Tag Archives: auctions

Duesenberg J-434

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1931 Duesenberg Model J Roadster by Packard

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 8, 2021

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

This is kind of an odd combination, a Packard-built body on a Duesenberg. Sure, many old cars had their bodies swapped around. It was usually sedans being rebodied as more desirable convertibles once they became objects of pleasure instead of daily transportation.

But in this case, this Model J was fitted with a period Packard roadster body… in period. By Duesenberg. The story is that a Duesenberg branch purchased a brand new roadster body from Packard before it could be installed on one of their cars and fitted it to a J chassis in 1931. It’s said to be one of very few true roadsters on a Model J chassis. And probably the only Packard-bodied car.

The engine is a 265-horsepower 6.9-liter straight-eight, and this particular engine was fitted in this chassis in 1989. The pre-sale estimate is $1,400,000-$1,800,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $1,650,000.

The Last Ol’ Yaller

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1963 Ol’ Yaller Mark IX

Offered by Bonhams | Newport, Rhode Island | October 1, 2021

Photo – Bonhams

Max Balchowsky opened a shop in Hollywood in the late 1940s and soon found himself modifying European cars with big American V8s. In the early 1950s he was on track in SCCA events. In the mid-to-late ’50s, he built two Old Yeller race cars that were mostly junkyard specials. Disney told him to change the name, so all following cars were called “Ol’ Yaller”s.

This car, number nine, was the final such special built. It features a custom tubular steel space frame and a 6.6-liter Buick V8 rated at 310 horsepower. It was apparently raced by Ronnie Bucknum at some point, and was later crashed.

It was subsequently restored to its original spec. One of the Ol’ Yallers appeared in the Elvis movie Viva Las Vegas (which has some pretty excellent 1950s car spotting scenes). These really never change hands – and this one is being offered out of the Petersen Museum collection. It is expected to fetch $150,000-$250,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $162,500.

Excalibur Sedan

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1988 Excalibur Series V Sedan

Offered by Historics Auctioneers | Ascot Racecourse, U.K. | September 25, 2021

Photo – Historics Auctioneers

Excalibur sort of invented the neo classic. The first Excaliburs were actually produced in 1952 and looked nothing like this. They were sports cars based on a Henry J chassis. The whole endeavor was a series of false starts. The ones we all know first went on sale in the mid-1960s, and they remained in production under a few different corporate umbrellas up until about 1990. They spawned countless look-a-likes, such as Zimmer, Clenet, Tiffany, and more.

Styling was originally reminiscent of the Mercedes-Benz SSK and was penned by Brooks Stevens for Studebaker. Studebaker went out of business, so SS Automobiles was set up in Milwaukee in 1965. That company gave way to Excalibur Automobile Corporation in 1986 after a bankruptcy. It was owned by the Stevens family, and that’s where the Series V came from. It was offered as a sedan and limousine.

This car is powered by a V8, likely from Ford. Excaliburs aren’t something you see everyday, but the sedan versions are especially uncommon. This one is expected to sell for between $25,000-$30,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $26,880.

Silver Ghost London-Edinburgh

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1913 Rolls-Royce 40/50 Silver Ghost London-to-Edinburgh Tourer

Offered by Bonhams | Newport, Rhode Island | October 1, 2021

Photo – Bonhams

The Silver Ghost was the first giant Rolls-Royce. It’s the car that put them at the top of the heap when it came to luxury and engineering. It was produced between 1907 and 1926, and the company churned out 7,874 examples in that time.

This car is powered by a 7.4-liter inline-six rated at 40/50 horsepower. 1913 was the first year that a four-speed manual transmission was offered. The “London to Edinburgh” name is tied to a test the company undertook in ~1907 when they drove a 40/50HP (before the Silver Ghost name came about) from London to Edinburgh in top gear the whole way, stopping at Brooklands on the way back to hit 78 mph.

The London-Edinburgh model specified an enlarged fuel tank and radiator, lightweight pistons, and an increased compression ratio. Rolls-Royce sold 188 examples in this spec, and this is one of very few with a four-speed gearbox.

The original coachwork (a Torpedo Tourer by Connaught) was removed during WWI and replaced by a wagon body for use during the war. The car was sold at a military surplus auction at the end of the war. It later made its way to Australia where it was rebodied as a tourer. Later in the decade, the car was used as a tow truck before being purchased by a Silver Ghost collector, who rebodied it in 1964 with the current body, which was originally fitted to a Sunbeam.

It was restored between 2001 and 2017 and now looks pretty menacing. The solid black disc covers over the black wire wheels are the best touch of them all. The pre-sale estimate is $1,450,000-$1,850,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Peugeot Double Wagon

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2012 Peugeot 306 Custom Hatchback

Offered by Aguttes | Aulnay-sous-Bois, France | September 19, 2021

Photo – Aguttes

Well let’s start with what this started out as. And that would be a Peugeot 303. The catalog lists it as a “2012” but that’s not really accurate, as the 306 was produced across three generations from 1993 through 2002. 2012 is actually the year the car was modified.

This looks like a second- or third-phase 306, making it from 1997-2002. The car was modified for the Michel Gondry film Mood Indigo. If you haven’t seen it, it’s a French surrealistic science fantasy movie. Directed by Michel Gondry. So that’s exactly why this car looks like it does. The big difference, if you can’t make heads or tails of it, is that the windshield was covered with a secondary rear hatch (and roof bit) that has fitted in reverse over the front of the car. Google “Waimea car” if you want to see a similar setup on an older car.

To access the transverse inline-four engine, you need to raise the front hatch. To drive, you need to peer through two panes of glass. Not exactly street friendly. Aguttes describes it as a “roller” but there is an engine in there. It is expected to sell for between $4,800-$9,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $5,219.

Bowler Wildcat

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2001 Bowler Wildcat 200

Offered by Historics Auctioneers | Ascot Racecourse, U.K. | September 25, 2021

Photo – Historics Auctioneers

The Bowler Wildcat is sort of a legendary off-roader, thanks in large part to its appearance on Top Gear in the early 2000s. The Wildcat is essentially a heavily modified Land Rover Defender. It was introduced in 1998 and remained available through 2007.

This example is the fourth Wildcat produced. It was used competitively, winning Baja-style rallies in 2006 in France and the U.K. It’s powered by a 5.0-liter V8 that was recently rebuilt and makes 334 horsepower.

It’s pretty much just a road-legal trophy truck. And a pretty cool one at that, especially if you remember its appearance on TV. This one is expected to sell for between $83,000-$94,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $75,517.

Sbarro Youth Cruise

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2000 Citroen Berlingo Youth Cruise by Sbarro

Offered by Aguttes | Aulnay-sous-Bois, France | September 19, 2021

Photo – Aguttes

The first generation Berlingo was produced by Citroen between 1996 and 2008. What we have here is no ordinary Berlingo, but instead it’s yet another bizarre creation from Sbarro Espera, Franco Sbarro’s design school.

It has three axles (plus a trailer) and six inward-facing bucket seats in what was previously the cargo area. The engine is an inline-four, but I have no idea what the displacement is or if its gas or diesel. Aguttes says to expect to do a mechanical overhaul, as the car has been in the reserve collection of Peugeot’s museum for quite some time.

Aguttes also compares it to the Mercedes-AMG G-Class 6×6, which is kind of funny. This is definitely rarer than one of those. And a lot cheaper too. The pre-sale estimate is $7,000-$12,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $17,745.

Sunbeam Alpine Mk I

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1954 Sunbeam Alpine Mk I

Offered by Brightwells | Leominster, U.K. | September 16, 2021

1954 Sunbeam Alpine Mk I

The first Alpine was sort of a sporty two-door roadster version of the Sunbeam-Talbot 90 sedan. It was introduced in 1953, and a Mk III version was also produced before production wrapped in 1955. No, there was not a Mk II. The Alpine was reintroduced in 1959, and the V8 version of that car would be known as the Tiger.

This Mk I is powered by a 2.3-liter inline-four that produced 97 horsepower when new. The bodies were by Thrupp & Maberly, and just 1,582 were produced between the Mk I and III (1,192 were Mk I). Of that grand total, 961 were exported to North America.

This example has been restored since 2006 and now carries a pre-sale estimate of $59,000-$63,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $59,077.

Lagonda 2-Litre

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1929 Lagonda 2-Litre Low-Chassis Tourer

Offered by Bonhams | Chichester, U.K. | September 18, 2021

Photo – Bonhams

Lagonda was acquired by Aston Martin in 1947. But prior to that, the company produced some fairly sporty cars, starting with 1925’s 2-Litre model. A Lagonda won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1935.

The 2-Litre was updated in 1927 and could later be had with a supercharger. Yes, this green tourer looks pretty much just like a period Bentley, but it is in fact a Lagonda. Shockingly, Bonhams has four nearly identical cars all up for auction the same day. It’s powered by a 2.0-liter inline-four that was tweaked in period for racing use.

This particular car is one of the four prepped by Fox & Nicholl for the 1929 endurance racing season. The competition history for this chassis includes:

  • 1929 Brooklands Double 12 – 18th (with Frank King and Howard Wolfe)
  • 1929 24 Hours of Le Mans – 18th, DNF (with Tim Rose-Richard and Brian Lewis)

It’s been part of the same collection since 1960, and it has the highest pre-sale estimate of the four Fox & Nicholl-prepped Lagondas in this sale at $410,000-$550,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Dallara Stradale

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2019 Dallara Stradale Berlinetta

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | St. Moritz, Switzerland | September 17, 2021

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Gian Paolo Dallara has been designing cars since the 1960s. His career highlight is probably the Lamborghini Miura. In 1972 he founded Dallara Automobili, which has been designing racing cars since, including Indy Cars since the late 1990s.

But as has been vogue for the last half decade, boutique firms that specialize in one small segment of automobile design or production have been getting into the specialty car business themselves. This includes design houses like Zagato, Touring, and Italdesign.

The Stradale was Dallara’s first road car, and production started in 2017. They offer four body styles, three of which don’t have any doors. This berlinetta has two gullwing doors. Power is from a turbocharged 2.3-liter inline-four sourced from a Ford Focus RS. Output is 395 horsepower, and 60 arrives in 3.2 seconds. Top speed is 174 mph.

We typically don’t feature cars still in production, but since these boutique cars seem to vanish without a word, we’ll go ahead and get this one on the books. Dallara claims they will build “no more than 600” examples over a five-year run. The price when new was about $236,000, and this one is essentially brand new. You can read more about it here and see more from this sale here.

Update: Not sold.