Tag Archives: cars

Lagonda 2-Litre

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1929 Lagonda 2-Litre Low-Chassis Tourer

Offered by Bonhams | Chichester, U.K. | September 18, 2021

Photo – Bonhams

Lagonda was acquired by Aston Martin in 1947. But prior to that, the company produced some fairly sporty cars, starting with 1925’s 2-Litre model. A Lagonda won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1935.

The 2-Litre was updated in 1927 and could later be had with a supercharger. Yes, this green tourer looks pretty much just like a period Bentley, but it is in fact a Lagonda. Shockingly, Bonhams has four nearly identical cars all up for auction the same day. It’s powered by a 2.0-liter inline-four that was tweaked in period for racing use.

This particular car is one of the four prepped by Fox & Nicholl for the 1929 endurance racing season. The competition history for this chassis includes:

  • 1929 Brooklands Double 12 – 18th (with Frank King and Howard Wolfe)
  • 1929 24 Hours of Le Mans – 18th, DNF (with Tim Rose-Richard and Brian Lewis)

It’s been part of the same collection since 1960, and it has the highest pre-sale estimate of the four Fox & Nicholl-prepped Lagondas in this sale at $410,000-$550,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Dallara Stradale

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2019 Dallara Stradale Berlinetta

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | St. Moritz, Switzerland | September 17, 2021

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Gian Paolo Dallara has been designing cars since the 1960s. His career highlight is probably the Lamborghini Miura. In 1972 he founded Dallara Automobili, which has been designing racing cars since, including Indy Cars since the late 1990s.

But as has been vogue for the last half decade, boutique firms that specialize in one small segment of automobile design or production have been getting into the specialty car business themselves. This includes design houses like Zagato, Touring, and Italdesign.

The Stradale was Dallara’s first road car, and production started in 2017. They offer four body styles, three of which don’t have any doors. This berlinetta has two gullwing doors. Power is from a turbocharged 2.3-liter inline-four sourced from a Ford Focus RS. Output is 395 horsepower, and 60 arrives in 3.2 seconds. Top speed is 174 mph.

We typically don’t feature cars still in production, but since these boutique cars seem to vanish without a word, we’ll go ahead and get this one on the books. Dallara claims they will build “no more than 600” examples over a five-year run. The price when new was about $236,000, and this one is essentially brand new. You can read more about it here and see more from this sale here.

Update: Not sold.

Tatra 603 II

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1974 Tatra 603 II

Offered by Historics Auctioneers | Ascot Racecourse, U.K. | September 25, 2021

Photo – Historics Auctioneers

The Tatra 603 was introduced in 1956 as a more modern take on the company’s streamlined cars of earlier decades. That car was supplanted by the 2-603 in 1962, and the second generation of that car, the 603 II arrived in 1968. It lasted through 1975.

It’s powered by a rear-mounted, air-cooled 2.5-liter V8. Other updates for this model included four-wheel disc brakes and a seating re-arrangement to hold five people. Most of these were sold to officials in countries friendly with Czechoslovakia. You know, all of the ones the U.S. didn’t get along with.

Production totals are unclear, but this car was once owned by Nick Mason of Pink Floyd. It was rebuilt by the Tatra factory in the 1990s and is now expected to sell for between $38,000-$52,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Withdrawn from sale.

McLaren MP4-17

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2002 McLaren-Mercedes MP4-17

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | St. Moritz, Switzerland | September 17, 2021

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

McLaren-Mercedes was a pretty solid chassis/engine combo in Formula One about 10-20 years ago. The MP4-17 was actually used in two slightly different configurations over two seasons. There was the initial car (later retroactively dubbed “MP4-17A”) that was used for 2002, and there was 2003’s updated car, the MP4-17D.

This chassis (#06) debuted in 2002 and was later upgraded to “D” spec. Power is from a 3.0-liter Mercedes-Benz V10 good for 845 horsepower. The competition history for this chassis includes:

  • 2002 European Grand Prix – 3rd (with Kimi Raikkonen)
  • 2002 British Grand Prix – 14th, DNF (with Raikkonen)
  • 2002 French Grand Prix – 2nd (with Raikkonen)
  • 2002 German Grand Prix – 11th, DNF (with Raikkonen)
  • 2002 Hungarian Grand Prix – 4th (with Raikkonen)
  • 2002 United States Grand Prix – 3rd (with David Coulthard)
  • 2002 Japanese Grand Prix – 18th, DNF (with Coulthard)
  • 2003 Australian Grand Prix – 1st (with Coulthard)
  • 2003 San Marino Grand Prix – 2nd (with Raikkonen)
  • 2003 Spanish Grand Prix – 20th (with Raikkonen)
  • 2003 Monaco Grand Prix – 7th (with Coulthard)
  • 2003 Japanese Grand Prix – 2nd (with Raikkonen)

The car was also used as a test car here and there. Once its competitive career was over, the car was backdated to “17A” spec, in which it currently exists. It is expected to sell for between $2,200,000-$2,750,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $2,136,444.

La Dawri Conquest

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1962 La Dawri Conquest

Offered by Mecum | Dallas, Texas | September 8-11, 2021

Photo – Mecum

The La Dawri Cavalier was one of the earliest fiberglass specials of the 1950s. It debuted in 1956 and was produced by La Dawri Coachcraft of British Columbia, Canada. The company was founded by Lee Dawes, who moved it to Southern California in 1957. After the move, the Cavalier was renamed the Conquest.

La Dawri had a prolific model range until they closed in 1965, due in part to their 1961 acquisition of Victress. Victress models under then produced under the La Dawri brand. But anyway, this Conquest is powered by a 4.3-liter Chevrolet V8. It has unnecessarily been modified with Torq Thrust-style wheels. It’s a rare enough car that hot-rodding it isn’t needed.

The frame is from a Corvette, as is the suspension. I haven’t seen one of these for sale at an auction in quite some time… and if I recall, the only ones I have seen have been slightly modified as well. I don’t get it. But wheels are easy to change. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

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

Stafford Special

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1936 Stafford Single Seater

Offered by H&H Auctioneers | Duxford, U.K. | September 8, 2021

Photo – H&H Auctioneers

This one-off single-seater special is sort of like the British version of an early-1930s “junk formula” Indy car. Except that instead of having history at Indianapolis, this car has history at Brooklands. But first, the story of its creation.

It was built by Rodney Stafford between 1936 and 1938 utilizing a specially built Blaker Engineering Company chassis and a supercharged 1.5-liter Meadows inline-four. The aluminum body work was shaped in the aerodynamics of the day and is pure function.

It competed at Brooklands, before the war broke out, against the likes of Bugattis, Maseratis, and Altas. Its competition history picked back up after the war and continued throughout the 1940s. This one-of-one period race car carries a pre-sale estimate of $90,000-$115,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Update: Not sold, Bonhams Beaulieu 2022.

Mikrus MR-300

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1960 Mikrus MR-300

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Auburn, Indiana | September 2, 2021

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The Mikrus MR-300. A household name. Not really… unless it’s late-1950s Poland. And even then, probably not. WSK-Mielec was a company based in Mielec, Poland, and was primarily an aircraft manufacturer. But in the late 1950s, like so many other companies in that part of the world, they ventured into microcars.

Microcars were popular because they were cheap and could be sold to the public while officials cruised around in comparative luxury cars. The Goggomobil was the inspiration here, and power is provided by a rear-mounted 296cc twin good for 14.5 horsepower.

The MR-300 was the only Mikrus automobile, and it was only available as a four-seat two-door sedan. Between 1957 and 1960, the company produced 1,728 examples. This one has a pre-sale estimate of $5,000-$10,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $4,400.

Rochet-Schneider 18HP

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1910 Rochet-Schneider 18HP Series 9300 Open-Drive Landaulet

Offered by Bonhams | Beaulieu, U.K. | September 5, 2021

Photo – Bonhams

Rochet-Schneider was founded in 1894, and by 1910, they had earned the right to be producing large luxurious limousines like this one. Their cars were for the wealthy elite, and nothing says “I’m wealthy” like an open-drive landaulet where you right in an enclosed cabin out back while your driver suffers through the heat/rain/freezing cold.

The Series 9300 was introduced for 1910 and is powered by a 3.7-liter inline-four rated at 18 horsepower. This example was part of a large collection that was disbanded in 2005. The car is either largely original or wearing a very old restoration. The exterior isn’t perfect, but looks good. And the tufted leather in the rear compartment seems to have held up well.

The issue here is that, since the current owner bought it in 2005, it has only been started once. This thing is gonna need a nice recommissioning if you want to use it. The pre-sale estimate is $41,000-$55,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $26,999.

Allard K2

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1951 Allard K2

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Auburn, Indiana | September 3, 2021

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

In 1946, Sydney Allard’s company introduced two lines of cars, both of which would spawn follow-up models. Those would have been the J1 and K1. Following up the K1 in 1950 was the K2. It was produced through 1952.

This British roadster featured American power – a 5.4-liter Cadillac V8. It was as at home on the track as much as it was on the street, but the K models were more street cars than the J cars. This one was sold new out of New York City.

Only 119 K2s were built. And they are rarely seen. The pre-sale estimate here is $60,000-$70,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $66,000.

Alvis TC 21/100

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1952 Alvis TC 21/100 Drophead Coupe

Offered by H&H Auctioneers | Duxford, U.K. | September 8, 2021

Photo – H&H Auctioneers

The Alvis TC 21 was sold in two forms, the first being the TC 21. It was only offered as a four-door sedan, although that didn’t stop coachbuilders such as Graber from turning it into a two-door convertible. The car was introduced in 1953.

Later that year, Alvis tweaked the formula a bit, offering the TC 21/100, aka the Grey Lady. It featured a top speed of 100 mph thanks to a revised exhaust and an increased compression ratio in the 3.0-liter inline-six. The TC 21/100 was offered as a drophead coupe, with bodies like this one sourced from Tickford.

Only 757 examples were produced between the standard TC 21 and the Grey Lady through 1955, making it about twice as rare as the TA 21 that preceded it and way more common than the ultra-rate TC 108G that came later. This one is expected to fetch between $96,000-$116,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.