Tag Archives: for sale

1910 Le Zèbre

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1910 Le Zèbre Type A

For sale at Oldtimer Galerie International | Toffen, Switzerland

If this thing looks small, that’s because it is. It almost looks like one of those old cars they have at amusement parks – those kind of 2/3-scale Ford Model Ts. But this looks even smaller – you could fit at least five people in an antique car ride car. And this only has a single cylinder.

Le Zèbre started building cars in 1909 – and they started with single-cylinder engines making a whopping five horsepower. This one displaces 636cc and power reached the rear wheels via shaft drive and a two-speed (all forward) transmission. The cars were popular upon release.

In 1912, a four-cylinder model was added. In 1917, the two founders split up, with Jules Solomon, the driving force behind the company, leaving. In 1924 a new model was introduced, the Type Z. Perhaps this was not the best possible name, because it spelled the downfall of the firm. If you’re going to start it off with a “Type A,” then the “Type Z” seems like a logical conclusion to your business. Poor planning? Or just a shifting market toward bigger, more powerful cars? Probably the latter – Le Zebre closed up shop in 1932.

This car is currently for sale in Toffen, Switzerland, although I suspect it could appear at a forthcoming auction from the company. The price? $35,600. For more information, click here.

Reventón Roadster

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2009 Lamborghini Reventón Roadster

For sale at Lamborghini Porrentruy | Porrentruy, Switzerland

A few weeks ago we showcased a very rare (as in one of 20 built) Lamborghini Reventón. I was kind of critical of it, referring to it more or less as a Murciélago 1.5 – a styling exercise that served as a kind of mid-way model between the Murciélago and the Aventador, but with an astronomical price tag.

Well this car is even rarer – one of 15. Lamborghini denied the car’s existence when it was first built, more or less building them and shipping them to their most elite clientele – Ralph Lauren has one. Well now one has come up for public sale for you to get your hands on, if you’re feeling it.

Specifications mirror the “base” Reventón, which pretty much mirror the Murciélago. That is, it has a 6.5-liter V12 pumping out 631 horsepower. It will do 205 mph. The Aventador will do 217. I know, you’re probably thinking, “if you hate this car so much” (which I don’t) “then why are you featuring it?”

Solid question, but my main reason is: when is the next time you think you’ll see one for sale? Chances are, not any time soon (although this dealership has a coupe on the lot as well). The original Reventón was supposed to cost $2 million when new. This probably cost along similar lines, but now you can get it for a next-to-nothing $1,749,114 (it’s a more even amount in Swiss Francs). For more information, click here.

1895 Millot

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1895 Millot Vis-a-Vis

For Sale at Oldtimer Galerie International | Toffen, Switzerland

From the “Wow, That’s Old!” files, we present this archaic 1895 Millot Vis-a-Vis, built by Millot Frères (the Millot Brothers) in Gray, France. The company was founded in 1805 to produce farming equipment. By 1892 they were making stationary engines and sometime around 1895 they began building these rather crude-looking vehicles. It looks like something that just drove off the railroad tracks and onto the street.

It’s referred to as a “saw-bench” and they built an unknown number of them (at least three survive). It is powered by a nine horsepower, 2.0-liter single-cylinder engine. I can’t even begin to imagine the noise that this thing makes – or how it drives, handles or rides. It is simply something from another era that very few will get to experience.

This is showcased as an 1895, but various sources suggest different dates for the first Millot automobile – some as late as 1899. The company did build more traditional cars beginning in 1901 (through 1902), but none are known to survive. I’ve seen a photo of one and it looks light years ahead in terms of design when compared to the car shown here, even though only a few years separate them. Cars simply just don’t come much older than this. Price is “on request.” Click here for more info.

Dauer 962

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1989 Dauer 962 Le Mans

For Sale at Taylor & Crawley | London, England

The 1990s were a crazy time for supercars. Little (and large) companies were coming out with more and more over-the-top race cars for the road. This is about right at the top of the list, as it is literally a race car for the road.

Jochen Dauer drove Porsches in various racing series’ before concentrating full-time on team ownership in 1987. This car was once his team’s Porsche 962 and it was raced by Bob Wolleck, Hans-Joachim Stuck, Derek Bell, Henri Pescarolo and one of the Unsers. In 1992, the World Sportscar Championship altered its rules, essentially barring the 962 from competition. Porsche, being the clever motorsports company it is, found a loophole that would allow them to keep the 962s on the track.

Basically, the GT rules said that the race cars had to be based on a road-going car – with no minimum production number. Dauer had converted one of their 962s to a road-going car and, because of it, Porsche was back in business on the track. A Dauer 962 won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1994, beating all comers in classes with cars that were supposed to be higher-performing. The ACO (who sets the rules for Le Mans) quickly closed that loophole and the 962 was set out to pasture for historic racing.

But Dauer wasn’t done. They received a few orders here and there for road-car conversions of the 962. About 13 in total were built between 1993 and around 1997. The cars were amazing – using a twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter flat-6 making an insane 730 horsepower. Because they were essentially built on the back of a race car (a new, wider body made of carbon-kevlar was fit so a passenger could ride along in terror), the cars were sleek and capable of about 251 mph!

It has leather interior, air conditioning and hydraulic suspension so you don’t scrape the chin on any curbs. It also has what appears to be a DVD player, because if you can afford this car, it is likely you don’t also own some large theater in which to watch your movies, so a cramped cabin of a two-seat race car is the next logical option. It’s listed as a 1989, but that is likely the date on the racing chassis, as the conversion was performed sometime after 1993.

The price is, not surprisingly, withheld. I’ve never seen another come up for sale (this is one of those cars that is so rare that no one is exactly sure how few were actually built), so I don’t know what it’ll cost you. But you can check out more pictures and get some more information from the dealer’s website here.

Dolson Model F

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1907 Dolson Model F

For Sale at Hyman Ltd | St. Louis, Missouri

I do love those tires. Why aren’t any modern cars equipped with solid white tires? I guess people would complain about having to keep them clean, but it would certainly make a statement. Anyway, the Dolson Automobile Company (known as J.L. Dolson & Sons until 1906) of Charlotte, Michigan, produced big 60hp touring cars from 1904 through 1907 – meaning this car came from the final year of production. This four-cylinder car would have cost about $3,250 in 1907 – hardly cheap.

It is a well-equipped car and even features galvanized steel (a rarity in the day), which should have improved the car’s chance of long-term survival. But Dolson isn’t a marque you see too often. Later in the company’s short existence, they introduced a 20hp flat-twin model as well as a 28/30hp four-cylinder.

However, even though the cars were of a very high quality, success wasn’t to be and Dolson was liquidated in 1908 after production ceased the year prior. This is a rare opportunity to get your hands on one. The cost? $110,000. For more information, click here.

Update: Sold, RM Auctions, St. Johns, Michigan, 2012 – $74,250.

St. Louis Four-Cylinder

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1904 St. Louis Four-Cylinder Side Entrance Tonneau

For Sale at Hyman Ltd | St. Louis, Missouri

The St. Louis Motor Carriage Company was founded in 1898 in – where else – St. Louis, Missouri. The company was the first American company to ditch tiller steering in favor of a right-hand drive steering wheel. In 1902 the introduced a four-cylinder engine. In 1905, the company moved to Peoria, Illinois, but retained the name “St. Louis.”

The beautiful car you see here is the only surviving four-cylinder St. Louis in existence and one of about ten St. Louis cars (of any model) that survive. The ten-year-old restoration still looks brand new and the car is festooned with period accessories. Putting the top down (at least in photographs) makes the car look a lot bigger than it does when up.

The St. Louis car company ceased automobile production in 1907 and the company is not well known today. There were so many early car companies that churned out automobiles for about ten years or less. This car is from one of them. It’s quite nice and quite rare and if your a collector of rare makes of cars, this one’s for you. The price? $175,000. Check out the full description at Hyman Ltd’s website where it is for sale, guess where – in St. Louis.

Duesenberg J-288

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1929 Duesenberg Model J Convertible Berline by Murphy

1929 Duesenberg Model J-288 Convertible Berline by Murphy

I know, it’s been more than a month since we’ve featured a Duesenberg – can you believe it? As with most Model Js we’ve featured, this is also a Murphy-bodied car. We did feature another Convertible Berline (by LeBaron, which you can check out here) and if you compare the two you can spot a few differences but the cars are pretty similar overall. This LWB car was originally purchased by L.H. McCormick of Chicago, Illinois (and of the McCormick family) and this is how it looked when new. All subsequent owners (including the Blackhawk Collection) are known and the car is in show-or-drive condition.

The last time it was at auction was in 2011 and it sold for $704,000.

Update: Failed to sell at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale, 2013.

Update II: This post heavily edited at the request of the person who is trying to sell the car.