Tag Archives: rm sothebys

Alfa Romeo Tipo B

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1934 Alfa Romeo Tipo B P3

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Paris, France | February 8, 2017

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The Alfa Romeo P2 was built between 1924 and 1930 and it won the inaugural Automobile World Championship, the precursor to the European Championship (which itself was a sort of precursor to modern Formula One). The Alfa Romeo P3 (or Tipo B) was introduced halfway through the 1932 season. It was the first monoposto (true single seat) race car on the circuit.

The engine is a 255 horsepower, supercharged 2.9-liter straight-eight – a really stout motor. The car was instantly successful, racking up victory after victory in the major Grands Prix across Europe. This particular car was campaigned by none other than Scuderia Ferrari for the 1934 and 1935 seasons. Because the record keeping of the day wasn’t the best, no one can say with certainty who raced this car where, but it is believed (and likely) that it was driven in period by Tazio Nuvolari, Achille Varzi, and Pierre Louis-Dreyfus.

This example is the sixth of seven second-series “wide body” examples built out of a total of about 13 cars in all. It has known ownership history from new and is in spectacular condition. If you want to feel like a true racing hero, you should buy this and take it to a track day. The Alfa P3 is one of the greatest and most dominant race cars of all time and this is your chance to get one. Click here for more info and here for more from RM Sotheby’s.

Update: Sold $4,177,896.

Porsche 901 Cabriolet

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1964 Porsche 901 Cabriolet Prototype by Karmann

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Paris, France | February 8, 2017

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Porsches are hot right now. Like really, really hot – especially anything that is air-cooled. The first generation of the 911 went on sale in 1964 and the prices for this generation have gone through the roof. Let’s also remember that Porsche originally wanted to call the 911 the 901, but Peugeot objected on copyright grounds, so they added a “1.” But Porsche had already built 82 cars with “901” badging and some of them are still out there.

The first true 911 Cabriolet didn’t go one sale until 1982, so this car is extraordinarily special in that regard. Sure, there was the Targa that showed up in 1966, but it had that pesky rear window and roll-over hoop. This is the only drop-top 911 from this era – and what makes it even better is that it is from the prototype line of 901 cars. It is the second-earliest 901 Prototype known to exist and most of the 13 Prototype Coupes were destroyed back in the day.

The engine is a 130 horsepower, 2.0-liter flat-six and the convertible work was carried out by Karmann, a longtime Volkswagen collaborator. Porsche parted ways with this car in 1967, selling it to a German racing driver who wanted to save it. An American collector acquired it directly from him in 2001 and rebuilt the engine, making the car roadworthy. But the body and interior are all-original. The current British owner is selling the car at auction – the first time it has ever been available for public sale. If you thought Porsche prices were high already, wait for the hammer price on this one. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $692,337.

OSCA MT4 1500

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1954 OSCA MT4 1500 by Frua

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Paris, France | February 8, 2017

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

This pretty little sports car was built by Officine Specializzate Costruzione Automobili-Fratelli Maserati S.p.A. – or OSCA, for short. You’ll also notice the name “Maserati” in there, as OSCA was founded by three Maserati brothers after leaving the company bearing their name.

The MT4 was OSCA’s first automobile, introduced in 1947 with a 1.1-liter engine. Engine sizes grew with time and the MT4 was available well into the 1950s. This 1954 “1500” example is powered by a 135 horsepower, 1.5-liter straight-four. The very racy body was by Frua – and the racy part was intentional: an MT4 won the 1954 12 Hours of Sebring. The competition history for this particular car includes:

  • 1954 Mille Miglia – 10th (with Giulio Cabianca)
  • 1954 Targa Florio – DNF (with Cabianca)
  • 1954 Carrera Panamericana – DNF (with Roberto Mieres)

This car’s history sort of went cold after 1955 before reappearing in 1987 and the current owners acquired it in 2003. A five-year restoration followed, as did appearances in a few historic races – races it is still eligible for. It is one of just 72 OSCA MT4s ever built and you can read more about it here. Click here to see the rest of RM’s lineup.

Update: Not sold.

Ferrari 365 GTS

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1969 Ferrari 365 GTS by Pininfarina

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Phoenix, Arizona | January 19-20, 2017

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The number “365” is a little confusing in Ferrari history. There were a couple completely different cars carrying that number, including the 365 California, the 365 GT 2+2, the 365 GTC/GTS – all of these were somewhat related – and then there was the 365 GTB/4, which looked nothing like any of the others.

This car, of course, resembles the earlier 330 GTC, a car built between 1966 and 1968. The 365 GTC was a coupe built between 1968 and 1970. The GTS was the ultra-rare drop-top version of the same car. The 365 GTS differed from the 330 GTS in that it had a bigger engine. In this case, it’s a 320 horsepower, 4.4-liter V-12.

The 365 cars were rarer too, just 20 365 GTS models were ever built. This matching-numbers, six-owner example sports a restoration that is 20 years old but doesn’t look it. This is an easy million dollars at auction and you can see more here and more from this sale here.

Update: Sold $3,602,500.

Cord L-29 Cabriolet

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1932 Cord L-29 Cabriolet

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Phoenix, Arizona | January 19-20, 2017

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

1929 was a great year of E.L. Cord – well, at least the start of it. His Cord Corporation owned the Auburn, Cord, and Duesenberg marques. And he took them all upmarket, selling some of the nicest automobiles America had yet known. But then the economy tanked and his little empire fizzled out.

The first Cord-branded automobile was the front-wheel drive L-29, the first mass-produced front-wheel drive passenger automobile sold in the U.S. They were powered by a 125 horsepower 5.3-liter straight-eight from an Auburn. It was definitely underpowered, seeing as it’s sister marque, Duesenberg, was using a 265 horsepower engine for their car. What it lacked for in speed (top end was about 80 mph), it made up for in gorgeous looks. The Cabriolet (in this color at that) is the best-looking factory L-29 variant. The only thing that could make it better would be the addition of those skinny Woodlite headlights.

Only about 20 L-29 Cabriolets were built out of a total L-29 production run of around 4,400 cars and this is thought to be the last Cabriolet built, as the L-29 was only in production between 1929 and 1932. This example was restored years ago, but it still looks nice and has been with its current owner in Arizona for the last 15 years. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $236,500.

December 2016 Auction Highlights

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First up in December is one of two Bonhams sales, this one is the Bond Street Sale where we featured two Zagato-bodied Aston Martins. The DB7 Zagato brought $390,262 but the V12 failed to sell. Bonhams published most of their results, but they appear to have skipped the top two sellers. The highest dollar price currently reported was $821,000 for this 1989 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Volante “Prince of Wales”. Click here for complete results.

Photo – Bonhams

Mecum’s Kansas City sale was this month and the #1 sale was $130,000 for this 1967 Chevrolet Corvette 427/400 Coupe.

Photo – Mecum

The Phillips Berlina neo-classic we featured went for a reasonable $17,500. Click here for all results.

Remember those earthquakes in Italy over the past few months? Well the head of Fiat decided that Ferrari would build one more LaFerrari and then auction it off for charity to benefit the victims of those earthquakes. RM Sotheby’s sold the car in Daytona Beach this month and it brought $7,000,000.

The top sale at H&H Classics’ Chateau Impney sale was this 2012 Ferrari F430 Spider that brought $179,669.

Photo – H&H Classics

A previously-featured Phebus failed to sell and the Bristol 407 brought $38,047. Click here for complete results.

And finally, Brightwells’ Modern Classic Cars sale. We didn’t get to feature anything from it, but this 2007 Bentley Continental GT was the top sale at $35,529, which seems like a remarkably good deal. Click here for the rest of the results.

Photo – Brightwells

A Brand New Isotta Fraschini

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1924 Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A Landaulet by Sala & Riva

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Phoenix, Arizona | January 19-20, 2016

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

Isotta Fraschini built cars between 1900 and 1949 in Milan, Italy. When the 1920s came, Isotta jumped to the top of the heap as far as luxury manufacturers went. They were right there with Delage, Hispano-Suiza, and Voisin (among others) as the best Europe had to offer. They were so nice, that most were actually chauffeur-driven. In fact, so many were driven this way that Isotta offered drivers’ training in their large cars.

It is thought that this Tipo 8A, a car manufactured between 1924 and 1931, is the first example built (of 950 total). It was never known to have been sold and was instead used for chauffeur training. Once they were done with it, they parked it in a warehouse where it sat untouched until 1993 when the brand name was revived and sold to an Italian defense company.

That company came into possession of this car and sold it to someone in the U.S. in 2016. It has never been titled or registered, effectively making it a brand new car. The engine is a 110 horsepower 7.8-liter straight-eight and the body is by Cesare Sala with later updates by Carrozzeria Riva. This miraculously untouched, straight-off the factory floor Isotta Fraschini is being sold at auction to it’s first official owner. Click here for more unbelievable photos and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $434,500.

Update: Not sold, RM Sotheby’s Amelia Island 2019.

Update: Sold, RM Sotheby’s Paris 2020, $267,386.

November 2016 Auction Highlights, Part II

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We’ll start it off with H&H Classics’ Donington Park sale. We didn’t get to feature anything, but this 1973 BMW 3.0 CSi was the top sale at $60,880. Click here for complete results.

Photo - H&H Classics

Photo – H&H Classics

Next up, Mecum in Anaheim, California. The top sale was a car perfectly at home in Los Angeles, a 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder that brought $1,475,000.

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

The Studebaker Stake Bed pickup truck we featured sold for $14,000. Click here for more results.

Hopping back across the Atlantic, we have Brightwells’ Classic & Vintage Cars sale for November. The top sale was this 2002 Ferrari 360 Modena for $80,836. The Middlebridge Scimitar was featured brought $6,218. All the results can be found here.

Photo - Brightwells

Photo – Brightwells

Another Ferrari top sale was this 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB/6C Alloy for $3,655,120 at RM Sotheby’s Duemila Route sale in Milan, Italy.

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby's

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The Porsche 959 sold for $1,078,560 and the Alfa Romeo 6C blew past its estimate selling for $167,776. The Alpine A110 went for $119,840 and the Innocenti Mini $15,579. Go here to see all of the results of this insane sale.

To keep with the Italian exotic theme, Historics at Brooklands had this 1990 Lamborghini Countach 25th Anniversary sell as the top sale for $296,320.

Photo - Historics at Brooklands

Photo – Historics at Brooklands

We featured a number of cars from this sale, including a slew of microcars. The Tourette Supreme was the most expensive at $38,938. The Bamby and the Berkeley were downright cheap, bringing $5,006 and $5,284 respectively. The Zagato Zele fell somewhere in between at $16,687.

There were also some sports cars like the TVR Cerbera which was hammered for $28,508. The oddball Carver sold for $36,852 and, going back in time, one of the first Dellow cars built sold for $20,859. Click here for complete results.

Italian Mini

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1974 Innocenti Mini Cooper

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Milan, Italy | November 25-27, 2016

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby's

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The ubiquitous Mini. Produced nearly unchanged from 1959 through 2000 (!), Sir Alec Issigonis’  little two door car of the people is an absolute icon. It is the basis for countless kit cars, and was produced under the banner of quite a number of marques, including: Austin, Rover, Authi, Leyland, Mini (as a brand itself), and Innocenti.

Italian Innocenti built their version of the Mini between 1965 and 1975. They would build another car called the Mini which was based on this car, but carried Bertone bodywork that made it unrecognizable as such. It’s not listed, but we’d guess this car features a 1.3-liter straight-four.

This example is very nice and is ready for the road. The interior looks brand new and although Minis are relatively easy to find, their Italian cousin isn’t seen nearly as often. At any rate, this one should bring between $7,500-$11,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $15,579.

Alpine A110 1600 S

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1972 Alpine A110 1600 S

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Milan, Italy | November 24-27, 2016

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby's

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Jean Rédélé’s Alpine began as a modifier of Renault cars for racing events. He founded the company in 1954 and the first true Alpine car appeared in 1955. But the company is known mainly for one model: the A110. This car was available in different forms between 1961 and 1977, racking up some series World Rally Championship victories along the way (including the 1971 Monte Carlo Rally).

Like all Alpines, this car is Renault-based. The 1600 S was a hotted-up version of the cozy little rear-engined coupe. In fact, it was the second most-powerful version they ever made. It is powered by a 1.6-liter straight-four making 138 horsepower. The 1600 S could only be had from 1970 through about 1971, though this is listed as a ’72.

This car looks really nice but is definitely a driver – which is good because, despite the relatively modest power rating, these are light, nimble cars that would be a lot of fun. About 7,500 A110s of all types were built, but narrowing down to this model is sort of difficult. Anyway, it’ll sell for between $100,000-$115,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $119,840.