Offered by Gooding & Company | Amelia Island, Florida | March 2025
Photo – Gooding & Company
Thomas B. Jeffrey’s first Rambler product was a bicycle in 1897. By 1900 he was into automobiles, and the Model C was the company’s first production model.
It looks like a carriage – and like many of its competitors – and is powered by a 1.6-liter horizontal single that was rated at four horsepower. It also has a two-speed gearbox.
Just four of these are known to exist, and this one, chassis 738, was restored a while back. During that work, the car was upgraded to a steering wheel in lieu of the original tiller (Rambler switched to wheels in 1904). The estimate is $70,000-$90,000. Click here for more info.
Offered by Gooding & Company | Amelia Island, Florida | March 2025
Photo – Gooding & Company
The Bugatti Type 50 was the follow up to the Type 46. This car was originally bodied as a coupe after being sold new off of the 1930 Paris Auto Salon stand. The car moved to Denmark before the war and remained there until coming stateside in 1951.
Power is provided by a supercharged 5.0-liter inline-eight that makes 225 horsepower. The big difference between the Types 46 and 50 is that the 50 used a DOHC engine design and a smaller displacement. But power was hugely improved.
It was in the late 1980s that the car received its current roadster configuration (a prior roadster body had been fitted under original ownership in the 1930s). It’s unclear of the Type 50 was supercharged from the factory or not (or whether that denoted Type 50S spec). In any case, only 66 were built and just 25 survive. This one has an estimate of $500,000-$600,000. More info can be found here.
Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Coral Gables, Florida | February 2025
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
Alfa Romeo’s 1900 was, at its core, a small sedan (two- or four-door) produced through the entirety of the 1950s. But as Italy is a land of style, there were a fair number of coachbuilt versions also constructed.
The most sought-after of these are on the 1900C (short-wheelbase) platform. This is a rare two-door custom body on the 1900L (long-wheelbase) chassis. The base 1900 was powered by a 1.9-liter inline-four rated between 80 and 90 horsepower depending on configuration.
This is the only one of at least nine Ghia-bodied 1900 coupes produced on the lungo chassis. Originally blue, the car was sold new in New York. It next appeared in California in 2006, having been shown at Pebble Beach that year. Restored, it carries an estimate of $200,000-$250,000. Click here for more info.
Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Coral Gables, Florida | February 2025
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
By 1909, Pierce-Arrow was at its zenith of automotive greatness. Few cars were better, among them, other models in the Pierce range. The Model 36 was their entry-level six-cylinder car that year (below it was their lone four).
The 5.9-liter inline-six was rated at 36 horsepower. Pierce-Arrow also sold 40-, 48-, and 60-horsepower sixes in 1909. This particular car is among approximately 10 survivors of the model, and it was rescued out of a Long Island junkyard in the 1940s.
The current recreation body was produced during a 2002 restoration. It is said to replicate the factory three-passenger Runabout, which was among seven styles offered on the model’s 119″ wheelbase. The estimate now is $200,000-$300,000, and more info can be found here.
Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Coral Gables, Florida | February 2025
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
Zust was a manufacturing company in Italy that was founded by Roberto Zust. They started off making tools and branched into other areas that required technical expertise. So when they moved into cars, launching their first in 1905, they made them well.
Their first car was the 28/45, which they built through 1908, and it is powered by a 7.4-liter inline-four that made 45 horsepower. It has a four-speed transmission and chain drive. These are sometimes called the Italian Mercedes, as they were well built machines.
This car is thought to have participated in the 1907 Targa Florio and wears coachwork by Cesare Sala. It is one of five Zust cars built before WWI that are known to survive. Zust was acquired by OM in 1917 and phased out. RM notes that Zust (which apparently still existed in some non-automotive fashion after 1917) sold this car to a wrecking yard in Germany in 1946.
It remained there until 2016, when it was restored. It now has an estimate of $800,000-$950,000. Click here for more info.
Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | February 2025
Photo – Artcurial
Well I know if I’m looking for oddball Brazilian-market vehicles, my go-to is Paris. Gurgel existed between 1969 and 1996 and produced some funky off-road-esque vehicles during that time.
Xavante production started in 1973, with X-12 production continuing on into the 1980s. Early cars had Volkswagen underpinnings and fiberglass bodywork. Later cars got a tube-frame chassis. They also had a “Seletraction” system that allowed the driver to route power to either of the rear wheels individually.
Power is from a 1.6-liter flat-four. This example was imported to France in 2023 and later overhauled. Calling this “rarely seen” is an understatement, and the estimate here is $21,000-$31,000. Click here for more info.
Offered by Bonhams | Paris, France | February 2025
Photo – Bonhams
Scuderia Ferrari’s 1953 Formula competitor was the 553, which was actually designed to F2 specs, which is what the World Championship formula was that year. They made an F1 version of the 553 for 1954. For 1955, Ferrari updated the 553 to the 555. The new bodywork was longer and more rounded than the year before and earned the car the name the Supersqualo (super shark).
The car is powered by a 2.5-liter Lampredi inline-four that made about 260 horsepower. This car, chassis 555/1, had the following competition history:
1955 Monaco Grand Prix – 8th (with Paul Frere and Piero Taruffi)
1955 Belgian Grand Prix – 4th (with Frere)
1955 Dutch Grand Prix – 7th (with Mike Hawthorn)
1955 Italian Grand Prix – 10th, DNF (with Hawthorn)
The car was also driven in a non-points race by Nino Farina. In 1956, Ferrari had moved on and sold the 555s, including this one. The car was slightly modified and successfully raced in Australia and New Zealand through 1959.
The car was damaged in an event in 1963, after which the engine was removed for use in a boat. The chassis was fitted with Morris Minor (!) bodywork and a Chevrolet V8. In the 1990s, the car was restored back to stock, and now it’s selling at no reserve with an estimate of $4,200,000-$6,300,000. More info can be found here.
Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Paris, France | February 2025
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
Things were weird in F1 in the 2010s. In 2010 and 2011 there was a Lotus Racing F1 team that was not directly affiliated with Lotus Cars. It was a Malaysian-owned team that licensed the use of the Lotus name. Their cars were green and yellow.
Meanwhile, in late 2010, the actual Lotus car company purchased part of the Renault F1 team. So, for 2012, that team would been known as Lotus-Renault. Also for 2012, Tony Fernandes, the guy who was running the green-and-yellow Lotus Racing F1 team, also had purchased Caterham, a company that has produced Lotus replicas for decades.
So for 2012, the new Lotus-Renault debuted (with their black and gold cars) and the old Lotus Racing team re-debuted as Caterham F1, with still-green cars. Caterham disappeared after the 2014 season. The Lotus name would continue through the 2015 season, when the team would revert back to Renault branding.
So, the team’s car for the 2013 season was the E21, which would’ve had a 2.4-liter Renault V8 and a KERS system. Output was 750 horsepower. The E21 was kind of a success, winning on debut in Australia. This car is without an engine and is being sold as a roller. This car, chassis E21-04, has the following race history:
2013 British Grand Prix – 5th (with Kimi Raikkonen)
2013 German Grand Prix – 2nd (with Raikkonen)
2013 Hungarian Grand Prix – 2nd (with Raikkonen)
2013 Belgian Grand Prix – 21st, DNF (with Raikkonen)
2013 Italian Grand Prix – 11th (with Raikkonen)
2013 Singapore Grand Prix – 21st, DNF (with Romain Grosjean)
2013 Korean Grand Prix – 3rd (with Grosjean)
2013 Japanese Grand Prix – 3rd (with Grosjean)
2013 Indian Grand Prix – 3rd (with Grosjean)
2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – 4th (with Grosjean)
2013 United States Grand Prix – 2nd (with Grosjean)
2013 Brazilian Grand Prix – 22nd, DNF (with Grosjean)
Since then, the car has been retained by the team, which is now known as Alpine. They are selling it. It has an estimate of $365,000-$465,000. More info can be found here.
Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Coral Gables, Florida | February 2025
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
People setting speed records sort of started happening as soon as there was a car. After WWII, things got a little more serious when guys started strapping jet engines to some wheels and heading off for the salt flats in Utah.
The first Spirit of America looked like a jet without wings. Craig Breedlove ran it at over 400 mph in August 1963. The FIA wouldn’t recognize it because the car only had three wheels. In October that year he ran 526 mph with the car, but ended up in a pond at the end of the run.
Over the next year and a half or so, Breedlove had this car designed. It had four wheels and a GE J79 jet engine from an F-4 Phantom II. In November 1965, Breedlove hit 600 mph in this car, which was the record that would stand until 1970. It was Breedlove’s fastest run of his career. After that, the car ended up in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, who is now selling it on an estimate of $500,000-$1,000,000. More info can be found here.
Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Phoenix, Arizona | January 2025
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
Paige-Detroit was a healthy car company in the early 1920s. While they weren’t on the level of Pierce-Arrow or Packard, they did sell luxury cars, and in 1922, they decided to enter the lower end of the market.
They did so by way of their company president, Harry Jewett, who started a lower-priced marque that carried his last name. The Jewett was aimed at Studebaker and Nash. The Model 18-22 was 1922’s model, which was offered as a touring car or a sedan.
Power is from a 4.1-liter inline-six that was rated at 50 horsepower. This particular car is coming from the Clive Cussler collection. Cussler’s first automotive purchase was, apparently, a Jewett, which he bought at age 13. This was a late-in-life purchase to relive those early years. The estimate is $20,000-$30,000. More info can be found here.
