280SE 3.5 Cabriolet

1971 Mercedes-Benz 280SE 3.5 Cabriolet

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | March 2024

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This is among the finest classic Mercedes-Benz products you can buy. It’s also among the classiest. The W111 chassis was designed by Friedrich Geiger and is among three generation of Benzes that fall under the “fintail” category, even though these late coupe/cabriolet variants don’t really have tail fins.

The two-doors came a few years after the sedans and initially launched as the 220SE in 1961. A displacement increase in 1965 brought the 250SE to market, followed by the 2.8-liter 280SE in 1967. All of these cars had straight-six engines. Then, in 1969, Mercedes launched the unnecessarily confusingly named 280SE 3.5, which had a 3.5-liter V8 that made 197 horsepower.

Coupes and convertibles were offered with the V8, and just 1,232 examples of the cabriolet were sold. They have been six-figure cars for some time and continue to creep up. This silver-over-blue example has a little time left to bid, and you can do so here.

Hennessey Venom F5 Roadster

2023 Hennessey Venom F5 Roadster

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | March 2023

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Well here is a wild top-tier boutique supercar. Hennessey Special Vehicles is an offshoot of the Viper tuning company and they’ve made two supercars since 2010: the Lotus-based Venom GT and the Venom F5, the latter of which is not a stretched Exige but its own thing. It went on sale in 2020, with a roadster arriving for 2022. Production of that targa-top variant is limited to 30 examples. This is the second. We’ll see if they actually end up building all 30.

Power is provided by a twin-turbocharged 6.6-liter V8 that was developed in-house and based on Chevy’s LS series of engines. It is rated at 1,817 horsepower. The coupe variant has a claimed top speed of 301 mph. Which is insane.

This car has under 600 miles, and bidding is over $1.7 million as of this writing. The auction ends today, and you can watch it wind down here.

Acura NSX-T

2005 Acura NSX-T

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | January 2024

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The first-generation NSX was produced from 1991 through 2005. We’ve featured a launch-year car before, and here is the other end of the spectrum. In 2002, the car received a facelift that saw the switch from pop-up to fixed headlights. There were some other tweaks too, but basically it was refresh to make the car appear more modern, considering it had been unveiled over 15 years earlier.

Power is from a 3.2-liter V6 rated at 290 horsepower. They only built 248 cars for the final model year, 240 of which had manual gearboxes like this one does. Of those, only three of them were finished in Imola Orange Pearl over a black interior, also like this one.

This was not a common color on the NSX (only 49 facelifted cars were painted in it). That, plus the 13,000 miles, is going to make this one big-money NSX. The auction started earlier today (as of this writing) and bidding is already over $130,000 with 12 days left. Click here for more info.

Studebaker Light Six

1924 Studebaker Model EM Light Six Sedan

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | January 2024

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Studebaker was one of America’s largest carmakers in the 1920s, and in 1924 they ranked #10 in the U.S., with over 105,000 cars sold (meanwhile Ford was a 1.7 million). Their 1924 model line consisted of three six-cylinder cars and one four-cylinder. The sixes were the Big Six, Special Six, and the Light Six.

The Light Six, which went under the “Model EM” name for 1924, was offered from 1918 through 1927, with it going by the “Standard Six” name for the last three model years. Power is from a 3.4-liter inline-six rated at 40 horsepower.

Various body styles were offered. The Light Six isn’t a model that saw a great survival rate – it was the cheapest six they had. And open cars tend to have a better survival rate to begin with. So the fact that this Light Six Sedan is still running is pretty great. There are a few days left to bid here.

991 935

2019 Porsche 935

Offered by Bring a Trailer | January 2024

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Porsche’s 991 generation of the 911 was exiting production at the end of 2019. Their big send off was the 911 GT2 RS, of which 1,000 were produced between 2018 and 2020. There was a track-only Clubsport variant as well. To take things even further, Porsche unveiled the 991 GT2 RS-based 935 in September 2018.

It’s a track-only car, but it was never homologated for a racing series, meaning you just go rent a track if you want to use it. Just 77 were built, and the name pays homage to the 935 race cars of the 1970s, specifically the 24 Hours of Le Mans-winning 1978 935/78. This is #13 of the 77. Porsche offered a series of classic livery wraps from the factory, but this one wears its bare carbon-fiber finish.

Power is from a twin-turbocharged 3.8-liter flat-six rated at 700 horsepower. This thing is full of race-ready goodness (more of which you can read about here) but it seems unlikely many get used to even a fraction of their potential, as they are doomed to trade hands as collectables. This one is going on five years old and still has less than 600 miles.

430 Scuderia

2008 Ferrari 430 Scuderia

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | Online | December 2024

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Ferrari’s F430 was the follow up to the 360 Modena. The Modena had a limited-edition track-focused variant called the Challenge Stradale, and for the F430 generation, that track-focused car was called the 430 Scuderia. That’s right, they dropped the “F” for some reason.

In Scuderia trim, the 4.3-liter V8 makes 503 horsepower, which is 20 more than the standard F430. It was offered for 2008 and 2009 only and even spawned a convertible variant, the even-more-expensive Scuderia Spider 16M.

This car has 26,000 miles and a paddle-shifted gearbox. It is finished in Bianco Avus with black stripes and gold wheels. This bidding on the car is already up to $200,000 at the time of this writing, and there are still a few days to go. Click here for more info.

XK120 Roadster

1953 Jaguar XK120 Roadster

Offered by Bring a Trailer | Online | December 2024

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When Jaguar decided to re-enter the sports car market after WWII, they did so with this, the XK120. Which was quite a departure from its predecessor, the pre-war SS100. The XK120 debuted at the 1948 London Motor Show in Roadster form. Later, there would be fixed-head and drophead coupe variants (the DHC had roll-up windows, while the Roadster did not).

Between 1948 and 1954, there were 12,055 XK120s built across all styles. This one is powered by the stock 3.4-liter inline-six, though it has been fitted with an SE cylinder head. The base car was rated at 160 horsepower, while full SE cars made 180. SE cars also had other performance add-ons.

This U.S.-spec car has had two owners since new and was originally finished in gray. Its auction ends tomorrow, and you can find out more about it here.

GT500KR Convertible

1968 Shelby GT500KR Convertible

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auction | December 2023

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Of all of the true Shelby Mustangs (those produced in the ’60s, not the modern mass-produced Fords with Shelby badging), this is the best. The GT500 was the GT350‘s big brother, and in “King of the Road” spec, it was one step beyond that.

The GT500 debuted in 1967, and the KR came a year later. Just 518 of them were convertibles. Power is from a 428 Cobra Jet (7.0-liter) V8 that was rated at 335 horsepower. Shelby-specific stuff included a fiberglass hood, a spoiler, Thunderbird taillights, a heavy-duty suspension, and a few more tweaks. The KR convertible got that distinctive roll bar.

This car was restored before being relocated to Canada in 2021. GT500KRs seem to change hands with some regularity. But that doesn’t make them any less awesome. Click here for more info.

BAC Mono

2020 BAC Mono

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | December 2023

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Neill and Ian Briggs are brothers that founded the Briggs Automotive Company in Liverpool, England, in 2009. Since then, BAC has produced a lone product: the Mono, which is a single-seat supercar. It’s kind of like an open-wheel car for the road, but it does have fenders, of course.

The Mono went on sale in 2011, and in 2015 the company changed up the stock engine, which is a 2.5-liter inline-four rated at 305 horsepower. The whole thing weighs about 1,300 pounds. It’s quick.

An even more powerful R variant went on sale in 2019. At the time of this writing, the car is already bid over $100,000 with 10 days left. Click here for more info.

Grifo Targa

1970 Iso Grifo Series I Targa

Offered by Bring a Trailer | December 2024

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The Iso Grifo is perhaps the most muscular of all of the Italian/American hybrid muscle cars. Sure, it’s a two-door coupe and a sports car. But it has angry lines and big American V8s. That’s a muscle car.

The Grifo has an interesting history, as discussed here, and went on sale in 1965. This is one of 330 Series I cars built, just 14 of which were targas. Power is from a 5.7-liter Chevrolet V8 rated at 300 horsepower.

It was cosmetically overhauled in Europe in the early 2000s and received mechanic work in the years following its importation to the U.S. These are very rare big-dollar cars. You can read more about it here.