name that I can find) was priced at about $250 in 1906. The Curved-Dash Oldsmobile was retailing for $650. It was certainly cheap.

The engine is a two-cylinder, that you can see kind of hanging off the side of the car. Top speed was in the 18 mph-ish range but it got about 100 miles per gallon. With figures like that, maybe someone should put it back into production. When I was looking at this thing, this occurred to me: it’s like a turn-of-the-century hot rod. The body is very lean and low – most of it is below the tops of the wheels. And then those wheels. They’re like Victorian dubs. It definitely has a striking appearance and is one of very few that remain. Click here for more info and here for more from Barrett-Jackson in Scottsdale. And strangely enough, Bonhams is offering a 1908 Success at their sale in Arizona – albeit, in original, unrestored barn-find condition.

Update: Sold $33,000.

’69 Yenko Camaro

Posted on by
1

1969 Chevrolet Camaro Yenko

Offered by Russo & Steele | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 16-20, 2013

1969 Chevrolet Camaro Yenko Coupe

First of all, Merry Christmas. Secondly, I picked a green car today on purpose, of course. Russo & Steele are the muscle car experts in Scottsdale – they really dig up some rare pieces of American brawn-on-wheels every year. And this Yenko Camaro is no exception.

Yenko Chevrolet in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania began selling hotted-up Corvairs in 1965 under the supervision of Don Yenko, the son of the dealership’s founder. When the Camaro came out in 1967, it was a natural fit for what Yenko was doing. Chevrolet’s policy with the Camaro limited engine size to 6.6-liters. Yenko would order Camaros and swap their engine for those out of a 7.0-liter (427) Corvette. This car does not have the original engine, but a period correct 435 horsepower, 7.0-liter V8 out of a Corvette.

By 1969, Chevrolet was more open to engagement in the Pony Car Wars. Using a special order (COPO), the big engines were installed on the assembly line. Yenko added other bits, like putting his name on the fenders. This is an actual 1969 Yenko Camaro – only 201 were built and only 30 with the automatic transmission featured in this car. Painted in Fathom Green, it was subject to a no-expense spared restoration and should probably sell for between $250,000-$300,000. Click here for more info and here to check out more from Russo & Steele.

Update: Did not sell.