April 2018 Auction Highlights

We’re kicking off April with a sale from Artcurial. The top sale was this 1939 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS Spider for $337,628.

Photo – Artcurial

The Citroen DS 21 Cabriolet we featured sold for $156,745 and the Bristol brought $38,167. Click here for complete results.

Next up, Brightwells Bicester Classic & Vintage sale. The De Dion-Bouton and Scripps-Booth both failed to sell, but the ultra-rare Palladium Sports brought $13,342. The overall top seller was $113,242 for this 1933 Alvis Speed 20 SA Vanden Plas Sports Tourer. Click here for everything else.

Photo – Brightwells

Onward to Barrett-Jackson in Palm Beach. Both of our feature cars sold: the Kaiser Club Sedan brought $44,000 and the DeSoto Fireflite sold for $225,500. The top sale was this 2012 Lexus LFA Nurburgring Edition for $770,000. With a price like that, expect to see more of these at auctions soon. More results can be found here.

Photo – Barrett-Jackson

Now we have Osenat and a small selection of modern cars. We didn’t feature anything, but this $177,745 2012 Ferrari FF was the top seller. See everything else here.

Photo – Osenat

And finally, H&H Classics’ Pavilion Gardens sale. We didn’t feature anything here either but this 1960 Daimler SP250 Dart topped the charts at $60,282. Click here for other results.

Photo – H&H Classics

Bugatti Type 57 Galibier

1939 Bugatti Type 57 Galibier Sedan

Offered by Osenat | Strasboug, France | May 1, 2018

Photo – Osenat

The Type 57 was the last hurrah for the original Bugatti company. Designed by Ettore’s son Jean, they first went on sale in 1934 and were built up through the outbreak of WWII. There were many variants, including the much sought-after 57S and 57SC.

This is a standard Type 57, meaning it uses a 3.3-liter straight-eight engine borrowed from the Type 59 Grand Prix cars. Power is a healthy 135 horsepower. The aluminium body is the factory-offered Galibier four-door sedan – the only factory four-door for the Type 57.

This particular chassis was built near the end of the production run and was the second-to-last sedan assembled (this was June of 1939). Originally black, it was delivered new to Nantes, France. It has a known chain of owners and events since then.

Bugatti built 710 examples of the Type 57 (including all sub models). This restored “base model” sedan should bring between $430,000-$675,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $516,615.

Porsche 914/6 Murene Prototype

1969 Porsche 914/6 Murene by Heuliez

Offered by Osenat | Strasbourg, France | May 1, 2018

Photo – Osenat

The Porsche 914 was a sports car designed in collaboration with Volkswagen. It went on sale in 1969 and was built through 1976. It’s mid-engined and came with a flat-four or a flat-six in 914/6 configuration.

This car is unlike any other 914. First of all, it’s a closed coupe and not a targa, as the 914 was from the factory. It was designed by Jacques Cooper (who also designed the original French TGV high-speed train) and he took the design to Heuliez who had a car mocked up and then built.

It debuted at the 1970 Paris Motor Show and still used a 2.0-liter flat-six that makes 109 horsepower. Porsche was working with Karmann to build the cars and didn’t want to split the duties between two coachbuilders. Heuliez bought the car from the firm that Cooper was working for when he designed it and kept it until 2012 when they liquidated most of their collection. Since its recent acquisition, the new owner went through the car mechanically and made it fit to drive. It’s a one-off, coachbuilt Porsche Prototype and it should bring between $225,000-$275,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Bugatti Petit Royale

1930 Bugatti Type 46 Coupe de Ville

Offered by Osenat | Strasbourg, France | May 1, 2018

Photo – Osenat

This car might look like one of the ultra-rare, ultra-pricey, ultra-huge Bugatti Type 41 Royales – but it isn’t. But it is supposed to look like one. There are only six Royales around but there were about 400 Type 46s built. And this one was constructed to look just like it’s much larger brother.

The Type 46 was built between 1929 and 1936 (which includes the supercharged Type 46S variant). The engine is a 5.4-liter straight-eight good for 140 horsepower in naturally-aspirated form. This particular car was discovered in France in the 1970s and all that was salvageable was the engine and some parts. Replica isn’t quite the right word, but the owners decided to take what they’d found and build to-scale version of their favorite Royale.

Built to exacting 0.87 scale, the new body is fantastic. The project was completed in 1986 but records have been identified that trace the history of at least the engine back to new. You’re never going to get the opportunity to acquire a true Royale, so you might as well buy a car that looks just like it from the same manufacturer. It is expected that $430,000-$550,000 will be needed to take this home. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $459,937.

March 2018 Auction Results, Pt. III

Yet more sales from March, beginning with H&H Classics at the Imperial War Museum. Interestingly, there was a collection of Nash-related motorcars sold at this sale. These included the one-off Nash Pickup that sold for $30,216 and the LaFayette that brought $63,614. The overall top sale was this 1966 Aston Martin DB6 that went for $326,023.

Photo – H&H Classics

The White half-track we featured failed to sell and you can find more results here.

Osenat’s March sale saw this 1928 Bugatti Type 44 Cabriolet by Vanvooren bring some big money: $446,583.

Photo – Osenat

The La Buire Coupe we featured brought $64,754 and the Venturi Coupe $52,101. Click here for more results.

Leclere MDV held a sale the same weekend as Osenat and both of our feature cars failed to sell (the Léon Bollée and the Aston Martin Cygnet). The top sale was $518,607 paid for this 1953 Mercedes-Benz 300 S Coupe. Full results can be found here.

Photo – Leclere MDV

Next we have Mecum during the first full weekend in April. They were in Houston and the Continental Mk II we featured failed to sell. The top sale was this 2006 Ford GT for $286,000. Click here for complete results.

Photo – Mecum

Finally, RM Sotheby’s in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. This is the first sale from RM Sotheby’s that would’ve been under the Auctions America banner last year (we miss you Auctions America!). The top sale was a 1962 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster for $1,540,000.

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The Acura NSX we featured brought $71,500 and the Buick Roadmaster Sport Phaeton sold for $56,100. The Laforza was a relative bargain at $4,125. And a previously-featured Michigan Touring car failed to sell at this auction. Click here for more results. from this sale.

Venturi 260 APC

1991 Venturi Coupe 260 APC

Offered by Osenat | Fontainebleau, France | March 24, 2018

Photo – Osenat

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: we love Venturis! Founded in the 1980s, the first Venturi road cars went on sale in 1987. The first series of models, the Coupes, were built into 1996 (the 260 LM was the final iteration).

This is a Coupe 260 APC. It was built from 1990 through 1996 and is powered by a turbocharged 2.8-liter V-6 making 260 horsepower. The APC model was thus named because it is equipped with a catalytic converter. Sixty mph arrives in 5.2 seconds.

Only 70 examples of the 260 APC were built and this carries chassis #21. This car is in good shape with exterior yellow paint and a blue interior. Venturis are always cool and this car is no exception. It should bring between $43,000-$55,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $52,101.

La Buire Coupe

1910 La Buire Type 8000

Offered by Osenat | Fontainebleau, France | March 24, 2018

Photo – Osenat

La Buire was founded in 1847 to produce chassis for rail cars. In 1900, the company joined forces with Léon Serpollet and turned to automobiles. Their first car was presented in 1904 and the marque lasted through 1930.

This “Type 8000” is a coupe with house-like windows and a very carriage-like appearance. It’s powered by a four-cylinder engine, likely displacing 3.2-liters and rated at 12 horsepower. It was the the company’s small car for 1910.

It’s an older French car with a very nice interior. It’s definitely the most interesting-looking example of a La Buire I’ve come across in the past decade. It should bring between $25,000-$37,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $64,754.

January 2018 Auction Highlights, Pt. II

Starting off this post with more from Arizona in January. First: Bonhams. The top sale here cleared everything else they had to offer by a few million dollars. It was this 1958 Porsche 550A Spyder (and my new desktop wallpaper) for $5,170,000.

Photo – Bonhams

Our three feature cars all sold. The Knox Touring brought $145,000. The one-off Molzon Concept Corsa sold for $41,800. and the Sabra was right behind it at $40,700. Click here for the rest of their results.

Far away from Arizona, Osenat held a sale the same weekend as the Scottsdale madness. We didn’t feature anything, but this 1952 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport in mid-restoration condition was the top sale at $206,616. Click here for more lots and results.

Photo – Osenat

Back to Scottsdale with Worldwide Auctioneers. They had, perhaps, the most looked-forward-to car (and definitely the most interesting) of the entire week: Hitler’s Mercedes. Unfortunately, the high bid of $7,000,000 wasn’t enough to take it home. The 1907 Cadillac we featured brought $93,500 and the Kurtis Indy Roadster $308,000. The top sale overall was $420,000 for this 1938 Mercedes-Benz 320 Cabriolet. Click here for more results.

Photo – Worldwide Auctioneers

Onward to Russo & Steele where this 1967 Cheetah was the top seller at $660,000.

Photo – Russo & Steele

The ASA Spider we featured sold for $67,100 and you can see the rest of the results here.

Finally, in the U.K., we have the first sale of the year from Brightwells, their Modern Classics sale. We didn’t feature anything, but the top sale was this 1988 Mercedes-Benz 300SL for $26,127. Click here for complete results.

Photo – Brightwells

November 2017 Auction Highlights, Pt. II

We’re starting this post off with a fascinating liquidation sale brought to us by Bonhams. They auctioned off the Lindley Bothwell collection of historic motorcars. The top sale, as predicted everywhere, was the unbelievable Peugeot Grand Prix car for $7,260,000. The other million dollar cars we featured were the Mercedes-Simplex for $1,072,500 and the Benz racer for $1,870,000.

Of the cars we featured, the only one that was remotely affordable was the Crestmobile that sold for $39,600. As far as interesting sales, this 1910 Pope-Hartford Model W 50HP Racer takes the cake, selling for $264,000.

Photo – Bonhams

The rest of our feature cars all sold. The twin-cylinder Packard sold for $423,500, the Austro-Daimler $176,000, and the Clement-Panhard $60,500. Click here for complete results, including quite a number of model trains and even some horse-drawn streetcars.

Half a world away, H&H Classics held their final automobile sale of the year. The biggest sale went to this 1963 Jaguar E-Type Series I 3.8 Coupe for $240,442. The Austin Prototype we featured failed to find a new home. Click here for complete results.

Photo – H&H Classics

Next up, Osenat’s final automotive sale of 2017. There were a few cars worthy of being featured from this sale, but we ran out of time. Blame Lindley Bothwell. The top sale was this 1972 Dino 246 GT for $297,145. Click here for more results.

Photo – Osenat

Sotheby’s sold one of Michael Schumacher’s F1 cars, specifically this 2001 Ferrari F2001, at a Contemporary Art Auction in New York. Kind of weird as F1 cars are more functional than they are art. Anyway, it brought an impressive $7,504,000.

Photo – Sotheby’s

Finally, Mecum in Kansas City. The top sale here was this 2005 Ford GT for $265,000.

Photo – Mecum

The Stellite we featured a while back sold again, this time for $3,750. My personal offer of $4,000 still stands. Email me and I’ll buy it. Click here for the rest of their results.

October 2017 Auction Highlights, Pt. III

October was a busy month. This is our third results rundown and we start with Barrett-Jackson in Las Vegas. There wasn’t any time to feature anything from this sale, but the biggest money went to this 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder for $1,760,000. Click here for more results.

Photo – Barrett-Jackson

Across the ocean we go to our next sale, Osenat in France. We didn’t get to feature anything, but the top sale was this 1968 Lancia Flaminia Coupe for $97,518. Click here to see the rest of their lots.

Photo – Osenat

Let’s stay in France for Leclere’s Parisian motorcars sale. Again, we lacked a feature car here but the biggest money went to this 1982 Renault 5 Turbo privateer rally car for $197,358. The rest of their sales can be found here.

Photo – Leclere

Brightwell’s Bicester Classic & Vintage Cars sale was held in October and we were able to feature three cars from this one. Of those three, the Autovia sedan brought the most at $98,463. The top sale overall was $160,167 for this 1976 Ferrari 308 GTB.

Photo – Brightwells

The Friswell we featured sold for $31,508 and the Calthorpe beat its estimate, bringing $27,569. Everything else can be found here.

And finally, Bonhams in Padua, Italy. Our lone feature car, the Abarth Monomille GT, sold for $120,111. The top sale overall? This 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster for $1,040,968. Click here for complete results.

Photo – Bonhams