Tag Archives: roadster

Opel Olympia OL38

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1940 Opel Olympia OL38 Roadster by Glaser

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Munich, Germany | November 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Well, the OL38 generation of Opel’s Olympia didn’t really look like this. The Olympia went on sale in 1935, and just two years later it was updated to the OL38, which remained in production until being interrupted by the war in 1940. It resumed production in 1947 and lasted through 1949, when a fresh generation debuted.

The OL38 was offered from the factory as a two- or four-door sedan as well as a two-door cabriolet. This car received, what is claimed to be, one-off roadster coachwork by Glaser. Power is provided by a 1.5-liter inline-four that made around 35 horsepower. It was capable of 70 mph.

This car was purchased out of Ukraine in 2014 and later restored. It now has an estimate of $22,000-$33,000. Click here for more info.

Mercedes “SSK”

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1929 Mercedes-Benz 710 SSK Roadster by Sindelfingen

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Munich, Germany | November 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The catalog description for this car… does not seem to tell the whole story. Daimler themselves lists a production of 33 combined units of SSK and SSKL cars. The Mercedes-Benz SS saw a total of 111 units. Mercedes goes on to claim that production numbers for any of the “S” models of 1927 through 1933 are difficult to ascertain as cars were being built and rebuilt, with engines swapped around and chassis being shortened.

So RM is saying (I think?) that this car is one of seven examples of the SS that were modified by Mercedes with a shorter chassis. So, yes, it is a short-wheelbase SS (or SSK). But it’s not an actual SSK. Very few original SSKs remain, and most of the extant examples are just shortened SS cars. The price here reflects that. This car has a lower estimate than the stock SS in the sale, at $1,450,000-$2,200,000. A true SSK could bring 5-10x that value.

The car does have a supercharged 7.1-liter inline-six that was capable of over 200 horsepower with the supercharger engaged. It is said that the car was built in 1929 and first owned by a privateer German racer who took the car to the U.S. in the 1930s. It spent over 50 years in the U.S., being restored around 1983. Around 1994, it was restored again in Germany, with the chassis having been replaced at that time (so there’s part of the value loss). You can read more here and draw your own conclusions.

W06 SS by Corsica

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1929 Mercedes-Benz 710 SS Roadster by Corsica

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Munich, Germany | November 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The Mercedes-Benz W06 is one of the best things the company ever produced. It started with the Model S, which evolved into the SS, or Super Sport (and later the revered SSK). The SS was offered in three guises between 1928 and 1933: the 27/140/200, the 27/160/200, and the 27/170/225. Between all variants, just 111 were produced.

Those different numbers come from the car’s 7.1-liter inline-six, which was equipped with an engageable Roots supercharger. So that naturally aspirated 140 horsepower jumped to 200 horsepower if you pushed the throttle to the floor. As is typical of late, RM’s catalog is light on details as to which engine this has, but based on the model year, it is probably the 140-200 horsepower variant.

As we’ve discovered with other Benzes of the era, when sold in the U.K., the cars were given slightly different model names. In this case “710 SS” (based on displacement) in lieu of SS 27/140/200. The original body on this car was damaged in an accident, and it was re-bodied by Corsica prior to 1934. In 1979, it set a record as the most valuable car ever sold at auction in $320,000. Now it has an estimate of $3,850,000-$4,950,000. Click here for more info.

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.

Bentley Bacalar

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2022 Bentley Bacalar Roadster

Offered by Mecum | Indianapolis, Indiana | May 2024

Photo – Mecum

The first generation of the Bentley Continental GT entered production in 2003. The original engine was Bentley’s kind of insane W12 powerplant. A V8 joined the lineup for the second generation, and both engines carried over to the third gen, which debuted in 2017. Bentley also announced that the W12 would cease production after 2024.

Bentley had some special editions of the Continental GT ready to celebrate, but perhaps the biggest celebration would be this car: the limited-production Bacalar, which is a coachbuilt special built by Mulliner. It retains the 650-horsepower, twin-turbocharged 6.0-liter W12 of the Continental GT it is based upon.

Just 12 of these were built, and this is the final one. The car does not have a roof, and it’s not legal in the U.S. This one is here on a “show or display” exemption and will cost its next owner between $2,200,000-$2,700,000. Click here for more info.

Hennessey Venom F5 Roadster

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2023 Hennessey Venom F5 Roadster

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | March 2023

Photo – Bring a Trailer

Well here is a wild top-tier boutique supercar. Hennessey Special Vehicles is an offshoot of the Viper tuning company and they’ve made two supercars since 2010: the Lotus-based Venom GT and the Venom F5, the latter of which is not a stretched Exige but its own thing. It went on sale in 2020, with a roadster arriving for 2022. Production of that targa-top variant is limited to 30 examples. This is the second. We’ll see if they actually end up building all 30.

Power is provided by a twin-turbocharged 6.6-liter V8 that was developed in-house and based on Chevy’s LS series of engines. It is rated at 1,817 horsepower. The coupe variant has a claimed top speed of 301 mph. Which is insane.

This car has under 600 miles, and bidding is over $1.7 million as of this writing. The auction ends today, and you can watch it wind down here.

G.A.R. Roadster

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1930 G.A.R. Type B5 Roadster

Offered by Gooding & Company | Amelia Island, Florida | February-March 2024

Photo – Gooding & Company

Cyclecars G.A.R. was founded in Clichy, France, in 1922, and, through a name change to Gardahaut et Cie in 1929, remained in production through 1934. M. Gardahaut designed the cars, and he took them racing in the mid-’20s to prove their mettle.

The G.A.R. was not a mass-produced car, and only three B5s are known to still exist. This one is powered by a 1.4-liter inline-eight that was rated at eight taxable horsepower. It also has a Cotal pre-selector gearbox and four-wheel drum brakes.

With known history back to 1970, the car came into the Mullin collection in 2011 and was restored two years later, debuting at Pebble Beach that year. It now has an estimate of $75,000-$125,000. Click here for more info.

Talbot-Lago T150C Roadster

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1937 Talbot-Lago T150C Roadster

Offered by Osenat | Paris, France | February 2024

Photo – Osenat

There are versions of the Talbot-Lago T150C that are among the most expensive cars in the world and far and away the most expensive Talbot-Lagos. This isn’t one of them, but it is quite an attractive car. The T150 launched in 1937, and the “C” variant meant it had a competition chassis.

Power is from a 4.0-liter inline-six rated at 140 horsepower. There were racing variants of the T150C (hence the competition chassis) as well as very rare short-chassis “SS” models. It is unclear who did the body work for this car, but in the 1950s the front end was reworked with a modified grille and bumpers.

This car was on the show stand in Paris in 1937 and remained with its first owner for 40 years. The third and current owner purchased it in 2018. Originally red, it was painted black under original ownership. The current owner had it repainted red and black. It has an estimate of $650,000-$985,000. Click here for more info.

XK120 Roadster

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1953 Jaguar XK120 Roadster

Offered by Bring a Trailer | Online | December 2024

Photo – Bring a Trailer Auctions

When Jaguar decided to re-enter the sports car market after WWII, they did so with this, the XK120. Which was quite a departure from its predecessor, the pre-war SS100. The XK120 debuted at the 1948 London Motor Show in Roadster form. Later, there would be fixed-head and drophead coupe variants (the DHC had roll-up windows, while the Roadster did not).

Between 1948 and 1954, there were 12,055 XK120s built across all styles. This one is powered by the stock 3.4-liter inline-six, though it has been fitted with an SE cylinder head. The base car was rated at 160 horsepower, while full SE cars made 180. SE cars also had other performance add-ons.

This U.S.-spec car has had two owners since new and was originally finished in gray. Its auction ends tomorrow, and you can find out more about it here.