1927 Hispano-Suiza H6B Coupe-Chauffeur by Eugene Girard Fils
Offered by Bonhams | Paris, France | February 1, 2024
Photo – Bonhams
Hispano-Suiza’s H6 went on sale at the end of WWI in 1919 with an engine that was essentially half of a WWI V12 aircraft engine. It would be the company’s flagship model throughout the 1920s, with the H6B arriving in 1922 and the H6C in 1924.
The engine is a 6.6-liter inline-six rated at 135 horsepower. This car was delivered new in Paris, where it was rebodied in 1933 with the coachwork you see here. It was later parked in a print shop, where it was discovered in 1967… by its current owner.
It has not been restored – and it hasn’t been used recently either, which is a shame because the engine has since seized. Running or not, it’s still excellent and comes with an estimate of $165,000-$240,000. Click here for more info.
Offered by Bonhams | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 2024
Photo – Bonhams
Hudson was one of a very small percentage of U.S. automakers to make it both through the Depression and come out the other side of WWII. In fact, they lasted from 1909 through 1957, by which time they had merged with Nash to form AMC. Hudsons were never top-tier luxury cars, but during the ’20s and ’30s, they introduced entry-level brands, which allowed Hudson to inch farther upmarket.
Which is how this coachbuilt Model L came to be. The Sport Phaeton bodywork is from Biddle & Smart, who built all bodies for the Model L, which was Hudson’s flagship offering in 1929. Power is from a 4.7-liter inline-six rated at 92 horsepower. Hudson was America’s #3 automaker behind Chevrolet and Ford in 1929.
Only 17 Phaetons were built in 1929, and just seven remain. The car has been restored to, interestingly, colors from a period Hudson advertisement. It’s a pretty slick car, and head and shoulders above what you could’ve got from Chevy or Ford in the same year. The estimate is $150,000-$180,000. Click here for more info.
Offered by Bonhams | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 2024
Photo – Bonhams
Before WWII, Talbot-Lago debuted a car that they called the Baby. Very few were produced between 1936 and 1940 while the company focused on its established offerings. The Baby wasn’t really an entry-level car (it was still expensive), it was just a little smaller.
As the company faltered after the war, they tried to launch a new Baby in 1951/1952. Two versions were available, with the T-15 receiving a lower taxable horsepower rating. Actual output of the 2.7-liter inline-six was around 120 horsepower. It also has a Wilson pre-selector gearbox.
The car was supposed to be a performance car, but the bodies were too heavy and not many were sold. By the end of 1953 they had stopped advertising it. Just 70 are thought to survive, with this on clothed in one-off coachwork by Jean Barou. “Largely unrestored” – whatever that means – the car has an estimate of $90,000-$120,000. Click here for more info.
Offered by Bonhams | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 2024
Photo – Bonhams
The Winton Motor Carriage Company was one of America’s most important early manufacturers. Alexander Winton was the first to really set up a dedicated production system for motorcars in the U.S., and his head-to-head loss against Henry Ford in a 1901 race set Ford on his path. Winton sold cars from 1898 to 1924, a short time given the company’s importance.
Winton’s had been six-cylinders-only since 1908, and post-WWI models moved upmarket, at least in terms of price. The Model 40 was offered the final two years of production: ’23 and ’24. Power is from a 5.7-liter inline-six rated at 72 horsepower in 1923 and 78 in 1924.
Body styles aplenty were available, but most cars of this era look best in open touring configuration. The car was at one time owned by Alexander Winton Jr., and it has mostly known ownership history, which is remarkable at over 100-years old. The estimate here is $45,000-$55,000. Click here for more info.
1931 Duesenberg Model J Convertible Sedan by Franay
Offered by Bonhams | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 2024
Photo – Bonhams
Here’s another great Duesenberg, one that has been off the market since 2002, when it was acquired by its current owner. The convertible sedan body style is not an unusual one on a Model J, and this looks like many other such cars.
Except it looks slightly different. This car is among not all that many Model Js that were bodied by European coachbuilders. It wears coachwork by Franay and was one of two Js on the 1931 Paris Salon stand. It was purchased new by the Queen of Yugoslavia.
It then went to a Peruvian owner in Paris. A restoration was completed in 1996, and the car is powered by a 265-horsepower, 6.9-liter straight-eight. You can read more about it here.
Offered by Bonhams | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 2024
Photo – Bonhams
The Reliant Motor Company is most famous for its three-wheeled vehicles, notably the Robin (and by extension, the Rialto). But prior to the Robin there was this, the Regal. It went on sale in 1952 and lasted for over 20 years before being replaced by the Robin in 1973.
Over that 20 years, they produced seven different series of Regal. This is a Mk III, which was introduced in 1956. It featured an all-fiberglass body and a 747cc inline-four that made 16 horsepower. The Mk IV arrived in 1958.
Bigger engines came later, but this could get to 60 mph if you tried (and how fast do you really want to go on three wheels?). Plus it’s a convertible. These are rarely seen in the U.S., and this one is going at no reserve. Click here for more info.
Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | December 15, 2023
Photo – Bonhams
Geoffrey Taylor’s Alta Car and Engineering Company was founded in 1929 and produced sports racing and a few road cars prior to WWII. In 1950, they built a Formula One car and entered five races as a constructor. But F1 was, as always, expensive. So Taylor turned his attentions to F2.
Their first Formula Two car was built in 1951, and this example is the second of five constructed. It competed in races in 1951 and 1952 and was purchased by its current owner in 1974.
It’s never been restored. The Alta F2 car was powered by a 2.0-liter inline-four that was rated at about 130 horsepower. The estimate is $76,000-$150,000, which is quite a range. More info can be found here.
Offered by Bonhams | Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. | November 25 2023
Photo – Bonhams
There was this weird thing in the 2000s where coachbuilt versions of luxury cars were all of a sudden something companies wanted to do. Zagato styled some Bentleys, while Touring took a stab at Maserati. Then there is this, one of the longest two-door cars ever built from short-lived German coachbuilder Xenatec.
It’s based on a stock Maybach 57S sedan, including the 133.5-inch wheelbase, that had the bodywork tweaked to just two doors. Under the hood is the same twin-turbocharged 6.0-liter V12 making 604 horsepower. If a $400,000 Maybach sedan was too common for you, you could’ve shelled out who knows how much more to get a coupe – something the factory never offered.
Just eight of these were built, one of which for Muammar Gaddafi, so you’ll be in good company if you have the estimated $550,000-$650,000 to spend on this today. More info can be found here.
Offered by Bonhams | Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. | November 25, 2023
Photo – Bonhams
The 2006 Formula One season was a classic Fernando Alonso/Michael Schumacher dogfight, with Alonso coming out on top. Behind Ferrari and Renault was McLaren, and this was their car for that year. Kimi Raikkonen was in one car, while Pedro de la Rosa replaced Juan Pablo Montoya in the other car midway through the season.
It was an Adrian Newey design and was powered by a Mercedes-Benz 2.4-liter V8 good for 750 horsepower. The competition history for this chassis, MP4/21-2, includes:
2006 Bahrain Grand Prix – 3rd (with Kimi Raikkonen)
2006 Malaysian Grand Prix – 22nd, DNF (with Raikkonen)
2006 Australian Grand Prix – 2nd (with Raikkonen)
2006 San Marino Grand Prix – 5th (with Raikkonen)
2006 European Grand Prix at Nurburgring – 4th (with Raikkonen)
2006 Spanish Grand Prix – 5th (with Raikkonen)
2006 Monaco Grand Prix – 20th, DNF (with Raikkonen)
2006 French Grand Prix – 5th (with Raikkonen)
McLaren restored the car before selling it off, and it hasn’t been used since. The pre-sale estimate is $2,500,000-$3,500,000. Click here for more info.
Offered by Bonhams | Abu Dhabi, UAE | November 25, 2023
Photo – Bonhams
Well, F1 cars don’t come much more famous or significant than this. Bonhams has littered their listing with superlatives and a lot of words, so let’s try to distill it down a bit. The Type 79 was developed in late 1977 and would debut midway through 1978, dominating and being carried over for the 1979 season as well.
The car was advanced for its time, with the aerodynamics taking advantage of “ground effects”, sucking the car to the road in the corners. It’s powered by a 3.0-liter Ford-Cosworth DFV V8 that made about 475 horsepower. The competition history for this chassis, 79/4, includes:
1978 Dutch Grand Prix – 1st (with Mario Andretti)
1978 Italian Grand Prix – 6th (with Andretti)
1978 Canadian Grand Prix – 8th (with Andretti)
1979 Argentine Grand Prix – 5th (with Andretti)
1979 Brazilian Grand Prix – 23rd, DNF (with Andretti)
1979 French Grand Prix – 13th (with Carlos Reutemann)
1979 British Grand Prix – 23rd, DNF (with Andretti)
1979 Austrian Grand Prix – 18th, DNF (with Reutemann)
1979 Dutch Grand Prix – 22nd, DNF (with Reutemann)
1979 Italian Grand Prix – 7th (with Reutemann)
A few other notes. For 1978, the team ran the cars in the John Player Special livery, but the 1979 paint scheme was Martini. This car was also used in Mario Andretti’s 1978 championship season (in which he won the driver’s championship and Lotus the constructor’s).
Lotus kept the car until selling it in 1983. It suffered a big crash in a vintage event in 1989. Later rebuilt, the car changed hands next in 1999, when the current owner bought it. This car has an estimate of $6,500,000-$9,500,000 – the high end of which is short of RM’s low estimate on their modern Mercedes F1 car. Which seems backwards. Click here for more info.
