Duesenberg J-368

1930 Duesenberg Model J Limousine by Willoughby

Offered by Broad Arrow Auctions | Monterey, California | August 18, 2022

Photo – Broad Arrow Auctions

Fixed-roof Model Js have never been the most sought after. Maybe in their day when they were used by titans of industry or Gilded Age heiresses to be chauffeured around in. But not now. Everyone wants an open car of some kind, disappearing top convertibles or even touring cars.

So, because of this, many sedans and limousines have been rebodied, and those that haven’t are generally less expensive. Well those days are apparently over. This car features a limousine body by Willoughby, a design that was updated in period as updates became available. It was later reverted to more closely resemble how it looked when new. The 6.9-liter inline-eight was rated at 265 horsepower.

This car was purchased new by the co-founder of Esquire magazine. A restoration by a later owner was completed in 1991, and the car was subsequently donated to a museum, who sold it for profit. The current owner bought it in 2018. The estimate is $1,000,000-$1,500,000. You’re gonna have to find a different “cheaper” entry point into the Model J owner’s club. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $1,000,000.

Marmon Sixteen Limousine

1931 Marmon Sixteen Limousine by LeBaron

Offered by Mecum | Monterey, California | August 18-20, 2022

Photo – Mecum

Howard Marmon’s Marmon Motor Car Company was in trouble in 1931 when they launched the Sixteen, which had been in development since 1927. The timing was certainly bad, but the company found the resources to produce the Sixteen for three years before production of cars stopped.

The 8.0-liter V16 was rated at 200 horsepower and made the car one of the best American cars you could buy in 1931. Right there with V16 Cadillacs, big Packards, and Duesenbergs. This car wears limousine coachwork by LeBaron with seating for seven. It’s said to be the only limo example with dividing privacy glass left.

Less than 400 Sixteens were built across three years of production. This car has been a part of a few big collections over the years, and you can read more about it here.

Update: Sold $451,000.

Voisin C1

1921 Voisin C1 Limousine

Offered by Bonhams | Paris, France | February 3, 2022

Photo – Bonhams

Aviation pioneer Gabriel Voisin tried his hand at automobile production beginning in 1919. As the name might suggest, the C1 was the company’s first product. It would remain in production for a few years before being succeeded to quite a few different models.

Like all early Voisins, the car is powered by a Knight sleeve-valve engine. In this case, a 3.9-liter inline-four. The car was first registered in 1921 and was upgraded by the factory in 1925 with C3 brakes.

The body is a limousine with a partition between the front and rear passengers. The car was commandeered by the Germans during WWII and was purchased by the current owner in 1961. This early Voisin carries an estimate of $100,000-$150,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $143,628.

Sizaire-Berwick

1913 Sizaire-Berwick 60HP Limousine by Labourdette

Offered by Aguttes | Neuilly, France | June 20, 2021

Photo – Aguttes

Sizaire-Berwick was founded in Paris but was financed in England. The chassis and engines were manufactured in the Courbevoie factory, and they were bodied in England, where most of the cars were to be sold. Maurice and Georges Sizaire had previously founded Sizaire-Naudin, and they teamed up with Frederick Berwick (the British importer of Corre La Licorne) in 1913 (the year after they left Sizaire-Naudin).

The company managed to churn out 139 examples before WWI started. They were powered by a Maurice Sizaire-designed 4.1-liter inline-four that made 60 horsepower when new. Those 139 chassis built before the war? Well most ended up bodied for the British military as armored cars.

This one, by some miracle, ended up bodied by Labourdette. It’s never been restored and has spent time on museum duty after staying disassembled with its first owner (at a castle, naturally) until 1968. It’s kind of unusual for its time in that it has an electric starter and completely closed bodywork.

After WWI, there ended up being British and French-built Sizaire-Berwick cars. Things got confusing and messy, and the marque disappeared after 1927. This car is expected to sell for between $100,000-$145,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Vauxhall Big Six BXL

1935 Vauxhall Big Six BXL Limousine by Grosvenor

Offered by Brightwells | Online | September 21, 2020

Photo – Brightwells

The creatively-named “Big Six” was Vauxhall’s big six-cylinder car that was offered between 1934 and 1940. The model was actually updated midway through its life cycle, and the second generation of the car went on sale in 1937.

The BX/BY, or first, series of the Big Six spawned a third variant: the long-wheelbase, coachbuilt BXL. This example carries a limousine body by the Grosvenor Carriage Company of London. Power is from a 3.2-liter inline-six that could push the large car to 72 mph.

Only 796 examples of the BXL were built, and this is one of nine known to still exist. It’s got suicide rear doors and a luxurious rear passenger compartment. The pre-sale estimate is $15,000-$18,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold (I think): $14,210.

Range Rover Limo

1994 Land Rover Range Rover LSE Limousine

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Birmingham, U.K. | November 9, 2019

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

The first-generation Range Rover was in production from 1970 through 1994. An eternity, in other words. This example is from the last year of Range Rover Classic production, and it was purchased new by the Sultan of Brunei, who commissioned Townley Cross Country Vehicles Ltd. to convert it into a limousine for his brother, Prince Jefri.

The conversion cost a lot of money and took nine months to complete. Townley Cross Country Vehicles did a number of these – several hundred perhaps – for wealthy Middle Eastern clients. This thing is tricked out. It has what I’ll call a “red-ass interior” with two seats up front, and three captain’s chairs in the rear, one of which is facing sideways. It also has an entertainment center of sorts with two TVs with VCRs. Break out the VHS tapes!

Power is from a 4.3-liter V8 making 200 horsepower… which probably is not enough grunt to get this huge thing moving all that quickly. It is pretty cool, though, and has fairly low mileage. It is expected to bring between $23,000-$31,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $42,903.

Tatra T77A

1938 Tatra T77A Limousine

Offered by Gooding & Company | Pebble Beach, California | August 17, 2019

Photo – Gooding & Company

Let’s start with this: Tatras are amazing with their unique, otherworldly designs. These big, streamlined, rear-engined cars must’ve seemed completely alien to car shoppers in the 1930s. That’s right, the 1930s! The Tatra 77 was introduced in 1934 and was the world’s first production aerodynamically-designed air-cooled car.

Features include three headlights and a sloping fastback body style that achieved an insanely-low drag coefficient. Power is from a 75 horsepower, 3.4-liter V8. The engine compartments in these cars are so interesting – it looks like there is some kind of machine back there, not an air-cooled V8. Top speed on the 77A was 93 mph.

The interior here is pretty luxurious as well, with a huge rear passenger compartment partitioned off from the driver. And the rear seatback folds forward to reveal a nicely-trimmed trunk ahead of the engine. Only 255 combined examples of the 1934-1935 Tatra 77 and 1935-1938 77A were produced. Only 20 are thought to remain.

Check out Gooding’s posted ownership history: purchased new by a Czech citizen who had the car confiscated by the German army in 1939. The Soviet army took possession of the car in 1945. In 1950, a Russian bought the car and kept it for 50 years before the current owner bought it from him. It should sell to its next owner for between $450,000-$650,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $412,000.

Pope-Hartford Limousine

1910 Pope-Hartford Model T Limousine

Offered by Bonhams | Amelia Island, Florida | March 7, 2019

Photo – Bonhams

Albert Pope attached his name to a lot of car companies. The Pope-Hartford, for instance, was built in Hartford, Connecticut between 1904 and 1914. It was one of the more successful marques with the Pope brand. Imagine if General Motors name each car after the city it was physically assembled in. It would be insane.

With some amount of balls, Pope branded their 1910 car the “Model T,” and it is powered by a 4.9-liter inline-four rated at 40 horsepower. It wears a Limousine body, though it was also delivered new with a separate touring car body. That delivery is interesting because the first owners were in Uruguay, of all places.

More interesting is that the first owner was the Uruguayan ambassador to the Vatican. Yes, that’s right, the actual Pope is thought to have ridden in this Pope. It has bounced around the U.S. over the last few decades (including a period where it was local to where I currently reside) and is said to have never been fully restored. It should bring between $160,000-$190,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Minerva Type F/M8 Limousine

1938 Minerva Type F/M8 Limousine

Offered by Bonhams | Paris, France | February 8, 2018

Photo – Bonhams

Here’s yet another Minerva, this one much closer to WWII than any of the others. This was actually from the final year of Minerva passenger car production. They weren’t building many cars per year by this point, which makes this pretty rare. It would have been called a Type F in Belgium, but when imported to the U.K. the importer decided to call it an M8.

It’s powered a 4.0-liter straight-eight and has a big limousine body. This would have been a pretty nice car for whatever Londoner purchased it new (and perhaps purchased it off the stand at the 1938 London Motor Show). It has had a light restoration but could probably use a good looking-over before use. It should bring between $49,000-$58,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams.

Update: Sold $99,320.

Five Pre-War Sedans from Bonhams

Five Pre-War Sedans from Bonhams

Offered by Bonhams | Paris, France | February 8, 2018


1908 De Dion-Bouton Type AX 15HP Double Berline

Photo – Bonhams

De Dion-Bouton was arguably the first automotive giant. Founded in 1883, they (and more specifically, their single-cylinder engines) were a mainstay in the earliest days of the automobile industry. The company declined significantly after WWI and they were gone by 1932.

This is a Model AX and it was part of De Dion’s first line of four-cylinder cars. It’s powered by a 15 horsepower four-cylinder unit. The body is a Double Sedan, which means it has two passenger compartments attached. It’s a great early body style and kind of looks like one of those Model T House Cars that are out there. The body was built by Roussille & Fils. This car had an active life in collector circles until recently but it’s a pretty nice example of a big, early car. It should sell for between $110,000-$130,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $227,019.


1924 Turcat-Mery 15/25HP Model SG Saloon

Photo – Bonhams

Some of the best Turcat-Mery’s are sporty tourers. The company was around from 1899 through 1928 and they had to produce a few more standard designs, you know, in order to keep income flowing in.

Before disappearing in 1928, they had financial issues (actually, back in 1921). Once they got production running again, the Model SG was among the first cars rolling back out of the factory. It’s powered by a 3.0-liter straight-four rated at 16 horsepower. This particular example has been on museum display since 1987. It’s not quite roadworthy at the moment, but it does look really good. It should bring between $24,000-$30,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $29,796.


1928 Minerva Type AK Landaulette

Photo – Bonhams

We featured a number of Minervas recently and here’s a slightly newer one. The Type AK was available from Minerva for a decade: 1927 through 1937. This example is in fairly original shape (or at least sporting an older restoration). The rear compartment seats up to five, which makes this pretty limousine-ish.

It’s powered by a 6.0-liter Knight sleeve-valve straight-six making 150 horsepower. It’s described as a Landaulette, which may mean that the top can be removed from half of this car, but no mention is made of that in the lot description, nor are there photos of the car in this state. Either way, it’s a pretty desirable car from a rare exotic make and it should bring between $85,000-$120,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $78,037.


1910 Renault 35CV Type AIB Open-Drive Limousine

Photo – Bonhams

Here is another Double Sedan from another early French automotive powerhouse (that is, remarkably, also green). It’s actually a little more complex than the De Dion-Bouton offered above. The rear compartment is large and has limousine-quantity seating. The driver’s compartment has a removable hard-top if you wish to subject your chauffeur to the elements.

This model from Renault was new for 1907 and features a 7.4-liter straight-four making 30 horsepower. This car was delivered new to the U.S. and spent nearly 40 years on display at the Henry Ford Museum before making it’s way to the U.K. in the 1970s. It’s been on display in Ireland for about the last 25 years and it is almost entirely original. Even in its current not-running condition, it should bring between $85,000-$110,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $195,385.


1938 Minerva Type F/M8 Limousine

Photo – Bonhams

Here’s yet another Minerva, this one much closer to WWII than any of the others. This was actually from the final year of Minerva passenger car production. They weren’t building many cars per year by this point, which makes this pretty rare. It would have been called a Type F in Belgium, but when imported to the U.K. the importer decided to call it an M8.

It’s powered a 4.0-liter straight-eight and has a big limousine body. This would have been a pretty nice car for whatever Londoner purchased it new (and perhaps purchased it off the stand at the 1938 London Motor Show). It has had a light restoration but could probably use a good looking-over before use. It should bring between $49,000-$58,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams.

Update: Sold $99,320.