Tag Archives: rm auctions

Rickenbacker Super Sport

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1926 Rickenbacker Eight Super Sport

Offered by RM Auctions | Monterey, California | August 15-16, 2014

Photo - RM Auctions

Photo – RM Auctions

I’m not sure who the modern-day Eddie Rickenbacker is. We really don’t have one – there are not jack-of-all-trades celebrities any more, in fact, most celebrities don’t have a single talent about them. Eddie raced Duesenbergs at Indy (hell, at one point, he owned the speedway!). He was America’s #1 flying ace in WWI. He was a celebrity when the war was over. And in 1922, he attached his name to an automobile built by the men behind E-M-F.

The first Rickenbacker automobiles weren’t anything super exciting (although they were among the first cars with four-wheel brakes). The company lasted from 1922-1927, and in 1926, they introduced the best thing they ever made: the Super Sport. It uses a 107 horsepower 4.4-liter straight-eight. The bodies were essentially the passenger compartment of an airplane (seriously, go to RM’s site and check out the pictures – what a design).

This particular Super Sport was shown on the stand at the 1926 New York Auto Show. Someone in Michigan bought it off the stand. The copper wire wheels, bumpers and trim are outstanding – as is the flying airplane hood ornament. This car is a stunner. The original owner willed the car to his grandson, who sold it to Bill Harrah after one of Harrah’s guys tracked this, the only surviving Super Sport, down.

Only 14-17 Super Sports were ever completed – and this is the one complete one in the world. It really is incredible. It should sell for between $600,000-$800,000. Click here for more info and here for more from RM.

Update: Sold $946,000.

Ferrari 275 GTB/C Speciale

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1964 Ferrari 275 GTB/C Speciale by Scaglietti

Offered by RM Auctions | Monterey, California | August 15-16, 2014

Photo - RM Auctions

Photo – RM Auctions

By now you’ve surely read that there is a 250 GTO being offered for sale during this incredible auction weekend, but what if a 250 GTO is a little too common for your tastes? What kind of Ferrari do you buy when you want something more exclusive than a 250 GTO? This one, that’s what.

We’ve actually featured a 275 GTB/C before, one of just 13 built. This is also among that 13, but it is a little more special. The 275 GTB/C (“C” for “competizione”) was the direct successor to the 250 GTO. It ran at Le Mans its debut year. This is the first of the three Speciale Berlinettas built. Hand-built by Scaglietti, you can see traits of 250 GTO in it – namely those three holes punched in the nose.

This car was never raced – and only one of the three Speciales ever saw competition. This car was sold new to an Italian who registered it for road use. And what a blast this thing must be on the road: the engine is a 320 horsepower 3.3-liter V-12. And it was constructed as a lightweight racer, so it will blast around wherever you take it.

As stated above, this is one of three like it and RM insists it is the only one you will likely see for sale for a long, long time. And I must say, it is brilliant in this color scheme. I do believe this is the only car in RM’s catalog that doesn’t have a published estimate – but if the 275 GTB/C we featured last year brought $7 million, this should quite easily double it. Click here for more info and here for more from RM in Monterey.

Update: Sold $26,400,000.

A Very Unique Lancia Aurelia

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1953 Lancia Aurelia PF200 C Spider by Pinin Farina

Offered by RM Auctions | Monterey, California | August 15-16, 2014

Photo - RM Auctions

Photo – RM Auctions

The Lancia Aurelia is an interesting car in that it could be had as a fairly plain sedan or an outrageous roadster like this. And prices are all over the board too. The model was produced between 1950 and 1958 with a total of 18,201 produced.

Pinin Farina got their hands on some Aurelias and built wild Jet Age bodies on them. This particular car was shown at the Geneva and Turin motor shows in 1953. Pinin Farina built seven or eight “PF200” (their designation) cars and it is thought that only three lacked a roof. And all of them were different.

The engine is a 90 horsepower 2.0-liter V-6 but it is all about the style. It is #2 of the three open-top cars and it rides on a very rare Aurelia B52 chassis, of which only 98 were produced. The car completed a 10-year restoration recently and has been in the same hands for nearly 50 years. This is your chance to acquire a one-off Pinin Farina concept car for between $1,000,000-$1,500,000. Read more here and check out more from RM here.

Update: Sold $1,100,000.

Update II: Sold, RM Sotheby’s Amelia Island 2017, $1,248,500.

Ferrari 250 N.A.R.T. Spider

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1961 Ferrari 250 GT N.A.R.T. Spider by Fantuzzi

Offered by RM Auctions | Monterey, California | August 15-16, 2014

Photo - RM Auctions

Photo – RM Auctions

The Ferrari 250 GT is, perhaps, the most celebrated model line in the history of Ferrari. This striking 250 began life as a 1961 250 GTE. In 1965, Luigi Chinetti, founder of the North American Racing Team (N.A.R.T.) and Ferrari’s American importer for many years, decided to replace the normal Pininfarina body with this wild design by Fantuzzi.

Chinetti displayed the car at auto shows in New York, San Francisco, and Miami in 1965, generating good buzz for the brand. The engine is a 3.0-liter V-12 that’s had a little work done and it makes 300 horsepower.

Chinetti sold the car and the next owner had it for 33 years. It’s been recently serviced and has covered only 29,000 miles in its life. It’s one-of-a-kind and, from the right angles, quite gorgeous. It will likely sell for between $1,200,000-$1,600,000. You can read more here and see more from this sale here.

Update: Sold $1,017,500.

Duesenberg Model A

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1925 Duesenberg Model A Touring by Millspaugh & Irish

Offered by RM Auctions | Plymouth, Michigan | July 26, 2014

Photo - RM Auctions

Photo – RM Auctions

One thing we do here at ClassicCarWeekly.net is feature every Duesenberg Model J that comes up for sale (that we can find). What we have yet to do, however, is give any attention to Duesenberg’s original road car, the 1920-1927 Model A.

The Duesenberg brothers built race cars for the Indianapolis 500 prior to building road cars (they also manufactured aero and marine engines during WWI). So in 1921, they began selling a four-passenger car called the Model A. It was powered by an 88 horsepower 4.3-liter straight-eight engine and had all of the luxuries of the day. They were also fun to drive for what they were (and for when they were built).

Duesenberg wanted to build 100 of them a month, but they ended up only building 150 in the first year. By the time production ended after 1927, only about 500 were built. This one wears a body by popular Model A coachbuilder Millspaugh & Irish (who were sort of the “in-house” coachbuilder for the Model A). The restoration on this car was done around 2004 and it should sell for between $175,000-$225,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of RM’s Michigan lineup.

Update: Sold $264,000.

A Pretty Packard

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1935 Packard Super Eight Coupe Roadster

Offered by RM Auctions | Plymouth, Michigan | July 26, 2014

Photo - RM Auctions

Photo – RM Auctions

So there’s really nothing super exotic about this Packard. But when I looked through the catalog for this sale, it caught my eye. It’s just pretty, isn’t it? Packards are quite stately as-is, but this one – and maybe it’s that deep ruby red paint – I really like.

The Super Eight appears to have been new for 1933 as a deviation of the then-three-year-old Eight. The engine is a 150 horsepower 6.3-liter straight-eight. These are still usable cars… although the wonderfully styled rear-hinged doors aren’t something you see much of anymore.

The car was actually restored decades ago but has been freshened and detailed more recently. It still looks excellent. This Series 1204 Coupe Roadster should sell for between $150,000-$200,000. Click here for more info and here for more from RM in Michigan.

Update: Sold $181,500.

1913 Michigan Touring

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1913 Michigan Model R Touring

Offered by RM Auctions | Plymouth, Michigan | July 26, 2014

Photo - RM Auctions

Photo – RM Auctions

Michigan was one of many short-lived American automobile manufacturers that existed prior to WWI. It is, in fact, amazing that a car so rare from so long ago is now readily available in such fantastic condition. Michigan was founded in 1904, but production didn’t really take off until 1911. And the company closed its doors after 1913 because, strangely, company officials were shady as can be. Many of their employees were on paper only (with the managers taking their “employees” paychecks home). One of the managers actually gambled away a large portion of company funds at a horse track.

This Model R was for the 1913 model year only. It uses a 4.9-liter straight-four making 40 horsepower. Available as a two-passenger Roadster or five-passenger Touring, the original owners of this car opted for the larger of the two options.

The Michigan Buggy Company boasted of over 6,000 cars sold, but it is thought (with how honest the company was) that the number is likely closer to 1,200. This car was restored in 2002 from a complete survivor. It last sold in 2008 for $154,000 and this time is expected to bring between $140,000-$180,000. Click here for more info and here for more from RM in Michigan.

Update: Sold $132,000.

Update: Not sold, RM Sotheby’s, Ft. Lauderdale 2018.

1906 Studebaker

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1906 Studebaker Model G Touring

Offered by RM Auctions | Plymouth, Michigan | July 26, 2014

Photo - RM Auctions

Photo – RM Auctions

Studebaker was the quintessential American automobile manufacturer. Like many of the great, early European marques, Studebaker had a long history dating back to the 1850s. They started by building wagons. Cars came in 1897. The early cars (until about 1911) were actually sold as Studebaker-Garfords.

The Model G was new for 1906 and it was the highest-priced, most decked out model in the Studebaker lineup. The engine is a 4.6-liter straight-four making 30/35 horsepower. It could cruise at 45 mph and was only offered in this five-passenger touring configuration.

This car has somewhat known history since new. It was discovered by Henry Austin Clark Jr. in the 1940s and put in his museum until 1968 when it was sold to – guess who – Bill Harrah. It remained in his collection until 1982. It is said that this is the oldest known four-cylinder Studebaker in existence. And its ownership history doesn’t get much better. Add your name to that list for between $325,000-$450,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $275,000.

Update II: Not sold, RM Sotheby’s Amelia Island 2017.

Packard Super Eight

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1940 Packard Custom Super Eight One-Eighty Convertible Sedan by Darrin

Offered by RM Auctions | Plymouth, Michigan | July 26, 2014

Photo - RM Auctions

Photo – RM Auctions

The Packard 180, as it is sometimes known, is more correctly called a Custom Eight Super One-Eighty. The model was new for 1940 and was Packard’s top-of-the-line offering. The chassis and engine were the same as the One-Sixty, but the One-Eighty was more luxurious. It was essentially a replacement for the ultra-grand Twelve.

The engine is a 5.8-liter straight-eight making 160 horsepower (which was more than Cadillac’s V-8 in 1940). A number of different bodies were offered, but Howard “Dutch” Darrin’s are perhaps the nicest of all Packards produced immediately prior to WWII. This four-door Convertible Sedan is quite a bit rarer than any of its two-door counterparts. It is estimated that less than 20 Convertible Sedans like the one you see here were built and only nine remain.

This car was sold new in Illinois. The restoration was completed in 1994 and the car was soon acquired by Otis Chandler. It now comes from the Richard & Linda Kughn collection with a pre-sale estimate of $225,000-$300,000. It’s incredibly rare and one of the more gorgeous four-door sedans you will ever see. You can see more here and check our more from this sale here.

Update: Sold $236,500.

GT40 Roadster

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1965 Ford GT40 Roadster Prototype

Offered by RM Auctions | Monterey, California | August 15-16, 2014

Photo - RM Auctions

Photo – RM Auctions

We’ve already featured a Ford GT40 Prototype, but what we haven’t featured is a Ford GT40 Roadster Prototype. That’s right, back in the 60s, Ford was adventurous and decided a GT40 with the roof chopped off might be a good idea. I can’t vouch for how good of an idea it was at the time, but it is certainly pretty awesome now.

Ford actually built a few of them, but this is the only one that has maintained its identity over all the years. The other three roadsters were converted to coupes or used as spares (at least one has been converted back to a roadster). This is the eighth GT40 Prototype built (of the twelve, total) and one of four roadsters.

This one uses a 4.7-liter Ford 289 V-8. It was a test car, mostly, and was never entered in competition. The most on-track action it ever saw was in the vintage racing circuit over the past 25 years. During testing, it was driven by Carroll Shelby, Jim Clark, and Ken Miles. It’s a once in a lifetime chance to get an as-built GT40 Roadster and it will likely cost you around $5 million. Click here for more info and here for more from RM in Monterey.

Update: Sold $6,930,000.

Update: Sold $7,650,000.