Tag Archives: cars

Puch 500

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1966 Puch 500 D

Offered by Dorotheum | Salzburg, Austria | October 16, 2021

Photo – Dorotheum

The Puch brand existed under the Steyr–Daimler-Puch corporate umbrella and was primarily known for building motorcylces and scooters, in addition to military vehicles. There were cars, too, but for most of the time the company used its resources to build cars for other manufacturers. Occasionally, the company thought “hey, we could build this for us, too.”

And that’s what we have here. The Puch 500 is, quite obviously, a Fiat 500 built under license in Austria. It’s badged as a Puch, and they had their own range of models different than those produced by Fiat. For instance, this is a “D”, which were built between 1959 and 1967. It’s actually been tarted up to look like a 650 TR II, which was a sport model.

The 650 TR II was powered by a 40-horsepower, 660cc inline-twin. This car has just such an engine. It was built to this spec in the 2000s, with it being registered as a 650 TR II in 2011. The pre-sale estimate is $33,000-$44,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $41,404.

Hobbycar

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2002 Hobbycar B612

Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | October 24, 2021

Photo – Artcurial

The Hobbycar is an amphibious car produced in France by Hobbycar, a company founded by Francois Wardavoir. The B612 was introduced in 1992, and 52 were produced before the company went out of business. They also had a second model called the Passport.

The engine is a Peugeot 1.9-liter turbodiesel inline-four that developed 92 horsepower. Once in the water, hydrojets provide propulsion. Steering on water is by joystick as well. It has seating for four, but it has no top – and once it’s in the water, there’s only about four inches between the waterline and the side of the craft. So… don’t take it out in a storm. Or a slight breeze.

These are pretty rare, and I’m not sure I’ve seen one come up for sale publicly in the last 10 years. It should bring between $35,000-$45,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $34,707.

Dinalpin A110

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1970 Dinalpin A110 1100 VA

Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | October 24, 2021

Photo – Artcurial

As sporty and rare and near-cottage-industry as the original Alpines were, it’s pretty amazing how much they licensed the design. Early Alpines were built all over the world by other companies, including by Willys in Brazil and FASA in Spain. Different brand names sprang up from other countries, including Bulgaralpine in Bulgaria and the Dinalpin in Mexico.

That’s right, this is a Mexican sports car, in that it was built there by Diesel Nacional (DINA), a Mexican bus and truck manufacturer. The Dinalpin A110 was sold between 1964 and 1974. There were 1100 and 1300 models. The 1.1-liter inline-four version was only available until 1971. This car started as one of those but was upgraded to 1300-spec by a private owner.

Only 200 Dinalpin 1100 models were made. For some reason, despite it being in France and looking exactly like an Alpine, the pre-sale estimate is much lower than the French version: $40,000-$63,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $44,426.

Steyr 30

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1932 Steyr XXX E Standard Cabriolet

Offered by Dorotheum | Salzburg, Austria | October 16, 2021

Photo – Dorotheum

Another Dorotheum auction, another round of interesting Steyr cars. This particular model is the XXX – which is reverted to “30” for online search reasons, obviously. The “30” was produced from 1930 through 1933 by Steyr of Austria.

It was the successor to the XX and XII. The car was designed by Ferdinand Porsche and is powered by a 2.1-liter inline-six that made approximately 38 horsepower. The “E” model was introduced in 1932 as the economy model. It had two less horsepower than the normal versions.

Just 343 XXX Es were built. This one survived WWII intact and has known ownership history since new. A restoration was completed in 1987, and the car now carries a pre-sale estimate of $81,000-$100,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $153,599.

Vanquish Zagato Speedster

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2018 Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Speedster Storck Vintage

Offered by Bonhams | Knokke-Heist, Belgium | October 10, 2021

Photo – Bonhams

That’s quite the name, isn’t it? There’s a lot to break down. First, the second-generation Vanquish was produced by Aston Martin by 2012 through 2018. It was replaced by the DBS Superleggera. Then there’s the Zagato aspect. Aston teamed with Zagato for a limited run of Vanquish models at the end of the the gen 2’s run.

There was a one-off Zagato Roadster during the first-generation’s run, but it never reached production. This time around, there were four Zagato models to choose from: coupe, convertible, shooting brake, and Speedster. Only 99 were built of each, except the Speedster. This is #25 of just 28 Speedsters.

Power is from a 5.9-liter V12 rated at 595 horsepower, which was good enough for a sprint to 60 of 3.5 seconds on the way to a 201-mph top end.

Storck Bicycle is a German bicycle company headed by designer Markus Storck. He collaborated with Aston for a limited run of seven Vanquish coupes, and he was brought back for three special Speedsters, including this, the Vintage. It added some special paint and trim touches – and a bit chunk of change to the final price when new.

The car is essentially brand new and is expected to sell for between $1,000,000-$1,500,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Franklin Model G

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1908 Franklin Model G Touring

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 7, 2021

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

From 1905 through 1910, Franklin cars featured a distinct round grille and “barrel-type” hood to house their air-cooled engines. They are quite attractive cars, in their own way, and this 1908 Model G touring was the second-cheapest Franklin you could buy that year, beaten out only by the Model G runabout.

The 2.3-liter inline-four produced 16 horsepower when new. Franklin offered three models in 1908, and the G was actually produced from 1906 through 1913, although later cars featured Renault-style hoods.

This car is the oldest of four Model G tourers known to exist, and it would’ve run $1,850 when new. It features a 1910-model-year engine (factory-rated output was 18 horsepower that year) and has known history back to the 1950s. It is now expected to sell for between $60,000-$70,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $88,000.

Riley-BMW Daytona Prototype

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2012 Riley-BMW Mk XXVI

Offered by Mecum | Chattanooga, Tennessee | October 15-16, 2021

Photo – Mecum

Daytona prototypes were a cool era of American sportscar racing. Basically the Grand-Am, then IMSA, version of an LMP1 car, they were the top dog in Grand-Am and American-based sports car racing starting with their debut in 2003. This is actually a third-generation DP, which debuted in 2012 and lasted through 2016.

This era was more creative than previous generations, as those tended to all look like the same block of soap with wheels. The third gen featured this Riley chassis and the Corvette DP, which looked different enough to be recognizable on its own.

Riley Technologies was founded in 2001 by Bob Riley (of race car constructor Riley & Scott) and his son Bill. The Riley DP chassis were pretty successful, being competitive from 2003 through 2016. This car features a way-too-busy livery and is powered by a 5.0-liter BMW V8.

It’s an ex-Michael Shank Racing car and comes with two spare engines. Its specific race history is unknown. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: ?? Not listed as sold or not sold. So presumably sold and Mecum is hiding the result from everyone.

1920 Stevens-Duryea

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1920 Stevens-Duryea Model E Roadster

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 8, 2021

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

With a brand like Stevens-Duryea, you tend to picture large touring cars dating back to before World War I. But quite a few of these companies survived the war and continued building cars into the 1920s. Yet for some reason, these later cars are much more rarely seen. There are various reasons for this.

In the case of Stevens-Duryea, it’s that a new owner bought the brand name in 1919 and set up shop in the old factory. Things just… never took off. The company built only 200 cars in 1920, and the Model E was carried over for ’21. The same 80-horsepower inline-six would continue to power the brand’s offerings until the lights went out in 1927.

This Roadster has been restored and exudes an up-scale aura missing from what you’d get from a contemporary Buick, etc. The pre-sale estimate is $75,000-$90,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $71,500.

Martin Ford Special

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1962 Martin Ford Special

Offered by H&H Classics | Buxton, U.K. | October 6, 2021

Photo – H&H Classics

I had the structure for this post all laid out, and then I went and read the H&H Classics catalog description. And it was pretty much the same thing I planned on writing, which was: the post-war sports car boom rode a pretty strong wave for about 15-20 years. Alongside established manufacturers, there were countless upstarts who were offering various forms of sports cars.

One such form was the kit car, or more appropriately at the time this was built, shells that could be bought and fitted to existing running gear. Basically, re-bodying a common car to make it into a sports car. In this case, Martin Plastics Maidstone Ltd offered their fiberglass shells beginning in 1953.

This particular one was purchased as a bare body in 1956 and was fitted to a 1939 Ford Prefect. The completed car was registered in 1962, hence the date listed. Power is from a 1.2-liter Ford inline-four, and the car was restored around 2016. About 500 Martin shells were sold, and only five are known to exist. This one is expected to go cheap with an estimate of $8,000-$11,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $8,010.

1909 Peerless

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1909 Peerless Model 19 Touring

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 8, 2021

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

By 1909 Peerless was pretty much just that – without peers. They built some of the highest-quality cars money could buy in America before WWI. The company’s 1909 range consisted of the four-cylinder Model 19 and the six-cylinder Model 25.

This is one of two 1909 Model 19s known to exist and is powered by a 30-(or 40?)-horsepower, T-head inline-four. An array of body styles were offered by the factory, but you really couldn’t go wrong with a seven-passenger touring car like this one. A then-astronomical $4,300 was required to take one home in 1909.

This car has known ownership history back to the 1950s, and it was restored for the first time around 1960. It was refinished again in 1991 and is an accomplished historic tourer. The catalog estimate is $100,000-$150,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $286,000.