Tag Archives: rm auctions

Rounds Rocket

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1949 Rounds Rocket

Offered by RM Auctions, Boca Raton, Florida, February 25, 2012

This beastly mid-engined Indy car was built by Indy car-building legends Lujie Lesovsky & Emil Diedt for a man named Nathan Rounds, who provided the funding and the original drawing of the car that he modeled after the brilliant pre-war Auto Unions.

Because both Diedt and Lesovsky were busy building their own successful race cars, this car was barely ready for the 1949 Indy 500 where it as entered with Bill Taylor as the driver. He did not qualify. In 1950 both Sam Hanks and Bill Vukovich gave the car a run and failed to make the show. Bill Vukovich was a man among men at Indianapolis and – even though 1950 was his rookie year – if he couldn’t get the car in, there was scarcely hope.

Intrigue: Nathan Rounds was close friends with Howard Hughes and it is suspected that Hughes money was behind the project. After failing to make Indy in 1950 the car was shipped to Beverly Hills where it sat in storage, although it did appear in a Mickey Rooney film in 1949.

Bill Harrah (of course) discovered the car in 1969 and bought it. When his collection was parted out the car was purchased and restored and eventually purchased by the Milhous Collection in 1998.

Here is your chance to purchase a car that was extremely ahead of its time. Indy cars would be front-engined for at least another 10 years and here was this brilliant car that had come along and said “the way of the future” (that’s a Howard Hughes quote from The Aviator).

It features an Meyer-Drake Offenhauser straight-four engine (naturally), making about 350 horsepower. It’s fast too – it was tested at Bonneville after it was completed and was clocked at 140 mph. The no reserve pre-sale estimate is $250,000-$350,000. For the complete catalog description, click here and for the rest of the collection click here.

Update: Sold $275,000.

Duesenberg J-208

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1930 Duesenberg Model J Convertible Sedan by Murphy

Offered by RM Auctions, Boca Raton, Florida, February 25, 2012

I’m trying to figure out if everyone is selling their Murphy-bodied Model Js this year or if the law of averages is in effect, as Murphy bodied the most Model Js. Either way, here’s another great looking Convertible Sedan by Murphy for the taking.

This is the original body wearing a very nice two-tone red paint job. The car was used as a factory demonstrator by the New York Duesenberg branch. Do you think they slashed the price on it and had big sticky letters on the windshield identifying it as a “Demo?” I doubt it. The car was sold to someone in Los Angeles who quickly turned around and sold it again – to the husband of actress Dolores Del Rio – another Duesenberg with a 1930s Hollywood connection.

The car was restored in the late 80s and retained it’s original 265 horsepower straight-8 engine (J208). It presents very nice and is expected to fetch somewhere between $900,000-$1,200,000 – and it’s selling without reserve. For the complete catalog description, click here and to see the rest of the lineup, here.

Update: Sold $990,000.

Update: Sold, Broad Arrow Auctions 2023, $1,380,000.

1912 Oldsmobile Limited

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1912 Oldsmobile Limited Five-Passenger Touring

Offered by RM Auctions, Boca Raton, Florida, February 25, 2012

Cars do not come much more grand than this. Built for only three model years (1910, 1911, and 1912), the Oldsmobile Limited might very well be the greatest car Oldsmobile ever built. They were available in a number of bodystyles – and an unrestored barn-find 7-Passenger Touring model sold for $1.6 million at an RM Auction in 2007.

This is one of only 140 Limiteds built in 1912 (only 725 were built in total) and the only 1912 known to exist. The first owner was Canadian and it has passed through the collection of Otis Chandler on its way to the Milhous Collection in Florida. These cars are immense – they should really put something in the photo (like Shaquille O’Neal) so you can compare it to the largest wheels ever fitted to a production car – 42 inches (take that, rap stars). It’s seven feet tall and over 17 feet long. In other words, giant.

The 11.5 liter (!) T-head six-cylinder engine produces 60 horsepower and was enough for a capable top speed. There is a famous painting of an Olds Limited outrunning the 20th Century Limited (a train).

A new Limited in 1910 would run you $4,600. By 1912, the limousine model would require at least $7,000. So even the base model cost more than a three-bedroom house at the time. Well, that’s still true today. With a pre-sale estimate of $1,400,000-$1,600,000 you could trade a very nice house for this car. Pre-WWI cars do not come much better than this. For the complete catalog description, click here. To see the rest of the Milhous Collection, click here.

Update: Sold $3,300,000.

1913 Alco Touring Car

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1913 Alco Six Model H Five-Passenger Touring

Offered by RM Auctions, Boca Raton, Florida, February 24-25, 2012

The American Locomotive Company was formed in 1901 as the result of a merger between eight smaller locomotive manufacturers. This made Alco the second-largest steam locomotive producer in the United States.

In 1906 the company began producing Berliet automobiles under license (as American Berliet). This license agreement was trashed in 1908 in favor building their own cars. Alco cars won the Vanderbilt Cup in 1909 and 1910 and competed in the inaugural Indianapolis 500 in 1911. Alco was also the first automobile company at which man named Walter P. Chrysler worked before he left in 1911 to join Buick.

In 1913 Alco shifted their focus back to locomotives (they had lost an average of over $450 on every car sold since 1906), producing their last steam locomotive in 1948 and final diesel locomotive in 1969.

The car seen here is a six-cylinder Model H from the final year of production. It is believed that this car was featured on the Alco stand at the 1913 New York Auto Show. It has 60 horsepower and after the completion of restoration in the mid-1990s, the car was “mechanically updated” in order to take place in brass-era tours. So it’s a driver.

Only six of these cars are known to exist and this one is a glorious example. There is something undeniably stately and imposing about large brass-era touring cars. The estimate on this car is $400,000-$600,000 and is offered from the Milhous Collection. For the complete catalog description, click here and to see all of the other interesting things available at this sale, click here.

Update: Sold $506,000.

Duesenberg J-487

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1930 Duesenberg Model J LWB Dual Cowl Phaeton by LeBaron

Sold by RM Auctions | Phoenix, Arizona | January 19, 2012

Photo – RM Auctions

We somehow missed featuring this Duesenberg during the hype and excitement leading up to the auctions in Arizona in January. And since one of my goals here is to feature every Model J that comes up for sale, here it is.

This is actually my favorite bodystyle – the LeBaron Dual Cowl Phaeton. It is also the coachwork most commonly associated with the Model J. And this is the only long-wheelbase Dual Cowl Phaeton built by LeBaron and it is the original body.

The engine, however, is not. When this car was delivered to a Mr. J. Clarke Dean of Chicago, Illinois in 1930, it had engine J-320 under the hood. The second owner discovered, in 1948, that the engine had been replaced with J-487 – an engine with no known previous history in another car. As always, the straight-8 makes 265 horsepower.

The sweep panel two-tone paint scheme is also my favorite. Black and red is the most common I’ve seen although most combinations are attractive (green and black is how I will have mine, please). LeGrande also built sweep panel Dual Cowl Phaetons that looked more or less the same. The way to tell the difference is that, on a LeGrande, the sweep of color extends farther down, halfway through the door.

This car was estimated between $900,000-$1,200,000. With this desirable, original coachwork, known history and coming from the John O’Quinn collection, it is definitely worth that. It sold for $880,000. Well bought. To read the complete catalog description, click here.

Update: RM Auctions, Amelia Island 2015:

Photo - RM Auctions

Photo – RM Auctions

Sold $1,155,000.

Update: RM Sotheby’s, Amelia Island 2019:

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Sold $1,650,000.

RM in Arizona Highlights

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RM’s big sale in Arizona (almost two weeks ago… we’ve kind of had a backlog of auction results to publish and they were the last to publish their results online). As I’m looking back at it, we featured a number of cars from this auction including their top seller: this 1957 Ferrari 410 Superamerica that sold for $1,815,000. The second highest-selling car was the first car we featured, the most fantastic looking BMW 507 Roadster I’ve ever laid eyes on. It sold for $990,000. RM sold 90% of their cars for a total of $25.6 million.

A trio of pre-1905 American cars all sold, including our featured 1901 Duryea Four-Wheel Phaeton that was purchased by Mr. Car Crazy, Barry Meguiar for $96,250. Also sold were the 1903 Waverely Electric Surrey for $110,000 and the 1903 Stearns Suburban for $82,500. One of two cars we featured that did not sell was the 1913 Pathfinder Touring car, which was bid to $90,000.

A giant 1956 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham Town Car Concept sold for $258,500, missing its reserve by $50,000. This car came from the John O’Quinn collection and had gone unsold at at least one other RM event.

From the 1950s we featured a 1953 Nash-Healey and a 1954 Allard K3. The Nash-Healey brought $71,500, just short of my projection and the Allard was a relative steal at $57,750 – less than half of what a similar car (or the same one) was listed as “for sale” for a few months back.

Other pre-war cars that sold were the very rare Brewster-Knight that sold for $88,000. And that wonderful, purple Isotta Fraschini sold for $407,000 – dead on what I said it would bring (no I’m not bragging). Also sold was this amazing 1937 Cord 812 SC Sportsman Convertible Coupe. One of 64 – yours for $385,000.

Supercar fans could have had their choice of our featured Tom Walkinshaw Racing prepared 1993 Jaguar XJ220 S that sold for $230,000. Or the always popular Ferrari F40, this a 1991 model that brought an astounding $781,000.

The other Ferrari we featured, a 1983 512 BBi sold for $96,250. And the other Jaguar, a 1967 Series I E-Type went unsold. There was another very rare old Ferrari at this sale, a 1952 342 America Coupe Speciale by Pinin Farina – one of six built and one of only three coupes built by Pinin Farina. It sold for $632,500.

There was a Duesenberg Model J sold at this sale and I’ve said previously that we’d feature every Model J Duesenberg that comes up for sale if at all possible. Well, we ran out of time before the sale. Once we clear the backlog and get caught up we’ll be sure to have a rundown of that car.

For complete auction results, click here.

1903 Waverley Electric

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1903 Waverley Model 20a Electric Surrey

Offered by RM Auctions | Phoenix, Arizona | January 20, 2012

Photo – RM Auctions

Waverely existed in a few different uninterrupted iterations between 1898 and 1914. The company can trace its roots back to Chicago-based American Electric Vehicle Company which merged with Augustus Pope’s Indiana Bicycle Company in 1898. This is when the Waverely name first appeared. Pope pulled the marque into his own mini automotive empire, creating Pope-Waverely in 1903. This was one of what had to have been very few Waverelys produced in 1903 before the name change. After the Pope Manufacturing Company went bust, Waverely became its own marque once again in 1908.

This 1903 Model 20a features two DC electric motors creating a whopping three horsepower each with overload capacity of the same amount. A number of Waverelys still exists as the company was relatively successful in the early days of electric motoring. An advertisement for the company said: “No complications. Turn on power and steer.” As you can see from the picture below, it is relatively spartan and simple. A company that lived up to its word? Shocking.

1903 Waverley Electric Surrey

Photo – RM Auctions

RM estimates this car between $50,000-$80,000. For more info click here and for more on RM in Arizona click here.

Update: Sold $110,000.

1901 Duryea Phaeton

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1901 Duryea Four-Wheel Phaeton

Offered by RM Auctions | Phoenix, Arizona | January 20, 2012

Photo – RM Auctions

Charles and Frank Duryea built the first gasoline-powered car in the United States, doing so in 1893. Two years later, Frank won the first American motor race and the brothers began selling copies of their Duryea Motor Wagon.

Production never reached astronomic proportions – in fact, the cars were so expensive that not many were sold at all. Some early cars were three-wheeled in nature and the National Automobile Museum in Reno, Nevada has a three-wheeled Duryea that looks remarkable similar to the car pictured here. The craftsmanship on both cars is fantastic.

This car features a 10 horsepower three-cylinder engine and tiller steering. It is being offered from the estate of mega-collector John O’Quinn. RM estimates this car will sell for $40,000-$60,000. It’s rare, beautiful, interesting, and worth it.

For more information, click here with more on RM in Arizona here.

Update: Sold $96,250.

Brewster-Knight Model 41

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1915 Brewster-Knight Model 41 Landaulet

Offered by RM Auctions | Phoenix, Arizona | January 19, 2012

Photo – RM Auctions

Here’s something you don’t see everyday. Brewster & Co. were a famous coachbuilding company based in New York as well as the American importers of French Delaunay-Belleville cars (rare enough in their own right). They were also the largest coachbuilder for Springfield, Massachusetts-based Rolls-Royce of America (and British Rolls-Royce once their American arm shut down in 1931).

During the First World War, Delaunay-Bellevilles were hard to come by and Brewster turned to building their own cars. This 1915 Model 41 was from the first year of manufacture and it featured the sleeve-valve Knight engine – as did so many other [Company Name Here]-Knight branded automobiles. The 40 horsepower four-cylinder engine was quiet – and expensive. Perhaps too expensive as Brewster-Knight built roughly 500 cars before Rolls-Royce of America acquired the company in 1925.

The pre-sale estimate on this car is $60,000-$80,000. I’ve seen some Brewster-bodied cars (notably those Brewster-Fords with that curvy, pointed grille) sell here and there but I don’t recall a Brewster-Knight.

The auction catalog says this car was probably built in 1916, even though it is title differently. Read for yourself here and find out more about the auction here.

Update: Sold $88,000.

1903 Stearns Suburban

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1903 Stearns Suburban Rear-Entry Tonneau

Offered by RM Auctions | Phoenix, Arizona | January 19, 2012

Frank B. Stearns organized F.B. Stearns & Company in 1898 with his brothers and they began producing automobiles out of their family’s barn in Cleveland. This 1903 Suburban model featured an 11 horsepower single-cylinder engine. Stearns sold his company to Willys in 1925 and Willys scuttled the company in 1929. In their day, Stearns automobiles were among America’s best – on the same level as Packard. But there are far fewer Stearns’ left in existence.

The car was tracked down in Michigan in the 1950s and restored in 1993. The car has not been driven much since the full restoration and still looks great. It is offered from the estate of John O’Quinn – a massive car collector who died a few years ago and RM has been parting the collection out since.

RM’s pre-sale estimate is $80,000-$100,000. Learn more about the car here (including the possible Astor-family connection). RM’s Arizona sale details are available here.

Update: Sold $82,500.