Bond Equipe

1970 Bond Equipe 2-Litre GT Mk II

Offered by Oldtimer Galerie | Toffen, Switzerland | April 21, 2018

Photo – Oldtimer Galerie

Bond Cars Ltd was a British manufacturer primarily known for their three-wheeled vehicles, namely the Bond Minicar and the Bond Bug. The Equipe, which was introduced in 1963, was their first foray into the world of four-wheeled vehicles.

The Equipe was built through 1970 when Reliant, who had acquired Bond, shuttered Bond’s Preston, England, factory. There were five different Equipe models with this, the 2-Litre being available from 1967 through the end of production in 1970. A two-door Saloon and Convertible were offered. This is obviously the saloon. It’s powered by a 2.0-liter Triumph straight-four that made 95 horsepower (or 105 as the catalog states).

Styling on the 2-Litre differed rather dramatically from earlier cars and it was the final iteration of the model. In all, 591 examples of the two-door saloon were built, which makes it rarer than its convertible counterpart. This 48,000km example looks nice and will go under the hammer in Switzerland later this month. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Wide-Body XK120

1951 Jaguar XK120 Cabriolet by Autenrieth

Offered by Oldtimer Galerie | Gstaad, Switzerand | December 29, 2017

Photo – Oldtimer Galerie

British sports cars are known for being small and having cramped quarters for driver and passenger. The Jaguar XK120 was no exception. Introduced in 1948, it was Jaguar’s first post-war sports car and it was unlike anything else on the road at the time.

It was powered by a 160 horsepower, 3.4-liter straight-six. The “120” in the car’s name referred to it’s top speed in mph. It was lauded as “the world’s fastest production car,” which was largely marketing B.S. as a pre-war Model J Duesenberg could supposedly do 130+ (but I guess that wasn’t classified as a “production” car?).

Anyway, about those cramped quarters. This car was ordered new by a man in Frankfurt, Germany. He didn’t like the way he fit inside of it, so he shipped it to Autenrieth in Darmstadt and they built a wider body for the car, enlarging the passenger compartment to make it roomier. Strangely, the body was built in two halves by two different teams and then joined when placed on the car. If there was a reality competition show about coachbuilding, this is how it would be done. You can apparently still see the seam under the hood.

Autenrieth planned to build eight of these, but this was the only one completed as it brought with it an immense cost. It may still look like a stock XK120, but it is indeed different. Discovered in 1990 after 25 years of disuse, it was restored between 1991 and 1994 and again between 2010 and 2012, when the original engine was re-installed. This one-off Jag will be one of the last cars sold at auction in 2017. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Yummy Motors XCT-R

2009 Yummy Motors XCT-R

Offered by Oldtimer Galerie Toffen | Zurich, Switzerland | June 17, 2017

Photo – Oldtimer Galerie Toffen

We’ll just go ahead and address it up front: “Yummy Motors” is one of the strangest names for a car company we’ve ever heard. They are – or more likely, were – a Swiss-based company and their website offers precious little information.

Their XCT-R is a Caterham-based sports car with a more enclosed passenger compartment. It’s a coupe with McLaren F1-style bat-wing doors. There’s a 2.3-liter six-cylinder engine under the long-looking hood that makes 200 horsepower. Caterhams are very sporty, well-driving cars so this one should be too.

It appears Yummy Motors only managed to produce one example, this one, and it is road-registered in Switzerland. No pre-sale estimate is available but this car will sell at auction, thus finally answering the question: what will someone pay for a car called a “Yummy?” Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Sbarro SB2 Tornado

2005 Sbarro SB2 Tornado

Offered by Oldtimer Galerie Toffen | Toffen, Switzerland | April 29, 2017

Photo – Oldtimer Galerie Toffen

Franco Sbarro founded the car company that bears his name in 1971. Over the years they’ve alternated between building replicas of other cars and wild designs of their own. This car definitely falls under the latter category.

In 2004, Sbarro showed a car called the SB1 – a two-seat roadster based on a Ferrari 550 Maranello. The next year they showed this, the SB2 Tornado, again based on the 550 Maranello. In fact, it still has Ferrari badging around the car, though the catalog lists it as a “1994,” which was long before 550 production began.

It’s powered by the Ferrari 5.5-liter V-12 making 485 horsepower. This is the only example built and I have to say, it’s really not that bad looking. It looks sporty, racy, and like something Ferrari might have built themselves as a concept car. No estimate is available but you can read more about it here and see more from this sale here.

Bitter SC

1985 Bitter SC 3.0 Coupe

Offered by Oldtimer Galerie | Toffen, Switzerland | November 26, 2016

Photo - Oldtimer Galerie

Photo – Oldtimer Galerie

Erich Bitter – and his Schwelm, Germany, based Erich Bitter Automobil GmbH – started building cars in 1973 when Opel decided against putting a prototype coupe into production. Bitter got the rights, outsourced production, and boom, Bitter is a legitimate manufacturer or sports cars.

The company’s followup model was the 1979-1985 SC. It was available in Coupe, Convertible, or Sedan form (you could even buy the sedan in the U.S.). The Coupe was the most popular variant, with 461 of them built and this example being among the last completed. Of course, Bitter was still outsourcing the construction of their cars, and the SC was assembled by Steyr-Daimler-Puch in Graz, Austria.

Two engines were available, with this car carrying the smaller 3.0-liter straight-six making 177 horsepower. With styling reminiscent of the Ferrari 365 GT4 and 400 series, it is rather unique, even if it might not boast the most power for a sports coupe. This one is listed as being in very good condition and it should bring between $26,000-$28,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Sbarro Espera

2007 Sbarro Espera Turbo S20e

Offered by Oldtimer Galerie | Zurich, Switzerland | June 11, 2016

Photo - Oldtimer Galerie

Photo – Oldtimer Galerie

Franco Sbarro started building cars in 1971 in Switzerland. They started in the replica business but in the 1980s they built small runs of original cars. Over the past 20 years, it seems like all they do is build really out-there concept cars that debut at the Swiss motor show each year. Like really out there.

The car you see here is a one off Sbarro (as are most). It was built over a period of four months by students at the L’école Espera Sbarro in France (it’s an automotive design school). It’s based on a 1991 Isdera chassis and powered by a 5.0-liter V-8 from a Mercedes-Benz E-Class that is mid-mounted and makes 326 horsepower. It’s not actually turbocharged, despite the name, which comes from Turbo, a French TV program.

The body is fiberglass and it has gullwing doors. This is a one-off car from a manufacturer that really sees its cars come up for sale. The pre-sale estimate is $195,000-$225,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Mercedes-Benz 130H

1935 Mercedes-Benz 130H

Offered by Oldtimer Galerie | Toffen, Switzerland | April 23, 2016

Photo - Oldtimer Galerie

Photo – Oldtimer Galerie

If you think of Mercedes-Benz and the 1930s, you might come up with big, beautiful cars like the the 500/540K or something even larger. But Mercedes had a full range of cars on sale, including this, the 130H.

This range represented the smallest cars available from Mercedes-Benz in the day. The 130H was offered alongside the 150H and 170H (both of which had more power) – making this the baby. It is powered by a 1.3-liter straight-four making 25 horsepower. The engine was mounted in the rear, driving the rear wheels. The suspension was such that the car rode very well, but handled extremely poorly. This is the sedan model (other body styles were also offered).

It was only produced between 1934 and 1936, with just 4,298 cars built in total. It’s a very rare model today and this one, while restored a while ago, has had recent engine service. This was a German every man’s car for the 1930s and it should bring between $35,500-$37,500. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.