Tag Archives: for sale

ERF D16

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1942 ERF D16

For Sale at Hyman Ltd | St. Louis, Missouri

1942 ERF D16

I love that somebody took the time to restore this beautiful wartime truck. Most of these things were run into the ground and then parted out or left to rust. Instead, this example survived and was given a lot of love and care to make it truly fantastic.

Edwin Richard Foden designed an early steam truck in 1913 for his father’s company which had borne their family name since 1887 (the trucks (or “steam wagons”) are really cool looking and some still survive). Foden would continue building trucks through 2006. But Edwin, and his son Dennis, left the company in 1933 because they wanted to build diesel, not steam, powered trucks.

So Dennis founded E.R.F. (his father’s initials) in 1933 – an impressive feat given the economic depression that enveloped the world. The company would last through 2007 when corporate parent MAN AG shuttered the brand.

The model you see here was built during the war, making it even rarer – and even cooler as very few civilian (even though this is commercial) vehicles were constructed during that time. The engine is a 7.7-liter diesel straight-four that literally sits in the cabin between the two seats (albeit with a cover over it).

I’ve gotten the impression in the past that this dealership doesn’t like me posting their prices, so I’ll say the price is between $40,000 and $45,000. You can see more awesome pictures and more from Hyman Ltd. here.

Update: Sold, RM Sotheby’s Elkhart Collection, $20,160.

Kelsey Motorette

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1911 Kelsey Motorette

For sale at Hyman Ltd | St. Louis, Missouri

1911 Kelsey Motorette

Carl Kelsey started selling cars off-and-on while in college in the early 1900s. Between 1910 and 1912 he built this, the Motorette. After spending a few years as a salesman for Maxwell, he started up the company again in 1920 and sold more traditional (read: four-wheeled) cars until 1924.

The car uses a mid-mounted flat-twin making 10 horsepower. The convertible top folds down, which gives this car a very strange appearance from behind. In all, about 200 Motorettes were built. This one has a meticulous restoration and is likely in nicer shape than when it was new.

I’ve posted prices for cars from this dealership before and got yelled at (by them). So I won’t tell you what they’re asking, but I will say it is right between $70,000-$80,000. In any event, I think you should buy it because it is very cool and looks like it would be a lot of fun to putter around in. You can find more here.

America’s First Post-War Sports Car

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1947 Kurtis-Omohundro Comet

For sale at Vintage Motors of Sarasota | Sarasota, Florida

1947 Kurtis-Omohundro Comet

Frank Kurtis is an important name in the history of American sports cars. In the late-1930s he built his first midget dirt-track car. Just prior to WWII, he designed a car that would eventually go into (short-lived) production as the Davis Divan.

Kurtis Kraft would be he racing car business. He built five Indianapolis 500 winning cars and nearly 2,000 Kurtis Kraft cars would be built, 120 of which would actually compete in The Greatest Spectacle in Racing. He even built a short run of sports cars for the road (and those were also produced as the Muntz Jet).

The car you see here is often billed as “America’s first Post-War sports car.” It was designed by Frank Kurtis and Paul Omohundro, a man who had worked for Kurtis fabricating race car bodies. The Comet was built around a 1940 Ford chassis and the two men planned to put the car into limited production on donor Ford chassis (it never happened).

The engine was a 1946 Mercury flathead V-8 making about 100 horsepower (it was swapped out years later for a 1949 engine). Omohundro was able to build a lightweight aluminium body that made the car capable of over 100 mph. The car bounced around between owners, garnering little use until it was parked in 1986 and forgotten.

When it was finally rediscovered, a restoration was undertaken and completed in 2007. It has been shown and won awards at multiple prestigious concours’ and while its claim of America’s “first Post-War sports car” can be disputed, it is considered the first documented American “coachbuilt car after the war.”

This isn’t a car that you can find a duplicate of – as it was the only one built. It’s also in the best shape it has ever been in. You can buy it from one of America’s coolest car dealerships in Sarasota, Florida for $390,000. Click here for more info.

Puritan Steam Car

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1902 Puritan Runabout

For Sale by H&H Auctions | Appleton, England

1902 Puritan Runabout

When Albert Locke took control of his father and uncle’s company in Salem, Massachusetts, around the turn of the century, he decided he wanted to do more than just build parts for steam engines. The Locke Regulator Company was getting into the car business.

In 1902, they launched their little runabout (designed in-house by Albert himself) that uses a straight-twin steam engine making six horsepower. Most Puritans were known to be ahead of their time (the cars, not the people) by featuring two things that would become standard on automobiles: a steering wheel and a foot throttle. However, this car has tiller steering. It could go 100 miles on one tank of water and could reach 20 mph.

Unfortunately, the company didn’t last in the car business for long, with production ceasing the following year in 1903. As rare as that makes it, surprisingly, there is at least one other Puritan steam car in England. This one isn’t exactly in concours-level shape, but it is usable – which is the most important thing. Price is not listed but you can check out more here.

Update: Not sold, H&H Auctions Duxford, Fall 2014.

1998 Lamborghini Concept Car

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1998 Lamborghini Pregunta

For Sale at Autodrome Paris | Paris, France

1998 Lamborghini Pregunta

Honestly, I’ve never heard of this car. But I’m no fan of concept cars and there are quite a few of them out there. But here’s the story on it:

Lamborghini was to be signed over to Volkswagen (or, more specifically, Audi) at the end of July of 1998. It was being bought by VW from Indonesian ownership (some of the darkest days of Lambo’s history). A few weeks before this was set to occur, Lamborghini contacted Heuliez – a French coachbuilder with a design office in Turin. They gave them a Diablo chassis and running gear and told them to go crazy and create a one-off supercar prototype. I guess they were burning any cash the company may have had left with the security of knowing VW would be plugging that gap soon anyway.

Lamborghini put all kinds of strict wording in their agreement that the car couldn’t be shown to the public without their approval and it must cast Lamborghini in a positive light. The result is certainly not the prettiest supercar or prototype ever created (although it does follow that 90s trend of outrageousness), but Lamborghini approved it anyway and it debuted at the Paris Auto Show in 1998. Then it went to the Geneva show in 1999.

The engine is a 530 horsepower version of the Diablo’s 5.7-liter V12. Unlike some of the Diablos, this car is rear-wheel drive only. I’ve looked at all the photos available on the website that contains the listing and I can’t find a Lamborghini badge on it anywhere. Everything says Heuliez, the company that created it. It was shown at auto shows as a Lambo though, so whatever. I usually say “concept cars don’t count” but in any case I’d call it a Lamborghini. Just one that came about during a turbulent era. VW quashed all independent design projects Lambo had going on as soon as they were acquired.

Heuliez encountered significant financial troubles in 2010 and last year, most of the concept vehicles they had retained over the years were sold off at auction. This one escaped and was acquired by a dealer in Paris, where it is currently for sale for an undisclosed amount. Click here for more.

1912 Diederichs

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1912 Diederichs Type LC Series I

For Sale at Oldtimer Galerie International | Toffen, Switzerland

1912 Diederichs Type LC Series I

This car is beautiful! It seems that whenever I come across really obscure old cars for sale, they’ve usually been restored by someone who has had the car in their family for 100 years. They don’t necessarily have the know-how to do it right and parts are usually impossible to find. But this thing looks brand new.

Societe des Automobiles Diederichs was founded by Charles Diederichs near Lyon, France. He built a steam tricycle in 1878 and, with his sons, experimented with gasoline automobiles in 1899 and 1900. The company was actually founded in 1912 to produce road cars. It folded two years later in 1914.

Their cars used 2.1-liter straight-fours making 10 to 12 horsepower. They also used round grilles and engine compartments, much like the Delaunay-Bellevilles of the time. Only about 60 cars were produced by this company before they folded. It is likely (although not certain) that this is the only one left. This one has been owned by the same person for 68 years! The price is listed as “upon request” – the most annoying of all prices. Click here for more info.

Duesenberg JN-570

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1934 Duesenberg Model JN SWB Convertible Sedan by Rollston

For sale at RK Motors Charlotte | Charlotte, North Carolina

1934 Duesenberg Model JN-570 Rollston SWB Convertible Sedan

I randomly came across this Duesenberg for sale at a collector car dealership in Charlotte, North Carolina. It’s a Model JN – so it’s certainly pretty as it had mid-life cycle styling refinements. All Model JNs had Rollston bodywork and only 10 were built before Duesenberg shut down. This is one of three JN Rollston Convertible Sedans built.

This car looks like a two-door convertible coupe, but it does have to rear doors tucked behind the mains. It rides on a short wheelbase chassis, when it seemed most later Model Js were long wheelbase cars. Ownership history is known from new. It was originally black but when it was restored a few years ago it was given this attractive maroon-ish color.

Bought new in Texas, this car has seen numerous owners – including some time spent in the Blackhawk Collection. And it’s matching numbers – chassis, body and engine – engine no. 570 – that big straight-eight engine making 265 horsepower. The price isn’t listed, but it says it had a $1 million restoration and I’m guessing they want to recoup that investment. Click here to read more.

A Chinese Classic

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1974 Hongqi CA770

For Sale at The Auto Collections | Las Vegas, Nevada

1974 Hongqi CA770

Say what? This is actually a really exciting car to see for sale in the United States. The Chinese automobile industry is just starting to take off (I could throw some numbers at you but I won’t. I wrote a thesis-ish paper in college about two years ago regarding it but I don’t want to bore you). But the industry has actually been around longer than 10 years.

Hongqi (which means Red Flag, the name by which the cars are sometimes referred to in Western media) is owned by FAW (First Automobile Works). The cars were the first domestically produced passenger automobiles in China. They were introduced in 1958, essentially as a copy of a 1950s Chrysler. An update came in 1963 and it was known as the CA770, the car you see here.

They were built for elite members of the Communist Party. It used the same engine as its predecessor, a 197 horsepower 5.6-liter V-8 (also a Chrysler design). This model was produced until 1980. Only about 1,600 of these cars (and the earlier model) were made in total. So they are very rare to begin with.

Then you throw the curveball: this car is in the U.S. It is one of very few (it could be the only one) Chinese cars (and not those little electric things) in this country. It is almost certainly the only “classic” Chinese car to have reached these shores. No one’s really collecting them because most people don’t know they are out there. Russian cars have a little bit of a following, but this is a whole new ballgame. The Auto Collections bill it as “the very first collector car to ever be exchanged in the USA with China.” It’s interesting. It’s for sale. I want it, and any collector of interesting cars should too. Click here for more.

Swallow Doretti

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1954 Swallow Doretti

For Sale at Fantasy Junction | Emeryville, California via Gstaad, Switzerland

1954 Swallow Doretti

So what’s with the location above, you ask? The car is located in Switzerland, currently, but is being sold by Fantasy Junction in California. So if you swing by the dealership in Emeryville wanting to check this car out, they will just send you down the street… to Switzerland. No big deal.

The Doretti was the only model manufactured by Swallow – a subsidiary of Tube Investments Group. The name Swallow came from Swallow Coachbuilding Co Ltd – which is the same company that spawned off Jaguar. Jaguar sold off the coachbuilding aspect of their business in 1945. When Tube Investments took over, they put the Doretti into production.

Based on the Triumph TR2, the car uses the same 2.0-liter straight-four making 90 horsepower. The body is unmistakably 1950s-vintage British. Performance was good, the car capable of 100 mph and a 0-60 time of 12.3 seconds. It cost about £200 more than a TR2. Only 276 were built before Jaguar, who was a significantly larger player in the British auto industry at that time, complained that the car’s production was driving the cost of materials up, and Tube Investments being an automotive supplier, shut it down before their customers got mad (more or less). In a way Jaguar was responsible for this car’s birth and death. This one has been in the same ownership for over 30 years. It is for sale for $62,500. Click here for more info.

Ford Model R

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1907 Ford Model R

For Sale at Hyman Ltd | St. Louis, Missouri

1907 Ford Model R

Boy am I a sucker for white tires. They are so cool. Anyway, last week we featured a Ford Model S, and when I saw that this was for sale at the same place, I figured I ought to feature it as well, just to round out the entire Ford Model N range, which included Models N, R and S.

The Model N came in 1906 and the R followed in 1907 – being in production only from April through October of that year – so it’s very rare. The difference between the two cars is little. Both used a 15 horsepower 2.4-liter straight-four. The Model R was basically just a trim package: the body was a little bigger, it had fuller fenders, running boards and an oil lamp. The price was $750, as opposed to $600 for the N. Originally, all were red, but this one has been repainted in a pleasing combination of green and cream when it was restored.

Only 2,500 Model Rs were built in the one year they were in production (and it wasn’t even a full year at that). It’s a rare example of the pre-Model T affordable Ford (see what I did there?). It can be yours for $64,500. Check out more here.