Tag Archives: cars

Lister-Jaguar “Knobbly”

Posted on by
Reply

1958 Lister-Jaguar “Knobbly” Prototype

Offered by RM Auctions | Monaco | May 10, 2014

Photo - RM Auctions

Photo – RM Auctions

These cars are often referred to as “Knobbly”s because of their curvy shape. In all honesty, I didn’t know that was the reason (really, how many people do?) but every time I saw one of these I assumed that was the case. They are kind of knobby-looking cars. And I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not.

Lister built Bristol-powered racers between 1954 and 1957. In 1957, they reworked the car to house a Jaguar straight-six (from the all-conquering D-Type). This car has the 265 horsepower 3.8-liter straight-six from Jaguar. The “Knobbly” debuted in 1958 and this was the first one built. It was originally conceived as a one-off racer but it’s popularity led them to realize they could make money selling these and 11 were built in total.

This car was originally supposed to go to the famed Ecurie Ecosse team, but Briggs Cunningham finagled his way into owning it (and another one). The racing history for this car includes:

  • 1958 12 Hours of Sebring – DNF (with Archie Scott-Brown and Walt Hansgen)
  • 1958 SCCA National Champion – 1st (with Walt Hansgen – he won a lot of races this season in this car)
  • 1959 12 Hours of Sebring – 12th (with Hansgen & Dick Thompson)

Briggs Cunningham owned the car into the mid-1960s before selling it. It has had a few owners since and was most recently sold at RM’s Monterey event in 2013. The pre-sale estimate is not available right now, but it sold about 6 months ago for $1,980,000. You can check out more here and see more from RM’s Monaco sale here.

S/N: BHL EE 101

Update: Sold $1,618,294.

Ache Freres

Posted on by
Reply

1902 Ache Freres Type TM

Offered by Osenat | Fountainebleau, France | March 16, 2014

Photo - Osenat

Photo – Osenat

This is one of those early motorized vehicles where not much is known about it because only a handful were built in a shop somewhere. Well we know where the shop was: Agen, France. We know who built them: the Ache Brothers. Well sort of. The company could have also been called something else.

The engine is a 669cc single-cylinder De Dion – and at least one other example of these is powered by an Aster engine. As you can see, the layout of this three-wheeler is bizarre compared to modern vehicles. Similar trikes were constructed by companies like La Nef.

The Ache was built from 1902 to 1904 and between 15 and 20 were built in total. This is one of two or three known to survive. It should sell for between $83,000-$110,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Osenat’s lineup.

Update: Not sold.

Rene Bonnet Le Mans

Posted on by
Reply

1963 Rene Bonnet Le Mans Grand Luxe

Offered by Osenat | Fontainebleau, France | March 16, 2014

Photo - Osenat

Photo – Osenat

French sports cars in the 1950s were from a limited number of companies. And for whatever reason, a couple of them ended up as Rene Bonnet-branded cars. Rene Bonnet was a race car driver who started building his own cars in 1936. In 1946, he co-founded Deutsch et Bonnet (aka DB). In 1961, Charles Deutsch went his separate way and Automobiles Rene Bonnet was formed.

The Le Mans was a sports model introduced by DB in 1959. From 1962 through 1963 (production actually ended in 1962), the Le Mans was marketed as a Rene Bonnet. His version used a 1.1-liter straight-four making 70 horsepower – the most powerful version of the Le Mans ever offered.

The Le Mans was built as a convertible or a coupe and the Grand Luxe was the expensive, loaded version with a removable hard top – which this car has. Only 232 Le Mans’ were built between both manufacturers. This could be one of as few as 59 built under the Bonnet name. It should sell for between $35,000-$40,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Osenat’s sale.

Update: Not sold.

Ford GT Heritage Edition

Posted on by
Reply

2006 Ford GT Heritage Edition

Offered by Auctions America | Ft. Lauderdale, Florida | March 14-16, 2014

Photo - Auctions America

Photo – Auctions America

Remember when the Ford GT came out and everyone was like “Oh, good for Ford finally doing something cool?” Well while they were doing something cool, they happened to do something even cooler – sell cars in a Gulf paint scheme.

In the 1960s there were a number of race cars that competed in the Gulf livery – that famous blue and orange – the Ford GT40 and GT40-based Gulf Mirage race cars among them. It is the coolest color combination you can get on a race car. Period. Well Ford painted a handful of GTs in this scheme and sold them as “Heritage Editions.” People didn’t want them. But now that the GT has become almost instantly collectible – these are the ones to have.

The GT is powered by a 550 horsepower supercharged 5.4-liter V-8. Top speed is 205 mph. Only 343 Heritage Editions were made out of the 4,083 total Ford GTs built. This one has only covered 80 miles since new. It should sell for between $360,000-$400,000 – far more than the original $139,995 MSRP. You shoulda bought one when Ford was trying to move them originally! Click here for more info and here for more from Auctions America.

Update: Sold $412,500.

Cadillac Type 59

Posted on by
Reply

1920 Cadillac Type 59 Four-Passenger Phaeton

Offered by Mecum | Houston, Texas | April 10-12, 2014

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

I really love the look of 1920s Cadillacs. There were some very fancy cars available for purchase in the 1920s but it’s really hard to beat the good looks and understatement of this car.

The Type 59 was the second-to-last version of the Type 51. The Type 51 was new for 1915 and a war broke out right after that. It was Cadillac’s first V-8 powered car. The Type 59 was built for 1920 and 1921 only and uses a 5.1-liter V-8 making about 31 horsepower.

This car is in very nice and very usable shape – which is a big win for anyone looking to purchase it. You can read more here and check out more from Mecum in Houston here.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $25,000.

Update II: Sold, Mecum Kansas City, 2014 for $24,250.

A British Talbot

Posted on by
Reply

1927 Talbot 14/35 Drophead Coupe

Offered by Coys | London, U.K. | March 11, 2014

Photo - Coys

Photo – Coys

Talbot is one of the most confusing marques in automotive history. The car you are looking at here is a British-built Talbot (the French cars were almost all hyphenated with another name). The standalone British Talbot began producing cars in 1904. And, as a separate make, Talbot ceased to exist in 1938 – before it was resurrected in 1980 (in France). It died again, unceremoniously, in 1987.

In 1919, Talbot was bought by Sunbeam – giving them access to superior engineering. This car uses a 1.7-liter straight-six making 35 horsepower. This car spent most of its life in its home country of the U.K. but the current Austrian owner acquired it a few years ago.

This is a very old car that is in very good condition. Only a few Talbot 14/35s are known to exist. This one should sell for between $13,000-$20,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Coys in London.

Update: Sold $21,800.

Porsche 356 Carrera 2

Posted on by
Reply

1963 Porsche 356 Carrera 2 Coupe

Offered by Gooding & Company | Amelia Island, Florida | March 7, 2014

Photo - Gooding & Company

Photo – Gooding & Company

The first Porsche road car was the 356. It became available to the public in 1948 and it lasted through 1965 via a number of different series and limited edition models. The Carrera 2 was one such limited edition model that was introduced at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1961.

The engine is a 2.0-liter (thus the “2” in Carrera 2. And Carrera, of course, refers to the Carrera Panamericana road race) flat-4 making an impressive 130 horsepower (that’s 15 more horsepower than the next-most-powerful 356). This was the fastest 356 road car ever built. The car you see here has a factory-installed electric power sunroof and an expanded 70-liter fuel tank.

This car has had many owners of the years and the mechanicals were freshened in 2011. Only 436 examples of the super quick 356 Carrera 2 were built and this is one of the nicest, best-optioned examples in the world. It should sell for between $550,000-$650,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Gooding & Company’s Amelia Island auction lineup.

Update: Sold $550,000.

Voisin C14

Posted on by
Reply

1930 Voisin C14 Berline

Offered by Gooding & Company | Amelia Island, Florida | March 7, 2014

Photo - Gooding & Company

Photo – Gooding & Company

Make sure to head over to Gooding & Co.’s site and check out the interior on this car. Like many other Voisin automobiles, it’s wild. If you take a quick glance at this car, it looks like an old, boring, upright sedan. But then you look closer and start to notice all the quirky little details: the weird positioning of the doors, the fender-to-radiator connectors, the strange proportions. And that’s just the exterior.

Under the hood is a 2.3-liter straight-six sleeve-valve engine making 66 horsepower. This certainly isn’t the most intensely Art Deco Voisin ever built but it’s still super rare. This car was discovered in the 1990s in France and the restoration was finished before 2007.

Like most Voisin’s, the body is lightweight aluminium. Only 1,795 C14s were built between 1927 and 1932 – making it one of the company’s most popular models. This one should sell for between $250,000-$300,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Gooding & Company in Amelia Island.

Update: Not sold.

1909 Locomobile Speedster

Posted on by
Reply

1909 Locomobile Model 30-L Speedster

Offered by RM Auctions | Amelia Island, Florida | March 8, 2014

Photo - RM Auctions

Photo – RM Auctions

These early speedsters (usually built before 1915) are some of the most incredible cars to see in person – especially if they’ve been restored. There is no dashboard. It’s more of a dashboard/floorboard/firewall that slops upward at your feet. It’s usually polished wood with gorgeous brass gauges. This car fits that description.

The Model 30-L uses a 4.7-liter straight-four making 30 horsepower. Locomobiles made big power and they started racing in 1905 but never sold their racing speedsters to the public. So all Locomobiles with racy bodywork have all been customized by their owners (meaning this isn’t a factory body but isn’t necessarily new, either).

This car has known history going back 60 years. The engine and chassis are correct and the body is period-correct (although likely not from the period). It would certainly be a fun car to use at very historical events as it does have usable power. It should sell for between $140,000-$170,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of RM’s Amelia Island lineup.

Update: Sold $126,500.

Cadillac V-16 Madame X

Posted on by
Reply

1932 Cadillac V-16 Series 452B Madame X Imperial Sedan by Fleetwood

Offered by Gooding & Company | Amelia Island, Florida | March 7, 2014

Photo - Gooding & Company

Photo – Gooding & Company

You’re looking at what some consider Cadillac’s crowning achievement. At the dawn of the Depression, many car makers were introducing new ultra-luxury cars. Duesenberg, Marmon, Cadillac and more all had new big-engined cars available. Cadillac brought out the V-16 in 1930. The first generation (through 1937) cars all used 7.4-lilter (452 cubic inch) V-16 engines. And they were all built-to-order.

Horsepower is rated at 165 and you could get the car in a variety of bodystyles – more than 70 in fact. This particular car was featured on Cadillac’s stand at the 1933 Chicago Auto Show and was bought off that stand by its first owner. The original owner’s family gifted the car to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum and the current owner acquired it in 2011.

Between 1930 and 1940, 4,076 Cadillac V-16s were built – over 75% of which were built in 1931 alone. Only 300 were made in 1932. Only four “Madame X Imperial Sedans” were built. It was one of the most expensive and exclusive versions you could get and it cost around $7,000 when new. Fleetwood, which was part of GM in 1932, built the gorgeous body.

This car should sell for between $200,000-$240,000 – which seems like a steal (convertibles are more desirable). You can read more here and see more from Gooding here.

Update: Sold $264,000.