Tag Archives: classic cars

Nacional Pescara Race Car

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1929 Nacional Pescara 3-Litre Competition

Offered by Aguttes | Brussels, Belgium | October 2024

Photo – Aguttes

Nacional Pescara was supposed to be the national motor company of Spain. It had government backing and was spurred on by Argentinian engineer Raul Pateras Pescara. Founded in 1929, Pescara tried to prove the car’s worth via competition, and production got under way in 1930.

The production cars, like this early racing special, were powered by a 3.0-liter DOHC inline-eight that made 125 horsepower. Not bad for a start-up in a country not exactly known for their cars, Hispano-Suiza aside. But the timing was all wrong. Even with all of the government funding, the company only managed to make about 12 production cars and two or three race cars before the money ran out and they closed up in 1932.

This is the only survivor. One of the racers (unclear if it was this one) won rounds during the 1931 European Hillclimb Championship, and this car was entered for the 1932 Monaco Grand Prix, but did not start. It’s been in the same family since the 1940s and now has an estimate of $660,000-$880,000. Click here for more info.

Maybach SW38 Sport Cabriolet

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1938 Maybach SW38 Sport Cabriolet by Spohn

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Los Angeles, California | October 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Maybachs do not come up for sale very often. That’s because they weren’t super common in their day. In their history they only made 1,841 vehicles. And if Daimler’s 2000s Maybach resurgence taught us anything, it’s that Maybach is step up from Mercedes-Benz. And they were.

Wilhelm Maybach was an engineer supreme, and the cars that bore his name were very solid. The SW38 was offered between 1936 and 1939 and saw power from a 4.0-liter inline-six that made 140 horsepower. It could hit over 100 mph and was available in your coachbuilder’s choice. In this case, Spohn supplied the body. Maybach delivered 172 new cars in Germany in 1938.

This car was sold new to Carl Krone, of European circus fame. It was reupholstered in the U.S. in the 1960s or ’70s and was acquired by the current owner in 1989. It was then hidden in a barn until now. At some point, back in Germany in the 1950s, the engine was upgraded to a 4.2-liter unit. The car now has an estimate of $150,000-$200,000. More info can be found here.

Horch 855 Special Roadster

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1939 Horch 855 Special Roadster by Glaser

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Los Angeles, California | October 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Horch has an interesting history which we have probably discussed here before. They were a German luxury car manufacturer by the 1930s – the most luxurious of the four Auto Union marques. In 1935 they introduced the 850, which brought with it a fairly large inline eight-cylinder engine.

There were various versions, including the original 850, the uprated 851, and the uprated and shorter 951 and 951A. And then there were the sportier variants, including the original 850 Sports, the now-quite-famous 853 and 853A, and the ultimate iteration: the 855. The Horch 853 is a pretty sought after pre-war classic, but the 855 is pretty much impossible to get your hands on.

Part of that is the only built between five and seven of them. The other part is that only two remain: the 853-based prototype and this, the only production version left. It wears Special Roadster bodywork from Glaser. The 855 is powered by a 120-horsepower version of the 850’s 4.9-liter inline-eight. It had a top speed around 87 mph, weighed less than the 853, and typically had a shorter wheelbase.

This car was sold new in the Netherlands and was brought to the U.S. by a returning member of the military in the 1940s. It spent time in a museum in the 1950s, was used in at least one movie in 1959, and moved to its current collection in 1980. In 1992, Audi found out about the car and convinced its reclusive owner to lend it to them. Audi then restored it and kept it on display in their museum until this sale. You can read more about it here.

NSU Ro80 Concept

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1971 NSU Ro80 2 Porte +2 by Pininfarina

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Los Angeles, California | October 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Rotary-powered cars have not been built very often, and when they have, it was usually by Mazda. But in the late 1960s, NSU decided to get in the game and produce a sedan, the Ro 80, which would remain in production through 1977 – the year in which NSU was merged into Audi.

This is NOT what those cars looked like. It’s somewhat retro-futuristic vibe is thanks to Italian design house Pininfarina. It’s a four-seater and, despite the confusing name, retains four doors. However, the rear doors are flipped around and open “suicide-style.” The rest of the bodywork is pretty modified, and the interior is very 1970s. The engine is a 995cc twin-rotor Wankel that was rated for 113 horsepower.

This concept debuted at the 1972 Brussels Motor Show and would later find its way to California, where it was purchased by the late current owner. Instead of moving to his junkyard, this car, one of the last that he purchased, was instead put on long-term display in Audi’s museum, where it remained up until this sale. There is a pre-sale estimate of $60,000-$80,000, and more info can be found here.

Caracciola’s 500K

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1935 Mercedes-Benz 500K Special Coupe by Sindelfingen

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Los Angeles, California | October 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

There are coachbuilt classics and then there are coachbuilt classics that were originally owned by factory racing superstars. That is the case here. This car was built for and originally owned by Rudolf Caracciola, who was three-time European Grand Prix champion in the 1930s. Oh, and a Nazi party member.

The 500K was powered by a 5.0-liter straight-eight making 100 horsepower or 160 with the supercharger engaged. Most of the cars built were open with only a handful of coupes built. Mercedes described this as a “Roadster-Limousine,” a term of which neither of its component words make sense.

Caracciola owned the car until the late 1930s, and it later made its way to the U.S. via abandonment in Ethiopia (as cars do). It was restored in the 1960s and finished second at Pebble Beach in 1966. In 1979, it was purchased by junkyard hero Rudi Klein, who showed it at least once before parking it in a barn around 1980. It hadn’t seen the light of day since – until now anyway. It will now sell, likely as a project, for a pretty spectacular number. Read more about it here.

Hispano-Suiza Type 16T

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1923 Hispano-Suiza Type 16T Roadster

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 9-10, 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Since Hispano-Suiza was sort of operating out of two different countries simultaneously, it was not surprising that the two almost-separate companies shared some vehicles. While the French arm of the company was producing more well-known cars as the company aged, the original Barcelona factory was still producing vehicles too.

The Type 30 of 1915 was powered by a 3.0-liter inline-four that was rated at 16 horsepower. The following year, Hispano-Suiza started produced the same car in Spain as the “Type 16T,” and it would remain available until 1925.

In that time, 956 examples were produced. Spanish Suizas are less common than their French counterparts – for instance, of those 956, only 15 are known, with just two of them being in the U.S. This one has been in the same collection for over 30 years and has an estimate of $150,000-$200,000. More info can be found here.

Bristol 405 Sedan

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1956 Bristol 405 Sedan

Offered by Bonhams | Chichester, U.K. | September 7, 2024

Photo – Bonhams

Low-production Bristol, for a rare time in their history, offered multiple models at the same time. They were the very similar 404 and 405. The 404 was only offered in two-door coupe form, while you could get a 405 in sedan or drophead coupe form.

Produced between 1953 and 1958, the two cars were sold in, obviously, limited numbers, with just 308 examples of the 405 produced, most of which were sedans (265 to be exact). Power is provided by a 2.0-liter inline-six.

This particular car has seen two long-term owners (among others) in its history and was mechanically refreshed in recent years. The 405 sedan is, perhaps, most famous as the car Peter Sarsgaard’s character drove in An Education. This example has an estimate of $46,000-$72,000. Click here for more info.

Talbot 75

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1935 Talbot 75 Sports Saloon by Darracq

Offered by Bonhams | Beaulieu, U.K. | September 2024

Photo – Bonhams

There were French Talbots and there were British Talbots. This is an example of the latter, if you couldn’t tell by looking at it. It looks just like many other British luxury cars of the 1930s, be they from SS (Jaguar) or whoever.

The Talbot 18-70 of 1930 through 1932 was given a displacement increase of their straight-six to 2.3 liters. These cars were referred to as the Talbot 70 or 75. It’s unclear when this car was built, as Bonhams doesn’t list a model year.

It is said to have been ordered new by the British ambassador to Spain but never delivered. Its first owner bought it in 1936, and it remained in their family until 2009. It was restored in 1998 and now has an estimate of $33,000-$39,000. More info can be found here.

RAM Formula One

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1983 RAM March-Cosworth 01

Offered by Mecum | Monterey, California | August 2024

Photo – Mecum

RAM Racing was founded in 1975 by Mike Ralph and John Macdonald. They first appeared on the F1 grid in 1976 with year-old Brabham chassis. Then they ran March and Williams chassis in 1977 and 1980, respectively. For 1983, they debuted the RAM March 01.

It was a derivative, or evolution, of the March 821 F1 car and was the first RAM chassis designed/built in-house. Power is from a 3.0-liter Ford-Cosworth V8 that makes 530 horsepower. The 1983 season was a disaster, with the 01 failing to qualify for all but three races it entered. It made the first two events in 1984 before being replaced by the RAM 02. In 1985, they ran the RAM 03 before folding.

The competition history for this chassis, whose number is not provided, is said to include:

  • 1983 Brazilian Grand Prix – 15th (with Eliseo Salazar)
  • 1983 South African Grand Prix – 12th (with Kenny Acheson)

Both Jacques Villeneuve, Sr. and Jean-Louis Schlesser both DNQ’d the car during that season. This former F1 car has since been used a fair bit in historic racing and now has an estimate of $400,000-$650,000. More info can be found here.

Duesenberg J-114

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1929 Duesenberg Model J Town Car by Derham

Offered by Gooding & Company | Pebble Beach, California | August 2024

Photo – Gooding & Company

Yes, Duesenbergs were cars for the rich. But any car with a town car body was a car for the rich. You had a chauffeur’s compartment up front, where some household employee would sit, exposed to the elements, and drive you around. Like the Isotta Fraschini from Sunset Boulevard.

And that’s kind of what this is. It was sold new to Virginia Robinson, who married a department store heir and lived in Beverly Hills. Just like Norma Desmond, she was ferried around Los Angeles in this, the only short-wheelbase Model J with Derham town car coachwork. The 265-horsepower, 6.9-liter straight-eight is retained under the hood.

The Robinsons had three Duesenbergs, and all of them were relatively early cars, with J-171 being the highest engine number they had. Early adopters. The car received updated styling and wheels in the mid-1930s. It was restored in 1968 and cosmetically refreshed in the last year. It now has an estimate of $1,500,000-$2,000,000. Click here for more info.