Tag Archives: classic cars

Venturi Atlantique

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1998 Venturi Atlantique 300 Turbo

Offered by Aguttes | Lyon, France | November 5, 2016

Photo - Aguttes

Photo – Aguttes

French sports car maker Venturi set up shop in 1984 when two former Heuliez engineers, Claude Poiraud and Gerard Godfroy, decided to venture out on their own. See what I did there? Thirty years later the company is still around but now they are based in Monaco, have new owners, and they don’t really build cars like they used to.

The Atlantique model was built between 1991 and 2000. Two models were offered, with the 300 being the high output version. This one is powered by a turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 making 281 horsepower (this particular car was later massaged to 310 horses). Naturally-aspirated and top-of-the-line Bi-Turbo versions of the 300 were also offered. The body is fiberglass and it has aluminium doors, hood, and trunk.

This 27,000 mile example is one of less than 700 Atlantiques built in total and is probably among the last constructed as Venturi went bankrupt in 2000. It’s a pretty car and one we adore, as far as obscure exotics go. This is the first Atlantique I’ve seen come up for public sale in years and it should bring between $61,000-$83,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Delahaye Chapron Cabriolet

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1949 Delahaye 135M Cabriolet by Chapron

Offered by Osenat | Fontainebleau, France | November 6, 2016

Photo - Osenat

Photo – Osenat

For many automobile companies, World War II was sort of an interruption. The cars they started building in the late 1930s would re-enter production upon the cessation of hostilities in 1945 (or shortly thereafter if their facilities were damaged). For instance, Delahaye’s luxurious 135 was introduced in 1935. It, and it’s successive line of cars including the 138, 148, and 168, would remain in production until 1954.

Introduced in 1936, the 135M was a 135 with a larger engine. In this case, it sported a 3.6-liter straight-six making either 90, 105, or 115 horsepower depending on configuration. This model remained in production until Delahaye closed up shop in 1954.

Henri Chapron started his coachbuilding company in 1919 and he really hit his sweet spot in the 1930s and 40s. Cars like this beautiful Cabriolet are among his most stylish work. Owned by the consignor since 2002, this car was restored in 2003 in a gorgeous two-tone paint scheme. The pre-sale estimate is $160,000-$195,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $261,352.

Humber Forecar

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1903 Humber 2¾hp Olympia Tandem Forecar

Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | November 4, 2016

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Thomas Humber began selling bicycles in the 1880s in England and in 1898 introduced their first “car” – a three-wheeler based on a motorcycle, much like the one you see here. More traditional, four-wheeled cars appeared in 1901. A long and interesting history followed, culminating in Humber, as part of Chrysler Europe, being sold to Peugeot and the Humber marque was renamed Talbot, before being phased out in 1986 – 100 years after the introduction of their first motorized vehicle.

Early motorcycles did not have room enough for two riders. So if you wanted the convenience of a motorcycle but the passenger capacity of a small car, a Tandem Forecar like this was your best bet. Many companies that existed in the early days of the automobile that built motorcycles offered similar things. This one is powered by a 2.75 horsepower 403cc single-cylinder engine.

Formerly a part of the Rootes Group Heritage Collection (Humber was owned by the Rootes Group from about 1929 through 1967), this Forecar is among the oldest known Humbers in existence. It will take a slight effort to get it running again, but it has been fastidiously maintained and wants to get back on the road. It should sell for between $43,000-$49,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $45,966.

Tourette Microcar

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1957 Tourette Supreme

Offered by Historics at Brooklands | November 26, 2016

Photo - Historics at Brooklands

Photo – Historics at Brooklands

This incredibly rare, incredible micro, microcar was built by the Progress Supreme Co. Ltd. of Purley, London between 1956 and 1958. Progress Supreme was originally known as the Carr Brothers, probably named after the founders.

This three-wheeled microcar looks like something somebody drove right off a kiddie ride at an amusement park. It is powered by a 197cc single-cylinder, two-stroke engine that makes enough horsepower to scoot this thing up to what has to be a terrifying 55 mph. It weights only 500 pounds and has a thrifty 2.7 gallon gas tank.

This is one of only two known surviving Tourette mircocars of an original production run of just 26. There are replicas, but this is the real thing – one of the rarest microcars out there. The pre-sale estimate is $22,000-$30,000 – but it could go higher. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $38,938.

Vale Special

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1933 Vale Special

Offered by Coys | London, U.K. | October 29, 2016

Photo - Coys

Photo – Coys

This is not an MG, nor is it a Morgan. It’s not even a one-off special, if you can believe it. The Vale Engineering Co. LTD. of London was in existence only briefly, from 1932 to 1936. It was founded by Pownoll Pellew who later in life became a Viscount.

The first cars were based around Triumph mechanicals and this car, like many, is powered by a Triumph-sourced 832cc straight-four which likely produced somewhere around eight taxable horsepower. Thing was, they weren’t powerful or quick enough (top speed was 65 mph) for sports car racing and didn’t offer enough ground clearance for trials racing – but they were good, sporty road cars that exhibited great handling.

Later cars could be had with larger engines, but by then it was too late. In total, 103 Vales were produced and less than 30 survive today. No estimate is provided, likely because they don’t trade hands often enough, but look for it to bring much more than its as-new price of £192. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $29,230.

Intermeccanica Indra

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1972 Intermeccanica Indra Coupe

Offered by Auctionata | Berlin, Germany | October 29, 2016

Photo - Auctionata

Photo – Auctionata

We’ve featured a couple of sports cars from Intermeccanica, a Turin-based automobile manufacturer whose badge included the Union Jack. The company still exists, building replica automobiles in Canada.

The Indra was available as a coupe and convertible between 1971 and 1975. The design and engineering work was done jointly by Bitter and Opel. This early example is powered by a 5.3-liter V-8 from General Motors that makes 230 horsepower.

Only 125 Indras were built and only 36 were of this body/engine combination (as GM stopped supplying engines in 1973). This one carries a relatively recent restoration and looks pretty good. The auction for this car starts at $60,000 and has an estimated sale price of $95,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $75,000.

1897 Daimler

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1897 Daimler Twin-Cylinder 4HP Rougemont Wagonette

Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | November 4, 2016

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Daimler, which is technically a “dormant” brand as of 2008, was founded in Coventry in 1896 by Frederick Simms. He acquired the rights to build Gottlieb Daimler’s cars in the U.K. Eventually they’d move away from the German designs and by the time the end came, their cars were just badge-engineered Jaguars.

This car is powered by a 1.5-liter straight twin rated at four horsepower. Apparently, they were able to increase the power rating by two the following year. This car is a performer: it is described as a “reliable early finisher on the London-Brighton Run.” This is the sort of prototypical vehicle we imagine taking part in that event.

Ownership history is known back to 1905 (which is pretty incredible) and the current owner has had the car for nearly 20 years. This car has never been restored, but just repaired and redone as needed. It’s remarkable. As one of the earliest known surviving British Daimlers, it should sell for between $240,000-$270,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $295,661.

Graham Hollywood

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1941 Graham Hollywood Sedan

Offered by Mecum | Dallas, Texas | November 2-5, 2016

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

There are two separate automotive histories that converged in the late 1930s to allow this spectacular car to come to life. First, the story of Graham: brothers Joseph, Robert, and Ray Graham founded Graham Brothers in 1919 and began building trucks under that name. In 1925, they sold the company to Dodge and a year after Chrysler bought Dodge in 1928, the Graham Brothers brand was shut down.

In 1927, the brothers bought the company that built Paige and Jewett cars and in 1928 started building cars branded as Graham-Paige. Eventually, they dropped the “Paige” and just sold cars as Graham.

Now the other side of the story… E.L. Cord’s automotive empire failed in the 1930s and the brilliant Cord 810/812 “coffin nose” design of Gordon Buehrig was too good of a design to simply disappear. Enter Hupmobile, which by this point in the Depression was also failing. They bought the dies for the Cord but didn’t have any money to build the cars. So Graham stepped in and made a deal to build cars for Hupmobile if they were allowed to build some for themselves, too. In 1940 Graham started building the Graham Hollywood and its sister car, the 1940-only Hupmobile Skylark.

The Hollywood was available in 1940 and 1941 and this well restored example is powered by a 3.6-liter straight-six making 85 horsepower (a supercharged version could be had as well). Unlike the Cord, the Hollywood is rear-wheel drive. Production delays frustrated customers and, despite high initial public interest, the car was considered a flop. Only about 1,500 Hollywoods were ever built and this one is from Graham’s final year of automotive production. They remain a rarity today, but stand as one of America’s most stylishly advanced cars of the immediate pre-war period. This one should bring between $50,000-$65,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $47,000.

October 2016 Auction Highlights

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We’ll pick up in October where we left off in September: with Bonhams and their Zoute sale in Belgium. The top sale was this 1955 Porsche 356 Pre-A 1600 Speedster that brought $653,361.

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

The Porsche 911R we featured broke the bank, too, bringing $538,062. Complete results can be found here.

Now onto the biggest sale of the month: RM Sotheby’s in Hershey, where one of the Duesenberg‘s we featured came away as the top sale at $2,090,000. The other Duesey, the Prototype Model J, brought $340,000. The Regal was the only no-sale among our feature cars and our Most Interesting award (not to mention well bought) goes to this 1929 Lincoln Model L Five-Passenger Brougham by Brunn that was bought new by gangster Legs Diamond. It sold for $38,500.

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

Other well-bought cars included this Oakland Touring for $44,000 and this Pullman Touring for $51,700. The other Pullman brought $66,000 while a previously-featured White Yellowstone Park Bus sold for $88,000. And finally, the Chalmers sold for $71,500 and the Winton $160,000. Full results can be found here.

Mecum’s Chicago sale ended on October 8th and this 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 429 Fastback was the top sale at $245,000.

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

The Reo The Fifth Touring car we featured failed to sell, having been bid to only $9,000. Click here for complete results.

Artcurial liquidated a collection in France that featured a variety of American vehicles, where the top seller was this 1932 Packard Deluxe Eight Model 904 Convertible Victoria in the style of Rollston for $58,696.

Photo - Artcurial

Photo – Artcurial

The Matford we featured brought $20,010 and the Meteor $8,004. Click here for more results.

Silverstone Auctions held an all-Porsche sale in October and this 1972 911 S 2.4 Coupe was the top sale at $243,925. Click here for complete results.

Photo - Silverstone Auctions

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

1904 Renault

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1904 Renault Type N-B 14/20HP Four-Cylinder Swing-Seat Tonneau

Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | November 4, 2016

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Every year there are a number of pre-1910 Renaults that come up for sale. Bonhams almost always has at least one at their London-to-Brighton sale and we never get to feature them. That changes this year, as Bonhams has multiple Renaults and we’ve selected this one – the earliest Renault we’ve yet featured.

The first of Louis Renault’s cars were single-cylinder De Dion-powered. Four-cylinders came in 1904 – this one is 3.0-liters in capacity and makes 14/20 horsepower. The body on this car looks remarkably like the Aster that is also offered at this sale.

The history of this car is that one family owned it from the 1920s through the 1980s when it was bought by the present owner, who restored it completely. It’s been upgraded slightly to run more reliably and has nice weather protection for a car its age. This, one of the first four-cylinder Renaults, should bring between $310,000-$340,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $340,429.