1947 Delahaye 135MS Narval Cabriolet by Figoni et Falaschi
Offered by Mecum | Monterey, California | August 15-17, 2019
Photo – Mecum
If this car were to be built today, it would ride about four inches lower. At least. That upside-down bathtub styling just looks right at home sucking on the ground. But the roads were different in 1947. Especially in France. And who am I to nitpick a Figoni et Falaschi design?
The Delahaye 135MS is powered by a 3.6-liter inline-six probably making about 145 horsepower. These cars were produced both before and after the war, technically from about 1938 through the end of Delahaye production in 1954.
The “Narval” name, if you haven’t figured it out, alludes to the car’s somewhat narwhal-like appearance. Only seven such Delahayes were bodied like this, and this one has been in the same hands for the last 50 years. It’s a million-dollar car, no doubt. You can see more about it here and more from Mecum’s Monterey sale here.
Offered by Mecum | Monterey, California | August 15-17, 2019
Photo – Mecum
One-off racing specials were commonplace in the U.S. in the 1950s. Enterprising individuals would take some off the shelf components, drive down the street to the local fiberglass fabricator, and get their self-designed body produced.
Then they’d tear up the tracks in SCCA events for a couple of years. Surely, countless examples of these pieces of mechanical creativity have been lost to time. But a good number remain, including this one, which was originally constructed by George Kopecky using a pre-war Maserati chassis and an aluminum body.
The history thereafter is a little hazy. The catalog description says that the body was bought by Johnny Wright in 1954 and that an upgraded frame was also built. It’s powered by a 5.4-liter V8 from a 1957 Corvette and was clocked at 143 mph in 1957. It’s an interesting build and very of-the-era. You can read more about it here and see more from Mecum here.
Offered by Mecum | Harrisburg, Pennsylvania | July 13-August 3, 2019
Photo – Mecum
Well here’s something you don’t see every day: an actual ex-Richard Petty be-winged Superbird. Plymouth built the Superbird in the hopes of dominating NASCAR. Also, it had the intended effect of luring Richard Petty back to driving Chrysler products, as he had jumped ship in 1968 to go run Fords.
This Superbird was restored by the Pettys and has apparently been authenticated as the real deal, though he likely ran multiple cars throughout the season as this is described as the superspeedway and large oval car. Petty won 18 races in 1970, leading to the huge wing and other aero effects being quickly banned from competition.
Power is from a 426ci Hemi V8 that was built by Petty Enterprises, which means it is probably producing more than the 425 horsepower quoted by the factory. The top speed of these cars is over 190 mph, which is pretty impressive if you consider the gearing the street cars had.
This piece of NASCAR history should draw inspired bidding. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
We pick up where we left off last time: with Silverstone Auctions. This time it was their sale of British marques, where the Jaguar XJ220 we featured was the overall top sale at $429,230. The AC Aceca was withdrawn.
The Railton Claremont sold for $85,846, and we’ll award Most Interesting to 1952 Allard Palm Beach Mk 2 that sold for $100,153. Click here for the rest of this sale’s results.
Photo – Silverstone Auctions
Now we move on to Brightwells’ Leominster sale. No withdrawn AC cars here as this 1962 AC Greyhound took home top sale honors at $104,923.
Photo – Brightwells
The Jaguar XJS Monaco we featured previously failed to sell here again. And the Quantum 2+2 sold for $1,678. Click here for more results.
We’ll stay in the U.K. for the annual all-Aston Martin sale from Bonhams. Naturally, the one we featured (a Virage Volante) failed to find a new home. But the biggest money car of the day was $1,097,622 paid for this 1964 Aston Martin DB5. Final results can be found here.
Photo – Bonhams
Mecum’s giant Indianapolis sale was held in May. This 1967 Shelby Cobra 427 S/C brought home the bacon, selling for $2,860,000.
What it amounted to was essentially an option package. It was supposed to be a street version of the ‘Cuda Trans-Am racing car that was campaigned by Dan Gurney’s All American Racers, hence the AAR designation. They were all powered by 5.6-liter (340) V8s equipped with the “Six Pack” of three two-barrel carburetors. Output was rated at 290 horsepower.
Only available in 1970, the cars could be had in a variety of wild colors, and all of them had a flat black hood and side graphics. This one is finished in Moulin Rouge. Only 2,724 examples were built in a two-month production run. Mecum has a rare estimate on this one: $60,000-$70,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Mecum in Indy.
Offered by Mecum | Indianapolis, Indiana | May 14-19, 2019
Photo – Mecum
The first generation Mustang is generally further broken down into four separate generations, including the 1969 and 1970 “third” group. Highlights of this era were the new Mach I and Boss variants. Some of the coolest early Mustangs were produced in these two years.
For some reason, Ford dealers in Kansas had some kind of pull with Ford’s marketing department and managed to get their own special edition Mach I. It was called the “Twister Special” and they were only sold in Kansas. All were finished in Grabber Orange with black graphics and only half of them received the 7.0-liter Super Cobra Jet V8 that was rated at 335 horsepower.
In all, only 96 examples were built. Potential bidders will have to ponder if the tornado graphics on the rear quarter panels are worth a premium over a similarly-equipped SCJ Mach I. They’re still cool, though. You can read more about this car here, and see more from Mecum here.
We’re already in April, and we start as we often do: with a leftover from the month before. In this case, it is Leclere-MDV’s sale. We didn’t get to feature anything, but the top sale ended up being this 1989 Porsche 911 Speedster for $248,014. Click here for more results.
Photo – Leclere-MDV
And on into April we move, with Mecum’s Houston sale. This 2014 Ferrari F12berlinetta brought the most money: $203,500. More results are available here.
Photo – Mecum
The top seller at Bonhams’ Goodwood sale was this 1964 Aston Martin DB5 that has been updated to Vantage spec. It sold for $832,103.
Onward to Brightwells’ Bicester sale. No feature cars here, unfortunately, but this 1924 Lancia Lambda Series 3 was the top seller at $146,522. More results can be found here for a time.
We pick up in March at Mecum’s Phoenix sale. They took to the desert a few months after everyone else and managed to move this 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T/ Hemi Convertible for $1,430,000.
Next up we have a sale from Aguttes in Paris. The Salmson we featured didn’t sell (perhaps it was the scandalous model name), though this swoopy 1935 Fiat 508 CS Balilla Aerodinamica managed to squeeze $225,620 out of someone in the audience. Final results can be found here.
Photo – Aguttes
Onward now to H&H Classics’ sale at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford. The Bristol 406 we featured sold for $44,045, and the 1939 Imperial brought $14,681. The top sale was $579,934 for this barn find-condition 1936 Bentley 4.5-Litre Vanden Plas Tourer. More results are located here.
Photo – H&H Classics
Now we hop back across the channel for Osenat’s March sale, where the top overall sellers were two of our feature cars: the Gardner-Serpollet at $282,946 and the early Delahaye at $175,157. We’ll award Most Interesting to this 1951 Simca 8 Sport that could’ve been yours for $33,684.
We wrap up in Ft. Lauderdale with RM Sotheby’s where this 2015 Ferrari LaFerrari sold for $3,080,000.
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
Our feature cars all found new homes, with the Stutz Blackhawk leading the way at $55,000. The Lotus Esprit was next, selling for $50,600, and both the Biscuter and Goggomobil microcars sold, at $4,675 and $20,350 respectively.
Feature cars from auctions past included this Packard Clipper station wagon that sold for $56,100 and this Mochet microcar for $7,590. Click here for final results.
Offered by Mecum | Phoenix, Arizona | March 14-16, 2019
Photo – Mecum
The Kenmore Manufacturing Company of Chicago, Illinois, built cars for a short period of time: 1910 through 1912. Their cars were a little outdated from the get-go, carrying the styling of yesteryear. Ultimately, the company’s assets were acquired by Sears and their Kenmore appliance brand name is believed to have descended from this acquisition.
The 1910 Kenmore model line offered two options: the Model A and Model B, both two-cylinder cars on an 82″ wheelbase. The B had four additional horsepower, for a total of 18. Normally, I’d want to figure out if this car is an A or a B, but it has been bastardized with an electric motor according to the lot description, so it doesn’t really matter I guess (though it sure looks like an opposed twin is sitting under the front bonnet).
It does have a nifty flip-up wooden rear seat, which rules out the 2-passenger Runabout factory body style. Perhaps it is a 3-passenger Roadster or a 4-passenger Surrey. I don’t think two people are destined for that awful rear bench, so I went with Roadster. Click here for more info and here for more from Mecum.
The Talbot Tourer we featured brought an also-impressive $242,200, as did the other Rolls-Royce at $176,146. The Healey Abbott failed to sell. Complete results can be found here.
Onward to RM Sotheby’s sale held at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. The top sale was the huge price paid for this 1956 Ferrari 290 MM by Scaglietti: $22,005,000.
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
The Mochet microcar we featured sold for $25,200, and a previously-featured Ferrari wagon sold for $313,000. Final results can be found here.
Aguttes held a sale in December that had a few cars sprinkled in, the most expensive of which ended up being this 1994 Ferrari 348 GTS for $74,305. Full results can be found here.
Photo – Aguttes
And now we’re into 2019, beginning with Mecum’s epic Kissimmee sale that lasted for almost two weeks. Somehow, a LaFerrari Aperta we featured failed to meet its astronomical, irrational reserve at a bid of over $6 million. However, its sister car from the same collection, a 2014 Ferrari LaFerrari was the overall top seller at this sale for $3,300,000. Which was below the pre-sale estimate. Go figure.
And finally, we move to another early January sale: Silverstone Auctions’ Autosport International sale. The Griffith we featured sold, but is still listed as “result to follow.” Once it’s posted we’ll update our Griffith page, so check back if you just have to know. The top seller was yet another Ferrari, this time a 1970 Ferrari 365 GT 2+2 for $257,360. Final results can be found here.
