Tag Archives: classic cars

Falcon Caribbean

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1963 Falcon Caribbean

Offered by H&H Auctions | Buxton, U.K. | July 23, 2014

Photo - H&H Auctions

Photo – H&H Auctions

Peter Pellandine was involved in the design and manufacture of three separate automobile marques: Pelland/Pellandine, Ashley, and Falcon. The latter two were British special (or kit car) constructors. Essentially, the company built bodies to replace the less sporty bodies that their customers’ cars originally came with.

Pellandine founded Falcon Shells after he left Ashley Laminates in 1956. The company produced fiberglass cars – seven different models in all. The Caribbean was manufactured in kit (body-only) form between 1959 and 1963 with more than 2,000 sold. They were designed to fit on the pre-war chassis of the British Ford Ten. I’m unsure as to the chassis of this car, but the engine is a 1.3-liter straight-four.

The Caribbean was Falcon’s most popular model and it would be a fun, easy-to-maintain, and cheap-to-buy starter collector car. This one should sell for between $10,300-$13,700. Click here for more info and here for the rest of H&H’s Pavilion Gardens lineup.

Update: Not sold.

Mercedes 10/40/65

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1924 Mercedes 10/40/65PS Sport Phaeton

Offered by Bonhams | Stuttgart, Germany | July 12, 2014

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

This pretty Mercedes touring car was built by Mercedes – before the “hyphen Benz.” In fact, it was produced just two years before Daimler (Mercedes’ controlling company) merged with The House that Karl Built in 1926.

The confusing model nomenclature used by Mercedes with the three numbers separated by slashes is like that for good reason: these were the first production cars fitted with superchargers and the numbers reflected the horsepower during various driving stages. The first number is the nominal horsepower (which was and is an outdated way of estimating power – it’s what they used for steam engines), the second number is the engine during normal operating procedure, and the third is when the supercharger is engaged.

So this 2.6-liter straight-four put out 40 horsepower – 65 when the “Kompressor” was engaged. It was the more powerful of the two four-cylinder cars Mercedes was producing at the time. My favorite part of the catalog entry for this car is that this car is currently owned by a collector of mainly post-war Mercedes and this car “does not fit his collection.” Must be a nice problem to have.

Only 851 10/40/65s were built. And this one should sell for between $610,000-$890,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Mercedes-Benz Tourenwagen

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1934 Mercedes-Benz 500 Nürburg Offener Tourenwagen

Offered by Bonhams | Stuttgart, Germany | July 12, 2014

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

The Mercedes-Benz Nürburg 500 was part of the Mercedes-Benz W08 line (in MB-internal speak). Originally introduced in 1928 in Nürburg 460 spec, the 500 was new for 1931. And it was glorious. Just look at it. Oh, and it was based on the 460, which was designed by Ferdinand Porsche.

What the 500 had over the 460 was displacement. It uses a 4.9-liter (5.0 if you’re feeling generous) straight-eight making 99 horsepower. It could do 75 mph – which is a lot in such a big car that has such modest power figures (keep in mind you could buy a Duesenberg with more than three times the power at this point).

What is excellent about this particular car is that it is a convertible – which was quite rare among Nürburgs. It is one of only 931 Nürburg 500s built and if you look at it, you can easily see design hints of the much-loved 500K/540K cars that would come a couple of years later. Ownership history is known from new and it has never been restored – just taken care of as needed and would be a lovely driver after a brief freshening upon purchase.

And that purchase price figures to be somewhere between $680,000-$820,000. You can read more here and see more from this sale here.

Update: Sold $703,541.

Howitzer Motor Carriage

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1945 ACF M37 105-mm Howitzer Motor Carriage

Offered by Auctions America | Portola Valley, California | July 11-12, 2014

Photo - Auctions America

Photo – Auctions America

This beautiful HMC (basically a motorized Howitzer… artillery on wheels) was built in late 1945 and therefore didn’t see action in WWII. It was built by the American Car and Foundry Company (ACF for short). It was based on the American M24 Chaffee tank.

The engine is actually two Cadillac 8-cylinder engines – making it a 16-cylinder monster putting out a combined total of 220 horsepower. Only 316 were delivered out of a total of 448 orders. Everything on this one still works – so if you’re celebrating the 4th of July today, here’s your firework machine. It’ll cost you between $200,000-$250,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of this amazing collection.

Update: Sold $195,500.

June 2014 Auction Recap

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Onto June’s highlights. First up was Bonhams’ sale in Greenwich, Connecticut. The top sale there was a crazy sum for this 1975 Lamborghini Countach LP400 Periscipica. The price? $1,210,000. Yikes!

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

The legendary Fitch Phoenix brought $253,000. And our featured Stoddard-Dayton sold for $170,500. This cool 1927 Essex Super Six Boattail Speedabout caught my eye for $55,000.

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Our featured De Dion-Bouton went for $93,500. And the 1911 Reo Express sold for $22,000. Click here for full results. Continue reading →

Packard Super Eight

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1940 Packard Custom Super Eight One-Eighty Convertible Sedan by Darrin

Offered by RM Auctions | Plymouth, Michigan | July 26, 2014

Photo - RM Auctions

Photo – RM Auctions

The Packard 180, as it is sometimes known, is more correctly called a Custom Eight Super One-Eighty. The model was new for 1940 and was Packard’s top-of-the-line offering. The chassis and engine were the same as the One-Sixty, but the One-Eighty was more luxurious. It was essentially a replacement for the ultra-grand Twelve.

The engine is a 5.8-liter straight-eight making 160 horsepower (which was more than Cadillac’s V-8 in 1940). A number of different bodies were offered, but Howard “Dutch” Darrin’s are perhaps the nicest of all Packards produced immediately prior to WWII. This four-door Convertible Sedan is quite a bit rarer than any of its two-door counterparts. It is estimated that less than 20 Convertible Sedans like the one you see here were built and only nine remain.

This car was sold new in Illinois. The restoration was completed in 1994 and the car was soon acquired by Otis Chandler. It now comes from the Richard & Linda Kughn collection with a pre-sale estimate of $225,000-$300,000. It’s incredibly rare and one of the more gorgeous four-door sedans you will ever see. You can see more here and check our more from this sale here.

Update: Sold $236,500.

An Incredible, 1901 Benz

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1901 Benz Ideal 7HP Twin-Cylinder “Contra-Motor” Vis-a-Vis

Offered by Bonhams | Stuttgart, Germany | July 12, 2014

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

What’s so incredibly cool about this horseless carriage cannot be summed up in just one point. First, it’s from Benz – the originator of the automobile (you could argue otherwise, but we’ll ignore you). And it’s about as early a Benz as you can get your hands on that isn’t a replica or on permanent display.

The Benz Ideal was an evolution (and final iteration) of the Benz Patent Motorwagen, the earliest of automobiles, that featured a horizontally-mounted single-cylinder engine between the rear wheels. By 1901, competitors were many and they had advanced in design. So for the Ideal, Benz kept the engine between the rear wheels but added coachwork up front to make it look like many of the other vehicles on the market.

The Ideal, towards the end of its run (read: 1901), was offered with a two-cylinder engine. It’s a 2.1-liter flat-twin making seven horsepower. Ownership history here is known from new and this car completed (and won its class) in the London-to-Brighton run in 1937. The restoration was completed in 1972. You can purchase this fascinating piece of automobile history – and use it – for between $150,000-$200,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams’ inaugural Mercedes-Benz sale.

Update: Sold $641,004.

GT40 Roadster

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1965 Ford GT40 Roadster Prototype

Offered by RM Auctions | Monterey, California | August 15-16, 2014

Photo - RM Auctions

Photo – RM Auctions

We’ve already featured a Ford GT40 Prototype, but what we haven’t featured is a Ford GT40 Roadster Prototype. That’s right, back in the 60s, Ford was adventurous and decided a GT40 with the roof chopped off might be a good idea. I can’t vouch for how good of an idea it was at the time, but it is certainly pretty awesome now.

Ford actually built a few of them, but this is the only one that has maintained its identity over all the years. The other three roadsters were converted to coupes or used as spares (at least one has been converted back to a roadster). This is the eighth GT40 Prototype built (of the twelve, total) and one of four roadsters.

This one uses a 4.7-liter Ford 289 V-8. It was a test car, mostly, and was never entered in competition. The most on-track action it ever saw was in the vintage racing circuit over the past 25 years. During testing, it was driven by Carroll Shelby, Jim Clark, and Ken Miles. It’s a once in a lifetime chance to get an as-built GT40 Roadster and it will likely cost you around $5 million. Click here for more info and here for more from RM in Monterey.

Update: Sold $6,930,000.

Update: Sold $7,650,000.

Coachbuilt Jaguar Mk VII

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1953 Jaguar Mk VII Cabriolet Prototype by Beutler

Offered by Artcurial | Le Mans, France | July 5, 2014

Photo - Artcurial

Photo – Artcurial

The Jaguar Mk VII wasn’t an exciting car. It shared a similar style to the Bentleys and Rolls-Royces of the era – or really, any large British sedan. It was built between 1950 and 1956 as four-door sedan only. And if that’s the case, then what do we have here?

A two-door version, of course, built as a stylish (for the era, although you could argue “plain” today) by Swiss coachbuilder Beutler. It features an all-aluminium body around the base Mk VII mecahnicals: a 3.4-liter straight-six making 160 horsepower. The car was shown initially at the Geneva Motor Show before being packed away back at Jag headquarters and eventually sold and registered in 1964.

The car retains its original engine, which as been refurbished, and the interior has been “renovated.” The catalog description does not mention a “restoration” anywhere. At any rate, this is a one-of-a-kind Jaguar that can be yours for between $82,000-$110,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Artcurial in Le Mans.

Update: Sold $217,162.

DB HBR5

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1959 DB Panhard HBR5 Coupe

Offered by Artcurial | Le Mans, France | July 5, 2014

Photo - Artcurial

Photo – Artcurial

Charles Deutsch and Rene Bonnet began building cars together in 1938. Based near Paris, the 24 Hours of Le Mans became their goal, and in the 1950s, their cars competed there numerous times. This very car raced there three different years.

Their HBR series of cars were produced between 1954 and 1959 and they built several hundred of them with different engines available. This car has a very unique – almost aircraft-like – two-panel windscreen. It had a few engines over the years (depending on which class it was competing in at Le Mans) and was last raced with an 848cc flat-twin. It’s competition history includes:

  • 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans – 31st, DNF (with Alejandro de Tomaso and Colin Davis)
  • 1960 24 Hours of Le Mans – 19th (with Robert Bourharde and Jean-Francois Jaeger)
  • 1961 24 Hours of Le Mans – 21st (with Edgar Rollin and Rene Bartholoni)

This is a three-time factory entry at the 24 Hours. It was active in hillclimbs until 1970 and has been restored to its distinctive “Vitrine” two-windshield configuration. It should sell for between $165,000-$215,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $160,860.