Invicta Black Prince Wagon

Posted on August 28, 2017 by classiccarweekly

1951 Invicta Black Prince Shooting Brake by Associated Coach Builders

Offered by Bonhams | Beaulieu, U.K. | September 2, 2017

Photo – Bonhams

I remember reading about the Invicta Black Prince when I was a little kid and I’ve always remembered that it is a rare, special car. In fact, most Invictas are pretty rare today. They company was founded in 1925 and sort of died in 1938. Those pre-war cars are pretty cool and sporty, competing with the likes of Lagonda.

The company was revived in 1946 and their goal was to build a Bentley/Rolls-Royce competitor. The Black Prince was an extraordinarily luxurious sedan offered until the company went bankrupt in 1950 (at which point they were acquired by Frazer Nash, who sold off the rest of the cars, including this one which the new owner had custom-bodied as an estate car). The cars were just too expensive, costing three times as much as a comparable Jaguar and almost as much as the Bentley. Side note, they tried to relaunch the marque as a sportscar maker in the 2000s, but they are now gone too.

The Black Prince is powered by a 127 horsepower, 3.0-liter straight-six. Because of slow sales, only 16 were made and only 12 of those still exist, including this one-off wagon. I don’t remember another Black Prince coming up for public sale in the last decade. The restoration on this car dates to the 1970s, which contributes to its seemingly low estimate of $28,000-$33,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $21,438.

September Results II

Posted on September 28, 2013 by classiccarweekly

Our second post covering auctions for September starts with RM’s big London sale. They had a huge collection of Mercedes-Benzes cross the block, but the top sale actually went to our featured Maserati 250S for $3,340,000. Our featured Jaguar D-Type failed to sell. As did our featured Mercedes 500K Cabriolet C. The top-selling Benz was this 1938 Mercedes-Benz 540K Cabriolet B for $1,287,400.

Our featured 1932 Mercedes-Benz 370 S sold for $1,208,900. On top of the “interesting cars pile” was the Lotus Esprit Submarine from the James Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me. It sold for $967,000.

Another cool car was this 1975 Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 TT 12 which brought $527,000.

Our featured Mercedes 290 Cabriolet A brought $435,000. And our featured Benz Doctor’s Cabriolet sold for $83,500. Other interesting cars include this 1948 Austin VM 30 Cabriolet for only $12,300.

I can’t pick just two or three cool Mercedes’ from this sale to highlight because so many of them are the more mundane road cars that you just don’t see anymore (which I find fascinating). These are restored examples of cars that they built a ton of, but it would probably be easier to find a 540K today. You really have to check out the full results here, but I’ll tease you with this 1952 Mercedes-Benz 170 Da Pick Up. It sold for $77,300.

Bonhams held a sale during the Goodwood Revival. The top sale here was our featured Alfa Romeo 8C-35 Grand Prix car for $9,511,542. It was kind of a no-brainer that this would be the top sale, as Bonhams has been killing it lately with competition cars bringing huge sums. Apparently they currently hold world records for 11 different marques at auction, which is pretty impressive (they probably hold more, but don’t want to look up all of the smaller marques over the years).

Cool cars start with this 1936 Invicta 4.5-Litre S-Type Low-Chassis Tourer which sold for $307,413. Our featured Invicta did not sell.

Our featured Connaught did not sell either. But this 1934 Singer 1.5-Litre Le Mans did. It actually raced in the 1934 24 Hours of Le Mans. It sold for $136,966.

Two other interesting cars: first this 1951 Jaguar XK120 Competition Roadster which brought a big $228,277.

And this super-cool 1985 Audi Quattro SWB Coupe. A very rare rally car for the road, it brought $185,409.

And finally, let’s go to our featured Jaguar XJR-8 race car. It sold – but that’s all the information that was provided. Bonhams didn’t provide a final amount – but I will refer to it as a “mysterious sum in the neighborhood of $1.4 million.” Anyway, you can check out the full results here.

Invicta S1

Posted on September 11, 2013 by classiccarweekly

2009 Invicta S1

Offered by Bonhams | Chichester, U.K. | September 14, 2013

There are a bunch of people with money out there that think it is their duty to build the world’s greatest supercar. Newsflash: it isn’t. I’m not saying that’s the case with this car – because it was more of a “let’s revive a revered and dead company and build what they would be building had they never gone out of business in the first place” sort of thing.

The Invicta car company shut off the lights back in 1950 (for the second time – the original company closed in 1935 before returning in 1946). In 2002, some investors produced a concept of a new sports car called the S1. Deliveries started in 2003 (I think they were 2004 models) and the company built this lone model through about 2011 (they closed down in 2012).

The body is carbon fiber and the most of the components come from other road cars – including the engine, which, in this car, is a 320 horsepower version of Ford’s SVT 4.6-liter V-8 (a 5.0 could be had with almost twice the power). Top speed is about 170 mph and the car cost upwards of $150,000 when new.

You might be wondering why I’m featuring this car, and here’s my answer: so many of these little car companies pop up with a concept car and then no one ever knows if the thing actually goes into production or not. I was always unsure about this one (I’ve never seen one – have you?) but now I have proof that Invicta S1s were actually produced (I just don’t know how many). But you never see them for sale.

This one should sell for between $93,000-$120,000. Oh, and yes, those are the actual headlights and body-colored wheels, they aren’t aftermarket add-ons. You can find out more here and see more from this sale here.

Update: Not sold.

S/N: 006

December Auction Roundup

Posted on December 15, 2012 by classiccarweekly

All of December’s big auctions happened early in the month. The very first one occurred on December 1st in North Palm Beach, Florida. It was the sale of John Staluppi’s “Cars of Dreams” Museum. Every car sold at no reserve and the top sale was actually a giant carousel – but the top selling car was this 1956 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible.

1956 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible

Our featured cars were the entire Chrysler 300 Letter Series. Their sales breakdown is as follows:

1955 Chrysler C-300 – $88,000
1956 Chrysler 300B – $115,500
1957 Chrysler 300C Convertible – $154,000
1958 Chrysler 300D Convertible – $198,000
1959 Chrysler 300E Convertible – $176,000
1960 Chrysler 300F Convertible – $170,500
1961 Chrysler 300G Convertible – $137,500
1962 Chrysler 300H Convertible – $74,250
1963 Chrysler 300 Sport Series Convertible – $71,500

For complete results, click here. Next up was Bonhams sale at Mercedes-Benz World Brooklands in Weybridge. The top sale was this 1931 Invicta 4.25-litre S-Type Low-Chassis Tourer for $750,000.

$1931 Invicta 4½-Litre S-Type Low-Chassis Tourer$

Our featured Pagani Zonda failed to sell. Our featured SS 100 was the fourth highest-selling car at $402,800. The Fiat 1500 with beautiful cabriolet Ghia coachwork sold for $128,600. And our final feature car, the 1904 Winton, sold for $218,800. Other interesting cars included an early 1913 Austin 10hp Coquette for $44,444.

1913 Austin 10hp Coquette

There was also this 1924 Frazer-Nash 1.5-Litre Super Sports Roadster for $107,000.

$1924 Frazer Nash 1½-Litre Super Sports$

And finally, one for the weird, this 1963 Hillman Imp “Flatmobile.” It is the World’s Lowest Car. It was one of a handful of weird one-offs in this sale. It’s only 19 inches high… and would be one of the last vehicles I would ever want to ride in. It sold for $15,700. For complete results, click here.

1963 Hillman Imp 'The Flatmobile'

H&H’s December 5th sale at Newbury Racecourse had this 1965 Aston Martin DB5 as its top sale. It went for $431,000. Our featured Allard P2 Safari failed to sell.

1965 Aston Martin DB5

The second-highest selling car was this 1925 Vauxhall 30/98 OE-Type Tourer. It sold for $287,000.

1925 Vauxhall 30/98 OE-Type Tourer

Then there was this 1980 MG B Roadster that was styled by Aston Martin. It’s one-of-a-kind and was sold for $17,900. For complete results, click here.

1980 MG B by Aston Martin

Mecum’s December Kansas City auction had quite a number of cars cross the block. The only one we featured, a Mark II Sunbeam Tiger failed to sell. A car we featured from when it was for sale in St. Louis, a Vespa 400, sold at this sale for $22,500, $9,000 less than the asking price at the dealership. Top sale was a 2012 Chevrolet Camaro COPO factory drag car for $140,000.

2012 Chevrolet COPO Camaro

Actually, it was co-top sale. The other $140,000 sale was this pretty awesome 1970 Ford Mustang Mach I Twister Edition. It is one of only 48 made.

1970 Ford Mustang Mach I Twister Edition

Another cool muscle car was this awesome-in-green 1971 Pontiac GTO “Judge” that sold for $92,500.

The other two “interesting” cars were a pair of Buicks. First this 1928 Master Six Opera Coupe that I’ve had my eye on for quite some time at the same dealership that the Vespa came from. It also sold for $22,500. Mmmm, wood-rimmed wheels.

1928 Buick Master Six Opera Coupe

Then there was this 1985 Century Convertible. It’s a V6 car – and Buick never built a Century convertible in this bodystyle, so it’s an aftermarket job. Maybe it’s just because I owned a ’92 Century that I was drawn to this thing, but it was also the cheapest car in the sale and it looks like it’s in really good shape. It sold for $1,250. Complete results can be found here.

1985 Buick Century Convertible

The coolest auction of the month was Auctions America’s sale of some WWII vehicles from (what was) Dean Kruse’s National Military History Center in Auburn, Indiana. There were some seriously cool trucks on offer. The top sale went to one of our featured half-tracks. They sold as follows:

1945 Daimler-Benz DB10 Sd.Kfz. 8 – $200,000
1940 Hanomag S.P.W. Ausf. C Sd.Kfz. 251/1 – $160,000
1942 Borgward H kl 6 – $145,000
1944 White M16 – $95,000
1944 Auto Union Hl kl 6p – $75,000
1943 Opel Maultier – $65,000
1943 Opel Maultier Panzer-Werfer 42 Rocket Launcher – $60,000
1943 Ford Maultier – $42,500
1941 Autocar M3 – $38,000
1939 Unic Kegresse P107/U304(f) – $20,000

Then we featured five cool trucks available at this sale, they sold as follows:

1942 GMC DUKW-353 – $97,000
1940 Humber Hexonaut GS 6×6 Amphibious Prototype – $47,500
1940 Breda 40 4×4 Artillery Tractor – $37,000
1942 Mercedes-Benz L3000S – $32,000
1939 Latil M2TL6 4×4 Tractor – $10,000

Other interesting vehicles included this 1944 Phanomen-Granit 1500A 4×4 Kfz. 70 personnel car for $72,500.

1944 Phanomen Granit 1500A 4x4 Kfz 70 Personnel Car

Next up, a 1944 Steyr 1500A/01 4×4 Kfz. command car that was hammered away for $130,000.

And the final” thing” (some of these looked like cars built on truck chassis and some of them didn’t have wheels at all… these aren’t typical vehicles) from this sale, an awesome 1940 Horch Type EFm 4×4 cross-country personnel car that sold for $150,000. Complete results can be found here.

And, finally, Osenat’s December 9th sale was the latest held in the month. Top sale was a 1957 Mercedes-Benz 190SL Roadster for $117,000.

1957 Mercedes-Benz 190SL Roadster

The most interesting vehicle, by a landslide, was our featured 1908 Doriot-Flandrin Type E, but it failed to meet it’s reserve and did not sell. The most interesting car that did sell was this 1929 Chenard & Walcker 1550 Grand Sport Torpedo that brought $108,000. For complete results, click here.

1929 Chenard & Walcker 1500 Grand Sport Torpedo

Invicta Bluebird

Posted on September 14, 2012 by classiccarweekly

1931 Invicta 4½-Litre S-Type Low-Chassis Tourer

Offered by Bonhams | Goodwood, England | September 15, 2012

Invictas – especially the low-chassis models – are some of the sportiest cars of the era. They are aggressive looking with a low center of gravity, meaning handling and road holding were areas were Invicta cars excelled over their competitors – which included Bentley and Lagonda, among others. The cars were expensive and only about 1,000 Invicta cars of all models were built.

This is a 4.5-liter S-Type meaning the engine is a 4.5-liter straight-six that has been supercharged to produce speeds capable of 100 mph. All Invictas used Meadows engines built by Henry Meadows (except the first three prototypes). The supercharged Meadows six was a torquey monster – you can drive this car in top gear down to 6 mph!

Invictas never saw the racing success of Bentley. They went after a different niche – cars that could be throttled by their owners – just wrung out. High speeds for extensive distances with no wear or tear. The cars were so solidly built that 68 of the 77 S-Types built still survive.

This car, nicknamed “Bluebird,” has known ownership history since the 1960s and a three-year restoration was completed in 2011. It’s kind of weird, but pre-war cars were available in many different guises: big tourers, racing cars, etc. But this is a sports car. It’s made to go fast – but it’s not a competition car. There aren’t a lot of pre-war cars that are worthy of this designation. And this is among the best of them. The pre-sale estimate is $870,000-$1,100,000. For more information, click here. And for more from Bonhams at Goodwood, click here.

Update: Not Sold.