Tag Archives: gooding & company

Coachbuilt 230SL

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1964 Mercedes-Benz 230SL Coupe Speciale by Pininfarina

Offered by Gooding & Company | Pebble Beach, California | August 19-20, 2022

Photo – Gooding & Company

The W113 was Mercedes-Benz‘s first real SL class, in the terms we think of it today. It was the “replacement” for the 300SL and 190SL, and three models were offered between 1963 and 1971. There was the initial 230SL, which was sold from 1963 through 1966. It was replaced by the short-lived 250SL and then by the 280SL.

The 230SL was powered by a fuel-injected 2.3-liter inline-six rated at 148 horsepower. The W113 was sold with a removable hardtop, which earned the cars the nickname “Pagoda.” They all had that removable hardtop. Except this one.

Pininfarina wanted to design a true coupe version of the car, and Mercedes sent them a 230SL to do just that. Tom Tjaarda styled it. The design is interesting… from the fenders on back. The front end is a little droopy. There were 19,831 230SLs built, and only one coupe. The pre-sale estimate is “in excess of $1,000,000.” Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $1,215,000.

Coachbuilt Corvair

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1960 Chevrolet Corvair Coupe Speciale by Pinin Farina

Offered by Gooding & Company | Pebble Beach, California | August 19-20, 2022

Photo – Gooding & Company

The first Corvairs were sold for the 1960 model year, which is when GM Styling VP Bill Mitchell shipped this example to Italy to have Pinin Farina take a stab at designing around the platform.

That platform featured a rear-engined flat-six that, on this example, displaces 2.4 liters and makes about 80 horsepower. The car was shown at the 1961 Paris and Turin Motor Shows before being revised by Tom Tjaarda. It re-debuted at the 1963 Geneva show in its current 2+2 configuration.

Then Pinin Farina kept it in their private collection until 1996. But the exercise wasn’t for nothing: the second-generation Corvair rolled out in 1965, with some styling cues lifted from this car. It’s now one of the most expensive Corvairs anywhere in the world, with an estimate of $300,000-$500,000, which seems… steep. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $315,000.

Zink Z-8

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1969 Zink-Volkswagen Z-8 Daytona Prototype

Offered by Gooding & Company | Pebble Beach, California | August 19-20, 2022

Photo – Gooding & Company

Ed Zink is most remembered for his Formula Vee open-wheel race cars, but in the 1960s, it was hard not to get caught up in prototype sports car racing, apparently. The Z-8 featured a space-frame chassis wrapped in fiberglass bodywork.

For power, project cheerleader and idea man Hugh Heishman (a Virginia Volkswagen dealer) turned to VW for their new Type 3E fuel-injected flat-four. The 1.9-liter unit is carbureted now and is estimated to make about 150 horsepower. The car was run in period, including:

  • 1969 24 Hours of Daytona – 18th, 3rd in class (with Bill Scott, Jim McDaniel, and Steve Pieper)
  • 1969 12 Hours of Sebring – 68th, DNF (with Scott, McDaniel, and Pieper)

It went SCCA racing in privateer hands after that, eventually being stored in a disassembled state. A restoration that completed in 2017 brought it to its current condition. Gooding estimates a price of $150,000-$200,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $75,000.

Delage D8-120 Grand Luxe

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1939 Delage D8-120 Cabriolet Grand Luxe by Chapron

Offered by Gooding & Company | Pebble Beach, California | August 19-20, 2022

Photo – Gooding & Company

The D8-120 was the ultimate version of Delage’s grand eight-cylinder car. Introduced in 1937, the model was available through 1940, which marked the end of eight-cylinder Delages. Those eight cylinders displaced 4.3 liters, a slight increase over the earlier D8-100. Output was rated at 90 horsepower. Or 120. Depends who you ask.

This car features bodywork by Henri Chapron that is set off by swoopy lines and a bumper-less front end. Between the louvered hood, superbly placed bits of chrome, and kind of intense wheel covers, this car just has that look. The car wasn’t actually bodied until 1946, with the chassis having been intended for the canceled 1939 Paris Motor Show.

It spent time in Egypt before coming to the U.S. The car was restored in 1995 and repainted in these colors, the originals, in 1998. It now has an estimate of $800,000-$1,200,000, which seems like a steal from the sheer look of it. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $940,000.

Haynes Model 27

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1914 Haynes Model 27 Touring

Offered by Gooding & Company | Pebble Beach, California | August 19-20, 2022

Photo – Gooding & Company

Elwood Haynes was a pioneer in the American automotive industry, having built one of the earliest cars in the country and having designed the first American car that could be mass produced. In 1904, he parted ways with the Apperson brothers and set out on his own.

The Haynes Automobile Company last until 1925, and in 1914, the company’s range consisted of three models. The Model 27 was the largest, powered by a 50-horsepower, 7.7-liter inline-six. Three body styles were offered, including this seven-passenger tourer, which is believed to be one of two Model 27 tourers to survive.

This example remained in the family of the original owner until the 1980s and remained in Iowa until 2007. It later won a preservation class award at Pebble Beach and is now being sold at no reserve with an estimate of $100,000-$130,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $112,000.

166 MM Berlinetta Le Mans

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1950 Ferrari 166 MM Berlinetta Le Mans by Touring

Offered by Gooding & Company | Pebble Beach, California | August 19-20, 2022

Photo – Gooding & Company

Ferrari’s first cars were the 125 S and 159 S. After that, on the racing side, there was the 166 S and 166 MM. That makes this a very early, very valuable Ferrari. The 166 MM was built between 1948 and 1953, and it was a fairly high-volume model. Well, relatively anyway: 47 were built.

Of those, just five of those were Touring-bodied Berlinettas, which were introduced in 1950. Power is provided by a 2.0-liter V12 rated at about 170 horsepower. This is a car from 1950 with a five-speed. It meant business.

This model’s racing success was also serious. It was the only model to have ever won Le Mans, the Targa Florio, and the Mille Miglia. This car, confusingly serialed as 0066 M, was the last of the five built. It never took part in any of Europe’s grand races, but did take part in hillclimbs and road races in Europe before being imported to the U.S. in 1958.

It’s been with its current California-based owner since 2008 and it’s back at auction with an estimate of $5,500,000-$6,500,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

Miller-Ford

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1935 Miller-Ford

Offered by Gooding & Company | Pebble Beach, California | August 19-20, 2022

Photo – Gooding & Company

Few names are as synonymous with Indianapolis as Harry Miller. Maybe Andy Granatelli would be up there for people in the know. And Tony Hulman. Well, all three are in play here, but let’s start with this: legendary Indy car designed Harry Miller was approached by Preston Tucker to design an Indy car around a road car-based engine. This was the “junk formula” era.

Tucker then got his friend Edsel Ford to persuade his dad Henry to fund it. Henry ended up making his franchised dealers foot the bill, but the project went ahead. The result was a two-seater, front-wheel-drive chassis powered by a Ford flathead V8. The bodies were built by Emil Diedt, a famous Indy car name on its own.

Ten examples were produced, but just four qualified for the 1935 Indy 500. None finished due to a design flaw with the steering. Henry Ford scooped all of them up, apparently out of embarrassment/rage, and hid them away in Dearborn. They would slowly be sold off to private customers.

This car escaped not long after, and, just after WWII, was owned by a California-based race team owner who had a 4.4-liter Offenhauser inline-four put in it in place of the flathead. Output now is estimated to be 350 horsepower. In 1948, the car was purchased by team owner Andy Granatelli, who entered it in the 1948 race. So the known competition history for this car, chassis #5, consists of:

  • 1948 Indianapolis 500 – DNQ (with Granatelli)

He actually destroyed the car in practice and it was later rebuilt. In 1949, it was purchased by Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony Hulman and remained with the IMS Museum until 1993. This is a hard car to come by, and it has an estimate of $750,000-$1,000,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $830,000.

Porsche Indy Car

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1990 March-Porsche 90P

Offered by Gooding & Company | Pebble Beach, California | August 13-14, 2021

Photo – Gooding & Company

Porsche North America contested three Indy Car seasons: 1988, 1989, and 1990. The company used specially built March chassis and then stuck their own powerplant behind the driver. For 1990, they had a brand new chassis designed, dubbed the 90P.

Power is provided by a turbocharged 2.6-liter Porsche V8 capable of 725 horsepower. Porsche’s two drivers in 1990 were Teo Fabi and John Andretti, the latter of which piloted this chassis, #5. The competition history for this car includes:

  • 1990 Indianapolis 500 – 21st, DNF (with Andretti)
  • 1990 Budweiser Grand Prix of Cleveland – 5th (with Andretti)
  • 1990 Molson Indy Vancouver – 5th (with Andretti)
  • 1990 Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Denver – 6th (with Andretti)

Actually, John Andretti drove this car in all but two of the 1990 points races. He finished 10th in the championship. The car was sold by Porsche to a collector in 2017, and then this car passed to the current owner the following year. It’s a ready-to-go historic open-wheel car with a pre-sale estimate of $350,000-$500,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $346,000.

Kurtis 500C

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1953 Kurtis 500C

Offered by Gooding & Company | Pebble Beach, California | August 13-14, 2021

Photo – Gooding & Company

When it comes to classic Indy cars, not much beats a Kurtis-Offenhauser. The 500C was introduced either in late 1953 or early 1954. Only nine were built. Despite their build date, the cars were raced for years at Indianapolis – as late as about 1959.

This particular car is interesting in that it started out as a 500C that debuted at the Speedway in 1954. It ran there through 1957, including:

  • 1956 Indianapolis 500 – 8th (with Rodger Ward)

After 1957, it was sold to a different team, who had Eddie Kuzma cut the car up and update it with Kuzma parts. At that time, the Kurtis chassis was discarded and ultimately purchased by someone who would go on to have it restored in the 1980s to as it was in 1956. So, from that first original car, there are now two cars, one of which is still a Kurtis. Kind of weird, but that’s what happens.

Power is from a 4.2-liter (255ci) Offenhauser inline-four estimate to produce 400 horsepower with Hilborn mechanical fuel injection. The car is expected to sell for between $250,000-$450,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $257,600.

Siata 208 CS

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1953 Siata 208 CS by Balbo

Offered by Gooding & Company | Pebble Beach, California | August 13-14, 2021

Photo – Gooding & Company

Gotta love short-wheelbase coachbuilt Italian sports cars from the 1950s. They all look like the exhaust is dragging the ground and the bodywork is being worn by the driver instead of the, in this case, oval-tube chassis. The bodywork here is by Carrozzeria Successori Balbo, which was located near the suddenly closed Stabilimenti Farina coachworks. When Farina closed, Balbo got the orders for a run of the Siata 208 CS coupes.

The 208 was produced between 1953 and 1955 and is powered by Fiat’s 2.0-liter 8V V8, which was rated at 110 horsepower. The CS version was the closed coupe, nine of which were bodied by Balbo. In all, 35 208 cars were produced.

This car was sold new in Italy and came to the U.S. in 1964. It passed through a few high-profile European collections between the 1980s and 2000s, with the current owner buying the car in 2006. The most recent restoration was completed in 2012, and the car went on to win a Siata class award at the 2017 Pebble Beach Concours. It is now expected to sell for between $1,400,000-$1,800,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $1,627,500.

Update: Not sold, RM Sotheby’s Monterey 2023.