Tag Archives: limousine

Tatra T52 Limousine

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1934 Tatra T52 Limousine

Offered by Coys | Essen, Germany | April 13, 2013

1934 Tatra T52 Limousine

Tatra is one of the oldest automobile manufacturers in the world. They stopped making cars in 1999 and now concentrate solely on trucks, most of which are huge and solid-looking. The Tatra T52 was an upmarket version of the T54 (and later, the T75).

While later Tatras are known for being rear-engined and air-cooled, this car is front-engined (and rear-wheel drive). But it still has an air-cooled engine (if you’ve looked at a lot of air-cooled cars, you’ll notice they lack a traditional grille in front of the engine, as this car does). It is powered by a 1.9-liter flat-four making about 29 horsepower.

The body is a rare limousine body. Most Tatras are among the coolest-looking cars on the planet and this is among the coolest designs they had (the less traditional the better). The body is all original. The engine has been gone through recently as well as the clutch, brakes and axle. Basically, the mechanicals have been sorted, making this a driver with one hell of a cool, old body. Only about 950 T52s were built. This is one of very few cars in this sale without an estimate (what are they going to compare it to?). Click here for more info and here for more from Coys Techno Classica sale.

Update: Sold $1,600.

Duesenberg J-430

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1931 Duesenberg Model J LWB Limousine by Willoughby

Offered by Gooding & Company | Monterey, California | August 18, 2012

Photo – Gooding & Company

A few weeks ago we featured a car very similar to this. J-306 is also a Willoughby Limousine, but it is green and was offered by Mecum during the Pebble Beach weekend as well. The write up for J-306 included a history of Willoughby, so we’ll keep this one short.

The other thing that differs between these cars is that this one is original. It has been repainted – in the late 1950s. It is in amazing condition for a car this old. Then again, this car was owned by people who loved Duesenbergs for most of its life. The owners appreciated the car and maintained it. It has also spent time in museums.

A decent number of Duesenbergs have been rebodied over the years. Many more have been restored (or over-restored). This one is all original – a 1930s time warp car. It is way cool. The pre-sale estimate was also in the affordable-for-a-Duesenberg range of $400,000-$500,000. The complete lot description can/could be found here.

Update: Sold $330,000.

Update: Sold, RM Sotheby’s Hershey 2019, $451,000.

Duesenberg J-306

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1930 Duesenberg Model J Limousine by Willoughby

Offered by Mecum Auctions | Monterey, California | August 18, 2012

Duesenberg Fridays continue. This one is being sold at Mecum’s Monterey sale and it looks great. This is a rare numbers-matching Duesenberg that doesn’t have its original engine. Many of these cars swapped engines (and bodies) over the years, and the factory records of what chassis was fitted with which engine and who coachbuilt what for it, never seems to match reality. But this car has a slightly different story.

It was born with J-383, which was considered “defective” and replaced by Duesenberg with J-306. The 7-passenger limousine body was added by the Willoughby Company of Utica, New York – and this is the original body. Willoughby was founded in 1893 as a carriage manufacturer. After a fire in their Rome, New York, factory, they relocated to Utica and it was here that they received the first order for automobile bodies in 1899 from Columbia Electric.

In addition to Columbia Electric, Willoughby built bodies (both one-off/custom and large orders placed by automobile manufacturers) for the likes of Studebaker, Cadillac, Marmon, Packard, Franklin, and the American arm of Rolls-Royce. Though, there are, perhaps, few more regal than this large, enclosed Duesenberg in stunning dark green. Willoughby bodied its last cars, mostly Lincolns, in 1938 before shutting down for good in 1939.

Mecum doesn’t publish estimates, but look for the price to head north from $500,000. For more information, click here. And for more from Mecum in Monterey, click here.

Update: Not sold (after reaching a high bid of $350,000).

Update: Sold, $370,000 (at Mecum Auctions in Anaheim, California, 2012).

Update: Not sold, RM Sotheby’s, Hershey 2022.

1928 Daimler Double Six Limousine

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1928 Daimler Double Six P150 Limousine

Offered by Barrett-Jackson, Scottsdale, Arizona, January 15-22, 2012

Daimler has one of the most confusing – and interesting – histories of any auto marque. The Double Six is the most glorious of all Daimlers. Daimlers have been used by British royalty since their inception (although the brand is dormant now and they’ve been blatant copies of Jaguars for a very long time).

This car has a 7.2 liter V12 (the “double six”) making 150 horsepower. It is the original engine and the original coachwork. This car is referred to as “the largest British car ever built” which may be true as it weighs in at a solid 8,100 lbs. Fellow Briton Colin Chapman would not approve.

Originally exported to Australia, this car turned up in the Harrah Collection at some point (doesn’t it seem like every rare old car was once parked in Reno?). A Double Six has won Best in Show at Pebble Beach twice since 1999. But both of those cars had lower, slightly more diabolical styling. Because this car lacks such styling, it will not bring similar prices. I’m going with a low ball number of about $350,000. But it could be more. More info on the car here and more from Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale here.

Update: Sold $1,155,000.