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Vignale Samantha

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1968 Fiat 125 Samantha

Offered by Coys | Athens, Greece | June 15, 2013

1968 Fiat 125 Samantha

Photo – Coys

The Fiat 125 was Fiat’s large family car that replaced the 1500 and was introduced for 1967. It was available as a four-door sedan and five-door station wagon. But some Italian coachbuilders got a hold of it and built some two-door variants as well.

Vignale built the “Samantha” – a sporty-looking two-door coupe. It is said that the car was designed for Alfredo Vignale himself – as he wanted a luxurious ride to drive around. Underneath, the engine has been upgraded from the 125’s original 1.6-liter: it’s a 2.0-liter straight-four making around 112 horsepower. Performance is described as “spritely.”

It comes with a set of spares, but it is in fantastic condition. Vignale ended up building a few more – 100 in total, making this a very rare coachbuilt Italian sports car. It is expected to sell for between $23,500-$32,500. Click here for more info and here for more from Coys in Greece.

Update: Sold for about $35,600.

Fiat 600 Viotti Coupe

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1957 Fiat 600 Coupe by Viotti

Offered by Coys | Ascot, U.K. | April 27, 2013

1957 Fiat 500 Coupe by Viotti

The Fiat 600 (or Seicento) is, as you might expect, the slightly larger big brother of the iconic Fiat 500. The 600 was actually introduced prior – two years prior – to the 500, making the Seicento the first rear-engined Fiat.

The “600” refers to the 636cc overhead valve straight-four that was put in the car from the start of production (larger engines would be available later on). It could do 68 mph and made about 28 horsepower. It was a city car – a car for the people – and sold over a million copies in the first six years of production alone. But what if you wanted something a little more stylish?

Enter Carrozzeria Viotti, the Turin-based coachbuilder founded in 1921. They were the first Italian coachbuilder to use an actual production line and while they built bodies for prewar classics like the Alfa Romeo 1500 and Lancia Dilambda, they’re post-war work centered on small cars like this or the Fiat 1100 Giardinetta. (Yeah, they built fancier stuff too). They turned a people’s car into an attractive little coupe here and ran off a few hundred of them, with only a handful in existence today.

This car is expected to sell for between $20,000-$25,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of the lineup from this sale.

Austin-Healey Le Mans Prototype

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1966 Austin-Healey Le Mans Prototype

Offered by Coys | Ascot, U.K. | April 27, 2013

1966 Austin-Healey Le Mans Prototype

Donald Healey remained involved with Austin-Healey until 1968 while the company continued to produce cars until 1972. In 1965, Mr. Healey wanted to go racing at Le Mans, so he envisioned, designed and constructed this Prototype race car to do just that.

The car doesn’t really resemble other Healeys although it was based upon the Austin-Healey Sprite (or so says the Le Mans results from the year in which Healey took on the famous 24 Hours with a two car effort). The engine is a 1.3-liter straight-four from the BMC parts bin that has been tuned for all-out performance and puts out 140 horsepower.

Its race history includes:

  • 1966 12 Hours of Sebring – 18th overall, 1st in class (with Paul Hawkins and Timo Makinen)
  • 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans – 18th, DNF (with Paddy Hopkirk and Andrew Hedges)
  • 1970 24 Hours of Daytona – 34th, DNF (with Williams Harris and Robert Lewis)

During it’s post-competition life, the car has been restored and re-painted in its 1966 Sebring color: DayGlo orange. It has also been brought up to current FIA specification as to make itself eligible for historic racing events. This is one of two such models built and it is expected to bring between $300,000-$335,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Coys at Ascot Racecourse.

1937 Mercedes 230 Roadster

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1937 Mercedes-Benz 230 Cabriolet B

Offered by Coys | Essen, Germany | April 13, 2013

1937 Mercedes-Benz 230 Roadster

If you linked here from Twitter, first, thank you for the follow. Second, yes, this car is actually rarer than a Mercedes-Benz 540K – which costs at least 10 times as much as this car is expected to go for. You’re welcome for finding you the best deals on 1930s Mercedes’!

The 230 – which, in MB code is “W143” – was introduced as the 230n in 1937. It was a short-wheelbase car using a a 2.3-liter straight-six making 55 horsepower. Later that year, Mercedes switched to a long-wheelbase chassis and called the car the 230. Production lasted through 1941 and the engine continued on unchanged.

The body on this car is by Sindelfingen. It is a Cabriolet B (a four-seater with two doors). There were other convertible models available as well. Only 38 of these were built, making it far rarer than any of the 500K/540K Cabriolets. Only a handful of these are still around. This one has never been restored and shows fantastic. The pre-sale estimate is $125,000-$165,000 – a mere fraction of what you would pay for an, albeit grander, 540K. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Coys Essen lineup.

Update: Sold $158,500.

One of 12 Cisitalia 303s

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1952 Cisitalia 303 F

Offered by Coys | Essen, Germany | April 13, 2013

1952 Cisitalia 303 F

The Cisitalia 202 is a well-known, sought after Italian sports car from the 1950s. Cisitalia only built cars from 1946 into the 1950s. They also built single seat race cars for use in a one-make series as well as various Formula series around Europe.

In the early 1950s, Cisitalia was losing money faster than they could make it back. The 202, while beautiful and renowned, was very costly to produce and company founder Piero Dusio was trying to field a mid-engined Formula One car at the same time – which has always been an inherent money loser. Cisitalia wanted to keep the 202 around, but they had to make some concessions. They moved the chassis to that of a Fiat 1100 and renamed it the 303 F (with the F standing for “Fiat”).

The bodies weren’t as fantastic as the 202 and the engine was the 1.1-liter straight-four making about 51 horsepower. These were the last of the Cisitalias (Dusio had to flee Italy due to tax issues) and only 12 were built with only eight or nine still around. This one has had three owners from new. Good luck finding another one – either for sale or at auction. It should bring between $95,000-$110,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Aston Martin Mk II

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1935 Aston Martin 1.5-Litre Mk II

Offered by Coys | Essen, Germany | April 13, 2013

1935 Aston Martin 1.5-Litre Mk II

Aston Martin built their first car in 1915 but production didn’t start until the 1920s. Early Astons are very rare and you don’t see many from prior to WWII. As far as what early Astons looked like – they all sort of resembled the car you see here.

The Mk II was introduced in 1934 and built through 1936 (yeah, they’re rare: only 148 were built). The company didn’t take off until the David Brown era, but it was models like this that allowed it to survive until Brown came along. Aston’s 1.5-liter engine was first bolted to a car in 1926 and lasted through 1935, with this being among the final Astons to use the 73 horsepower straight-four.

The body is a four-seat tourer by A. C. Bertelli and it’s very sporty, even with its long-ish looking wheelbase – they handled well and could do 80 mph. While the lot description doesn’t explicitly say so, it makes it sound like this car is in original condition – which would be incredible because this car looks like it was just restored. But it does come from long-term (50+ years) ownership where it was in a private museum (read: “collection”). It should bring a strong $150,000-$195,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Coys.

Update: Sold $158,100.

Tatra T52 Limousine

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1934 Tatra T52 Limousine

Offered by Coys | Essen, Germany | April 13, 2013

1934 Tatra T52 Limousine

Tatra is one of the oldest automobile manufacturers in the world. They stopped making cars in 1999 and now concentrate solely on trucks, most of which are huge and solid-looking. The Tatra T52 was an upmarket version of the T54 (and later, the T75).

While later Tatras are known for being rear-engined and air-cooled, this car is front-engined (and rear-wheel drive). But it still has an air-cooled engine (if you’ve looked at a lot of air-cooled cars, you’ll notice they lack a traditional grille in front of the engine, as this car does). It is powered by a 1.9-liter flat-four making about 29 horsepower.

The body is a rare limousine body. Most Tatras are among the coolest-looking cars on the planet and this is among the coolest designs they had (the less traditional the better). The body is all original. The engine has been gone through recently as well as the clutch, brakes and axle. Basically, the mechanicals have been sorted, making this a driver with one hell of a cool, old body. Only about 950 T52s were built. This is one of very few cars in this sale without an estimate (what are they going to compare it to?). Click here for more info and here for more from Coys Techno Classica sale.

Update: Sold $1,600.

Lavie Runabout

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1904 Lavie Runabout

Offered by Coys | London, U.K. | March 12, 2013

1904 Lavie Runabout

So many different marques built cars in the early 1900s. Lavie was one of many and it didn’t last long – the company (which was actually registered in its owner’s name) only built cars for one year – 1904.

Needless to say, it is an incredible stroke of luck that this lone example survives. Especially considering he only built two cars – total – in his Parisian workshop. Both cars were originally owned by the Lavie family – one by him and one by his brother. This car was owned by Mr. Lavie and the second owner is known as well. But then the car disappeared until 1968, when it went on display at the Le Mans Museum.

The engine in this car is a Delahaye straight-two and the chassis is low-slung with a convertible top. It’s almost sporty – which is perhaps why the man who purchased it from the museum in 1978 used it in almost every veteran car event in France up until 2002. It has received a mechanical overhaul recently and is London-to-Brighton eligible. It is expected to sell for between $98,500-$106,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Coys’ lineup.

Talbot-Darracq Tourer

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1922 Talbot-Darracq 8HP Open Tourer

Offered by Coys | London, U.K. | December 4, 2012

We’ve gone over the story of Alexandre Darracq and Charles Chetwynd-Talbot on multiple occasions on this site, so I won’t go into the specifics here again, but suffice to say that at one point in time, there were two separate Talbots in manufacture – one in England and one in France. In 1919, French automobile firm Darracq acquired the French company called Talbot. Henceforth (or until 1935), French-built Talbots were badged and marketed as Talbot-Darracqs. Which is what this car is.

This 8 horsepower model has known ownership history from new. For the last 60 years, it has been in the family of Bill Boddy, founding editor of Motorsport magazine. This four-cylinder model was introduced in 1921 and this one was driven often in its first few years, before being parked in 1938. It was restored in 1973 and has been maintained since.

It’s an attractive light car with a history of being driven and enjoyed. The estimate is $22,000-$28,500. You can read more here and see the rest of Coys lineup here.

Jensen 541

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1956 Jensen 541

Offered by Coys | London, U.K. | December 4, 2012

The Jensen 541 is a rare four-seat coupe from Jensen Motors Ltd of West Bromwich, England. It was the first of a series of three different 541 models, which would go on to include the R and the S. It is also the most common – if you can call anything where only 226 were built “common.”

Introduced in 1954, the 541 was a sporty car with a 4.0-liter straight-six making 135 horsepower. Performance was gauged at 0-60 mph in 10.8 seconds (which doesn’t seem so sporty today) and a top speed of 115 mph. This car is painted in “Deep Green” and it’s fabulous inside and out – truly one of the best in existence.

The 541R came along in 1957 and the 541S in 1960, each with horsepower increases and the latter with an available V8. The original 541 lasted through 1959 and a limited-edition convertible was also available. It’s a very attractive and little known British sports car from the 1960s that happens to be a little larger and more practical than a period MG. The estimate is $55,000-$63,000. For more information, click here. And for more from this sale, click here.