Tag Archives: classic car

Porsche 550 Spyder

Posted on by
1

1955 Porsche 550/1500 RS Spyder

Offered by Gooding & Company | Amelia Island, Florida | March 9, 2012

Photo – Gooding & Company

Shelby Cobras, Ford GT40s, Lotus Sevens and the Porsche 550. These are cars of which replicas far outnumber the real thing. But this is a real Porsche 550 Spyder. Only about 90 550s were built and this one retains everything it originally came with.

The Porsche 550 was a great track-day car back in the mid-1950s (it still is, but they don’t come quite as cheap as they used to). Many of them were used and abused on weekend jaunts to the nearest road course or former air base. The most famous of these cars was James Dean’s “Little Bastard” that he was tragically killed in on his way to a race.

To have an original, unrestored engine in one of these cars is amazing. Nor does it have any replacement bodywork. It was a street car for most of its life, serving as daily transportation at one point (sunny days only, I presume).

And what fun that would be. The 1.5 liter flat-4 makes 125 horsepower, which may not sound like much but consider how much a tiny car like this weighs with all aluminum bodywork. Aluminum bodywork and a lack of interior.

Luxurious comfort is a small thing to sacrifice for a car this amazing. They do not come up for sale often and by “not often” I mean “almost never.” There are few Porsche models that are more collectible, desirable or iconic than this. The price reflects that, estimated between $2,200,000 and $2,600,000. The buyer may adopt the name of James Dean’s infamous car for themselves, but only if they add “lucky” to the beginning of it.

For the complete catalog description, click here and to see the entire lot list, click here.

Update: Sold $3,685,000.

Here’s video of a similar car:

Rambler Seven-Passenger Touring

Posted on by
1

1911 Rambler Model 65 Seven-Passenger Touring

Offered by Gooding & Company, Amelia Island, Florida, March 9, 2012

The Rambler nameplate has a long and winding history that dates back to 1897 when Thomas B. Jeffrey built his first prototype automobile. Production started in 1902 and Rambler was instantly the second-largest American car company behind Oldsmobile. In 1914, Jeffrey’s son replaced “Rambler” with “Jeffrey” and the Rambler name disappeared for the first time. Jeffrey was acquired by Nash in 1916 and Nash re-introduced the Rambler as a Nash model in 1950. When Nash merged with Hudson to form American Motors in 1954, Hudson also shared the Rambler model. In the early 1960s Rambler became its own marque under the AMC corporate umbrella (Nash and Hudson were both unceremoniously killed by this time). Rambler disappeared in the U.S. for the second and final time in 1969 (it survived on dubious licensed built cars until 1983).

Well there’s your history lesson for the day. This particular Rambler is a Model 65 – the only one known to exist. It makes 45 horsepower from its 5.2-liter 4-cylinder T-head engine. But look at this car:

Look how large and imposing this thing is. This is the type of car you go out to a country house for a weekend in with six other people. Unpaved roads and grassy fields. And doing it before the Titanic sank – or at least before WWI. There are numerous examples in film to support my theory (A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy and Finding Neverland are two that come to mind. If you’re here from Twitter and wondering where the explanation is, well you’re looking at it).

I love big pre-WWI cars like this. In fact, I want an entire fleet of them. There are so many different makes to choose from. Collect them all. Whoever the next owner caretaker of this machine is or will be, I hope they enjoy it as much as I am in my head.

It was restored in 2008 and looks great. And for $290,000-$340,000, it should. To read more, click here and here for more on the auction.

Update: Sold $275,000.

Update: Sold, RM Sotheby’s Hershey 2019, $266,750.

Winningest Porsche 962

Posted on by
Reply

1984 Porsche 962

Offered by Gooding & Company, Amelia Island, Florida, March 9, 2012

Two days ago we featured the most dominant (for a short period of time) race car ever built. Well here is another candidate for that title. The Porsche 962 was introduced to the racing world in 1984 and won just about everything it dared to enter through the end of the decade, with customer cars and continuation models continuing to be competitive into the mid-1990s.

This particular car (chassis #962-103) is the winningest 962 in history. It was the first 962 to actually win a race (the 1984 6 Hours of Watkins Glen) and then it went on to win many other races including:

  • 1984 Camel GT 500 Grand Prix at Pocono
  • 1984 Eastern Airlines 3 Hour Camel GT at Daytona
  • 1985 300km of Laguna Seca
  • 1985 500km of Charlotte
  • 1985 500km of Mid-Ohio
  • 1985 3 Hours at Watkins Glen
  • 1986 24 Hours of Daytona (driven by Al Holbert, Derek Bell & Al Unser, Jr.)
  • 1986 Road America 500
  • 1987 24 Hours of Daytona (driven by the 1986 team plus Chip Robinson)

This car, known as the Löwenbräu Special, also had a number of other top five finishes including a couple at the 12 Hours of Sebring. It spent its entire career with Holbert Racing and was owned by the Holbert family after it was retired until 2008 when it was acquired by  the Drendel Family, from whose collection this and a number of other fantastic Porsches are being offered at this Gooding sale.

The Porsche 962 features a 3.2 liter twin-turbo flat-6 making somewhere in the neighborhood of 720 horsepower. They are all fast but this one is perhaps the most prominent. It is estimated between $1,750,000-$2,250,000. Click here for more information and pictures and here for more on the Gooding sale.

Update: Sold $1,925,000.

Willys-Knight “Plaid-Side” Roadster

Posted on by
1

1930 Willys-Knight Great Six Plaid-Side Roadster

Offered by Gooding & Company | Amelia Island, Florida | March 9, 2012

Photo – Gooding & Company

Willys-Knight was a line of automobiles produced between 1914 and 1933 by the more commonly known Willys-Overland Company. There were a number of “Knight” branded cars in production around this time because they all used Knight Sleeve-Valve engines (there were no less than eight).

The Knight Sleeve Valve engine wasn’t exactly a novelty – there were all kinds of pioneering ideas in the early days of motoring as to how an automobile should be powered. That said, they did have a few issues and they were expensive to produce, even if the straight-six in this car did make 82 horsepower.

But the car pictured here is about the looks. That combination of light green and black is very attractive – especially the painted grille. It’s a “Plaid-Side” Roadster with the doors appearing to be plaid. It isn’t something you see everyday. The body was designed by the Griswold Motor Body Company in Chicago.

The pre-sale estimate is $140,000-$180,000, with uniqueness being a selling point here. To read the complete description and for more pictures, click here. To see the complete Amelia Island lineup from Gooding & Co, click here.

Photo – Gooding & Company

Update: Sold $220,000.

Here’s video of a similar car:

Porsche 917-30

Posted on by
5

1973 Porsche 917/30 Can-Am Spyder

Offered by Gooding & Company, Amelia Island, Florida, March 9, 2012

Photo – Gooding & Company

Every once in a while a car comes up for sale that, basically, makes you yell “Holy crap!” and drop your sandwich and the plate it sat on. The plate falls in slow-motion and shatters on the floor. Complete spit-take. Like a car that you think only the manufacturer owns and sits in their private museum and will never be sold. Except that it’s apparently up for sale. This is one such car.

This is the “Can-Am Killer” – a car so dominant that it drove the series in which it competed into extinction. Nothing could keep pace with this monster of a race car. It is the most powerful road-racing car ever built. Its 5.4-liter twin-turbocharged Flat-12 produced about 1,200 horsepower. During qualifying sessions in the 1973 season, the turbos were turned up to full boost, pushing power output closer to 1,600. It weighed 1,800 lbs – so we’re talking sub-2.0 second 0-60 mph times. The car’s dominance, in conjunction with other factors, led to the demise of the Can-Am series.

This particular car (chassis #004) is painted in period-correct Penske Sunoco livery, although it was not one of the cars campaigned by Roger Penkse in the Can-Am series. It was supposed to be, however. In fact, Mark Donohue was supposed to drive this car in 1974 but because Can-Am more or less banned the 917/30 from competition (through rules changes), the car’s build was halted but eventually completed and sold new to Alan Hamilton, the Australian Porsche importer. Porsche then later re-acquired the car for somewhere around $2 million in 1991.

This is one of six (6) Porsche 917/30s built. Two of them are owned by Porsche. It is the most dominate of all racing cars and the ultimate version of the 917, which itself was a line of super-successful racing cars. It’s pre-sale estimate is $3,250,000-$4,000,000. What a rare opportunity. The complete catalog description can be found here and the entire Gooding catalog can be seen here.

As a side note, I recently learned (via a 30 minute TV comedy) that you’re supposed to wear blue and yellow on Leap Day, so this car is quite appropriate. Happy Leap Day!

Update: Sold $4,400,000.

Update II: Sold, Gooding & Company Amelia Island 2016, $3,000,000.

TVR 3000S

Posted on by
1

1979 TVR 3000S

Offered by Gooding & Company | Amelia Island, Florida | March 9, 2012

TVR never sent many cars to the U.S. and they haven’t sent any (officially) for decades. Which is a shame because they were one of the last true volume builders of outrageous supercars.

The 3000S wasn’t quite a supercar. But back in the 1970s TVR was building British sports cars with solid performance. I don’t normally associate TVR with the likes of Triumph, MG and the like, mostly, I guess, because TVR was privately owned and managed to avoid the meltdown of the British automotive industry in the 1970s. Plus, they are rarer and command comparatively more cash.

This is actually a good looking car – just don’t dare mention the fact that it (or other British cars of similar vintage) could resemble a Datsun (trust me, I learned that the hard way). It has a 3.0 liter V-6 making 142 horsepower.

The 3000S was only in production in 1978 and 1979. Only 258 were built and of those, only  67 were left-hand drive models and only 49 of those were exported to North America. So, in a way, this car is one of 49. This car is the perfect car to buy if you want to show up at a British car show in something other than an MGB. It will definitely turn heads among those in the know. It is estimated between $40,000-$50,000. For more info click here and more on the sale here.

Update: Sold $24,200.

Pre-war Morris Isis

Posted on by
1

1933 Morris Isis 17.7hp Coupe

Offered by Bonhams, Oxford, England, March 3, 2012

Photo – Bonhams

The first generation of the Morris Isis was produced between 1929 and 1935 and was the only pre-war iteration of the model. The Isis received a facelift for 1932 to resemble the model offered here. It’s one of the more attractive Morris’ I’ve ever seen.

The Isis was the six-cylinder Morris with a 2.5 liter engine making 17.7 horsepower – enough to propel the car to 65 mph. It has a steel body over an ash frame – very British. 3,467 facelifted Isis models were made, including the deluxe Twenty-Five version with the larger 3.5 liter engine.

The car offered here shows very well with it’s attractive red coachwork. Mechanicals were “freshened” in 2006 and the interior is quite nice as well. Bonhams estimates this car between $15,000-$24,000, which sounds quite reasonable for something that looks this nice. For more on this car, click here and for more on Bonhams in Oxford, click here.

Update: Sold $21,000.

Duesenberg J-103

Posted on by
2

1929 Duesenberg Model J Convertible Berline by LeBaron

Offered by RM Auctions | Amelia Island, Florida | March 10, 2012

LeBaron-bodied Duesenbergs are my favorite, although not necessarily Convertible Sedans. This one has an interesting history, having been owned first by Canada’s first and only Duesenberg dealer, Billy Van Horne. J103 was one of the first cars built (it was the fourth engine and third chassis constructed). It was the first long-wheelbase chassis.

The original body on this car was a Holbrook Seven-Passenger Limousine, which was fitted when the car sat on the Duesenberg stand at the 1929 New York Auto Show. The current body was fitted in 1935 when the third owner shipped the car back to Indiana to get  a more sporting body mounted on chassis 2127.

This car was restored for the first time in the early 1960s before it found its new home in the Midwest. The restoration has been “upgraded” twice since, in order to keep the car fresh. Ownership is known from new and this is a Duesenberg with no “stories.” There was no storage in a barn for 40 years. Someone has been enjoying this car since it left the factory. Now it is being sold out of the collection of John O’Quinn.

There were only three of these LeBaron Convertible Berline bodies built. RM estimates the sale price of this car to be between $800,000-$1,000,000. To read the complete description, click here and for the rest of RM in Florida, click here.

Update: Sold $803,000.

Squire Drophead Coupe

Posted on by
1

1937 Squire 1.5-Liter Drophead Coupe by Corsica

Offered by RM Auctions | Amelia Island, Florida | March 10, 2012

Remember how, in high school, you’d sit and doodle and draw the fastest imaginary car you could imagine? To be honest, it was probably atrocious (mine were) – festooned with grotesque wings and Countach-like boxy proportions.

Well, in 1931 Adrian Squire, then 21-years-old, decided he would build the dream car he wanted. He founded Squire Motors Ltd. and set out building amazing automobiles. And he did. Squire was a former employee of both Bentley and MG, so he knew what a great sports car should be.

The company was renamed in 1934 to the Squire Car Manufacturing Company and started building cars in 1935. They used a 1.5-liter inline four built by Anzani. A Roots-type supercharger was then added for a total output of 110 horsepower. The cars were exorbitantly expensive and only seven were sold by the end of 1936.

The final car was bought by a man of the name Val Zethrin (who sounds like the villain in a sci-fi movie about space). He was apparently impressed by the car and acquired the rights (and spares) of Squire. He constructed about a car per year through 1939, taking total Squire production to 10 cars. The one offered here is the first of the Val Zethrin cars, from 1937.

Adrian Squire left his company and went to work at Lagonda before ending up at the Bristol Aeroplane Company, where he was killed at age 30 during a bombing raid in WWII. The cars that bear his name remain legendary for being some of the fastest, best handling and performing road cars built prior to WWII.

1937 Squire 1½-Liter Drophead Coupe

This car features spectacular coachwork from Corsica of London which was modified slightly during restoration in the mid-1990s. The mechanicals have been freshened more recently and the car is ready to roll. Nine of the ten Squires built are still around. You won’t find one more outstanding than this.

If you want it, I hope you have deep pockets, as RM did not publish an estimate for this car. To read the entire catalog description, click here. And to see the rest of the Amelia Island lineup, click here.

Update: Sold $990,000.

Cord L-29 Special Coupe

Posted on by
2

1929 Cord L-29 Special Coupe by The Hayes Body Corporation

Offered by RM Auctions | Amelia Island, Florida | March 10, 2012

Simply the most beautiful L-29 I have ever seen – LaGrande Speedster included. The body was designed by Count Alexis de Sakhnoffsky and built by the Hayes Body Corporation of Grand Rapids, Michigan. I’ve been sitting here staring at the car for some time and I think it all comes down to the windows. They have an almost teardrop shape to them.

Revolutionary in design, the Cord L-29 made front-wheel drive a viable option for stylish, low-slung cars. They were the first to offer such a configuration and they did it with style. Unfortunately, performance couldn’t quite match the looks that went with it. The L-29 had a  4.9 liter inline eight-cylinder engine making only 125 horsepower – which, compared to most common automobiles of the time this was a lot (the Ford Model T had gone out of production two years earlier with a 20 horsepower engine). But for cars in its price range, it was lacking – especially since it weighed almost 2.5 tons and was only capable of a little more than 75 mph.

But that’s no matter, because in 2012 you aren’t buying a Cord L-29 to set land speed records. You’re buying them for their indelible sense of style and what they represent – the flair of the last days of a bygone era. The Roaring Twenties were crashing to a halt and E.L. Cord was introducing new lines of fabulous automobiles that only a select few could afford. It was a losing proposition but he hung in there as long as he could and this is the fantastic result of his passion.

This car cost about $20,000 to build in 1929. Upon completion, it toured Europe and won awards. In 1941 it was acquired by famed designer Brooks Stevens (for the outrageous sum of $1). It was restored under Stevens cars in the 1980s and was sold in the early 1990s and passed hands once again about four years ago. There is only one of these and it has known ownership history from new. Don’t miss your chance.

Cord L-29s are always pretty, but this one takes it to another level. RM did not publish an estimate for this car, so look for it to bring a sizable chunk of change. For the complete catalog description click here and to see more of what RM has waiting to be sold at Amelia Island, click here.

Update: Sold $2,420,000.