Tag Archives: classic cars

1918 Crossley Van

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1918 Crossley 20/25HP RFC Van

Offered by Bonhams | Staplehurst, U.K. | June 14, 2014

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

This pretty delivery van is from U.K.-based Crossley Motors, which was in business from 1906 through 1958. When WWI started, Crossley turned almost all of their production solely toward the war effort. The van you see here is an RFC Van – it was used by the Royal Flying Corps – although its build date of 1918 suggests that it could have been surplus from the get-go.

The engine is a 4.5-liter straight-four making 20/25 horsepower. The 20/25 model was the longest-lived Crossley model, being produced from 1909 through 1925. This example is very nice. It can be yours for between $47,000-$54,000. Click here for more.

Update: Sold $89,729.

DRA Special

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1937 DRA 9HP Special

Offered by Bonhams | Oxford, U.K. | June 7, 2014

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Never heard of this car before? That’s okay, neither have I. But that’s because it’s a one-off special – not a car that ever entered series production. In fact, this car is made up of parts from many other cars – a number thought to be as high as 27!

The DRA (Doherty Racing Automobile) was built in 1937 by W.T. Doherty, a garage owner in Ireland. He built it to race in the 1938 Limerick Grand Prix. where he finished 8th, which happened to be a DNF. It also competed in the 1938 Irish Motor Racing Rally, where Doherty ended up 4th.

This special is built around a Riley Nine, but has bits and pieces from a bunch of other cars. The engine is a 1.1-liter straight-four making 9 horsepower. Mr. Doherty sold the car in 1945 and the current owner’s family acquired it in 1966. The restoration was completed in 1967 and the car has been parked for quite a while – meaning it will need freshening in order to be used. Still, this is a one-of-a-kind car that can be yours for between $59,000-$67,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams in Oxford.

Update: Sold $58,056.

Diatto Tourer

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1927 Diatto Tipo 20A Tourer

Offered by Bonhams | Oxford, U.K. | June 7, 2014

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Diatto began life in the first half of the 1800s building carriages. In the 1870s, they entered the railway carriage business and by 1905, automobiles had come to market. The car business started as Diatto-Clement, building Clement-Bayard cars under license in Turin. It wasn’t until 1909 that their own designs went on sale.

After World War I, Diatto turned upmarket and began selling very nice, innovative cars. The new-for-’22 Tipo 20 was the most-popular car they built. It uses a 2.0-liter straight-four making 40 horsepower. The model names were shaken up when a short-wheelbase Tipo 20S was introduced, meaning the original wheelbase version was renamed the Tipo 20A.

1927 was the final year Diatto actually built cars. This one was sold new to Australia and was bodied locally Coffey Brothers. It returned to Europe in 2013 when a collector in the U.K. brought it back and had it readied for road use. It should be in good road-going condition and should cost the new owner between $59,000-$67,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams.

Update: Sold $69,667.

A Beautiful Mors Roi des Belges

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1904 Mors 24/32-HP Roi des Belges

Offered by Bonhams | Staplehurst, U.K. | June 14, 2014

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Emile Mors was a car guy. Why do I say that? Because he was one of the first people to see the benefit of auto racing and how it could both promote and innovate his business. He started his automobile company in 1895 and went racing in 1897. Veteran cars – those manufactured prior to 1905 – don’t come better than the one you see here.

And that’s because it’s a big-engined, big-powered car from a time when little one and two-cylinder runabouts ruled the sales landscape.The 24HP model was the largest Mors offered in 1904 and it uses a 5.5-liter four-cylinder engine. This particular car can seat up to seven people in the large, luxurious convertible body.

This car has known history since 1938 when it first entered the collector car arena. It has been owned by only two families since, and Michael Banfield acquired it in 1975. This car is offered from his collection – as is this entire sale. It is unmistakably the highlight of the collection, with its fresh (as of 2004) paint and refurbishment. It is expected to sell for between $840,000-$1,000,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this interesting sale.

Update: Not sold.

BMW Hurrican

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1964 BMW Hurrican Prototype

Offered by Oldtimer Galerie | Zurich, Switzerland | June 7-8, 2014

Photo - Oldtimer Galerie

Photo – Oldtimer Galerie

This is a strange one. It’s called a BMW Hurrican and I can’t tell you for sure whether or not this is actually a BMW. I mean, it certainly has BMW parts and a BMW badge – but there is little evidence anywhere that BMW had anything to do with its construction. As you can see in the photo, however, it is certainly welcome at the world’s greatest car shows, such as Villa d’Este.

It is said to be based on a BMW 1800ti, likely from 1964 – and a Ferrari 250 LM. Now, this car doesn’t have a pre-sale estimate listed, but rather “contact us” – but a Ferrari 250 LM is worth over $10 million. This car is not worth that. This is part of the reason it is interesting.

The story I’ve seen is that this car was built by a group of students (college, I believe) in Kaiserslautern, Germany. The engine is a 1.8-liter straight-four making 120 horsepower. It also uses pieces from a Volvo, Fiat and Jaguar. While the build of the car began in 1967, it didn’t finish until 1975 and it’s been an attention-getter ever since. It definitely looks better than the 1800ti it is based on. You can read more here and see the rest of this auction lineup here. We have great readers at ClassicCarWeekly.net and I’m sure if any of you know more about this, you’ll let us know in the comments section.

Jaguar FT Coupe

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1966 Jaguar FT Coupe Prototype by Bertone

Offered by Bonhams | Oxford, U.K. | June 7, 2014

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

If you Google “Jaguar FT” you’ll get a lot of results for the new Jaguar F-Type. What you mostly likely won’t see right at the top is any information about the very rare Jaguar FT by Bertone. The Jaguar 420 sedan was built from 1966 through 1968. In 1966, the Italian Jag importer went to Bertone to have them build a five-seat coupe based on the new 420. He named it after his father, Ferruccio Tarchini.

The plan was to produce these in limited quantities and sell them through the Italian distributorship. But it didn’t pan out – only this prototype and one other car were built. The engine is a 4.2-liter straight-six making 245 horsepower.

This is the original prototype and is being sold from the family of Giorgio Tarchini (the importer who commissioned the cars). It hasn’t been used in eight years and the engine doesn’t even start, so it will need a restoration. Still, Bonhams expects it to bring between $97,000-$130,000. They sold the other, much nicer, FT Coupe two years ago for $121,000. You can read more here and see more from this sale here.

Update: Not sold.

Update II: Sold, Bonhams Zoute 2014, $76,382.

Triumph Italia

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1961 Triumph Italia 2000 Coupe

Offered by Oldtimer Galerie | Zurich, Switzerland | June 7-8, 2014

Photo - Oldtimer Galerie

Photo – Oldtimer Galerie

The Triumph Italia shares its model name with another car – from Hudson. What both have in common is that they were “foreign” cars with hand-built bodies from Italy. Both are very rare and pretty expensive when compared to other models from the same manufacturer (although the Hudson Italia is worth significantly more than this Triumph).

Each Triumph Italia began life as a Triumph TR3. It uses a 2.0-liter straight-four making 100 horsepower. The body was designed by Giovanni Michelotti and was built by Vignale. The rest of the car was supplied by Triumph and they were assembled in Turin.

The plan was to build a run of 1,000 cars but Triumph was taken over by Leyland in 1961 and they put a stop to the whole thing. In all, between 1959 and 1962, only 329 of these ended up being built, making it among the rarest of Triumphs. Right now, prices range from between $50,000-$85,000, but the pre-sale estimate is between $158,000-$170,400. You can check out more from this sale here.

Bean Model 6

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1927 Bean Model 6 Short 14 Faux Cabriolet

Offered by Bonhams | Oxford, U.K. | June 7, 2014

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

In 1919, the iron works A. Harper & Sons moved into the automobile manufacturing business. They made munitions during WWI, but after it was over, they needed something to keep them in business, so they turned to cars.

They bought the rights to the Perry and company director Jack Bean helped launch the successful motor car business by introducing twin moving track assembly lines – much like GM in America. The owners changed in 1921 and the company actually outsold Morris and Austin for a few years. In 1927, the Bean line underwent some changes. The Short 14 (the model seen here) was introduced that used the 2.4-liter straight-four making 14 horsepower. Bean closed its doors in 1929.

This car was sold new in Australia and the body was produced there as well. The car returned to the U.K. in 2010 and has been serviced and restored over the years. It’s ready to run, although it hasn’t been driven a lot in the last few years. It is coming from a nice collection of Beans that are offered in this sale (there’s a weird sentence). This one should bring between $24,000-$30,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $23,222.

1905 De Dion-Bouton

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1905 De Dion-Bouton Model Z 8hp Rear-Entrance Tonneau

Offered by Bonhams | Greenwich, Connecticut | June 1, 2014

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

De Dion-Bouton was the world’s first great automobile manufacturer. They built an empire starting in 1883. They became a huge supplier of engines and parts – selling far more engines to other manufacturers than they did cars of their own. Even so, by 1900 they were the world’s largest auto manufacturer.

Their brightest spot were these pre-1910 cars… really anything 1905 and prior is where they were at their best, even though passenger car production lasted until 1932. The Model Z was new for 1905 (introduced at the tail end of 1904). Not much is known about this rare model but it does have an eight horsepower single-cylinder engine and very big body.

The history on this example is known back to about the 1950s in the U.K. The body is likely not original, having been replaced at least once since 1905 (it was known as a two-seater shortly after WWII). It came to the U.S. in the 1990s and was restored near the end of that decade, winning an award at Pebble Beach in 2001. It’s a pretty awesome car and should bring between $100,000-$120,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Bonhams’ Greenwich lineup.

Update: Sold $93,500.

Stoddard-Dayton Model 10K

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1910 Stoddard-Dayton Model 10K Baby Tonneau

Offered by Bonhams | Greenwich, Connecticut | June 1, 2014

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Stoddard-Dayton was a short-lived marque, but man did they build some awesome cars. John and Charles Stoddard (father and son) built their first cars in 1905 in Dayton, Ohio. Their cars were big, reliable and luxurious machines that made a lot of power for their day – 70 horsepower in 1912 was a lot.

But this was a Model 10K, which was built in 1910 only. The engine is a 5.8-liter straight-four making 50 horsepower (still a lot). It was offered in four different body styles on two different wheelbases. This Baby Tonneau resembles a larger, sporty Mercer (or some similar car) of the day, but with room for four or five. It was the largest car on the shorter of the two wheelbases.

The restoration here is decades old but has been in the same collection for many years. As far as old cars go, few could possibly be more fun to drive than a powerful Stoddard-Dayton. This one will cost you between $195,000-$235,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams.

Update: Sold $170,500.