1904 Haynes-Apperson Model F Rear-Entrance Tonneau
Offered by Bonhams | Amelia Island, Florida | March 7, 2019
Photo – Bonhams
Haynes-Apperson is a manufacturer that few know about. But it is one of the most important. Elwood Haynes, who would later hold a patent on stainless steel, partnered with brothers Elmer and Edgar Apperson in 1894 to build a motorcar. A company sprang up in 1898, the first in Indiana (Kokomo, to be exact), and was soon churning out cars as fast as they could. Haynes was a difficult guy to get along with from a business perspective, and the Apperson brothers departed the company in 1902. Haynes-Apperson became just Haynes in 1904.
In 1904, the last year before the name change, the company produced a car called the Model F. It is powered by a flat-twin capable of 18 horsepower. It featured left-hand drive, an adjustable steering column, and a bunch of brass, making it seem rather opulent for the time.
This example was restored by its late owner and is one of two known examples of the Model F in the world. Long overlooked, Haynes-Apperson deserves to be appreciated as one of America’s first, and thereby most important, automobile manufacturers. This car should sell for between $180,000-$240,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams.
We’ll pick up where we left off last time, Scottsdale. This time it’s Russo & Steele, where this2012 Lexus LFA blew everything else away, selling for $412,500. Complete results can be found here.
Photo – Russo & Steele
Now we’re on to Retromobile in Paris, where RM Sotheby’s led it off with a huge number for this 1987 Ferrari F40 LM: $5,489,215.
The second sale of the Retromobile week was held by Bonhams, and we featured a lot of cars from this event. On the extreme one end of the spectrum was the Red Bug buckboard we featured. It sold for $4,958. Now a quick rundown of no-sales from this auction: the Clement-Bayard, the beautiful Darracq, the 1911 Renault, the Bellanger, and a previously-featured Horch. The overall top sale was this 1939 Mercedes-Benz 540K Cabriolet A for $1,794,086.
Finally, we have Silverstone Auctions and their Race Retro Classic Car sale. The biggest money was the $381,813 paid for this 1958 Porsche 356A Speedster.
Photo – Silverstone Auctions
The Ginetta G4 we featured sold for $40,824, but the De Tomaso Longchamp Spider failed to find a new home on the block. You can see more results from this sale here.
Offered by Bonhams | Amelia Island, Florida | March 7, 2019
Photo – Bonhams
How Harry A. Knox became to be an automobile manufacturer probably has something to do with how this car looks. His neighbor happened to be J. Frank Duryea, who along with his brother, was one of America’s first automobile producers. And their early cars looked a lot like this (three-wheelers included).
The auction catalog lists this as a c.1899, but my information says that Knox built their first 15 3-wheelers in 1900. Another 100 were built in 1901, and a 4-wheeler was added in 1902. This car is powered by a five horsepower, 1.6-liter single-cylinder engine.
The engine number is 28, which might mean this was actually built in 1901. In any case, it’s one of the earliest Knox cars around, and it is really, really cool. It should sell for between $100,000-$120,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
Update: Sold $106,400.
1910 Knox Model R Seven-Passenger Touring
Offered by Bonhams | Amelia Island, Florida | March 7, 2019
Photo – Bonhams
Here’s a later Knox, and a much larger, more traditional example. When I think of this marque I think of tiny, early runabouts like this one. But later on, they certainly built big tourers as well.
The Model R was sold in 1910 through 1912 and it is powered by a 40 horsepower, 6.1-liter straight-four. It has shaft drive and is finished in an attractive combo of blue with red wheels. The restoration is described as older, but with big power on tap, it should be a nice, usable car.
The seven-passenger touring body style was only available on the Model R in 1912, after the wheelbase was extended to 122″. But who knows, anything is possible with old cars. This one should bring between $175,000-$250,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams.
Offered by Gooding & Company | Amelia Island, Florida | March 8, 2019
Photo – Gooding & Company
Very few racing teams or race cars builders have managed to survive for extended periods of time without producing road cars to fund their racing fun. Ferrari had to do it. So why not the Maserati brothers on their second go-round, this time with OSCA?
The 1600 GT was designed from the outset as a road car, unlike earlier models such as the MT4. It is powered by a 1.6-liter DOHC inline-four that makes 125 horsepower. The body carries Zagato’s “double bubble” design language and is made of aluminum so that 125 horsepower doesn’t have to cart around all that much weight.
Only 60 examples of the 1600 GT were sold, and only 31 are thought to still exist. The current owner has spent over $300k since 2012 getting it into the shape it’s in. Looking at it from an ROI perspective, it’s not that great of an investment, considering the wide estimate is from $350,000-$500,000. But ROI is certainly not what it’s all about with these cars. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
Offered by Bonhams | Amelia Island, Florida | March 7, 2019
Photo – Bonhams
Albert Pope attached his name to a lot of car companies. The Pope-Hartford, for instance, was built in Hartford, Connecticut between 1904 and 1914. It was one of the more successful marques with the Pope brand. Imagine if General Motors name each car after the city it was physically assembled in. It would be insane.
With some amount of balls, Pope branded their 1910 car the “Model T,” and it is powered by a 4.9-liter inline-four rated at 40 horsepower. It wears a Limousine body, though it was also delivered new with a separate touring car body. That delivery is interesting because the first owners were in Uruguay, of all places.
More interesting is that the first owner was the Uruguayan ambassador to the Vatican. Yes, that’s right, the actual Pope is thought to have ridden in this Pope. It has bounced around the U.S. over the last few decades (including a period where it was local to where I currently reside) and is said to have never been fully restored. It should bring between $160,000-$190,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
Offered by Bonhams | Amelia Island, Florida | March 7, 2019
Photo – Bonhams
Motor Racing Developments Ltd. was a Formula One constructor founded by driver Jack Brabham and engineer Ron Tauranac. It is commonly known as “Brabham.” The team competed for 30 years, between 1962 and 1992. Jack won the F1 championship in one of his own cars in 1966 – the only time that’s ever happened.
This chassis began life as a Repco-powered BT26 in 1968 with driver Jochen Rindt. The Repco was an unreliable unit, so the team switched to Cosworth power for 1969. With the new engine and some slight tweaks, the ’68 cars (including this one) were rechristened the BT26A. This car is powered by a 3.0-liter Ford-Cosworth DFV V8. It’s race history includes:
1968 Canadian Grand Prix – 12th (DNF), with Jochen Rindt
1968 United States Grand Prix – 11th (DNF), with Rindt
1968 Mexican Grand Prix – 21st (DNF), with Rindt
1969 Spanish Grand Prix – 6th, with Jacky Ickx
1969 Dutch Grand Prix – 5th, with Ickx
1969 French Grand Prix – 3rd, with Ickx
1969 Canadian Grand Prix – 1st, with Ickx
1969 Mexican Grand Prix – 2nd, with Ickx
1969 Oulton Park Gold Cup – 1st, with Ickx
Not too shabby a record once the Cosworth was installed, which the car retains. It’s an impressive open-wheel car from the glory days of F1. It should bring between $1,100,000-$1,400,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams.
Offered by Bonhams | Amelia Island, Florida | March 7, 2019
Photo – Bonhams
Brothers Fred and A.R. Welch built their first automobile in 1901 and entered production in 1903 in Chelsea, Michigan. The company moved to Pontiac, Michigan in 1904 and in 1909 they spun off a subsidiary producing a small car called the Welch-Detroit. General Motors acquired Welch in 1910 and quickly phased it out.
The 5.5-liter inline-four was rated at 50 horsepower and features an overhead camshaft and hemispherical combustion chambers. The OG Hemi. Only four “hemi-head” Welch cars are known to survive, and in 1908, this was the only body style you could get on a Model 4-L.
This car has known ownership history back to about 1910, and it was co-acquired by Henry Austin Clark Jr. in 1951. Restored prior to the early-1970s, it has been a mainstay in its current collection for decades. The Welch was one of the best cars in America in 1908, and this one should bring $250,000-$320,000 today. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams.
1926 Hispano-Suiza H6B Cabriolet Le Dandy by Chapron
Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Amelia Island, Florida | March 8-9, 2019
Photo courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
Hispano-Suiza was a Spanish/Swiss company that set up a French arm in 1911, which became their main factory in 1914. And in 1923, the French part sort of became its own company altogether, which is why this car is listed under “France” in our cars by country list.
The H6 went on sale in 1919 and was usurped by the H6B in 1922. More powerful than its predecessor, the H6B gets moved along by a 135 horsepower, 6.6-liter straight-six. It was a popular model and remained in production alongside the even-better H6C for a few years.
The Henri Chapron-built body currently on this car was added five years after it was originally sold, replacing whatever the original body was. The car has been stateside since the 50s, and has been winning awards at major shows for the last 15 years. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
Offered by Brightwells | Leominster, U.K. | March 6, 2019
Photo – Brightwells
The Jaguar XJ-S debuted in 1976. It was built in three series through 1996, and while that is only 20 years, it was light years in terms of car design based on what the common car looked like in the mid-1970s versus the mid-1990s. And the Jag evolved in its styling, but you can totally tell the first car was closely related to the last.
This car, however, is completely different. It looks from certain angles like a TVR Cerbera or an Aston Martin DB7 and has some hints of a modern version of those 7.0-liter Lister Jaguar monsters from the 1980s. What it actually is is a body kit from Paul Bailey Design and was, I think, built in some kind of conjunction with Jaguar.
Rumor has it that the Sultan of Brunei ordered the first one and ended up owning two. Only 11 were built between 1989 and 2001. This car is powered by a 3.6-liter straight-six that was originally rated at 221 horsepower. There were a few mechanical tweaks, but nothing major that should make it into the tire-shredding monster it certainly looks to be. I remember these from the 90s and think they’re pretty cool. This one should bring between $27,000-$30,000. Click here for more from Brightwells.
Update: Not sold.
Update: Not sold, Brightwells Leominster, May 2019.
Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Stoneleigh Park, U.K. | February 23, 2019
Photo – Silverstone Auctions
The Longchamp is far from De Tomaso‘s most famous model, as it is neither a Pantera nor a Mangusta. And the convertible (or Spyder) variant is so rare that most people who have heard of the Longchamp might not even realize a drop-top was ever offered.
The Series II Longchamp went on sale in 1980, and the GTS variant debuted that year as well. It is set off from lesser cars with wheel arches and Pantera-like Campagnolo wheels. The top version, the GTS/E, went on sale in the mid-1980s and featured some styling changes (which are supposed to include round headlights, which this car does not have). Power is from a 5.8-liter Ford V8.
Only 409 examples of all types were built between 1972 and 1989, with the coupe/convertible breakdown being 395 to 14, respectively. Very few were built in the last few years, and only a few GTS models were also Spyders. In fact, of the 14 convertibles, only three are GTS/E models. This is one of them, and it should sell for between $115,000-$140,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
