Voisin C5

1925 Voisin C5 Faux Cabriolet by Besset

Offered by Bonhams | Chichester, U.K. | September 17, 2022

Photo – Bonhams

Here’s something I did not know: Voisin’s “Cx” naming convention is in honor of his late brother, Charles. The first Voisin, the M1, was actually developed by Andre Citroen and purchased as a design by Voisin before being re-christened the C1.

Fast forward a few models and we have the C5, which was offered between 1923 and 1928. It is powered by a 4.0-liter Knight sleeve-valve inline-four that produced 100 horsepower and could push the car to 78 mph. More impressive is that the car had power-assisted brakes from the factory.

Carrosserie Besset of Annonay, France, provided the faux cabriolet coachwork with a fabric-covered fixed roof with fake landau bars. The story on this car is that it was discovered in France and restored in Switzerland “over a period of years” that is then listed as “1975-2006.” A period of years is perhaps an understatement. In any case, it now has an estimate of $115,000-$150,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

Bugatti Type 46 Faux Cabriolet

1930 Bugatti Type 46 Faux Cabriolet by Veth & Zoon

Offered by Mecum | Las Vegas, Nevada | November 17, 2018

Photo – Mecum

“Convertibles are cool and I want to be cool but I don’t want to be outside,” said someone who ordered a Faux Cabriolet body for a Bugatti. This is a Type 46, one of the most “common” and often-seen Bugatti models. It was built between 1929 and 1936.

Power comes from a 5.4-liter straight-eight that made 140 horsepower. A rare supercharged version, the Type 46S, was offered beginning in 1930. This car carries coachwork from Dutch coachbuilders Veth & Zoon. In all, about 444 examples of the Type 46 were built.

This car was delivered new to the Netherlands, thus the locally-built body. It was restored in the 2000s and looks amazing, if understated, from the outside. I almost made the lead image a shot of the engine, because it’s a work of art. Mecum estimates this car is worth somewhere between $1,150,000-$1,250,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $1,012,000.

Bean Model 6

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.

Bonhams’ Scottsdale Highlights 2013

Bonham’s sale in Scottsdale, Arizona was two days ago (look at this turnaround time!). They were also super-quick in posting their results (thank you). Top sale went to this 1972 Lamborghini Miura SV for $1,215,000.

1972 Lamborghini Miura SV

The top sale would have been our featured Mercedes-Benz 540K Cabriolet A, but it failed to sell (actually it sold late, or Bonhams didn’t publish the result at the same time they published the rest of them: it sold for $1,312,500). As did our featured Minerva Convertible Sedan. Another interesting car at this sale was the how-did-I-fail-to-feature-it 1964 Morgan +4+. It’s not a Morgan Plus Four, but a “Plus Four Plus.” These are extremely rare – only 26 were made. This one sold for $230,500.

Two of feature cars did sell. The 1928 Stearns-Knight Roadster sold for $126,000. And the one-off Ferrari 365 GTC Speciale doubled the lower end of its estimate and sold for $885,000 with buyer’s premium. Another interesting car was this 1930 Bugatti Type 46 Faux Cabriolet by Veth & Zoon (one of the more fun among coachbuilder names). It sold for a serious $951,000.

Click here for complete results.