Tag Archives: Bonhams

Fiat 510 Sedan

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1925 Fiat 510 De Luxe Berlina

Offered by Bonhams | Beaulieu, U.K. | September 2, 2017

Photo – Bonhams

When one thinks of old Italian cars, it’s easy to think of just things that are sporty or just things that are small. But there were also big sedans – just like those from France, the U.K., and America. In fact, Fiat’s Tipo 510 was the biggest car they built at the time. It was available for the 1920 through 1925 model years.

The engine is a 3.4-liter straight-six making 46 horsepower (or 53 if you had the upgraded “S” version). Top speed in this version is about 60 mph. The “S” also had a shorter wheelbase, as Fiat offered the standard 510 in just one length.

This example was sold new to Denmark and the current owner acquired it in 2001. It’s been cared for by conscientious owners its entire life. One of the last 510s built (of about 14,000 total), this big Fiat should bring between $26,000-$32,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $25,309.

1914 Calcott

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1914 Calcott 10½HP Two-Seater with Dickey

Offered by Bonhams | Beaulieu, U.K. | September 2, 2017

Photo – Bonhams

Calcott Brothers started building bicycles in 1886 and, like many other bicycle manufacturers, turned to motorcycles – for them in 1904. The next logical step, cars, followed in 1913. The marque was acquired by Singer in 1926 and phased out after the head of the company passed away.

Bonhams is actually offering three different Calcott cars in this sale. This 10.5HP model is an example of the first model the company produced. Introduced in 1913, these were built through 1917. It’s powered by a 1.5-liter straight-four making, you guessed it, 10.5 horsepower. Most Calcotts were light cars and this one is quite pretty in bright blue with matching rims. This ex-museum car has been in storage since 2015 and needs a little work to make it roadworthy, but it’ll be worth it. It should bring between $19,000-$26,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $23,820.

Bayliss-Thomas

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1928 Bayliss-Thomas 12/27HP Two-Seater Sports

Offered by Bonhams | Beaulieu, U.K. | September 2, 2017

Photo – Bonhams

Bayliss-Thomas was a company that is primarily known for a brand of motorcycles called “Excelsior.” These are not the same Excelsior bikes made in the U.S., as this company was based in Coventry. In 1920 they decided to start building cars, but couldn’t use “Excelsior” and had to settle for their corporate name, Bayliss-Thomas.

Produced only through 1929, the company managed to churn out just over 1,000 cars in a 10-year span. Introduced in 1925, the 12/27 featured a 27 horsepower 1.5-liter Meadows straight-four and a three-speed gearbox. Five body styles were offered with this Sports Tourer being among the smallest. This example has been on static display at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, since 1974. It has been slowly restored but is not currently running. It’s certainly a rare car that isn’t seen often. In this state, it should bring between $10,000-$15,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

Sheffield-Simplex

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1908 Sheffield-Simplex 45HP Model LA2 Tourer

Offered by Bonhams | Beaulieu, U.K. | September 2, 2017

Photo – Bonhams

Simplex was a popular word in the early days of the automobile. Famously, there was the Mercedes-Simplex, the Crane-Simplex, the plain-old Simplex and the American Simplex aka Amplex… among others. The Sheffield-Simplex was from, guess where, Sheffield, England. The company was founded in 1907 with financial backing from Earl Fitzwilliam, a man who made his fortune in coal. The last cars rolled off the line in 1920 and motorcycles continued on through 1927.

The first car produced in 1907 was the LA1 and the LA2 followed in 1908. It’s powered by a rather large 45 horsepower, 7.0-liter straight-six. When new, the LA2 was advertised as being sold without a gearbox, though it did actually have one. This is the only surviving Model LA2.

Re-imported into the U.K. from Australia in the 1970s, this example was thoroughly restored and has taken part in many rallies in the U.K. over the years. It is thought that the company only turned out about 1,500 cars in their 13 years of production (and most of those were built before WWI started). Only three are known to survive, with this being the oldest. It should bring between $190,000-$260,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Vermorel Tourer

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1913 Vermorel 12/16HP Model L Torpedo Tourer

Offered by Bonhams | Beaulieu, U.K. | September 2, 2017

Photo – Bonhams

The French Vermorel company (officially, Établissements V. Vermorel) traces its roots back to 1850, when it was founded as an engineering firm in Villefranche-sur-Saône, France. They built their first car in 1899, but series production didn’t being until 1908.

Production took off until the outbreak of World War One and resumed immediately upon the war’s conclusion. The last Vermorel passenger car rolled off the line 1930 and heavy trucks were built through 1932. The company soldiered on in other arenas until 1965.

This particular example was discovered in a barn in France in 1968. It had two owners until 1990 when the current owner bought it. It is likely powered by a 2.3-liter straight-four making 12/16 horsepower and the body is by Henri Gauthier & Cie. Vermorel is a rare marque these days and this is believed to be the only example in the U.K. It should sell for between $26,000-$39,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $25,681.

July 2017 Auction Highlights

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July was a lull in the auction world between a packed June and an always-huge August. We start this with H&H Classics at the Imperial War Museum. The top seller at this sale was this 1929 Bugatti Type 44 Saloon by Vanvooren that brought $258,555.

Photo – H&H Classics

The Adams Roadster we featured sold, bringing $22,900 (you can see all of the results here). And we’ll stay in the U.K. for the first half of Silverstone Auctions’ two-parter, the Classic Race Car Sale. The Tojeiro-JAP failed to meet it’s reserve, but the top sale was this $295,492 1990 Lancia Delta HF Integrale Works Rally Car. Click here for complete results.

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

Next up, Mecum’s Harrisburg sale. A previously-featured Stutz failed to sell at this auction. The top sale was this 1970 Plymouth Hemi Superbird for $415,000.

Photo – Mecum

The Hertz Rent-a-Racer Shelby we featured sold for $120,000. Complete results can be found here.

Let’s jump back to June to cover Russo & Steele’s Newport Beach auction. The top sale there was $292,600 for this 2006 Ford GT.

Photo – Russo & Steele

The Fiat 1200 TV we featured failed to sell. Check here for more results.

Here we go… the first of the Pebble Beach sales: Bonhams in Carmel. The top sale, as predicted, was the single-owner McLaren F1 we featured that ended up bringing an astonishing $15,620,000. The 1904 Premier we featured blasted past its estimate, selling for $341,000. A couple of no-sales included the Maserati Mistral, Ferrari 312 F1 car, the Lotus Indy car and a previously-featured 1904 Humber.

We’ll give Most Interesting to this 1957 BMW 503 Cabriolet by Bertone that we really wanted to feature but ran out of time. It sold for $583,000.

Photo – Bonhams

A rare model of Horch we featured a long time ago while it was for sale at a dealership sold at this auction for $102,300. Click here for more from Bonhams.

Lotus 34

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1964 Lotus Type 34

Offered by Bonhams | Carmel, California | August 18, 2017

Photo – Bonhams

Lotus was far from the first European car company to try and conquer the Indianapolis 500, after all Peugeot won the third running. But there are few car companies that really left as an indelible a mark at the Speedway quite like Lotus did. They brought the rear-engined revolution. They were the rear-engined revolution. The 1964 Type 34 was their second “Champ Car” made specifically for American ovals.

The Type 34 was an evolution of Colin Chapman’s original Indy entrant, the Type 29. Lotus teamed with Ford for power and this car features by a 495 horsepower 4.2-liter V-8. It has a two-speed manual transmission. It’s racing heritage includes practice for the ’64 500 and the following:

  • 1964 Milwaukee Mile – DNF (with A.J. Foyt)
  • 1964 Trenton 200 – 1st (with Parnelli Jones)
  • 1965 Phoenix 150 – DNF (with Foyt)
  • 1965 Trenton 100 – DNF (with Foyt)
  • 1965 Indianapolis 500 – Pole, 15th, DNF (with Foyt)
  • 1965 Milwaukee Mile – DNF (with Foyt)
  • 1965 Langhorne 150 – DNF (with Foyt)
  • 1965 Trenton 150 – 1st (with Foyt)
  • 1965 Indianapolis Raceway Park – 4th (with Foyt)
  • 1965 Langhorne 125 – 2nd (with Foyt)
  • 1965 Atlanta 250 – DNF (with Foyt)
  • 1965 Trenton 200 – 1st (with Foyt)
  • 1965 Phoenix 200 – 1st (with Foyt)
  • 1966 Trenton 200 – 3rd (with Foyt)

That’s quite the history, even if the transmission gave out on the car seemingly more often than not. But it was quick in its day with who else but A.J. Foyt at the wheel. Foyt kept the car until 1992 when the current owner acquired it. The restoration is fresh, having been completed earlier this year.

All four of A.J.’s 500-winning cars are owned by the Speedway Museum. This pole-winning car (which set a lap record at Indy) is referred to as one of the most significant Foyt cars in private hands by the catalog. It is the winningest Indy Lotus and one of only two Type 34s in existence – the other at the IMS Museum. Get it while it’s hot – but it won’t come cheap. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Ferrari 312 T5

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1980 Ferrari 312 T5

Offered by Bonhams | Carmel, California | August 18, 2017

Photo – Bonhams

Bravo on the photo, Bonhams. This shot was clearly captured with a car drifting around Sonoma Raceway in the background. Anyway… Ferrari’s 312T line of Formula One racing cars competed in F1 between 1975 and 1980. This car was the last of the series.

Ferrari’s driver lineup for 1980 was the same as 1979: Gilles Villeneuve and Jody Scheckter. This was Scheckter’s car for much of the 1980 season (even though it has Villeneuve’s name by the driver’s compartment). This car was the fastest of all the 312Ts: it’s powered by a 515 horsepower 3.0-liter V-12. The race history of this car includes:

  • 1980 South African Grand Prix – 21st, DNF (with Scheckter)
  • 1980 U.S. Grand Prix West – 5th (with Scheckter)
  • 1980 Belgian Grand Prix – 8th (with Scheckter)
  • 1980 Monaco Grand Prix – 14th, DNF (with Scheckter)
  • 1980 French Grand Prix – 12th (with Scheckter)
  • 1980 British Grand Prix – 10th (with Scheckter)
  • 1980 German Grand Prix – 13th (with Scheckter)

Defending World Champion Scheckter retired at the end of the 1980 season and when he went, so did this series of Ferrari F1 cars, as they moved forward into the turbo era. Bonhams is not publishing a pre-sale estimate with this car, but the T3 we featured a few years ago sold for $2,310,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Premier Tonneau

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1904 Premier Model F 16HP Rear-Entrance Tonneau

Offered by Bonhams | Carmel, California | August 18, 2017

Photo – Bonhams

George B. Weidely sold his first car in 1902 and his Premier Motor Manufacturing Company continued to build four, and primarily six, cylinder cars through 1925. Based in Indianapolis, the brand was at the heart of one of America’s major early automobile manufacturing cities.

The 1904 Premier range was the first year they offered multiple models. This, the Model F, was the mid-range model and the top trim four-cylinder car the firm sold, priced at $1,400 when new. It’s powered by a 16 horsepower four-cylinder engine. The only body style offered was the Rear-Entrance Tonneau you see here.

This particular example was restored in 1999 and is finished in Brewster Green and Canary (yellow). Only two 1904 Premiers have survived, the other being the more-expensive-when-new Two-Cylinder model that is in possession of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum. Even though this is an American automobile, it is London-to-Brighton eligible and should sell for between $175,000-$250,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams.

Update: Sold $341,000.

June 2017 Auction Highlights, Pt. III

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First up in the third auction rundown for June’s sales is Brightwells’ Bicester Classic & Vintage sale. The top sale was this 1976 Ferrari 308 GTB that brought $110,000.

Photo – Brightwells

The Delage we featured didn’t meet its reserve but the Willys-Knight we featured a few months ago did, bringing $11,645 this time around. Check out more from Brightwells here.

The first of Bonhams’ two annual Goodwood sales was held at the end of June. Only one of our feature cars failed to sell (the Bugatti Brescia) while a previously-featured, post-war Talbot-Lago did sell: for $176,371. The other Bugatti we featured sold for $365,332. Top sale went to this 1957 Porsche 356A Carrera Speedster for $1,193,852.

Photo – Bonhams

The Hotchkiss sold for $212,710 while the 1911 Mercedes brought $467,080. Click here for more results from this sale.

Artcurial was the auction house that held this year’s Monaco sale, which had a rough sell-through rate, with three of our featured cars failing to meet their reserves: the Arrows F1 car, the Ruf CTR, and the Bentley Arnage wagon. The top sale was this 1974 Porsche 911 Carrera RSR that brought $2,009,990.

Photo – Artcurial

The two cars from this sale that we featured that did sell were the Lombardi and the OSI Cabriolet. They brought $27,247 each. To see what else sold (or didn’t), click here.

Historics at Brooklands had their July sale and the AC Buckland we featured failed to sell. The top seller was this 1989 Lamborghini Countach 25th Anniversary that brought $257,580 – almost three times what these cars were bringing 15 years ago.

Photo – Historics at Brooklands

The three other cars we featured from this sale all sold with the Lotus Cortina bringing the most at $56,976. Next was the Jensen GT for $20,194 and the Lambretta Mink one-off prototype brought up the rear with a sale price of $15,866. Click here for complete results from this sale.

Finally, Mecum’s Denver sale, which was actually held in late July. The AMC Rebel Machine we featured brought $50,000 and the overall top seller was this 2016 Ferrari California T Convertible for $165,000. Everything else from this sale can be found here.

Photo – Mecum