Tag Archives: Bonhams

Parisienne Victoria Combination

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c.1900 Parisienne Victoria Combination

Offered by Bonhams | Greenwich, Connecticut | June 3, 2012

The Victoria Combination was the most popular model produced by Société Parisienne E. Couturier et Cie of Paris. What began as a bicycle manufacturing company turned to motorized vehicles in 1899 and produced them through 1903. Engines from De Dion-Bouton and Aster were available. The car you see here sports a 2.75 horsepower De Dion.

These were relatively popular in the early days of motoring with about 400 being made. At the time, it would have cost about $600 to purchase one (3,000 francs). And this car is 112 years old – there are only about ten people left on Earth who were alive when this was built! The fact that any car has survived that long should make it near-priceless. It’s an antique – but one you can use as this one appears to be in great shape. Plus, how many other front-wheel drive cars can you think of made prior to, say, a Cord L-29? Not many, I’m guessing.

The pre-sale estimate for this rare and interesting early car is $50,000-$70,000. You don’t exactly see these everyday. To read the complete lot description, click here. And for more from Bonhams in Connecticut, click here.

Update: Sold $56,160.

1915 Crane-Simplex

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1915 Crane-Simplex Model 5 Sport Berline by Brewster

Offered by Bonhams | Greenwich, Connecticut | June 3, 2012

Tell me that isn’t a beautiful car. Quite a number of cars of this vintage have upright grilles that lead the cowl straight back to the firewall and passenger compartment. It’s like somebody fitted two rectangles together and called it a day. But look at the flow of the front of this car – how the cowl sweeps right into the windshield. It’s one of my favorite early automotive design touches. The roof rack completes the picture of this car, full of a wealthy family, their belongings strapped to the roof, travelling on to some Gilded Age vacation home on the New England coast.

Crane-Simplex is one of those marques that went through quite a few different names and owners over the years. A brief history: The Smith & Mabley Manufacturing Company began building the S&M Simplex in 1904. Two years later the company was broke and it was absorbed by the Simplex Automobile Company, the badging was shortened to “Simplex.” In 1915, the Crane Motor Car Company purchased Simplex and Crane-Simplex was born. In 1920, Mercer (and the ill-fated Hare’s Motors corporation) acquired Crane-Simplex for two years before Henry Crane (who founded the Crane Motor Car Company) bought it back after Hare’s Motors went bust. He tried to revive the company but it was gone from the marketplace by 1924.

The car featured here has a six-cylinder engine displacing 9.24-liters and it is from the first year of production. The body is by Brewster and, because the engine puts out significant power, it’s big. Crane-Simplex cars were for the very wealthy – John D. Rockefeller had one. They were well built and expensive. The one seen here sold for $13,800 in 1915. Only 121 Crane-Simplex cars were made in total.

The car is presented as “original” while having been “worked over” (which I take to mean “restored as needed”) so it can be driven long distances. Original or not, this would be one hell of a car to drive on a classic car tour. It’s one of the most exclusive pre-war American automobiles. It is exceptional.

The pre-sale estimate is $100,000-$140,000, and after looking at it, this sounds remarkably fair. To read the complete lot description, click here. And for more from Bonhams in Connecticut, click here.

Update: Not sold.

Bonhams’ 2012 Aston Martin Sale

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Bonhams’ almost exclusively Aston Martin sale (there were a few Lagondas), held on May 19, 2012, was a huge success. The sell rate was very high and some cars brought a lot of money – and by a lot of money I mean some cars sold for up to five times the amount of the high-end of their estimate. Such as our featured 1971 DBS Estate. The upper end of the estimate was $110,000. It sold for $533,000. Wow.

The top sale of the auction was a 1991 DB4GT Zagato. While not one of the original 1960s DB4GT Zagatos, this was one of a handful of DB4s that were upgraded by the factory in the late-80s/early-90s. It sold for $1,896,720. But look at it. If there was a “perfect shape,” this is about as close as I’ve seen.

The second highest-sale was a 1962 DB4 Vantage Convertible with single-family ownership from new. It sold for $967,000.

Other interesting sales included a pair of sedans. First was a 1963 Lagonda Rapide – one of only 55 produced. It brought $90,800. The second was a Series I Aston Martin Lagonda from 1975. It is one of only seven made and it sold for $533,000.

And our other feature car, the 1952 DB2 Drophead Coupe, sold for $427,000. For complete results, click here.

Moretti 2500 SS

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1962 Moretti 2500 SS Coupe

Offered by Bonhams | Greenwich, Connecticut | June 3, 2012

Moretti is one of those Italian auto companies with a somewhat hazy history of manufacture (yes, there are others, all to various extents: Abarth, Siata, Cisitalia and various other Etceterini). They began as a motorcycle constructor and then turned to microcars. They are also well known for building specially-bodied Fiats. But they did also build cars of their own – but they were mostly Fiat-based. The line between what is a Moretti and what is a Moretti-bodied Fiat can be a little confusing.

In this case, Moretti took a Fiat 2300 and reworked the straight-six engine to 2.5-liters and 170 horsepower. They also strapped this stunning body, designed in-house, to the chassis. It’s thought that only about 20 of these were built.

The car was recently serviced to the tune of about $18,000. Another interesting tidbit – this car was formerly owned by J. Geils of “Freeze-Frame” fame. The pre-sale estimate is between $65,000-$75,000. For the complete catalog description, click here. For more from Bonhams in Connecticut, click here.

Update: Did not sell.

Cunningham V-4

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1922 Cunningham Series V-4 Model 82-A Town Limousine

Offered by Bonhams | Greenwich, Connecticut | June 3, 2012

Long before Briggs Cunningham started building his sports cars in Florida in the 1950s, James Cunningham, Son & Company (unrelated) of Rochester, New York, were building Cunningham-based cars. But these were not sporty little racers – they were high-end luxury automobiles for very exclusive clientele. Their first car was sold in 1908 and in 1916 they introduced their first V-8 engine in the Series V-1.

This is a 1922 Series V-4, which has the same 442 c.i. V-8 introduced in 1916. It is a Model 82-A (translation: long wheelbase). It was rated at 45 horsepower – a figure that would double for the 1923 model. The body style is called a “Town Limousine,” with an open area for the driver and a closed passenger compartment.

Ownership history is known from the 1970s and the restoration is over 25 years old. I’ve seen more stately Cunningham cars but I haven’t seen many Cunninghams of any type. They are very rare cars. While it’s unknown who purchased the car originally, you can bet it was someone pretty well off, as Cunningham’s could cost over $8,000 in the early 1920s. Quite a sum.

The pre-sale estimate on this car is $120,000-$160,000 which seems fair for a car with an older restoration that is rarely seen. For the complete catalog description, click here. And for more on Bonhams in Connecticut, click here.

Update: Sold $128,000.

Bonhams Monaco 2012 Highlights

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Bonham’s May 11, 2012 auction held in Monaco saw some of their premier cars fail to sell. However, there were still a number of nice cars that went across the block that did sell. The top seller among them was this 1965 Ferrari 330GT/250 GTO Re-creation.

It’s not a true GTO (as evidenced by the sale price of “only” $364,000 – a true GTO could bring in excess of $20 million). This is a 330GT with a re-body made to look the part. It’s a true Ferrari – and a gorgeous one at that – that you can enjoy as if it were the real thing, without the, relatively, hefty price tag.

The second biggest sale was a 1962 Facel Vega II. This is the perfect car in which to cruise around Monte Carlo. It sold for $326,000.

Among our feature cars, the ex-Scuderia Ferrari 1930 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GS did not sell. Nor did the 1980 Ferrari sedan. Nor did the 1938 Bugatti 57C. And to round out our feature cars, the Citroen SM Prototype also failed to sell. Not a good day for our feature cars.

But, other interesting cars that did sell include this 1935 Audi UW 220 Cabriolet.

You don’t see pre-war Audis all that often – especially not in similar numbers to cars from other German marques like, say, Mercedes-Benz. But this cabriolet, with coachwork by Gläser, is one of about 1,800 made and one of much fewer that survive. It sold for about $110,000.

Iso Rivolta built some awesome cars in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Most of them were sporty coupes – but they also built a sedan. The Iso Fidia, the one seen here a 1973 model, was produced in limited numbers from 1967 until 1975. Only 192 were made. This one has a 5.8-liter Ford V8 and it’s good-lookin’ too. It sold for about $67,000.

And finally, this 1957 Fiat-OSCA 1500 S Coupe by Viotti sold for about $44,500. It’s a solid looking car built by Fiat with a body by Carrozzeria Viotti and powered by an OSCA four-cylinder engine.

For complete results, click here.

Aston Martin DBS Wagon

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1971 Aston Martin DBS Estate by FLM Panelcraft

Offered by Bonhams | Newport Pagnell, U.K. | May 19, 2012

I guess the first thing I should say is that I am a big fan of wagons. So I find great joy in a one-of-a-kind sports wagon coming up for sale. That’s right, while there were a number of DB5 and DB6 Astons converted into estate cars – or shooting brakes – there was only one DBS that was blessed with such a fate. The operation was performed by FLM Panelcraft of Battersea, South London. They also built three of the DB6 wagons.

It was built at the behest of a Scottish laird who wanted something he could take on fishing trips. Only in Great Britain would someone want to take an Aston Martin on a fishing trip – it’s wonderful. Anyway, the car passed to its current owner in 1975. He repainted the then-red car to its current blue.

It was restored in the 1990s and repainted in 2004. It’s beautiful – look at all that glass. If you value utility in your sports cars, then they don’t come much more useful and fun than this. The DBS was relatively sporty in its day, with a 282 horsepower 4.0-liter straight-six. Only 787 were produced from 1967 through 1972 and this is the only one converted into wagon form. If you want to get to Newport Pagnell and bid, it’s estimated to cost you somewhere between $81,000-$110,000. For the complete description, click here. And to see the rest of the almost all-Aston auction lineup, click here.

Update: sold $533,000.

Aston Martin DB2 by Graber

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1952 Aston Martin DB2 Vantage Drophead Coupe by Graber

Offered by Bonhams | Newport Pagnell, U.K. | May 19, 2012

The Aston Martin DB2 went on sale in May of 1950 and was produced through 1953. It features a 2.6-liter straight-six. In Vantage spec – which included larger carburetors and a higher compression ratio – it made 125 horsepower. The car on offer here has had a little engine work done during restoration and is currently producing 140 horsepower.

“Vantage” was an upgrade on many early Astons (through the 1960s) before it became a stand alone model. The DB2 was the first Aston with such an option. This model was also one of only a few Astons that were sent out to coachbuilders. The factory offered a Drophead Coupe starting toward the end of 1950 – 102 were built (there were 411 DB2s produced in total). Three were sent out to Carrosserie Graber in Switzerland for custom bodywork. Of the three, this is the only survivor. There are some marked differences between the Graber Drophead Coupe and the factory Aston. The biggest of these is the grille which is more rectangular than the traditional Aston three-part grille. It’s also lighter.

Ownership is known from new and the car has undergone a lengthy restoration and refurbishment. All issues have been sorted out and this beautiful car is ready to be driven and is eligible for a number of historic events. The pre-sale estimate is $420,000-$490,000. For the complete catalog description, click here and for more of Bonhams’ Aston Martin sale, click here.

Update: sold $427,000

Bonhams RAF Museum Highlights

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The top sale of Bonhams’ April 30, 2012, sale that took place at the RAF Museum in Hendon, London was a 1957 Bentley S1 Continental. It brought $311,000. Not my favorite Bentley, but the H.J. Mulliner fastback bodywork definitely makes it the looker among S-Type Bentleys.

The two cars we featured, the 1901 Darracq and the 1910 Gladiator, both failed to sell (this is becoming a bad habit). Other top sales included this 1969 AC 428 by Frua. These wonderful British sports cars stand right there with their Italian contemporaries when it comes down to looks (possibly having something to due with it being styled in Italy). It sold for $126,000.

Another car, one that I almost featured, is this 1935 Talbot BA105 Tourer. I’m starting to think Bonhams gets such solid prices because many of their top dollar cars are photographed on lavish English estates. Where cars like this belong. This one sold for $107,000.

About the next car: “What’s this?” you say, “It looks like a dilapidated Mini.” And that’s what it is. But, it is the oldest unrestored Mini. It is the 8th Mini to roll off the line and is technically a 1959 Austin Mini Se7en De Luxe. History has a price and it is $65,000.

For complete results, check out Bonhams’ website.

A Pair of European Prototypes

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1972 Citroen SM Prototype Coupe

Offered by Bonhams | Monaco | May 11, 2012

The Citroen SM grand tourer was introduced in 1970. This coupe version using the same mechanicals – mid-front-engined layout with front-wheel drive – was built by Frua for the 1972 Geneva Auto Show. It has the same 2.7-liter V6 making 170 horsepower. The engine was designed with help from Citroen-owned Maserati (which they acquired in 1968).

This car is one-of-a-kind and in original, un-restored condition with about 26,000 miles on the odometer. It has been privately owned since it left the auto show circuit in 1972. This is a rare chance to acquire a one-off prototype. The pre-sale estimate lists this car at $180,000-$240,000. For the complete catalog description, click here.

Update: did not sell.


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1964 Lancia Sport Prototipo Zagato

Offered by RM Auctions | Monaco | May 12, 2012

Double post! This wickedly-bizarre looking car was a Lancia works race car with one-off Zagato styling. It was entered by Lancia in the 1964 Targa Florio (where it DNF’d). The engine is 1.8-liter flat-four making 148 horsepower.

Again, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire a car unlike any other. It was sold from Lancia to one of its drivers in 1967. In the early 1990s, it was acquired by the current owner. Like the Citroen prototype above, it is also estimated to sell for between $180,000-$240,000. For the complete catalog description, click here.

Update: sold $246,568.