Tag Archives: bring a trailer auctions

Evans GT

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1989 Evans-Kudzu Series I GT

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | January 2022

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Kudzu was a racing car constructor that debuted in the late 1980s. The cars competed in IMSA’s GTP prototype category and came from racer Jim Downing’s shop. One of Downing’s race engineers was John Evans, who decided to try his hand at building prototype-style road cars.

Evans Automobiles was founded in the late 1980s as well, and this, I think, was their first offering. It’s based on a Kudzu chassis (or so the name implies) and features composite bodywork. Power is from a mid-mounted 5.7-liter Chevrolet V8 rated at 300 horsepower. Top speed was said to be 178 mph. This was a homegrown American supercar in 1989.

Only two road-going Series I GTs were built, with this being the first, and it remaining with Evans until 2006. There were a few other Evans cars built in the 1990s as well. This is neat stuff – find another one. And it’s no kit car either. It was a ground-up build meant to be a limited-run car. You can read more about it here.

Update: Sold $66,500.

Figoni & Falaschi Delahaye

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1938 Delahaye 135M Three-Position Cabriolet by Figoni & Falaschi

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | January 2022

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We’ve featured a number of examples of Delahaye’s 135, a model that was sold between 1935 and 1954 and over a number of variations. Speaking of variations, there are also a number of different body styles spread across quite a few coachbuilders. A pre-war 135M with a cabriolet body by Figoni & Falaschi is not one we’ve featured to date.

This one is a 135M, which was a model introduced in 1936 with increased output. This 3.6-liter inline-six has triple carburetors, meaning it had the highest possible factory output rating: 115 horsepower. The car was bodied in France and delivered to its first owner in Uruguay.

It was restored between 2014 and 2016, and the bodywork is actually fairly different from another three-position convertible from Figoni & Falaschi that we previously featured (as that one was bodied post-war). The bidding on this car ends next week. Check out more about it here.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $250,000.

McLaren Senna GTR

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2020 McLaren Senna GTR

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | December 2021

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The Senna is one of McLaren’s “Ultimate Series” cars and is the successor the the P1. It’s basically a track toy for the street, but to make sure you knew that it was intended for the street, McLaren released the track-only GTR variant in 2018 (though the production version would come two years later). Only 75 were to be made. This is car #28.

Power is from a twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8 rated at 814 horsepower in GTR spec. That’s 25 more than the base car. It’s got a racing gearbox, an adjustable dual-element rear wing, seating for two, and air conditioning. And there are shops that will apparently modify these into “road-legal” cars.

This auction has a few days left, but at the time of this writing, the bidding was already at $1.3 million. So the price is only going to go up. It must be that Gulf livery… Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $1,302,000.

Paige Larchmont II

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1921 Paige Model 6-66 Larchmont II Sport Touring

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | October 2021

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Paige has interesting roots. Bankrolled by Harry Jewett, the company was originally lead by Fred Paige, previously of the Reliance Motor Car Company. After two years of Paige-Detroit production, Jewett booted Paige out of the company, but kept his name, albeit without “Detroit.”

The 1912 Paige was a completely different car, and a more successful one. In 1927, amid mounting losses, Jewett sold the company to Graham Brothers. Paige’s 1921 model lineup consisted of the 6-42 and more ominous 6-66. The latter became famous for its Daytona Beach speed runs where it hit 102 mph. Different body styles were offered, including the Daytona Speedster. Among the others was the Larchmont II Sport Touring, the “II” apparently to differentiate it from 1920s’ Larchmont tourer.

This one is powered by a 5.4-liter Continental inline-six rated at 70 horsepower when new. It’s an ex-museum car with a restoration dating back more than 30 years. Impossibly, this is Bring a Trailer’s second Larchmont II offering in as many months. This one closes today. Check out more here.

Krotz Motor Buggy

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1906 Krotz Motor Buggy

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | August 2021

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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.

Duesenberg J-566

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1935 Duesenberg Model JN Convertible Sedan by Rollston

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | Online | June 2021

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It seems like it’s been a while since we’ve featured a Model J. This Duesenberg is a late one, and it’s one of 10 “JN” models built in 1935. All 10 were bodied by Rollston, and this car is one of three that was built as a convertible sedan. It was restored in the late 1990s and has spent the last two decades in the collection of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.

Power comes from a 420ci Lycoming straight-eight that made 265 horsepower when new. There were a number of four-door convertible body styles on Duesenbergs. The “convertible sedan” features folding B-pillars and a single front windshield. The top boot out back sticks up like a big spoiler in the air.

This is the fifth JN we’ve featured. I believe all still exist, meaning half of them have come up for public sale since 2012. This one has a week left to bid on, and you can find out more about it here.

Update: Sold $1,341,000.

BMW 502 by Baur

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1956 BMW 502 Cabriolet by Baur

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | April 2021

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The BMW 502 was the V8-powered version of BMW’s six-cylinder 501. The 501 went on sale in 1951 and the 502 in 1954. Confusingly, there was also a “501 V8” model sold, with a detuned version of the 502’s.

The 502 was also better appointed than the 501, which made it expensive. They only sold 190 in the first sales year. The standard body style was a sedan, but Baur-built coupes and cabriolets were also available. This car is one of 57 cabriolet examples.

This one is powered by a 3.2-liter V8 sourced from a later BMW 3200L. The 502 was Germany’s first post-war V8-powered car. With a single carburetor, this engine was rated at 140 horsepower when new. The removed factory 2.6-liter V8 is included with the car.

This car was restored between 2011 and 2013, and it looks pretty fantastic. It’s been at Pebble Beach and is being offered out of a museum. The bidding is already at $125,000 as of this writing, and it is scheduled to end two days from this posting. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $275,000.

Canda Auto-Quadricycle

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1900 Canda Auto-Quadricycle

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | April 2021

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The Canda Manufacturing Company was based in Cartaret, New Jersey, and they produced railroad hand carts. In 1896 they acquired the rights to the Duryea Brothers gasoline engine. But Charles Duryea bailed on the partnership shortly thereafter, so Canda decided to go it alone.

Their first car was produced in 1900, and it looked like this. The Auto-Quadricycle was a four-wheeled forecar with a single-cylinder engine. Production continued through 1902, but they offered a more traditional “Spider” runabout in 1901, which probably meant that the Quadricycle was phased out before 1902, when Canda folded.

This car features a De Dion-Bouton single-cylinder engine rated at 1¾ horsepower when new. It’s been part of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum since 1957. You can read more about it here.

Update: Sold $56,000.

Edmunds Midget

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1975 Edmunds Midget Race Car

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | April 2021

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It’s not every day you get the chance to buy a race car directly from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum. This USAC midget was raced Bev Griffis in 1986 to the first female USAC regional victory. Which is pretty awesome. Not sure about the sponsor she had to put up with while doing it though.

The car was built by Don Edumunds of Edmunds Autoresearch, a race car constructor based out of Anaheim, California. He built about 400 of these of various styles between 1963 and 1981. The car spent time in New Zealand back in the ’70s before returning stateside.

Power is from a 2.2-liter Volkswagen flat-four. The car does two things: it goes or it doesn’t. It has direct drive – no shifting here. Just fire it up and give it a push. It’s a compact little historic thing, but it’ll need a little work to get running. Bidding is underway, and the auction ends this weekend. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $13,500.

Series 75 Town Car by Brunn

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1939 Cadillac Series 75 Town Car by Brunn

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | Online

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This series of the Cadillac Series 75 was produced in 1936 and 1937. Most of them were bodied by Fisher or Fleetwood, but a few escaped GM as bare chassis, including this car, which wears Town Car bodywork by Brunn. This means that the driver’s compartment can be “open” or closed, while the rear passenger compartment is always closed.

Two of these were built for the same guy, but the other one was lost in a fire in the 1950s. In 1966, this, the surviving example of the two, was purchased by its current owner… who was only 16 at the time. Imagine driving a used coachbuilt American classic as your first car.

Power is from a 5.7-liter V8 that was rated at 135 horsepower when new. The car was restored over a period of 50 years. I guess that makes it a “labor of love” because I couldn’t imagine tinkering on the same car for 50 years. At any rate, this one ends on Saturday. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $130,000.