Tag Archives: bugatti

June Auction Roundup

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Okay, so June was a busy auction month and this is our final rundown of sales for it. First up was Osenat’s Fontainebleau sale where the highest amount paid for any vehicle (there were some pricey boats) was this 1928 Bugatti Type 37 for $720,500.

1928 Bugatti Type 37

Of our feature cars, the Deutsch-Bonnet race car failed to sell. So did the Fournier-Marcadier Barzoi 2. But the Fournier-Marcadier Barquette did sell – for $32,750. And the B.N.C. Type 53 sold for $104,800. The two most interesting cars also sold were a pair of prototypes. First, this 1986 Citroen Triaxe Prototype sold for $12,445.

1986 Citroen Triaxe Prototype

The other prototype was this 1951 Renault 4CV “Pie” Prototype. It sold for $13,100.

1951 Renault 4CV Pie Prototype

And finally, this attractive 1965 Panhard CT 24 Convertible brought $14,410. Check out full results here.

1965 Panhard CT 24 Convertible

Next up was Russo & Steele’s Newport Beach, California sale. Top sale honors there went to this 2008 Bugatti Veyron for $1,078,000.

2008 Bugatti Veyron

Our featured Tojeiro Barchetta sold for $159,500. Other cool rides that sold included this 1958 Chevrolet Cameo NAPCO 4×4 pickup. It sold for $67,100. Check here for full results.

1958 Chevrolet Cameo NAPCO 4x4

And finally, Mecum’s annual Bloomington Gold sale. It was a small-ish sale this year and the top sale went to this 1967 Chevrolet Corvette 327/350 Coupe for $100,000.

1967 Chevrolet Corvette 327-350 Coupe

Interesting sale were topped by this 1996 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Convertible – one of 190 built. It sold for $23,500. Our “Entombed Corvette” failed to sell. Check out full results here.

1996 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Convertible

Artcurial 6/10/13 Paris Sale Highlights

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Artcurial held a relatively large sale in Paris on Monday and we featured a couple of cars from it. The top sale was this 1939 Horch 853A Cabriolet for $873,553.

1939 Horch 853A Cabriolet

Among our feature cars, there were two ASAs. Both sold: the race car RB 613 brought $291,184 while the road car 411 GT brought $237,545 – more than double the high end of the pre-sale estimate! Interesting cars were led by this 1974 KV Mini 1. It was built by KV using a 125cc engine. It’s a rare microcar of which not many were built. It sold for $2,759. Arrested Development fans take note – the hood appears to read “GOB.”

1974 KV Mini 1

Other interesting sales included this 1948 Lea-Francis 14HP Roadster. It sold for $49,042.

1948 Lea-Francis 14HP Roadster

One of our featured cars was an incredible military vehicle – a barn find condition World War I Nash Quad. It sold for $21,456. There were other military vehicles here as well, including this 1964 Hotchkiss M201 which sold for $15,325.

1964 Hotchkiss M201

There were a number of really nice, pretty French cars at this sale as well, including a trio of Bugattis, highlighted by this 1935 Type 57 Gangloff Coupe. It sold for $712,635. And our featured Renault Nervastella sold for $324,844 – almost three times its original estimate. Check out complete results here.

1935 Bugatti Type 57 Gangloff

Supercharged Bugatti Type 43

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1930 Bugatti Type 43 Sports 2/4-Seater

Offered by Bonhams | Greenwich, Connecticut | June 2, 2013

1930 Bugatti Type 43 Sports

The Bugatti Type 43 was part of the line of cars that spawned off the Type 30. Introduced in 1927, the Type 43 stood apart from earlier models in that it, while it used a similar chassis, it added a supercharger – making it quick and one of the world’s first 100 mph production cars with a top speed of 112 mph.

The engine is a 2.3-liter supercharged straight-eight making 120 horsepower. It was a transplant from Bugatti’s current grand prix car of the day. The history on this car goes back to 1928, when the engine was built. It’s titled as a 1930 because it wasn’t sold until then.

This car spent most of its early life on the French Riviera – which is only about the coolest place you could own and drive an old Bugatti. It came to the U.S. in 1950. The current coachwork on the car was already on the car by 1950 – although it is not original, nor is it certain where the body originated. The car has been restored within the last 10 years and finished 3rd in its class at Pebble Beach.

This is basically a road-going Bugatti grand prix car (running gear, short wheelbase, etc.) and it can be yours for between $1,000,000-$1,200,000. Click here to read more and here for more from Bonhams in Greenwich.

Update: Sold $875,000.

Bugatti Type 40 Roadster

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1929 Bugatti Type 40 Roadster Luxe

Offered by RM Auctions | Lake Como, Italy | May 25, 2013

1929 Bugatti Type 40 Roadster

The Bugatti Type 40 was the follow-up model to the successful Brescia. It was the “light” Bugatti, introduced in 1926 and built through 1930, making this car from the second-to-last year of manufacture. In all, more than 780 were built.

The engine was a 1.5-liter straight-four making 45 horsepower. This car is one of 42 built with Jean Bugatti’s “Roadster Luxe” bodywork. It is a highly desirable pre-war sports car design. This is one of four delivered new to Paris, but the identity of the first owners is not known.

The current owner acquired it in 1984 and had it repainted to match the color combination of Jean Bugatti’s personal Type 40 Roadster – black and red. The black wheels are a nice touch, too. This car has all of its original parts and is highly original. It is the 22nd Jean Bugatti Roadster built and one of only 13 that still survive today. A couple hundred thousand dollars is a reasonable price (as in the $325,000-$390,000 range). Click here for more info and here for more from RM at Villa Erba.

Update: Sold $422,240.

Bugatti Type 37 Grand Prix

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1927 Bugatti Type 37 Grand Prix

Offered by RM Auctions | Lake Como, Italy | May 25, 2013

1927 Bugatti Type 37 Grand Prix

One of the best Bugatti’s ever. The Type 37 was an evolution of the Type 35 – it used the same chassis and body but used a different, smaller engine. That engine is a 1.5-liter straight-four making 80 horsepower.

This car uses the same formula that Colin Chapman would champion (tongue-twister alert) many years later: you don’t need a big engine if your car is lightweight and nimble. Compare a Bugatti like this to a Blower Bentley. The Bentley was huge and heavy and had to use a huge engine with huge power. This didn’t need big power because it’s small and light.

This car was sold new to Malaysia where the first owner kept it for two years before trading up (or down, depending on your perspective) for a Bentley. It was sold to someone in Singapore, who had to disassemble it and hide it during WWII. Years later it was discovered and taken back to England. In 1965, it was sold to German ownership – the current owner acquiring it in 1983.

The car is mostly original (which is mind-blowing) and has been mechanically sorted and its ready to go. Sure, it doesn’t have an awesome race history, but it’s still an awesome car. Only 290 Type 37s were built. It should sell for between $975,000-$1,250,000. Click here for more info and for some glorious photos. And here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Bugatti Type 44 GS

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1929 Bugatti Type 44 Grand Sport

Offered by RM Auctions | Lake Como, Italy | May 25, 2013

1929 Bugatti Type 44 Grand Sport

The Bugatti Type 44 was the precursor to the Type 49. It was built from 1927 through 1930 and this particular car has a somewhat interesting history. In total, 1,095 were built – one of the highest production totals for any Bugatti model. It is powered by an 80 horsepower 3.0-liter straight-eight engine.

The Type 44 was one of the first Bugattis built as a road-going touring car. It wasn’t necessarily meant for the track. This car originally had a Gangloff cabriolet body on it and was delivered new to Belgium. It bounced back and forth between owners in Belgium and Luxembourg four times before coming stateside in 1953.

It was restored in the 1950s and a tourer body was installed that had come off a different Bugatti. Then, in 1969, the car was bought by General Motors (naturally). Why not? Their purpose of buying the car was to put it on display in the Auto Pub – an automotive-themed restaurant in the General Motors Building in New York City. Shortly after moving the car in, it leaked some gas onto electrical equipment and went up in flames.

The body was destroyed but the engine and chassis were salvageable. A new owner had a new body built in the style of Bugatti by Wilkinsons & Son of England. The car is listed as having a “astonishing” number of original, numbers-matching parts. I guess it would be astonishing, considering the car once burned to the ground. The car is pretty and drivable. Look for it to bring between $390,000-$460,000. Click here for more and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Bugatti Type 30 Re-Body

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1930 Bugatti Type 30 Dual-Cowl Torpedo

Offered by RM Auctions | Lake Como, Italy | May 25, 2013

1924 Bugatti Type 30

The Bugatti Type 30 was Bugatti’s touring car model that first went on sale in 1922. It used the same chassis as the earlier Brescia. It was built through 1926 and spawned a series of Bugatti models that would run through 1934. The engines and components would change, but the Type 30 was the initial model in what is considered to be the “30 line.”

The engine in this car is a 2.0-liter straight-eight generating between 65 and 70 horsepower, realistically. The eight-cylinder engine was more powerful than that four-cylinder in the Brescia but also had similar lightness and even more appeal.

The story on this car is that it was taken to the U.K. after WWII in the hopes of turning it into a race car. All that ended up happening was that the body was removed (and subsequently disappeared). Someone else acquired it and decided to restore it in the early-1980s. He had a new body built – a Dual-Cowl Torpedo in the style of Lavocat et Marsaud. This car also has it’s original chassis plate and engine (although it has undergone serious work).

About 600 Type 30s were built and there are some with original and more desirable coachwork. This one is nice and has been repainted in Bugatti blue within the last five years. This failed to sell at a different auction in 2008 with an approximate estimate of $225,000-$265,000. RM hasn’t published an estimate yet, but I expect something close to that, if not a little less. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $407,680.

Bugatti Superprofile

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1930 Bugatti Type 46 Superprofile Coupe

Offered by RM Auctions | Lake Como, Italy | May 25, 2013

1930 Bugatti Type 46 Superprofile Coupe

Photo – RM Auctions

I’ll start this off by saying that this is not an original Bugatti Superprofile Coupe. It is an original Bugatti Type 46, but the body has been redone in the style of Jean Bugatti’s famous Superprofile car.

The Type 46 uses a 5.4-liter straight-eight making 140 horsepower. The car originally had a four-door sedan body on it and sometime in the past 15 years, this stunning new body was constructed by Mr. Ken Haywood in Australia. The Coupe Profilée (as Jean’s original drawings were officially referred to) bodystyle was never applied by the factory to a Type 46. One acquired an original Profilée body in the 1960s and that car is in the Schlumpf Collection, never to see the light of day again. The first factory Profilée was on a 1935 Type 50, which was once owned by Bill Harrah. It is valued at about $2 million.

This car sold in March of 2012 for $1,017,500, which was perhaps a little high, considering that, while beautiful and probably better done than any original Bugatti body, it will never be a contender at places like Pebble Beach because it isn’t a period body. And owning a Bugatti like this is all about garnering awards and patting yourself on the back for being able to afford something beautiful that somebody else made.

In all, 450 Type 46s were built between 1929 through 1933. One has a real Profilée body on it from back in the day. This one has a new Profilée body. It’s definitely more valuable than some other Type 46s, but I kind of doubt it will bring the same kind of money it brought last year. But who knows. Click here for more and here for more from what’s shaping up to be a monster sale from RM in Italy.

Update: Sold $873,600.

Artcurial Retromobile 2013 Highlights

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Artcurial’s sale at Retromobile in Paris had way too many interesting cars to be able to feature them all here on this site. We covered some of them – the Talbot-Lago T150C we featured was the stop sale at $1,861,738. The second-highest selling car was the Duesenberg we featured from this sale at $1,319,888. The oldest car in the sale, our featured 1898 Fisson, sold for $311,050. The second-oldest car in the sale was this 1908 Hispano-Suiza 12/15HP Double Phaeton for $72,831.

The other Hispano-Suiza in the sale, our featured H6C by Saoutchik, sold for $424,849. The only other million-dollar car was this 1962 Ferrari 250 GT Cabriolet for $1,077,481.

One exceptionally rare car was this 1975 Bentley Corniche Convertible. While the Rolls-Royce Corniche is well-known, the sister Bentley version is very rare, with only 77 convertibles built. It sold for $133,524.

Other interesting cars included two wonderful French cars from the 1940s. First, a 1949 Citroen 15-Six Traction Avant Cabriolet by Worblaufen (below). It sold for $242,771. Then there was the 1946 Talbot-Lago T26 Record Cabriolet (second below) for $455,195.

The coolest American car in this sale (of the few that were offered) was a 1955 Chrysler ST Special Coupe by Ghia. It sold for $273,117.

The rest of our highlights are French cars (French auction house + French auction location = lots of French rarity). Our feature C.G. 548 failed to sell. This 1928 Voisin  C11 (below) did sell – for $103,177. And finally, this 1935 Bugatti Type 57 Cabriolet by Vanvooren (second below) brought $746,472. Check out complete results here.

Bugatti Type 54 Grand Prix

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1931 Bugatti Type 54 Grand Prix

Offered by Bonhams | Paris, France | February 7, 2013

1931 Bugatti Type 54 Grand Prix

Whoa. Bonhams dug up a treasure for their Paris sale this year – this is one of only nine Bugatti Type 54 Grand Prix cars built. The Type 54 was an evolution of the Type 51. It was used for the 1931 Grand Prix season. The engine is a 300 horsepower 4.9-liter supercharged straight eight. It was entered in the “Above 3-Liters” category, which was essentially an “anything goes” class. Most of the important pieces on the Type 54 were sourced from other Bugattis. Essentially, they took the best bits of every car they built until one super machine was finished. This particular car won the 1931 Grand Prix of Monza with Achille Varzi driving.

I’d like to list the entire race history of this car, but Bonham’s catalog description looks like it was written in French and run through a mediocre translator to get the English version. As it is, it is almost unreadable and very vague. If you’re thinking of buying this thing and provenance is important to you, I’d get someone on the phone first to make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into.

This car left the Bugatti team ranks at the end of 1931 and was sold to Prince Georg Christian Lobkowicz of Czechoslovakia. He was a “gentleman driver” so to speak and was unfortunately killed in this car during his first outing in it at AVUS in 1932. The car was given to his teammate, Zdenek Pohl, who had it rebuilt but didn’t really use the car until it was obsolete. So he turned it into a two-seat roadster with beautiful coachwork by Oldrich Uhlik (the body for this new car now resides on another chassis and is owned by a 1930s European car hoarder in California – just kidding, Mr. Mullin!).

The next owner, who acquired the car in 1970, had the roadster body removed and an original-style Grand Prix body was constructed for the car by the Peel coachbuilding company. It was re-bodied again in 2005 by Rod Jolley in painstaking detail back to 1931 Monza race condition. It is being offered as one of four surviving Type 54s of the original nine built and the only one whose original mechanical parts have never been removed/separated from the car. It is expected to sell for between $3,300,000-$4,700,000. Read more here (it’s better if you speak French) and check out the rest of the Bonhams lineup here.

Update: Not sold.