Tag Archives: cars

Chiron Pur Sport

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2021 Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | June 2022

Photo – Bring a Trailer Auctions

Another day, another insane supercar. The Chiron was Volkswagen – er, Bugatti’s follow-up to the impossible-to-top Veyron. Well it topped it. And then they went and made it more extreme with a series of special and high-end editions.

The Chiron launched in 2016 and used an updated version of the Veyron’s quad-turbocharged 8.0-lite W16 that in Chiron spec put out 1,479 horsepower. The Pur Sport got a redline increase and a revised gearbox.

Introduced in 2020, the Pur Sport was supposedly limited to 60 units. It is described as a “handling-focused variant” with lightweight components, a fixed rear wing, a pretty crazy wheel design that pulls air into the rear diffuser, and, somehow, stickier tires.

This example is finished in a pretty awesome two-tone color scheme – inside and out. The price is eye watering so far, with the bidding already at $3.7 million at the time of this writing. More can be read about it here.

Rover 8HP

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1904 Rover Eight

Offered by Brightwells | Leominster, U.K. | June 18, 2022

Photo – Brightwells

Rover was one of the U.K.’s longest-running automotive marques. The Rover Company Limited got its start as so many others did, with bicycles. They were founded in 1878, and motorcycles followed in 1902. The first Rover car was 1904’s Eight, an example of which we have here.

The first Eights were powered by a 1.3-liter single cylinder that made eight horsepower. A 1.0-liter sleeve-valve single was offered for the model’s final two years of production in 1911 and 1912. The car had a backbone frame that was essentially just the running gear, and this evolved into an ash chassis by 1907.

This first-year Rover is said to be the oldest surviving Rover in private hands and one of the earliest Rovers built. It has known history back to 1921 and is a former London-to-Brighton participant. It has a pre-sale estimate of $85,000-$90,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $122,595.

924 Carrera GT

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1981 Porsche 924 Carrera GT

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | June 2022

Photo – Bring a Trailer Auctions

The 924 is not the most-loved Porsche of all time. It was the entry-level replacement for the 914, a car that was co-marketed by Volkswagen. The 944 replaced the 924 in the U.S. market beginning with the 1983 model year, however, the 924 remained on sale elsewhere in the world through 1988.

There was a 924 Turbo and a sporty 924S, but the real halo car in this range is the homologation Carrera GT (and GTS). Based on the 924 Turbo, the CGT featured an increased compression ratio and an intercooler for the turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four that pushed output to 210 horsepower. More modified race versions (Carrera GTR) made up to 375 horsepower.

Just 400 road-going examples of the Carrera GT were built, and they are visually differentiated from standard road cars with their fender flares and hood scoop. As of this writing, bidding is already at $54,000, enough to buy a few really nice 924s. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $119,937.

Alfa 6C 2300B Mille Miglia

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1938 Alfa Romeo 6C 2300B Mille Miglia Berlinetta by Touring

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 19-20, 2022

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

We’ve featured two examples of Alfa Romeo’s pre-war 6C 2300 B before, and both looked quite different from this car, which resembles a hardtop version of the Touring-bodied 8C 2900 B Lungo Spider. The 6C 2300 was built between 1934 and 1938, with the B version first offered in 1935.

The Mille Miglia version of the B was powered by a 2.3-liter inline-six fitted with triple Solex carburetors for a rating of 95 horsepower. It was essentially the best version of the model. Only 107 examples of the 2300 B Mille Miglia were produced, most looking like this or the Touring-bodied convertible counterpart.

This car has known ownership history back to 1946, showing time spent in Switzerland, France, and the Netherlands before coming stateside in 2008. While this car won’t carry the nearly $20 million dollar price tag of an 8C Lungo, it still won’t come cheap. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

Update: Sold, RM Sotheby’s Paris 2023, $943,202.

McLaren Sabre

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2020 McLaren Sabre

Offered by Mecum | Monterey, California | August 18-20, 2022

Photo – Mecum

The Sabre is a car that came out of McLaren Special Operations after they asked American VIP customers what kind of car they’d want. Apparently there answer was “a Senna, but less ungainly looking.” This car is Senna based, and it was McLaren’s fastest two-seater ever when all examples were built in 2020.

Power is from a twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8 that was rated at 824 horsepower. No hybrid assist here. Just pure internal combustion power. Top speed is 218 mph. The cars were only supposed to be for the U.S. market, but apparently a few went overseas. And it’s unclear if they built 15 or 16 of them. This car is #11.

It only has low (100) miles, as many modern supercars do. Which is either because the owner’s have plenty of other cars to drive… or they are horrible to actually drive. Probably both. This might be the first one to come up for public sale, and the price will be into the seven figures. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $3,500,000.

57C Aravis Special Cabriolet

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1939 Bugatti Type 57C Aravis Special Cabriolet by Gangloff

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 19-20, 2022

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Among the most valuable Bugattis – and pre-war cars in general – are variations of the Bugatti Type 57. This particular car is a rare version called the Aravis Special Cabriolet with coachwork by Gangloff, who were also responsible for the Stelvios.

This is a Type 57C, which indicates a racing chassis powered by a supercharged 3.3-liter inline-eight capable of 160 horsepower. This car is one of three Gangloff-bodied Aravis cars in existence, of what is thought to be six built (in addition to six from Letourneur et Marchand). Only two of the remaining three were factory-supercharged examples, with this being one of them.

In 1959, the coachbuilder Graber was hired to put a fixed roof on the car, a configuration it was rescued from after being purchased by its current owner in 1993. It has a replacement engine, but of the correct type. You can read more about it here.

Update: Sold $1,545,000.

LFA Nurburgring

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2012 Lexus LFA Nurburgring

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | June 2022

Photo – Bring a Trailer Auctions

The LFA was the most the most super supercar that Toyota ever built. And the optional Nurbugring package, which was a $70,000 (!) option, made it even super-er. Actually, what it did was add a big rear wing, a front splitter and dive planes, and suspension revisions.

There was also a 10-horsepower bump for the 4.8-liter V10, resulting in 563 horsepower. Lexus only produced 64 examples with this package out of a total run of 500 cars. Available model years ran from 2011 through 2013, and nearly 10 years later there are still rumors of cars yet to be sold, almost certainly because dealers parked them away in their private collections.

However, there really was a sort of “who wants to pay that much for a Lexus” sort of thing that went on when these cars were new. Short-term thinking there, because they cars are hot now. The bidding on this LFA is already over a million dollars with well over a week to go as of this writing. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $1,225,000.

1912 Case Touring

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1912 Case Model M Fore-Door Touring

Offered by Mecum | Frankfort, Illinois | October 1, 2022

Photo – Mecum

Case is mostly known as a producer of agricultural equipment, which is what the J.I. Case Threshing Machine Company was founded to do in 1871. It’s also what the company was focusing on in 1999 when Case ceased being an independent entity. The brand lives on as a manufacturer of construction equipment (Case CE) and tractors (Case IH, as part of International Harvester).

Automobile production came in 1911 and lasted through 1927. Two models were offered in their second year: the Model L and Model M, with the latter being what is shown here. It is powered by an inline-four rated at 40 horsepower. Three factory body styles were offered, including this “Fore-Door” five-passenger touring car.

It’s thought that Case made about 24,000 cars, with about 100 left. This one is coming out of a museum. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $110,000.

6C Villa d’Este

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1952 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 GT Villa d’Este Cabriolet by Touring

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 19-20, 2022

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The 2500 version of Alfa Romeo’s 6C was really the best version of the model. Produced from 1938 through 1953 (with a break for the war), the car featured various improvements over its predecessors, which dated back to 1927.

There were some excellent coachbuilt versions of this chassis, including one-offs. But a few of the more “standard” variants also featured bodies from top European coachbuilders. One such model was the Ville d’Este, with bodies by Carrozzeria Touring. It’s powered by a triple-carbureted 2.4-liter inline-six that was rated at 110 horsepower.

The Villa d’Este was a coupe in standard form. It was also the final hand-built Alfa Romeo. Just 36 were built, with only five of those being cabriolets, which makes this one pretty special car. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $456,000.

Kissel D-11

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1911 Kissel Kar Model D-11 Toy Tonneau

Offered by Mecum | Monterey, California | August 18-20, 2022

Photo – Mecum

Hartford, Wisconsin’s Kissel Motor Car Company was founded in 1906, with production cars coming the following year. For the first dozen or so years, the cars were branded Kissel Kar. Their most famous product would be the Gold Bug Speedster, an early sports car.

The 1910 Model D-10 gave way to the model D-11 for 1911. It’s powered by a 6.3-liter inline-four good for 50 horsepower. It has a four-speed manual transmission with overdrive, which would likely make it a decent tourer. As would the toy tonneau body, which is just a touring car with the rear passenger compartment squeezed in between the rear wheels.

This car was previously owned by the curator of the Harrah Automobile Collection. It’s apparently been in the same ownership since 1988. You can read more about it here.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $135,000.