Tag Archives: classic cars

May 2017 Auction Highlights, Pt. I

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Starting off our recap of May’s auction activity we have Brightwells’ second April sale, Modern Classic Cars and Motorcycles. We featured a Lotus Excel that sold for a reasonable $7,818. The top seller off an overall low sell-through rate was this 1982 Mercedes-Benz 280SL for $15,636. Click here to see the rest of what sold.

Photo – Brightwells

Next, we have one of two Osenat sales held in May. Two feature cars failed to sell, the Roamer and the Lorraine-Dietrich. The top sale was this 1927 Bugatti Type 40 that sold for $380,346.

Photo – Osenat

The Talbot sedan we featured brought $24,263 and you can see the rest of Osenat’s results here.

Bonhams has a pair of sales in May as well, the first being their Aston Martin sale. The V8 Vantage Zagato we featured failed to sell, but the top sale was this 1964 Aston Martin DB5 for $721,955. Click here for more Astons.

Photo – Bonhams

We’ll keep it in the U.K. for Silverstone Auctions’ May Sale. We featured a Farbio GTS, but it failed to meet its reserve. The #1 sale at this auction was this 1993 Porsche 911 Turbo S “Leichtbau” for an impressive $717,756. Those Porsche prices don’t quit! Click here for more from Silverstone Auctions.

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

Finally, for this post, Auctions America’s Auburn Spring sale. Top sale honors went to this 2012 Ferrari 458 GTD Race Car for $462,000.

Photo – Auctions America

The Buick Hellcat tank we featured was near the top, selling for $247,500. There were a couple other military vehicles that we’ve featured before that went across the block in Auburn again. Leading the way was this White Half-Track for $82,500. Next came the GMC “Duck” for $49,500. And finally, this tracked Opel rocket launcher for $41,500.

The two other feature cars both sold for decent sums with the Cunningham Hearse bringing $137,500 and the HPD ARX $110,000. Click here for complete results, including some absolute bargains that prove Auctions America is still a hidden enough gem that makes it a buyer’s paradise.

Rickenbacker Model B

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1923 Rickenbacker Model B6 Coupe

Offered by Bonhams | Greenwich, Connecticut | June 4, 2017

Photo – Bonhams

Recently I was able to spend some time at America’s Packard Museum in Dayton, Ohio, and, in their really cool building, they’ve restored a Packard sales manager’s office as it would’ve looked in the 1920s. Within the office sits a book – the actual Dayton, Ohio, automobile register from 1923(ish), open to a random page. I was reading it, looking at the different marques of cars registered in the area that year, and among the many Fords and Maxwells was a lone Rickenbacker. And it blew my mind.

There were so many auto manufacturers operating in America in the 1920s (not to mention the oddball import). They were around. They aren’t nearly as rare as they are today. They were just another car. But the odds of seeing one in Dayton, Ohio, seems really small. Just think, maybe people in 60 years will wonder “what did America’s roads look like when they were populated with Merkurs and Geos?”

Anyway, it was mind-blowing because Eddie Rickenbacker, man among men, had a little car company that only existed between 1922 and 1927. His cars were excellent but not well received (Eddie’s competition did their best to shut him down). This car is powered by a 58 horsepower, 3.6-liter straight-six. It has four-wheel brakes – the Rickenbacker was the first car in its class with this now-standard feature.

This example has been restored and is probably the only Rickenbacker currently on the market, as they are quite sought after. It should bring between $60,000-$80,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams.

Update: Not sold.

Venturi Coupe 200

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1988 Venturi Coupe 200

Offered by Historics at Brooklands | May 20, 2017

Photo – Historics at Brooklands

Venturi cars are so cool! I hope you like them, because there were quite a different number of models in the early days and I plan to feature each one of them as they come up for sale around Europe. These cars went on sale in 1987 and they were originally called the MVS Venturi before being renamed the Venturi Coupe.

The auction catalog lists this one as an MVS Venturi but I can’t find anywhere that lists the year the name switched over. It’s powered by a turbocharged 2.5-liter V-6 making 200 horsepower. The car was luxurious and sporty for its day.

The Coupe 200 was replaced after the 1990 model year. Only 194 were built – 104 of those were from 1988 alone. This was the most common of all Venturi automobiles, so that should say something about their rarity. This nearly 24,000 mile car should bring between $15,500-$19,500. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Historics’ May catalog.

Update: Sold $20,376.

WRE-Maserati

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1959 W.R.E.-Maserati

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Villa Erba, Italy | May 27, 2017

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Full disclosure: when I first saw this car posted by RM Sotheby’s I, first, did not recognize it as I had never heard of the WRE-Maseratis. Secondly, based on the photographs, I thought it was a 2/3 scale Maserati children’s car. I was wrong.

W.R.E. – or World Racing Enterprises – was basically just a shop that built a handful of race cars at the end of the 1950s. Due to the technical regulations of the era, the 2.0-liter Maserati straight-four was an in-demand engine in sports car racing and a couple of different cars utilized it. American Tony Settember had Briton John Wadsworth help him build the first WRE-Maserati.

When they went racing – and beat up everyone else on track – Italians Luigi Bellucci and Mannato Boffa wanted in. Bellucci oversaw the construction of two more cars (as Settember left the program). This is the second of just three examples of the W.R.E.-Maserati ever built. It has a successful racing debut but was soon not competitive enough to keep up with factory entrants and Bellucci ditched it for a true Maserati, a Tipo 61 Birdcage.

This car was restored in the late 1970s or early 1980s and has been in possession of its current Swiss owner since 1987. It’s an interesting Italian example of a 1950s sports car racing special. It should bring between $820,000-$1,050,000. Click here for more info and here for more from RM Sotheby’s.

Update: Sold $814,195.

Fiat 750 Vignale

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1963 Fiat 750 Vignale Coupe

Offered by Coys | London, England | May 18, 2017

Photo – Coys

Fiat never built a car called the “750” but they did build one called the 600. Produced from 1955 through 1969, it was visually similar to the classic 500, but with a larger engine. There was also the van-like Multipla version, which was the basis for some wild designs. The normal 600 was also used as the basis for some cool coachbuilt cars. Fun fact, there was a version of the 600 called the “750” – but it was only produced by Zastava in Yugoslavia.

Vignale took the sort of tiny, round 600 and enlarged the engine to 750cc. In this guise, the straight-four probably made more power than the original 633cc engine. The body is the star here, though. It’s very stylish, sort of a mini-coupe that doesn’t resemble the base car at all. Vignale also built a two-door sedan and a convertible.

As far as production numbers go, there may have been as many as 40,000 750 Vignales built. That seems like quite a few, but then again Fiat built 2,695,197 600s in total, so it’s kind of a drop in the bucket. This one shows nice and it is completely usable. It should bring between $13,000-$15,500. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Mex 52

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1978 Mex 52

Offered by Historics at Brooklands | May 20, 2017

The era of the Special – a unique, one-off automobile based around something else – is long gone. People just don’t do it anymore. Today, if someone wants a custom car they either customize a car they’ve purchased but leave it largely intact, start a company in hopes of building a supercar, or build a kit car. But Russell Mexone is one of very few people who just build their own cars.

He had already constructed two other specials before building this one in the early 1990s. He took a 1978 Jaguar (hence the car’s year listed above) and made a body for it. The 5.3-liter V-12 (yes, this is a 12-cylinder car) made 265 horsepower when new in 1978.

The car was made street legal prior to it being sold to its second owner sometime around 2010. The aluminium body was handcrafted thereafter by a Scottish company. A lot of money has been put into this and it is expected to bring between $23,000-$28,500. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Four Fire Trucks from France

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Four Fire Trucks in France

Offered by Osenat | Puiseux-Pontoise, France | May 14, 2017

1942 American LaFrance V-12 Fire Truck

Photo – Osenat

American LaFrance is one of the biggest names in fire trucks. Tracing their roots to 1832, the company built their first motorized vehicle in 1907. In 1995 they were bought by Freightliner, part of Daimler, who dumped them on an investment firm in 2005. They went through bankruptcy in 2008 and closed up shop in 2014.

People love fire trucks, and this wartime example is powered by a big Lycoming V-12 engine, something they only did for a brief period of time. This particular model (whose name I cannot find) was only produced in 1942. These are all coming out of a museum and this one should bring between $11,000-$16,500. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $9,329.

1951 Laffly BSS163 Fire Van

Photo – Osenat

Laffly, which sounds like a comedy club, was actually a French manufacturer of commercial vehicles that was founded back in 1849. Their first automobiles were produced in 1912 and they went out of business in the 1950s.

Their specialty were military vehicles and fire trucks. The BSS163 was the “Standardized Fire Van” and it went into production in 1946. It’s a large van and it’s powered by an 80 horsepower straight-six from Delahaye. This particular van was restored by the owner of this collection. There are two other Laffly fire vans at this sale, but this is the nicest. It should bring between $11,000-$16,500. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

1952 Seagrave V-12 Roadster

Photo – Osenat

A couple of things… first, there is no model year listed for this truck. A quick search online revealed (as you can probably surmise by just looking at it) that this Seagrave fire truck is from the early 1950s, thus why I’ve called it a 1952. I also don’t have a model name, but it is V-12 powered and it does sport Roadster body work.

Like American LaFrance, Seagrave is among the biggest names in American fire trucks. Founded in 1881, the company built their first motorized fire truck in 1907. They were acquired by FWD in 1963 and have been based in Wisconsin since. This is a spectacular design and it can be yours for between $11,000-$16,500. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

1927 Delahaye Type 83 Fire Truck

Photo – Osenat

The last fire truck we’ll feature today is from Delahaye, builder of some of France’s most beautiful cars. In fact, Delahaye built a lot of commercial vehicles over the years, including many fire trucks. They are quite rare today because, like Pierce-Arrow and Packard in the U.S., people acquired the commercial vehicles and stripped the bodies off of them and applied sexy passenger car bodies instead.

This fire truck has had a complete restoration and looks very nice. It has one large improvement over the previous generation of heavy trucks: inflatable tires. If you were to drive this back-to-back with a truck on solid rubber tires you’d notice a world of difference. This one should bring between $16,500-$22,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Talbot-Lago Teardrop Coupe

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1937 Talbot-Lago T150C-SS Teardrop Coupe by Figoni et Falaschi

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Villa Erba, Italy | May 27, 2017

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Here we go. It seems like 10 years ago cars like this were winning every major show and bringing the top money at every big sale. Then it sort of cooled off. We’re glad to see something this exotic back on the big auction stage.

Talbot-Lago introduced the T150 in 1937. They produced a competition model, which appended a “C” to the T150 model designation. Some of these were competition cars sold to the public which were bodied by coachbuilders as road cars (see photo above). The “SS” signifies a short-wheelbase car, which was even more desirable. This car is powered by a 140 horsepower, 4.0-liter straight-six.

This is one of two “Goutte d’Eau” coupes bodied by the legendary Figoni et Falaschi. What that means is it’s a Teardrop Coupe and the front fenders are enclosed. Those wheel covers make the entire car look extremely aerodynamic. The design is one of the best of the era and this car would be a centerpiece to any collection.

Hidden during WWII, it was re-bodied as a convertible in Switzerland in the late 1940s. The current owner acquired the car in 1987 and in 2000 had it brought back to original specification. The result is fantastic. It should bring between $3,500,000-$4,150,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $3,757,824.

Reo Speedwagon

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1926 Reo Model F Speedwagon

Offered by Mecum | Indianapolis, Indiana | May 20, 2017

Photo – Mecum

Ransom E. Olds’ second company, REO, went out of business in 1975 after 30 years of producing nothing but trucks. Those trucks were a mainstay of the business since 1910 and have, whether you know it or not, kept the brand famous ever since. The Reo Speedwagon was a series of exceptional trucks that kept the business going for decades.

This Model F is powered by a straight-six that runs the rear wheels through a 3-speed transmission. It rides on 12 spoke wooden wheels with metal rims. There’s brass and chrome spotted throughout and it’s bodied as a transport bus. We love old commercial vehicles because they’ve survived against all odds – this one is no different. If it was used as a bus in the 1920s, it was probably abused and someone took the time to save it.

This is one of just 12 Speedwagons built in 1926. It’s been restored and is stated to be “wonderful for parades,” which is probably true because what else are you going to use it for? Mecum sold this bus in 2015 for $80,000 against an estimate of $75,000-$125,000 prior to any road testing. Now it is apparently running and is estimated to bring between $75,000-$100,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $80,000.

Cunningham Hearse

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1929 Cunningham V-8 33286 Hearse

Offered by Auctions America | Auburn, Indiana | May 13, 2017

Photo – Auctions America

Some people think hearses in general are creepy. I don’t. But this one is. It’s that ornate, Victorian-like coachwork that makes it look like it should be driven by a ghost in a tuxedo and a top hat. Cunningham built attractive passenger cars from 1911 through 1929. From 1929 through 1936, they concentrated on hearses, ambulances and other car-based commercial vehicles (something they’d been building since practically day one).

This car is powered by a 45 horsepower, 7.2-liter V-8. That’s an embarrassing amount of power from such a big engine, considering Duesenberg’s eight-cylinder engine from 1929 was making 265 horses. But who cares, really, because as heavy as this car looks, it’s enough power to cruise at parade speed, which is really the only thing you’re going to do with it unless you own a funeral home and a time machine.

This car comes from a Detroit-area funeral home and before that it was used in Chicago. The wooden carvings on the side are very intricate. It’s an interesting enough automobile that it was on display for a time at the Henry Ford Museum. Only 5,600 Cunninghams were produced over 30 years – so good luck finding another one like this. It should bring between $80,000-$100,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $137,500.