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Packard Box Truck

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1916 Packard Model E 2.5-Ton C-Cab Box Truck

Offered by Worldwide Auctioneers | Auburn, Indiana | September 3, 2021

Photo – Worldwide Auctioneers

Packard was one of America’s grandest automobiles around the start of WWI. But they were also producing some pretty heavy-duty commercial vehicles at that time as well. We’ve actually featured a 3-ton variant of the Model E in the past, but this earlier 2.5-ton variant features a C-cab design.

Power is from an 8.6-liter inline-six good for about 60 horsepower. This truck was built in 1916 – the first year for shaft drive after Packard ditched its drive chains. This thing is pretty massive and sports a cool period-style corn starch livery.

Old commercial vehicles are always a treat as their survival rates are dismal at best. This one is coming out of a Packard-focused museum and will sell at no reserve. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $30,800.

Alvis TA21

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1953 Alvis TA21 Drophead Coupe

Offered by H&H Auctioneers | Duxford, U.K. | September 8, 2021

Photo – H&H Auctioneers

We’ve featured a good number of post-war Alvis sports cars. Okay, so they aren’t that sporty. But they were two-door coupes or drophead coupes, which are inherently sportier than sedans. The TA21 was the first of the “21”-suffix cars and was Alvis’s first new post-war car.

The TA21 was produced from 1950 through 1953. It’s powered by a 3.0-liter inline-six fitted with a single Solex carburetor for a factory rating of 83 horsepower. Top speed was 88 mph. Two body styles were offered: a sedan and a rarer drophead coupe, the latter of which carried a body by Tickford.

This particular car carries a later engine from a TC21. There were 1,316 TA21s produced, only 302 of which were convertibles. This one is selling at no reserve. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $38,641.

Cadillac Model F

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1905 Cadillac Model F Four-Passenger Touring

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Auburn, Indiana | September 2-5, 2021

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The earliest Cadillacs were single-cylinder cars. The first multi-cylinder cars appeared in 1905, the same year in which the single-cylinder Model F was built. It was their most expensive of four single-powered models that year.

The F was identical to the Model E save for a two-inch-longer wheelbase. It was also available as a touring car with a non-detachable tonneau and two side doors – a first for a single-cylinder Cadillac. That single displaces 1.6 liters and made nine horsepower. The front hood is just for show – the engine is mounted under the seats.

Cadillac sold 4,029 cars of all types in 1905. The touring car variant oft he F (a delivery van was also available) retailed for $950 new. You can read more about this one here and see more from this sale here.

Update: Sold $51,700.

Daimler DB18

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1951 Daimler DB18 Special Sports

Offered by H&H Auctioneers | Duxford, U.K. | September 8, 2021

Photo – H&H Auctioneers

Daimler’s DB18 was introduced just prior to the start of WWII in 1939. Production obviously halted while the fighting raged, but Daimler popped it right back into production after the war. The car was sold as the “Consort” in export markets, where it proved very popular in India.

The DB18 was based on the pre-war New Fifteen model, but instead of that car’s 2.1-liter engine, the DB18 received a new 2.5-liter inline-six rated at 70 horsepower with a single Solex carburetor. Top speed in 1951 was 82 mph.

The first cars were all coachbuilt, but Daimler ended up selling a popular sedan that was bodied in-house. Only 608 Special Sport models were produced between 1946 and 1953, making this car pretty rare. It carries drophead coupe by by Barker as well as a pre-sale estimate of $48,000-$55,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $44,823.

Porsche Indy Car

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1990 March-Porsche 90P

Offered by Gooding & Company | Pebble Beach, California | August 13-14, 2021

Photo – Gooding & Company

Porsche North America contested three Indy Car seasons: 1988, 1989, and 1990. The company used specially built March chassis and then stuck their own powerplant behind the driver. For 1990, they had a brand new chassis designed, dubbed the 90P.

Power is provided by a turbocharged 2.6-liter Porsche V8 capable of 725 horsepower. Porsche’s two drivers in 1990 were Teo Fabi and John Andretti, the latter of which piloted this chassis, #5. The competition history for this car includes:

  • 1990 Indianapolis 500 – 21st, DNF (with Andretti)
  • 1990 Budweiser Grand Prix of Cleveland – 5th (with Andretti)
  • 1990 Molson Indy Vancouver – 5th (with Andretti)
  • 1990 Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Denver – 6th (with Andretti)

Actually, John Andretti drove this car in all but two of the 1990 points races. He finished 10th in the championship. The car was sold by Porsche to a collector in 2017, and then this car passed to the current owner the following year. It’s a ready-to-go historic open-wheel car with a pre-sale estimate of $350,000-$500,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $346,000.

1948 Figoni/Falaschi Talbot

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1948 Talbot-Lago T26 Record Sport Cabriolet Decapotable by Figoni et Falaschi

Offered by Bonhams | Carmel, California | August 13, 2021

Photo – Bonhams

That’s about the longest headline/car name we’ve ever featured. Yeesh. The Talbot-Lago T26 was introduced in 1946 and was based on a pre-war design. The T26 Record featured hydraulic brakes, a pre-selector transmission, and a 4.5-liter inline-six capable of 170 horsepower. There was a sport version called the Grand Sport that had an additional 20 horsepower.

And there was an even hotter version that was called, somewhat confusingly, the Record Sport, which shared the Grand Sport’s engine but with an aluminum cylinder head. Only 36 were built.

But what really have here is style. Figoni et Falaschi is one of the most exotic and sought-after names when it comes to classic coachbuilders… or specifically classic French coachbuilders. This is one of four Cabriolet Decapotable Record Sports built by Figoni et Falaschi and one of two that remain.

The car was part of the John O’Quinn collection until 2010, when it was bought by the current owner. It’s one of the best examples of rolling French high style there is. It carries a pre-sale estimate of $1,800,000-$2,300,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $1,875,000.

Kurtis 500C

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1953 Kurtis 500C

Offered by Gooding & Company | Pebble Beach, California | August 13-14, 2021

Photo – Gooding & Company

When it comes to classic Indy cars, not much beats a Kurtis-Offenhauser. The 500C was introduced either in late 1953 or early 1954. Only nine were built. Despite their build date, the cars were raced for years at Indianapolis – as late as about 1959.

This particular car is interesting in that it started out as a 500C that debuted at the Speedway in 1954. It ran there through 1957, including:

  • 1956 Indianapolis 500 – 8th (with Rodger Ward)

After 1957, it was sold to a different team, who had Eddie Kuzma cut the car up and update it with Kuzma parts. At that time, the Kurtis chassis was discarded and ultimately purchased by someone who would go on to have it restored in the 1980s to as it was in 1956. So, from that first original car, there are now two cars, one of which is still a Kurtis. Kind of weird, but that’s what happens.

Power is from a 4.2-liter (255ci) Offenhauser inline-four estimate to produce 400 horsepower with Hilborn mechanical fuel injection. The car is expected to sell for between $250,000-$450,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $257,600.

Krotz Motor Buggy

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1906 Krotz Motor Buggy

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | August 2021

Photo – Bring a Trailer Auctions

Alvaro Krotz founded the Krotz Manufacturing Company in Springfield, Ohio, in 1903. The company built electric cars under the Krotz Electric brand until the following year. After that venture failed, Krotz relocated to Chicago, where he apparently built this prototype high-wheeler. The story is that he showed it to Sears, who eventually went on to build similar cars. Krotz was also credited with designing the Sears to some degree, but he was gone before production started.

Krotz returned to Ohio, where the Krotz Gas-Electric hybrid was produced in small numbers by the Krotz-Defiance Auto Buggy Company. It would appear that the car above is the only surviving Krotz automobile, and it wasn’t built by either of his to automotive concerns.

The engine is a flat-twin, apparently a Panhard design of unknown displacement or origin. The car has a friction-disc transmission and was restored by its late owner. A note in the photo gallery says that the car can do 50 mph. 50! In this thing. If you’re a big Sears collector (the one or two of you out there) this is sort of a must-have. At any rate, the auction ends tomorrow. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $26,750.

Siata 208 CS

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1953 Siata 208 CS by Balbo

Offered by Gooding & Company | Pebble Beach, California | August 13-14, 2021

Photo – Gooding & Company

Gotta love short-wheelbase coachbuilt Italian sports cars from the 1950s. They all look like the exhaust is dragging the ground and the bodywork is being worn by the driver instead of the, in this case, oval-tube chassis. The bodywork here is by Carrozzeria Successori Balbo, which was located near the suddenly closed Stabilimenti Farina coachworks. When Farina closed, Balbo got the orders for a run of the Siata 208 CS coupes.

The 208 was produced between 1953 and 1955 and is powered by Fiat’s 2.0-liter 8V V8, which was rated at 110 horsepower. The CS version was the closed coupe, nine of which were bodied by Balbo. In all, 35 208 cars were produced.

This car was sold new in Italy and came to the U.S. in 1964. It passed through a few high-profile European collections between the 1980s and 2000s, with the current owner buying the car in 2006. The most recent restoration was completed in 2012, and the car went on to win a Siata class award at the 2017 Pebble Beach Concours. It is now expected to sell for between $1,400,000-$1,800,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $1,627,500.

Update: Not sold, RM Sotheby’s Monterey 2023.

Hudson Indy Car

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1932 Hudson Indy Car

Offered by Gooding & Company | Pebble Beach, California | August 13-14, 2021

Photo – Gooding & Company

The “Junk Formula” was an era of the Indianapolis 500 that lasted from 1930 through 1937. It allowed for a much wider variety of cars at the track, which had the effect of increasing field sizes. It also encouraged race car builders to use production car parts. A mechanic from Saginaw, Michigan, named Jack Mertz decided to build his own Indy car. Using a Hudson chassis, he bodied this car himself.

Under the hood is a 4.2-liter inline-eight capable of 150 horsepower. Mertz then drove the car from Saginaw to Indianapolis to enter the 1932 race. But he arrived too late and missed the field. The following year, Mertz sold the car to a Detroit car dealer named Lawrence Martz, who then named the car after himself. The competition history for the “Martz Special” includes:

  • 1933 Indianapolis 500 – 15th, DNF (with Gene Haustein)
  • 1934 Indianapolis 500 – 30th, DNF (with Haustein)

It actually crashed during the ’34 race, and by the end of the decade the trail of this car went cold. That is, until the 1970s when it was discovered. The restoration was done in the early 1980s, and the car was shown at the 2016 Pebble Beach Concours. It is now expected to bring between $250,000-$350,000 and will sell without reserve. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $291,000.