Tag Archives: classic cars

Turner-Miesse Steam Car

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1904 Turner-Miesse 10HP Rear-Entrance Tonneau

Offered by Broad Arrow Auctions | Monterey, California | August 2024

Photo – Broad Arrow Auctions

Jules Miesse started building cars in 1896, initially using a self-designed steam engine somewhat based on those from Leon Serpollet. In 1902, Miesse entered a partnership with Thomas Turner & Company of Wolverhampton in the U.K. to build Miesse cars under license.

From 1902 through 1906 the Turner-Miesse brand was on sale in the U.K. After the partnership dissolved, Miesse soldiered on in Belgium until 1927 before turning his sights to trucks. After WWII, Miesse built Nash cars under license.

This steam-powered car was built in the U.K. and has participated in quite a number of London-to-Brighton runs. It now has an estimate of $125,000-$175,000. Click here for more info.

8C 2300 by Eagle Coach Works

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1934 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Lungo Spider by Eagle Coach Works

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

In terms of top shelf prewar cars, Alfa’s 8C is one of Italy’s strongest options. The car first appeared in 2300 spec in 1931, and it would advance to 2600 in 1933 and 2900 in 1935. So this is an early car, with power from a 2.3-liter inline-eight.

The Lungo cars meant that it rides on the longer of two wheelbase options. This particular chassis was delivered new with a Castagna cabriolet body via London dealer Jack Barclay. When he sold it to its first owner in 1935, it was already clad in the aluminum boattail body it wears today, which was built by Newns Coach Builders and Engineers of Thames Ditton under the name “Eagle Coach Works.”

The car has never been restored and remained with one U.K. owner between 1964 and 2008. It’s now offered with an estimate of $4,500,000-$6,000,000. More info can be found here.

Duesenberg J-461

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1934 Duesenberg Model J Disappearing-Top Convertible Coupe by Murphy

Offered by Gooding & Company | Pebble Beach, California | August 2024

Photo – Gooding & Company

The Duesenberg’s are out in force for Monterey Car Week. I’ve counted four across the different auction catalogs, with this one wearing the ever-popular disappearing-top convertible coupe bodywork from the Walter M. Murphy Company of Pasadena, California.

Each Model J features a 6.9-liter straight-eight that was rated at 265 horsepower. This car was ordered new by a member of the Roebling family (their ancestor, John Roebling, built a couple of famous suspension bridges, and his family was the money behind Mercer back in the day). J-461 was originally bodied as a LaGrande dual-cowl phaeton.

It was involved in a crash while Duesenberg was still active and sent back to the factory, where it was fitted with this body. The re-work was completed in 1934, and Duesenberg re-titled it to match the new date. It passed through a few owners, including the John O’Quinn collection, and was restored by Fran Roxas. It now has an estimate of $3,500,000-$4,250,000. More info can be found here.

Delahaye Torpedo Roadster

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1938 Delahaye 135M Torpedo Roadster by Figoni et Falaschi

Offered by Gooding & Company | Pebble Beach, California, August 2024

Photo – Gooding & Company

This is one of the swoopiest old cars we’ve ever featured. Figoni et Falaschi, the coachbuilder responsible for some of the best – or at least, wildest – designs of this era displayed a very similar example on Delahaye’s 135M chassis at the 1936 Paris Motor Show.

The 135M was introduced for 1936 and saw power from a 3.6-liter inline-six with three downdraft carburetors for a listed output of 116 horsepower. This particular car was ordered new by the Algerian importer for a client. The trail then goes cold.

It wasn’t until 1992 that it was found, relatively complete, in Algeria. It was then shipped to France and restored, with work finalized by 1997. In 1999, it was purchased by the Petersen Museum, where it has remained since. There were apparently 11 of these built, with this being #8. Only about five survive – and this one is going back into circulation with an estimate of $2,000,000-$3,000,000. Click here for more info.

250 GT Boano

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1957 Ferrari 250 GT Coupe Boano

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Ferrari’s 250 GT coupe was the first real GT car Ferrari offered and the first real production car of any quantity that the company manufactured… even it was over a range of various 250 GT models. Between 1955 and 1960, the company sold the first “250 GT Coupe,” which were bodied by either Boano or Ellena.

Cars built between 1955 and part of 1957 were Boano coupes, with the design having been styled by Pinin Farina (but not built by them due to issues with their production capacity). Instead, construction fell to Felice Boano’s Carrozzeria. Just 88 were built, including 68 “low-roof” coupes like this one.

Midway through 1957, Boano went to work with Fiat. His son-in-law, Ezio Ellena took over his coachbuilding firm, renaming it Carrozzeria Ellena. Just 50 Ellena coupes were built through 1958. By that time Pinin Farina was able to take back over.

This coupe is powered by a 3.0-liter Colombo V12. And it has a pre-sale estimate of $875,000-$1,000,000. More info can be found here.

Ghia-Aigle Alfa 1900C SS

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1957 Alfa Romeo 1900C SS Coupe Lugano by Ghia-Aigle

Offered by Gooding & Company | Pebble Beach, California | August 2024

Photo – Gooding & Company

Alfa’s 1900 was a small sedan that was offered between 1950 and 1959. Attractive in its own right, the car was designed by Alfa designer Orazio Satta. Sprint and convertible versions were also offered, as was a short-wheelbase Corto (1900C) variant.

In addition, you could get a hot SS version, of which 854 were built. They featured a 2.0-liter DOHC inline-four with twin Solex carburetors for a rating of 115 horsepower. Many of these received coachbuilt bodies, including a number of them by Ghia-Aigle (not to be confused with Carrozzeria Ghia of Italy). Ghia-Aigle was initially the Swiss subsidiary of Ghia and actually lasted until 1988.

It’s unknown how many Coupe Luganos were built, but four are known. It, as are many 1900Cs, is a very attractive car. And it is selling at no reserve with an estimate of $250,000-$300,000. Click here for more info.

XK140 by Ghia

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1956 Jaguar XK140 SE Coupe by Ghia

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 15-17, 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The XK140 was the second in Jaguar’s line of post-war “XK” sports cars. It was sold between 1954 and 1957 and was offered from the factory as a two-door coupe, two-seat roadster, or two-seat drophead coupe. The factory coupe did not look like this.

There were a handful of coachbuilt XK140s, including potentially three in this style. In SE spec, power is provided by 3.4-liter inline-six with double SU carburetors and a “C-type” cylinder head that resulted in an output of 210 horsepower.

This car was ordered new by a Californian and another owner there before being purchased in 1967 by Ricardo Montalban. By the 1990s, it was in Japan, where it was restored to as you see it here. The car now has an estimate of $500,000-$650,000. Click here for more info.

British-Market Mercedes-Benz S-Type

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1928 Mercedes-Benz 36/220 S-Type Four-Seat Sports Tourer by Sindelfingen

Offered by Bonhams | Goodwood, U.K. | July 2024

Photo – Bonhams

The Mercedes-Benz 26/120/180 S-Type was produced between 1927 and 1928, with just 146 examples completed. It was a sporty car available in a variety of body styles, with the Sindelfingen-built sports four-seater being the only “factory” body style. We’ve featured one of these before.

But what makes this car different is that it is a right-hand-drive example built for the British market. And they measured things a bit differently there, so the “26/120/180” name was dropped in favor of “36/220,” which represents the RAC horsepower rating (36) and the brake horsepower output with the supercharger engaged on the 6.8-liter inline-six (220). Well, Mercedes rated it at 120 horsepower in standard tune, and 180 with the supercharger.

This car has a pretty well confirmed line of ownership back to new and has been with its current owner since 1991. It now has an estimate of $2,000,000-$3,200,000. More info can be found here.

Velie Touring

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1910 Velie Model D-40 Touring

Offered by Mecum | Dallas, Texas | September 2024

Photo – Mecum

Passenger cars and tractors have an intertwined history, especially during the dawn of the automotive industry. Velie was founded as a wagon maker in 1902 – kind of late to the game on that one. Just six years later they were ready for cars. So what’s the tie in with tractors? Well, company founder Will Velie was a grandson of John Deere himself.

Early cars were sold through John Deere dealerships, including this 1910 model. Velie offered three models in 1910, with the Model D being the touring car. It’s powered by a 40-horsepower Lycoming inline-four.

All 1910 models cost $1,800 new – which was not inexpensive. The company produced quite a few cars through 1929, but somehow this is the first we’ve managed to feature. Despite closing up shop in 1929, Velie was not a victim of the Depression but rather a victim of its two main company leaders dying within a few months of each other.

You can read more about this one here.

Pan Touring

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1919 Pan Model 250 Touring

Offered by Mecum | Dallas, Texas | September 2024

Photo – Mecum

The Pan Motor Company of St. Cloud, Minnesota, was founded in early 1917 by Samuel Conner Pandolfo. He started selling stock in the company to local businessmen and had a sweet deal for himself about the amount of cash he would take from the sale of stock.

Well, after 10 prototypes had been built in Indianapolis with Continental engines, the Pan factory in St. Cloud started construction. But before series production could begin, Pandolfo was indicted after some FTC complaints sprouted up against him. He ended up getting 10 years in prison after siphoning $7.5 million off from the $9.5 million in stock he sold to 70,000 people.

After he went to prison, they actually did start to build some cars. About 737 were completed before the company went bankrupt in 1921, and this one is powered by an inline-four that was built in-house. It has been in the same collection for over 75 years, and you can see more about it here.