Tag Archives: mercedes-benz

190 Evo II

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1990 Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.5-16 Evolution II

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Stoneleigh Park, U.K. | February 28, 2016

Photo - Silverstone Auctions

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

We’ve recently featured a Mercedes-Benz 190 Evolution I. That car was the 1989 homologation model for DTM. This, the Evolution II, came a year later and looks more or less the same other than a larger rear wing. It has all the looks of a road-going DTM machine. It’s a pretty extreme body kit for what was supposed to be a sensible sedan.

The engine here is a 2.5-liter straight-four making 235 horsepower – a substantial enough increase over the Evo I. Top speed is 155 mph. Only 502 of these were built and all sold out immediately upon going on sale.

This is car 262 and it only has 1,723 miles on it, making it essentially brand new. It should bring between $200,000-$225,000. That’s a lot of money for a 26-year-old car that originally sold new for $80,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $407,500.

December 2015 Auction Highlights, Pt. II

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Rounding out 2015, we have an all-Porsche sale from Auctionata. The top sale was this 1970 Porsche 911 2.3 ST Group IV for $1,167,800. Click here for the full rundown.

Photo - Auctionata

Photo – Auctionata

Bonhams held a special sale of the two millionth Land Rover – a 2015 Land Rover Defender 90 that brought $596,404.

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

And to finish off 2015, Coys’ London sale. The top seller was this 1969 Mercedes-Benz SSK Count Trossi re-creation (based around the mechanical bits of a 1953 MB 300). It brought $502,625.

Photo - Coys

Photo – Coys

Both of our featured cars, the Delin and SLR Stirling Moss, failed to sell. Check here for complete results.

Now we move into January and that means Mecum’s Kissimmee sale. The top seller was our featured 1970 Plymouth Hemi Cuda Convertible for $2,675,000. The next top seller was a 1971 Plymouth Hemi Cuda Convertible. For a one model year newer car you’re gonna pay $2,300,000.

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

A 1970 Dodge Hemi Challenger Convertible we featured also broke the big money barrier, coming in at $1,650,000. And the Corphibian Prototype brought a relatively reasonable $70,000. Click here for full results.

With this post, we are getting into the Scottsdale sales, starting with Bonhams where our featured McLaren P1 was the top sale at $2,090,000. A previously-featured Buckmobile sold for $44,000. Interesting sales included this 1993 Porsche 911 Strosek Mega Speedster for $134,200.

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

The 1928 Mercedes-Benz La Baule brought $973,500 and the Fiat 8V failed to sell. More results can be found on Bonhams’ website.

540K Special Roadster

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1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster by Sindelfingen

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Phoenix, Arizona | January 28-29, 2016

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

You’re looking at what might be the biggest dollar car sold at this year’s Arizona auctions. It’s certainly among the most beautiful (okay it is the most beautiful). This is the Benz of the 1930s. The 540K was introduced at the 1936 Paris Motor Show, an evolution of the 500K.

The 540K is powered by a 5.4-liter straight-eight that makes 115 horsepower in normal operating mode and a sporty 180 horsepower when the supercharger was engaged via matting the pedal. 540Ks usually wear Cabriolet A, B, or C bodies by Sindelfingen. But the ultimate topless version was the Special Roadster.

This example is one of the earliest 540Ks known to exist and it was sold new in the United States and kept by the original owner up until the late 1950s. The current owner acquired the car in 1989, it having been restored prior to that acquisition. It is believed to have 10,277 original miles.

Not many of these were built but it is thought that only six remain in this specific style today. They never come up for sale. The pre-sale estimate of $10,000,000-$13,000,000 underscores how special these are. Don’t miss it. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $9,900,000.

630K by Saoutchik

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1928 Mercedes-Benz 630K La Baule Transformable by Saoutchik

Offered by Bonhams | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 28, 2016

Photo - Bonhams
Photo – Bonhams

We’ve featured a Mercedes-Benz 630K before and this car has much more attractive body work – from Jacques Saoutchik of all people, the man responsible for some of the most sought-after designs to ever come out of France. The 630K was the new name of the Mercedes 24/100/140 after the merger of Daimler and Benz.

Power here is supplied by a 6.2-liter supercharged straight-six – it puts out 100 horsepower normally and 138 once the supercharger is engaged. The “K” variant of the Typ 630 is the short-wheelbase version. Top speed was over 90 mph.

Only 267 Model K Mercedes’ were produced between 1926 and 1932. The early history of this car is not known, but it is believed that it has been in North America for many years. It was restored a while back, but not widely shown, meaning it is eligible for most major car shows. It’s a rare treat – Saoutchik body on a high-performance Benz chassis. It should bring between $1,000,000-$1,300,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $973,500.

Update: Not sold, Bonhams Amelia Island 2021.

November 2015 Auction Highlights, Pt. III

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This is the first time we’ve ever had to break our auction recap into three separate posts for a single month. Auctionata of Germany had a little sale, where this 1989 Ferrari Testarossa sold for $121,950. Click here for more.

Photo - Auctionata

Photo – Auctionata

Next up, we’ll jump back in time a little bit for Coys’ Frankfurt Motor Show Sale where this 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera 2.7 RS Touring was the top sale at $821,900.

Photo - Coys

Photo – Coys

Our featured Iso Lele failed to sell and complete results can be found here. We featured two cars from Brightwells’ November sale and the Albany failed to sell. The Marion brought $30,211. Two cars tied for the top sale, both selling for $87,611. They were this 1972 Jaguar E-Type Roadster (first below) and a 2014 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 319 CDI BlueEfficiency 4×4 McLaren Motorhome (second below).

Photo - Brightwells

Photo – Brightwells

Photo - Brightwells

Photo – Brightwells

Click here for complete results. Next up, Bonhams’ London sale. The Maserati Mistral Spyder sold for an undisclosed amount. The Sunbeam Tiger and Lagonda Rapide failed to sell. The top seller was this 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Coupe for $1,337,930.

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Our featured Aston Martin Lagonda sedan brought $636,100. Click here for complete results. Finally, we move across the U.K. to H&H Classics’ Chateau Impney sale. Our featured Marcos failed to sell. The top sale was this 1936 Bentley 4¼-Litre Pillarless Coupe by Gurney Nutting for $300,175.

Photo - H&H Classics

Photo – H&H Classics

Our featured TVR Tamora brought $27,932. Click here for more results.

SLR Stirling Moss

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2009 Mercedes-Benz SLR Stirling Moss

Offered by Coys | London, U.K. | December 1, 2015

Photo - Coys

Photo – Coys

Few race car drivers (let alone people) define Mercedes-Benz to the degree that Sir Stirling Moss does. He is one of the greatest racing drivers the world has had the pleasure to see compete. Active in the golden era of motorsport, he was a Mercedes factory team driver in the 1950s. He raced the original 300 SLR in 1955.

So it was only fitting that when Mercedes-Benz introduced the SLR McLaren in 2003 that the series would culminate in a tribute to Sir Stirling. This version was built in 2009 only and only 75 examples were made – and they were initially sold only to current SLR McLaren owners. The car is a tribute to Moss’s very famous 300 SLR. There’s no windshield – just two small “deflectors” that really can’t do all that much. These were not available for street use in America and were not sold here.

The engine is a 5.4-liter supercharged V-8 making 641 horsepower. Top speed is a brisk 217 mph. This car is one of only four that were painted white. It’s an insanely rare version of an already rare car. The Stirling Moss SLR was the swan song for the model and it was off the market in 2010. I’ve never seen one of these come up for sale, which is probably why Coys is not providing a pre-sale estimate. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

190 Evo I

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1989 Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.5-16 Evo I

Offered by Oldtimer Galerie | Toffen, Switzerland | November 28, 2015

Photo - Oldtimer Galerie

Photo – Oldtimer Galerie

Sports sedans don’t get much cooler than this. This was one of the first really serious performance sedans. And it remains, to this day, one of the best looking. The Mercedes-Benz 190 series was introduced in 1983 and lasted through 1993. There were a couple of different variations of the hot 190, with this being one of the best.

For starters, you can buy a 190 Cosworth for under $10,000. To rival the BMW M3 Evolution, Mercedes introduced the 190 E Evolution in 1989. It’s basically a homologation special for them to take the 190 DTM racing. There were two Evos, with the Evo II being even more extreme. The Evo I uses a tuned version of the 2.5-16 Cosworth’s engine. It’s a 2.5-liter straight-four making 195 horsepower.

Built in 1989 only, there were only 502 Evo I cars built. This one has had three owners and is “in need of a tune up.” It should bring between $36,000-$42,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this auction.

300SL Sportabteilung

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1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Race Car

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | New York, New York | December 10, 2015

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

The Mercedes-Benz 300SL “Gullwing” is one of the “must-have” collector cars for serious collectors. And serious collectors need only apply, because in recent years, prices for 300SLs have skyrocketed from around the $500,000 mark to an easy million. Total production of 300SL coupes was about 1,400 examples. Alloy (or aluminium-bodied) cars are highly sought after and very rare. But this is a different animal.

You’re looking at one of only four factory-prepped steel-bodied 300SL Gullwing race cars. Many Gullwings saw competition, usually in the hands of privateer weekend racers, but this is the real deal. Mercedes-Benz sent this car to their sporting department (or “Sportabteilung”) to beef it up to see what the stresses of racing did to their road car.

The engine is a 3.0-liter straight-six making an estimated 240 horsepower – more than a standard road cars. Other upgrades included a lower ride height, competition exhaust, better brakes, and more. Its factory race history is unknown, but it is believed that the car was used as a trainer by Juan Manuel Fangio, Stirling Moss, John Fitch, and others.

Mercedes sold the car to a guy in Paris who entered it in the 1956 Tour de France, in which the car finished second at the hands of Stirling Moss. The father of the current owner acquired the car in 1966. It sat for 40 years and was only recently “refurbished” to road-worthy condition. It has never been fully restored. It is the first of the four Sportabteilung Gullwings and one of only two known to still exist. It will likely become the most expensive 300SL to ever publicly trade hands. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

November 2015 Auction Highlights

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We’ll jump first into November with Artcurial’s sale. The top sale: this 1958 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster for $888,450. Click here for full results.

Photo - Artcurial

Photo – Artcurial

Next up, Auctions America’s sale held in Hilton Head on Halloween. The #1 seller was a 1967 Ferrari 330 GTC for $638,000.

Photo - Auctions America

Photo – Auctions America

Both of our feature cars from this sale sold, with the Enduro Mustang coming in at $40,700 and the Nissan 300ZX being the second-cheapest car in the entire sale at $12,100. Click here for more results. And going back to October, we have Dragone Auctions’ Fall sale in Connecticut. Neither of our feature cars (the Mercedes or Exemplar) sold. The top sale was this 1947 Lancia Aprilia Prototype that we should’ve featured but didn’t. It went for $396,000. Click here for complete results.

Photo - Dragone Auctions

Photo – Dragone Auctions

Now, let’s reach way back to August, for Coys’ Nurburgring sale. The top seller was this 1992 Ferrari F40 for $1,315,800. Our featured Giannini failed to sell. Click here for full results from Coys’ much-improved website.

Photo - Coys

Photo – Coys

And finally, Motostalgia’s Austin Grand Prix sale. The top sale was this 2005 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren for $407,000.

Photo - Motostalgia

Photo – Motostalgia

Both of our feature cars sold, with the De Tomaso Longchamp bringing $39,600 and the Intermeccanica Italia $105,600. Check out full results here.

October 2015 Auction Highlights

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Into October, Bonhams leads it off with a sale in Belgium that we were unable to feature anything from. The top sale was this 2011 Ferrari 599 SA Aperta for $1,012,638. Complete results can be found here.

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Artcurial sold a lone 1961 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster in Hong Kong this month. It went for an insane $11,180,606.

Photo - Artcurial

Photo – Artcurial

RM Sotheby’s held a sale in Hershey and their catalog was so full of early American marques that we got a little carried away and featured 31 cars from the sale. Oops. A couple of those didn’t sell (the Mitchell Baby Six, the Columbus Electric, the 1909 Stoddard-Dayton, and the Petrel Roadster). The top sale wasn’t a feature car, but this 1913 Pierce-Arrow Model 66-A Seven-Passenger Touring for $830,500.

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

Here are some big sellers from our feature cars, led by the only car to get its “own post”, the Oldsmobile Autocrat, which went for $698,500. Additionally:

Here’s some that we though were pretty good deals, or at least “affordable”:

And here is everything else:

Click here for even more results. Moving across the Atlantic to Germany, Auctionata held a sale in Berlin. The top sale was this 1950 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS Cabriolet by Pininfarina that brought $487,150. Click here for full results.

Photo - Auctionata

Photo – Auctionata

And finally, Mecum’s Chicago sale. Our featured AMX Prototype failed to sell, as did the Victress. The top sale was a 2005 Ford GT for $230,000.

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

The first Bricklin SV1 ever built brought $43,000. Click here for complete results.