Tag Archives: classic cars

Duesenberg J-348

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1931 Duesenberg Model J Custom Berline by Judkins

Offered by Worldwide Auctioneers | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 16, 2019

Photo – Worldwide Auctioneers

Classic cars don’t always make for great drivers. They can be pretty, historical, or just fun to say you own, but not everyone takes them out and drives them. The great part – well one of many – about a Duesenberg Model J is that it has enough performance to keep pace with today’s traffic, though I suspect the brakes aren’t quite what you’re used to.

This Model J is a long-wheelbase example carrying its original Custom Berline sedan body by Judkins. The car has never been restored, just serviced as-needed to keep it roadworthy. The engine is a 265 horsepower, 6.9-liter straight-eight, and, strangely, the auction listing makes not one note of which engine this car carries. A little internet sleuthing reveals it is most likely J-348.

It was delivered new to the daughter of Billy Durant, and was purchased by the current owner in 2001. Being sold without reserve, it’s a great opportunity to acquire an all-original Model J… that you can still go out and enjoy. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $506,000.

Apollo 3500 GT

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1963 Apollo 3500 GT Coupe

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Phoenix, Arizona | January 17-18, 2019

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

This sleek Italian-styled sports car from the early 1960s was actually built in Oakland, California, by International Motor Cars. The body was technically built in Italy by Intermeccanica, then shipped to Oakland for final assembly, where it would be mated to an American engine.

In this case, that American engine is a 3.5-liter Buick V8 making 225 horsepower. A more powerful variant, the 5000 GT, would receive a larger 4.9-liter unit. It has the styling of a contemporary Ferrari, and it’s probably much cheaper to maintain.

Production numbers are really weird for these. Initially, Apollo only built 42 cars (combined between both engine options), and then the design was sold and the car was sold as the Vetta Ventura. After that venture ended, Apollo sprang back up and built a few more cars. RM says this is one of 90. I’ll take their word for it. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

S/N: 1004

Update: Sold $134,400.

Update: Not sold, Mecum Phoenix 2019, high bid of $130,000.

November 2018 Auction Highlights, Pt. II

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There were three other auctions held at the end of November, including Historics at Brooklands’ Mercedes-Benz World sale. The 1911 Sunbeam we featured sold for $34,834, and the top sale was this 1987 Porsche 911 Turbo that brought $122,065. Click here for more results.

Photo – Historics at Brooklands

Next up is Brightwells where this 1998 Ferrari 355 F1 Spider brought $64,575.

Photo – Brightwells

The SS Jaguar we featured sold for $36,499 while the Bristol and the Itala both failed to sell. Click here for further results.

Onward to H&H Classics where the Bristol we featured from this sale sold, bringing $43,071. The overall top sale was $143,572 paid for this 1961 Jaguar E-Type Series I 3.8 Roadster.

Photo – H&H Classics

The TVR Taimar sold for $11,198 and complete results can be found here.

The first of two Bonhams sales held in December was their Bond Street Sale. We featured two racing Jaguars (XJ220 C and XJR-6), but both failed to sell… as did quite a few other cars. The top sale by a decent margin was this 1958 BMW 507 Series II Roadster. It sold for $3,018,677. Click here for additional results.

Photo – Bonhams

Mecum will round out this rundown with their Kansas City sale. We didn’t get to feature anything, but this 2006 Ford GT was the top sale at $308,000. Click here for more results.

Photo – Mecum

Lone Star Touring

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1920 Lone Star Beauty Four 5-Passenger Touring

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Phoenix, Arizona | January 17-18, 2019

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Lone Star was a short-lived brand of automobile that was, in one very specific way, ahead of its time. Sold by the Lone Star Motor Truck and Tractor Association of San Antonio, Texas, the Lone Star was actually just a Piedmont (built in Virginia) with a different badge. You know, kind of like how the Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon are the exact same truck with different badges and marketing?

The Lone Star was sold from 1919 through 1922, and it’s thought that only 12 examples were produced (maybe shoppers in 1920 were able to see through the “buy Texas-made stuff” B.S. that people today so readily jump at?).

The Beauty Four is powered by a Lycoming inline-four making 35 horsepower. The 5-Passenger Tourer was the only body style offered. Restored, this is the only Lone Star thought to survive. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $44,800.

Corvette ZR2 Convertible

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1971 Chevrolet Corvette ZR2 Convertible

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 3-13, 2019

Photo – Mecum

There have been some great limited-edition factory Corvettes, like the original Z06, the L88s, and the ZR1 and ZR2. The ZR1 was available as a coupe or convertible and could’ve been had in 1970, ’71, or ’72. The ZR2 included all of the special bits that a ZR1 had, except the engine.

Instead of the LT1 in the ZR1, the ZR2 was equipped with a monstrous 7.0-liter (454) LS6 V8 rated at 425 horsepower. Chevy moved 188 examples of this engine in 1971 (the only year the ZR2 was available), but only 12 had the ZR2 package.

And only two of those were convertibles, making this car an extremely rare example of the last of the original run of special edition Corvettes before all of the power was zapped from them. If you think about it, the ZR1 of the early 1990s was the next “go-fast” limited edition Corvette. The last ZR2 we featured brought nearly a half million dollars in 2013. And it was a coupe. Click here for more info on this car and here for more from Mecum.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $380,000.

Update: Not sold, Mecum Monterey 2019, high bid of $300,000.

1989 Rolls-Royce State Landaulette

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1989 Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit I Emporer State Landaulette by Hooper

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Phoenix, Arizona | January 17-18, 2019

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit was produced in four different series between 1980 and 1999. A related model, the Silver Spur was produced alongside it and was identical except for a lengthened wheelbase. Interestingly, this one-off creation is actually a Silver Spirit – the short wheelbase car – but features a lengthened chassis, thus the extremely long stance.

That extension was nearly three feet in added length. This remarkably stately creation is a one-off custom landaulette by the famed coachbuilder Hooper. It was commissioned by an Australian charity (some charity if this what they spent their money on… turns out they never finished paying for the $1 million+ build cost and Hooper took the car back). The car is right-hand-drive, and the interior looks like a place Gordon Gecko would be very comfortable hanging out.

Power is from a 6.75-liter V8, and the car has had two real owners since Hooper let it go in 2010. One of one, it is among the final coachbuilt Rolls-Royces and should command big bucks. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $190,400.

Bentley Empress II

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1991 Bentley Turbo RL Empress II Coupe by Hooper

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Phoenix, Arizona | January 17-18, 2018

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Before we get into the coachbuilt rareness of this car, let’s start with a little model background. The Bentley Turbo R was a sedan introduced in 1985 and was produced in several iterations through 1999. It was sold in two wheelbases initially, long and short. An updated model went on sale in 1995, and the limited-edition Turbo S was sold in 1995.

In 1996, the short-wheelbase cars ended production. Prior to that, long-wheelbase cars were sold as the Bentley Turbo RL. After 1996, they were all long-wheelbase and the “L” was dropped. That’s a long-winded way to tell you that the car presented here is a long-wheelbase Turbo R. But (intrigue!) it’s a coupe. Bentley ever only sold it as a sedan.

That’s where Hooper comes in. The coachbuilder, with a longtime association with Bentley and favored car-crafting masters of the British Royal family, built this two-door aluminum-bodied coupe. Still powered by a 296 horsepower, 6.75-liter turbocharged V8, the car features streamlined coachwork and a bespoke interior. Only five were built, and this car – the fourth built – was used in Hooper’s advertising. It’s one of two left-hand-drive examples and is being sold from the Calumet Collection. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $128,800.

Mochet CM-125

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1954 Mochet CM-125 Luxe

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Los Angles, California | December 8, 2018

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Georges Mochet built microcars in Puteaux between 1946 and 1958. Prior to that he built pedal-powered cars under the Velocar name. But when he started powering them (even in desperate, post-war Europe, people weren’t necessarily thrilled with having to pedal), sales took off.

Early cars were kind of bizarre, but the company hit their stride once the Mochet Type K gave way to the CM-125. Power in this little runabout is from a 125cc single-cylinder engine that made five horsepower. That may sound sad, but in France at the time that meant you didn’t even need a driver’s license to operate one (and they are street legal). It would even evolve a commercial variant.

This example was part of the Bruce Weiner collection, where it was restored. It is now offered with an estimate of $35,000-$45,000. Find out more here and see the rest of the RM Sotheby’s Petersen lineup here.

Update: Sold $25,200.

Jaguar XJR-6

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1985 Jaguar XJR-6

Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | December 1, 2018

Photo – Bonhams

When Jaguar decided to go sports car prototype racing in the 1980s, the first car (numerically-speaking) they built was the XJR-5 which was intended for the IMSA GTP series. Meanwhile, in Europe, the World Sportscar Championship was eagerly awaiting some fast cats, and Jaguar obliged, with this, the XJR-6.

Destined for Group C greatness (or so they hoped), this car was built – as the entire Jag WSC program was – by Tom Walkinshaw Racing. Using a carbon-composite and Kevlar monocoque, the XJR-6 is powered by a 6.5-liter V12 capable of 745 horsepower. The race history for this particular chassis (285) includes:

  • 1985 1000km Mosport – 3rd (with Jean-Louis Schlesser, Mike Thackwell, and Martin Brundle)
  • 1985 1000km Spa – 32nd, DNF (with Hans Heyer and Schlesser)
  • 1985 1000km Fuji – 30th, DNF in a semi-aborted race (with Heyer and Steve Soper)

In all, six examples of the XJR-6 were built, and this one saw some action in pre-season 1986 testing, but it never raced after 1985. It’s a pretty awesome race car (with gullwing doors!), and I’m sure it has an amazing sound to accompany its looks. It should bring between $2,800,000-$3,600,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

1936 Talbot Sports Tourer

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1936 Talbot BG110 Sports Tourer by Vanden Plas

Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | December 3, 2018

Photo – Bonhams

The English arm of the Talbot company came under the control of the Rootes Group in 1935. The new owners began axing Talbot historical models and introducing replacement models. And before long, all of the cars were branded as Sunbeam-Talbot.

One of the last such models to be axed – in 1937 – was the BG110, which began life as the 110 in 1935. Power is from a 120 horsepower 3.5-liter straight-six. Top speed was 95 mph, and the car was sort of the pinnacle of pre-Rootes English Talbot design.

What’s semi-unique about this car is that it is one of 13 or 14 BG110s that were bodied by Vanden Plas in aluminum. The rest of the cars were all bodied in-house, and only 89 examples of the 110/BG110 were produced in total between 1935 and 1937. This restored example has had three owners since new and should bring between $120,000-$170,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $242,200.