Tag Archives: rm sothebys

NSU Ro80 Concept

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1971 NSU Ro80 2 Porte +2 by Pininfarina

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Los Angeles, California | October 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Rotary-powered cars have not been built very often, and when they have, it was usually by Mazda. But in the late 1960s, NSU decided to get in the game and produce a sedan, the Ro 80, which would remain in production through 1977 – the year in which NSU was merged into Audi.

This is NOT what those cars looked like. It’s somewhat retro-futuristic vibe is thanks to Italian design house Pininfarina. It’s a four-seater and, despite the confusing name, retains four doors. However, the rear doors are flipped around and open “suicide-style.” The rest of the bodywork is pretty modified, and the interior is very 1970s. The engine is a 995cc twin-rotor Wankel that was rated for 113 horsepower.

This concept debuted at the 1972 Brussels Motor Show and would later find its way to California, where it was purchased by the late current owner. Instead of moving to his junkyard, this car, one of the last that he purchased, was instead put on long-term display in Audi’s museum, where it remained up until this sale. There is a pre-sale estimate of $60,000-$80,000, and more info can be found here.

Caracciola’s 500K

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1935 Mercedes-Benz 500K Special Coupe by Sindelfingen

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Los Angeles, California | October 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

There are coachbuilt classics and then there are coachbuilt classics that were originally owned by factory racing superstars. That is the case here. This car was built for and originally owned by Rudolf Caracciola, who was three-time European Grand Prix champion in the 1930s. Oh, and a Nazi party member.

The 500K was powered by a 5.0-liter straight-eight making 100 horsepower or 160 with the supercharger engaged. Most of the cars built were open with only a handful of coupes built. Mercedes described this as a “Roadster-Limousine,” a term of which neither of its component words make sense.

Caracciola owned the car until the late 1930s, and it later made its way to the U.S. via abandonment in Ethiopia (as cars do). It was restored in the 1960s and finished second at Pebble Beach in 1966. In 1979, it was purchased by junkyard hero Rudi Klein, who showed it at least once before parking it in a barn around 1980. It hadn’t seen the light of day since – until now anyway. It will now sell, likely as a project, for a pretty spectacular number. Read more about it here.

Hispano-Suiza Type 16T

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1923 Hispano-Suiza Type 16T Roadster

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 9-10, 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Since Hispano-Suiza was sort of operating out of two different countries simultaneously, it was not surprising that the two almost-separate companies shared some vehicles. While the French arm of the company was producing more well-known cars as the company aged, the original Barcelona factory was still producing vehicles too.

The Type 30 of 1915 was powered by a 3.0-liter inline-four that was rated at 16 horsepower. The following year, Hispano-Suiza started produced the same car in Spain as the “Type 16T,” and it would remain available until 1925.

In that time, 956 examples were produced. Spanish Suizas are less common than their French counterparts – for instance, of those 956, only 15 are known, with just two of them being in the U.S. This one has been in the same collection for over 30 years and has an estimate of $150,000-$200,000. More info can be found here.

Delage Pourtout Roadster

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1932 Delage D8 S Roadster by Pourtout

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

My goodness. RM’s catalog calls this design “dramatic,” and they are not wrong. Look at how low cut that windshield is. Imagine driving this around in 1932. You would’ve looked like a madman. It’s cartoonish in the best way possible. This is the car the wolf from the Tex Avery cartoons would drive.

Delage’s D8 was produced between 1929 and 1940, with the D8 S being a short-wheelbase “sporting” variant and was only available through 1933. Just 99 examples of the D8 S were built. Power is from a 4.0-liter inline-eight that made 118 horsepower.

This Marcel Pourtout-bodied car was sold new to a French actor and returned to the road after the war in 1946. The restoration dates to 1980, and it’s been in the same collection since 1995. The estimate is $4,000,000-$6,000,000. More info can be found here.

8C 2300 by Eagle Coach Works

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1934 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Lungo Spider by Eagle Coach Works

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

In terms of top shelf prewar cars, Alfa’s 8C is one of Italy’s strongest options. The car first appeared in 2300 spec in 1931, and it would advance to 2600 in 1933 and 2900 in 1935. So this is an early car, with power from a 2.3-liter inline-eight.

The Lungo cars meant that it rides on the longer of two wheelbase options. This particular chassis was delivered new with a Castagna cabriolet body via London dealer Jack Barclay. When he sold it to its first owner in 1935, it was already clad in the aluminum boattail body it wears today, which was built by Newns Coach Builders and Engineers of Thames Ditton under the name “Eagle Coach Works.”

The car has never been restored and remained with one U.K. owner between 1964 and 2008. It’s now offered with an estimate of $4,500,000-$6,000,000. More info can be found here.

250 GT Boano

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1957 Ferrari 250 GT Coupe Boano

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Ferrari’s 250 GT coupe was the first real GT car Ferrari offered and the first real production car of any quantity that the company manufactured… even it was over a range of various 250 GT models. Between 1955 and 1960, the company sold the first “250 GT Coupe,” which were bodied by either Boano or Ellena.

Cars built between 1955 and part of 1957 were Boano coupes, with the design having been styled by Pinin Farina (but not built by them due to issues with their production capacity). Instead, construction fell to Felice Boano’s Carrozzeria. Just 88 were built, including 68 “low-roof” coupes like this one.

Midway through 1957, Boano went to work with Fiat. His son-in-law, Ezio Ellena took over his coachbuilding firm, renaming it Carrozzeria Ellena. Just 50 Ellena coupes were built through 1958. By that time Pinin Farina was able to take back over.

This coupe is powered by a 3.0-liter Colombo V12. And it has a pre-sale estimate of $875,000-$1,000,000. More info can be found here.

Another Chiron

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2023 Bugatti Chiron Super Sport

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 15-17, 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Third Tuesday in a row we’ve featured some late model Bugatti. The problem is there’s just so damned many of them, with all of their special editions and slightly more-powerful versions. The Chiron entered production in 2016 and wrapped in early 2024. Across all variants, 500 are said to have been built.

In 2019, the company launched the Chiron Super Sport 300+. They built 30 of those, and although speed limited, sans limiter they were supposedly capable of 300 mph. In 2021, Bugatti launched the not-all-that-dissimilar Chiron Super Sport. It was mechanically similar to the 300+ but had a better-trimmed interior and a painted exterior (instead of bare carbon fiber).

The engine is a quad-turbocharged 8.0-liter W16 rated at 1,580 horsepower. The top speed was limited to 273 mph. Something like 80 of these were made, and the very last Chiron built was of this spec. This one has an estimate of $3,750,000-$4,250,000. More info can be found here.

Chiron Sport Noire

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2021 Bugatti Chiron Sport Noire

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 15-17, 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The “Sport” version of the Bugatti Chiron debuted in 2018, about two years after the base Chiron went on sale. The Sport shared the base car’s mechanicals: a 1,480-horsepower, quad-turbocharged, 8.0-liter W16. What differentiated it was it’s “track focus.” It was about 40 pounds lighter… on a two-ton car. So a rounding error. But hey, they got to charge more.

The Noire was an available package that could be had on the Chiron or Chiron Sport. It specified either an exposed carbon-fiber body or a carbon fiber body with a matte black finish, which is what this car has. The edition was to celebrate the Bugatti Type 57SC Coupe Aero of 1936.

Only 20 cars would be built this way, split however they were sold between Chiron/Chiron Sport. This car now has an estimate of $3,300,000-$3,800,000. Click here for more info.

XK140 by Ghia

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1956 Jaguar XK140 SE Coupe by Ghia

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 15-17, 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The XK140 was the second in Jaguar’s line of post-war “XK” sports cars. It was sold between 1954 and 1957 and was offered from the factory as a two-door coupe, two-seat roadster, or two-seat drophead coupe. The factory coupe did not look like this.

There were a handful of coachbuilt XK140s, including potentially three in this style. In SE spec, power is provided by 3.4-liter inline-six with double SU carburetors and a “C-type” cylinder head that resulted in an output of 210 horsepower.

This car was ordered new by a Californian and another owner there before being purchased in 1967 by Ricardo Montalban. By the 1990s, it was in Japan, where it was restored to as you see it here. The car now has an estimate of $500,000-$650,000. Click here for more info.

Veyron Soleil de Nuit

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2010 Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Soleil de Nuit

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Tegernsee, Germany | July 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

I’m beginning to think that every Veyron was a “one-off.” Veyron owners must be like old Mustang owners who live and die by their Marti reports that boil down their car’s combination of colors and options to be “the only one like it made.” In this case, this Grand Sport (or targa version) is dubbed “Soleil de Nuit,” which is French for “night sun.” And it is a “one-off”… which I think comes to the fact that it has unique colors.

The car debuted at the 2009 Dubai International Motor Show with polished aluminum lower panels and Black Blue Metallic uppers over Burnt Orange leather. It was originally owned by the Kuwaiti Royal Family and was purchased by its current German owner in 2016.

Power is provided by a quad-turbocharged 8.0-liter W16 that was rated at 987 horsepower. Even with the roof removed this car can do 229 mph. It now has an estimate of $1,650,000-$2,150,000. Click here for more info.