Tag Archives: classic cars

Aurelia B20 GT

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1957 Lancia Aurelia B20 GT Coupe Series VI

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | London, U.K. | November 4, 2023

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Designer extraordinaire Vittorio Jano oversaw the development of the Lancia Aurelia, which was the first production car powered by a V6 engine. It debuted in 1950, and the two-door B20 GT Coupe arrived a year later, with a body designed be Felice Boano at Ghia. The bodies were actually built by Pinin Farina.

The car was produced in six different series. This car is from the last of them and was produced in the Aurelia’s penultimate model year. Power is from a 2.5-liter V6 rated at about 110 horsepower.

Just 2,650 examples of the B20 GT with the 2.5-liter engine were built across six years. This one was sold new in the U.K. and was restored in Italy. Only 25 Series VI cars went to the U.K., making this a rare subspecies. Anyway, it has an estimate of $100,000-$120,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold ~$100,500.

BMW 3.0 CSL

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1974 BMW 3.0 CSL

Offered by Bring a Trailer | September 2023

Photo – Bring a Trailer

BMW’s E9 series of cars started with the 2800 CS but eventually grew in displacement to become the 3.0 CS. Regardless of engine, these pillarless coupes are cars that have aged extremely well. BMW wanted to take the 3.0 CS/CSi racing in the 1970s and therefore needed to homologate it for European touring car competition.

And thus the 3.0 CSL was born. Just 1,265 were built and were initially powered by a 3.0-liter inline-six that grew to 3.2 liters in 1973. Output was then rated at 203 horsepower. An aerodynamic kit was also offered that year and is known as the “Batmobile.” This car has said kit and is finished in Polaris Silver with BMW Motorsport stripes.

E9s are cars that you’d probably prefer to buy “already done” and not have to fight any of the issues they’ve developed over time. This appears to be one of those, plus it’s got all of the best bits of the entire line (big engine, big aero). With five days to go as of this writing, the bidding is already over $150,000, which marks this as one of the most collectible big-dollar BMWs. Click here to read more.

Update: Sold $285,000.

Studebaker Silver Hawk

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1957 Studebaker Silver Hawk

Offered by Mecum | Las Vegas, Nevada | November 9-11, 2023

Photo – Mecum

Studebaker‘s Hawk line of cars were a series of two-door hardtops/coupes that were born out of the company’s Starliner hardtop coupes of the mid-’50s. The first year for the cars was 1956, when there were four different Hawk models available.

The following year, 1957, shrunk the line to two: the carryover Golden Hawk and the new Silver Hawk, the latter of which would remain on sale through 1959. The Silver Hawk was a pillared coupe that, for the 1957 model year, was available with two engine options. This car has the larger 289ci, 4.7-liter, V8 that was rated at 210 horsepower.

Just 11,035 examples of the Silver Hawk V8 were built this year. This one has a wonderfully mid-century paint scheme and is selling at no reserve. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $15,400.

1912 Michigan

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1912 Michigan Four-40 Touring

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 4-5, 2023

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The Michigan Buggy Company of Kalamazoo has one of the more colorful histories of any short-lived pre-war auto manufacturer. They first car debuted in 1904, and it was a small single-cylinder buggy without reverse. Regular production of a more typical automobile started in 1911.

But it’s amazing they sold any cars at all. Most of the officers at the company were involved in some kind of fraud. In 1912, the company offered two models: the Four-33 and the Four-40, the latter of which is powered by an L-head Buda inline-four that made 40 horsepower. It wasn’t really a bad car either.

Michigan ceased production after 1913, and the factory was eventually bought by the United States Motor Car Company, and their Greyhound would be built there. The car shown here has been restored and now has an estimate of $50,000-$70,000. Click here for more info.

Stanley Semi-Racer

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1907 Stanley Model K Semi-Racer

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 4-5, 2023

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The Stanley Motor Carriage Company remains a well-known entity today due to their Stanley Steamer motorcars. The Stanley Brothers designed an early steam car and sold the rights to Locomobile. From their they ventured out onto their own. Their first cars were sold in 1901, and six short years later came this.

The Model K was one of seven models offered in 1907. It was only sold in this Semi-Racer body style, which was kind of like a steam-powered sports car for the time. Only 26 examples of the Semi-Racer were built over a few years. Most of the surviving cars, including this one, are “assembled” cars using some Stanley parts and a lot of re-created parts.

It’s essentially a recreation with some authentic parts. But for cars that are 110-years-old, it’s kind of the only way some of them can still exist. In 1907, this would’ve been a 25-horsepower car. In 2023, it’s an $80,000-$100,000 car. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $60,500.

Maserati Sebring

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1963 Maserati Sebring Series I Coupe

Offered by Bonhams | Knokke-Heist, Belgium | October 8, 2023

Photo – Bonhams

The Sebring replaced the 3500 GT as Maserati‘s 2+2 coupe in 1962, after debuting at that year’s Geneva International Motor Show. It featured muscular but sophisticated styling penned by Giovanni Michelotti at Vignale. Just 593 were produced, and all but one were coupes.

Of those, 350 or so were Series I cars, which were built until 1965. Most of those were powered by a fuel-injected 3.5-liter inline-six that was rated at 232 horsepower in 1963. Both 3.7- and 4.0-liter units would be offered later in the model’s run.

A restoration on this example was performed between 2018 and 2020. No estimate is yet available, but you can read more about it here.

Update: Sold $145,891.

Overland Model 82

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1915 Overland Model 82 Touring

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 4-5, 2023

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Claude E. Cox founded Overland in Terre Haute, Indiana, in 1903. The company spent a few years in Indianapolis before settling in Toledo in 1909, which was a year after it was purchased by John North Willys. Willys was able to increase Overland production significantly, and for most of the 1910s, they were America’s #2 o4 3 automaker.

Their 1915 catalog offered three models, the Model 81, 80, and 82. The Model 82 was the largest of the three and was powered by a 5.0-liter inline-six rated at 50 horsepower. It was only offered as a seven-passenger touring car.

This restored example has been under current ownership since 2017 and is a pretty nice example of what was a common, larger mid-priced car in 1915. It has an estimate of $20,000-$30,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $20,900.

Curved-Dash Olds

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1904 Oldsmobile Model 6C Curved-Dash Runabout

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 4-5, 2023

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The CDO, or Curved-Dash Oldsmobile, was the first “mass-produced automobile.” That means it was built on an assembly line with interchangeable parts instead of being hand-built, with each car being slightly different. It went on sale in 1901 and would remain available through 1906, at which time it was woefully out of date. Oldsmobile didn’t even really advertise it that year.

In 1904, the CDO was sold as the Model 6C, and 2,500 were built that year alone (in all, about 19,000 CDOs would be built). Power is provided by a 1.6-liter horizontal single that was rated at seven horsepower.

They all had tiller steering, as this one does. And it retains a folding soft top. It’s got known history back to during WWII. Now it has an estimate of $45,000-$50,000. Click here for more info.

Matra-Simca Bagheera

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1979 Matra-Simca Bagheera X

Offered by Historics Auctioneers | Bicester, U.K. | September 23, 2023

Photo – Historics Auctioneers

Here is a forgotten sports car. Matra, who did not build many cars under their own name (but when they did, they were weird), teamed up with semi-established-but-fading automaker Simca to launch the Bagheera in 1973. The car was marketed as the Matra-Simca Bagheera until 1980, at which time Chrysler Europe failed and was taken over by PSA. It was then sold as the Talbot-Matra Bagheera in 1980.

Various sub-models were offered, including the 1977-1980 “X”. This specified a 1.4-liter inline-four that was good for 90 horsepower. Like all Bagheeras, and the follow-up Murena, the car features three-across bucket seating. Which is really weird.

Just 1,440 examples of the X (and Jubile, combined) were produced. It’s a right-hand-drive car (one of 57 converted aftermarket) and wasn’t initially registered until 1982. The car was restored between 2014 and 2020. It now has an estimate of $15,000-$21,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $8,837.

1913 White Touring

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1913 White Model Forty Seven-Passenger Touring

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 4-5, 2023

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The White Motor Car Company existed for 80 years – from 1900 through 1980. But passenger cars disappeared after 1918. In the early years, the company also dabbled in steam propulsion before going exclusively to gas-powered cars in 1912.

This car is from 1913, partially. The 1913 Model Forty was powered by a G.E.B. 40-horsepower inline-four. But this car actually has a G.E.C. engine from 1915, which made 45 horsepower.

The car would’ve retailed for about $3,500 when new, which means they didn’t sell many. But White cars were good, so its no surprise it’s still around. And it remains not cheap: the estimate is $70,000-$90,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $52,250.