Tag Archives: classic cars

’67 Ghibli

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1967 Maserati Ghibli Coupe

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 4-15, 2022

Photo – Mecum

Maserati’s first Ghibli debuted at the 1966 Turin Motor Show. It was a sleek grand tourer with styling by Giorgetto Giugiaro at Ghia. Production lasted from 1967 through 1973 when it was kind of replaced by the Khamsin.

Coupes and Spyders were offered with two different engine choices. Initial cars, including this one, were powered by 4.7-liter V8 that was rated at 306 horsepower. This particular car was upgraded to SS specification when it was restored, so it now has the more desirable 4.9-liter powerplant.

There were 1,175 Ghibli coupes produced. This red-over-tan Maserati grand tourer has been with the same owner since just 2014, and it’s now selling at no reserve. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $165,000.

Lagonda 3-Litre

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1957 Lagonda 3-Litre Mk II Saloon

Offered by H&H Classics | Duxford, U.K. | November 30, 2022

Photo – H&H Classics

The 3-Litre was Lagonda’s follow-up model to the 1948 through 1953 2.6-Litre, which itself was Lagonda’s first post-war car. The 2.6-Litre was also the first Lagonda produced by the company after its takeover by Aston Martin‘s David Brown.

The 3-Litre was produced between 1953 and 1958. It was available as a four-door saloon, a two-door coupe, and a two-door drophead coupe. Power is actually from a 2.9-liter inline-six (curse you Lagonda marketing department!) that made 140 horsepower. The sedan could hit about 110 mph.

The Mk II debuted in 1955 and featured a redesigned dashboard and a floor-shifted transmission. Just 266 3-Litres were produced. Lagonda took a few years off after this model before coming out with the Rapide in 1961. The pre-sale estimate here is $33,000-$41,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Withdrawn.

Arnolt-MG Drophead Coupe

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1954 Arnolt-MG Drophead Coupe

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 4-15, 2022

Photo – Mecum

Stanley H. “Wacky” Arnolt was a successful businessman before he got into selling cars under his own name. The first of those cars were MG TDs that had been rebodied by Bertone, with the styling itself penned by Giovanni and Nuccio Bertone in addition to Giovanni Michelotti.

He planned to sell 200 such cars, but only 103 were produced between 1953 and 1954. Arnolt would continue with his Bertone alliance through a few one-offs before the Arnolt-Bristol. The Arnolt-MG is powered by the stock TD 1.3-liter XPAG inline-four.

Only 36 of the 103 built were convertibles. And production only ended because MG told Arnolt they couldn’t spare any more chassis for him. This one has been restored, and you’ll have to check back to see if it sells. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $247,500.

Riley RMC

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1951 Riley RMC

Offered by H&H Classics | Buxton, U.K. | November 30, 2022

Photo – H&H Classics

Riley’s RM series of cars picked up after WWII where the pre-war Kestrel had left off. What started as the RMA in 1945 would eventually progress through the RMF in 1953. The RMC was produced between 1948 and 1951 and was only available as a roadster.

These cars always struck me as a little awkwardly proportioned. The wheelbase just looks too long. But otherwise it’s an attractive post-war sporting body with suicide doors. Power is from a 2.5-liter inline-four that made 100 horsepower. It was enough to push the car to 100 mph. Sixty took an agonizing 16.5 seconds.

Over four years of production, just over 500 of these (507 to be exact) were built. This one is finished in good colors and is described in the catalog as “self-maintained” – which I think means it maintains itself? It has an estimate of $33,000-$38,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

Update: Not sold, H&H Classics, Duxford March 2023.

Maserati Bora

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1976 Maserati Bora 4.7

Offered by Historics Auctioneers | Weybridge, U.K. | November 26, 2022

Photo – Historics Auctioneers

The Bora was Maserati‘s first mid-engined car. It debuted after Citroen took over Maserati, and it was styled by Giorgetto Giugiaro at Italdesign. The car debuted in 1971 and lasted through 1978. It sort of spawned a V6 sibling, the Merak.

The 4.7-liter V8 in this car was the first engine available before a 4.9-liter unit became an option in 1973. The engine was actually a version of that used in the later Ghiblis, which is the car the Bora replaced. Output was rated at 310 horsepower when new, and top speed was 170 mph.

Just 289 examples of the Bora 4.7 were produced, which made it slightly more common than the 4.9 (by like 14 cars). This one has been completely restored and will sell at no reserve. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $126,137.

Opel Kapitan

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1952 Opel Kapitan Saloon

Offered by Bonhams | Milan, Italy | November 18, 2022

Photo – Bonhams

This has to be the nicest third-gen Kapitan anywhere. You generally don’t see Opels of this era, much less in this condition. The Kapitan was a big car when it was introduced in 1938, and it became the marque’s top model when production resumed after the war in 1948. The generation represented here was offered between 1951 and 1953.

A sedan was the only option and featured suicide rear doors. Power is provided by a 2.5-liter inline-six that was initially rated at 57 horsepower (later cars got a two-horsepower bump). Just over 48,500 of these were built in three years. But when was the last time you saw one, if ever?

It was restored a while ago and has been in Italy since 1991. It now has a pre-sale estimate of $20,000-$25,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

Renault DQ

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1913 Renault Type DQ Raceabout

Offered by Historics Auctioneers | Weybridge, U.K. | November 26, 2022

Photo – Historics Auctioneers

The Renault 35CV range of cars took the place of the 50-60-horsepower cars that ended production in 1910. These were large Renaults, especially compared to the two-cylinder cars that dominated the sales charts for the company.

The DQ is powered by an 8.5-liter inline-four rated at about 45 horsepower and was only built in 1913. This one was restored in the U.K. in the 1990s. There are always these “bare chassis” finds of pre-WWI cars, and I’ve always wondered who buys them and turns them into cars like this.

Not to say this was one of those cases, as the car had been known in the U.S. prior to it being restored. What’s interesting about this one is that it has a wooden boattail in addition to its two-seat raceabout configuration. But it looks like the entire boattail raceabout body was dropped onto a truck chassis (the body was actually built in the 2010s). It’s a big car and is said to be capable of cruising at 60 mph.

The pre-sale estimate is $66,000-$77,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $161,175.

DeSoto Firedome

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1958 DeSoto Firedome Convertible

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 4-15, 2022

Photo – Mecum

The DeSoto marque was founded by Walter Chrysler shortly after he took over Maxwell and founded Chrysler. DeSoto was set to compete with the likes of Pontiac and Willys in the mid-price range. Well, they did so for the next 30 years, but the brand was wound up in 1961.

In the late 1950s, Chrysler’s brands were competing against each other, which was a major reason DeSoto was axed. DeSoto introduced a few upmarket, expensive cars during that time, including the Firedome and Fireflite. DeSoto’s 1957-1959 styling was one of Chrysler’s great ideas of the 1950s. In 1958, The Firedome was powered by a 5.9-liter V8 rated at 295 horsepower. The Firedome slotted in the lineup below the Fireflite and Adventurer.

Convertible production in 1958 totaled just 519 units for the Firedome, making the body style rarer on this platform than in the upmarket Fireflite. This one is finished in a lovely ’50s two-tone green paint scheme with a matching interior. You can check out more about it here.

Update: Sold $198,000.

Zagato Milanina

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1972 Zagato Milanina

Offered by Finarte | Online | November 14, 2022

Photo – Finarte

This is an intriguing one. Zagato has dabbled in microcar design over the years, including with the Zele, which they made about 500 of in the mid-1970s. The weird part here is that the auction catalog lists this as a 1989.

But it sure doesn’t look very 1989. Zagato actually debuted the Milanina concept car at the Milan International Fair in 1972. It is unclear how many were built aside from the prototype. They certainly weren’t still making them in 1989.

It’s an electric car reminiscent of the later Ligier JS4. It’s a mystery, but an interesting one. The estimate is $15,000-$20,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

Pre-BMW Dixi

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1928 Dixi 3/15 DA-1 Open Tourer

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Munich, Germany | November 26, 2022

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

We’ve featured some early BMWs before, but this is the earliest of them all. It’s not even a BMW, it’s a Dixi, which was built by Dixi-Werke AG, a company born out of Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach in Germany. BMW would acquire the company in late 1928 and continue production of the Dixi for a few more years.

The Dixi itself was just a license-built version of the Austin Seven. It’s powered by a 748cc inline-four rated at 15 horsepower. The original DA-1 variant was built between 1927 through 1929. Top speed was 47 mph.

This example was delivered new in Memmingen, Germany, and was restored in the 1960s. It will sell in Munich at no reserve. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $57,446.