January 2020 Auction Highlights

We kick off in January with RM Sotheby’s in Arizona where the top sale was this 2018 Pagani Huayra Roadster that sold for $2,370,000.

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

All of our feature cars sold, with the V-16 Cadillac leading the way at $1,105,000. Following that was the Hispano-Suiza at $445,000 and the Shelby Series I at $91,840. Other sales included the Chalmers for $61,600, the Locomobile for $58,240, and the Kaiser for $10,080. Click here for complete results.

Next up, Gooding & Company, also in Arizona. This auction proved that bedroom wall car posters are key indicators of what’s going to skyrocket in value. In this case, it was a 1995 Ferrari F50 that outsold a Tucker at $3,222,500. It also way outsold the 250 GT Cabriolet that brought $1,462,500.

Photo – Gooding & Company

The Hispano-Suiza J12 Dual-Cowl Phaeton sold for $2,425,000. The Model A Duesenberg, and a previously-featured Model J, both failed to sell. More results are available here.

We move on to Barrett-Jackson, where the top sale was a charity lot: the first mid-engine Corvette. A 2020 Stingray that hasn’t even been built yet. This red pre-production car crossed the block, but the actual first one will be black.

Photo – Barrett-Jackson

I couldn’t even tell you what their overall top sale was that wasn’t a charity lot because the results page isn’t sortable :(. I have strong feelings on these moonshot charity auctions, but I will keep them to myself.

Every car we featured sold, which is no surprise because this entire sale is 99.9% reserve-free. The Superbird brought $313,500, the L88 Corvette $330,000, and the Kuzma-Offy $165,000. The Aerocar went for a lot less than I anticipated, bringing only $275,000. I think, had it sold 15 years ago, it would’ve gone for much more.

On the other side of things were the Lawil at $12,100 and the Bremen Sebring at $7,700. Click here for all of the results.

Across town was Russo & Steele, who managed to move this 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster for $1,045,000. The Rambler Marlin we featured went for $8,800. A great buy. Final results can be found here.

Photo – Russo & Steele

Finally, we have Bonhams at Retromobile. The top overall sale was this 1931 Bugatti Type 55 Supersport that sold for $5,045,740.

Photo – Bonhams

Other big-dollar sales among our feature cars included the Pegaso for $782,089, a previously-featured Delahaye for $227,058, a previously-featured Talbot racer for $964,997 (less than half of what it sold for in 2014), and a BMW-Glas prototype for $229,581.

Other sales included the Devin D for $100,914 and the Toyota F1 roller for $90,823. No sales were the Bugatti 39, Zagato Mostro, and the previously-featured Miller Shooting Brake and Brasier saloon. More results can be found here.

Rambler Marlin

1965 Rambler Marlin

Offered by Russo & Steele | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 15-19, 2020

Photo – Russo & Steele

This was the high point of American Motors styling. The Marlin was introduced as a Rambler product in 1965, and for 1966 and 1967 it was sold under the AMC badge. 1965 and 1966 models were based on the Rambler Classic. It moved upmarket in ’67 to the larger Ambassador platform.

The Marlin featured a large greenhouse with a dramatic sloping fastback. Dodge unleashed a similar design in 1966 for the Charger. But Rambler did it first. Standard engine choices were a straight-six or a 287ci V8. This car is equipped with the optional 5.4-liter Ambassador V8, which was good for 250 horsepower.

In all, 10,327 examples of the ’65 Marlin were built. Production would drop off sharply in the following years. You can see more about this car here and more from this sale here.

Update: Sold $8,800.

February 2019 Auction Highlights

We’ll pick up where we left off last time, Scottsdale. This time it’s Russo & Steele, where this 2012 Lexus LFA blew everything else away, selling for $412,500. Complete results can be found here.

Photo – Russo & Steele

Now we’re on to Retromobile in Paris, where RM Sotheby’s led it off with a huge number for this 1987 Ferrari F40 LM: $5,489,215.

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Next, a couple of no-sales, which included the Ferrari SP30, the 2015 Morgan, the 1900 Panhard, the OSCA, and a previously-featured Hispano-Suiza. On the other hand, the Jordan 196 F1 car sold for $273,468. Click here for more results.

The second sale of the Retromobile week was held by Bonhams, and we featured a lot of cars from this event. On the extreme one end of the spectrum was the Red Bug buckboard we featured. It sold for $4,958. Now a quick rundown of no-sales from this auction: the Clement-Bayard, the beautiful Darracq, the 1911 Renault, the Bellanger, and a previously-featured Horch. The overall top sale was this 1939 Mercedes-Benz 540K Cabriolet A for $1,794,086.

Photo – Bonhams

Cars that did sell include the 1909 Sears for $22,181, the 1913 FN also for $22,181, the Berliet for $43,058, the Hanomag for $66,544, the 1912 Hupmobile for $18,267, and the Pilain for $32,619. A pair of previously-featured cars sold here too: the 1971 Bizzarrini 128 Prototype for $110,907 and aPaige-Detroit for $37,838. Final results can be found here.

The final sale from Retromobile was Artcurial’s – and it was a big one. The top sale here was the Alfa 8C 2900B Touring Berlinetta we featured for $18,997,883, which is apparently about the going rate for those cars. Other big dollar cars included the Voisin C16 for $128,471, the Panhard X86 Dolomites for $108,186, and all three Serenissimas: the Agena brought $500,360, the Ghia GT $513,883, and the ex-Le Mans Spyder a whopping $4,786,229. We’ll award Most Interesting to this 1948 Delahaye 135 M Cabriolet by Letourneur and Marchand that sold for $170,393.

Photo – Artcurial

Cars that failed to sell included the Voisin C11, the Mercedes 500K Cabriolet B, the Citroen Traction Avant Cabriolet, and the Talbot Barquette, while cars that did find new homes were the Voisin C3L for $60,885, the Dick Tricycle for $12,171, and the Rochet-Schneider for $35,160. More results can be found here.

Finally, we have Silverstone Auctions and their Race Retro Classic Car sale. The biggest money was the $381,813 paid for this 1958 Porsche 356A Speedster.

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

The Ginetta G4 we featured sold for $40,824, but the De Tomaso Longchamp Spider failed to find a new home on the block. You can see more results from this sale here.

August 2018 Auction Highlights, Pt. II

Picking up in Monterey with Mecum, we have three Duesenbergs, two of which sold. J-262 brought $1,155,000 and the other two were previously-featured cars. J-386 brought $3,850,000 (which turned out to be the overall top seller) and J-255 failed to sell. Excitingly, Alexander Rossi’s Indy 500-winning car sold for $1,127,500. On a related note, Most Interesting goes to this 1957 Kurtis Kraft 500G “Bardahl Special” that sold for $258,500.

Photo – Mecum

The Alpine Edition Diablo brought $253,000. Cars that failed to meet their reserve included the Lamborghini Murcielago, Ferrari F12tdf, the Sang Noir Veyron, Lamborghini Centenario, Porsche 550A, and a previously-featured Locomobile, and Porsche GT3.

We move on now to Russo & Steele in Monterey where they sold John Cena’s 2017 Ford GT for $1,540,000.

Photo – Russo & Steele

The GSM Dart that we featured from their Newport Beach sale (and failed to sell there) also failed to sell here. Click here for more results.

Finally from Monterey we have Worldwide Auctioneers. The top sale was $1,320,000 for the Duesenberg Convertible Sedan we featured. The Tourster brought $775,500. Most Interesting goes to this 1916 Locomobile Model 38 Collapsible Cabriolet that sold for $473,000. Click here for final results.

Photo – Worldwide Auctioneers

Off to the fun that is Auburn, Indiana, in the fall. RM Sotheby’s is where we’ll start and top money went to this 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster for $852,500. The Duesenberg we featured wasn’t far behind, selling for $737,000.

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Going through the results of this sale every year makes me sick to my stomach. This year there were at least a dozen cars that are things I would love to have (and can actually afford!) and failed to purchase because I didn’t make the trip to Auburn. Such deals would’ve included the Maxwell we featured that brought just $13,200. Similarly, the 1920 Buick went for $14,300, the Cole $28,600, and the White $29,700. A previously-featured Terraplane failed to sell and complete results can be found here.

Held the same weekend as the previous sale, Bonhams had an auction across the pond in Beaulieu. The top reported sale here (there was a pre-war Bentley that they aren’t reporting the sale price on) was $283,001 paid for this 1935 AC 2-Litre 16/80HP Competition ‘Slab-Tank’ Sports.

Photo – Bonhams

Among our feature cars, a previously-featured Marendaz led the way at $111,710. Four of the five old cars we featured sold, the exception being the Paige-Detroit. The Corre brought the biggest money at $40,215. The Phoenix blew past its estimate, selling for $32,768, the Reo sold for $23,831, and the Alldays & Onions brought $33,513. Click here for more from Bonhams.

GSM Dart

1959 GSM Dart

Offered by Russo & Steele | Newport Beach, California | June 8-10, 2018

Photo – Russo & Steele

This site has been around for about six and a half years. Not an eternity, but a decent amount of time. In that time, this is just the second GSM-branded car we’ve come across for sale that fit into our schedule. The first one? One week ago exactly.

This sudden flood of GSM cars to market is really strange as Glass Sport Motors of Cape Town, South Africa, didn’t really build that many cars in the six years they existed between 1958 and 1964. The GSM Dart was South Africa’s first production fiberglass automobile.

Power sources varied as donor cars were usually needed. This is one of just three Darts lucky enough to feature Alfa Romeo four-cylinder engines. The Dart was called the Delta when it was exported (thanks, Daimler). Just 122 examples of the Dart were sold and this one was once exhibited at the Petersen Museum. You can see more here and see more from this sale here.

Update: Not sold.

Update: Not sold, Russo & Steele, Monterey 2018.

January 2018 Auction Highlights, Pt. II

Starting off this post with more from Arizona in January. First: Bonhams. The top sale here cleared everything else they had to offer by a few million dollars. It was this 1958 Porsche 550A Spyder (and my new desktop wallpaper) for $5,170,000.

Photo – Bonhams

Our three feature cars all sold. The Knox Touring brought $145,000. The one-off Molzon Concept Corsa sold for $41,800. and the Sabra was right behind it at $40,700. Click here for the rest of their results.

Far away from Arizona, Osenat held a sale the same weekend as the Scottsdale madness. We didn’t feature anything, but this 1952 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport in mid-restoration condition was the top sale at $206,616. Click here for more lots and results.

Photo – Osenat

Back to Scottsdale with Worldwide Auctioneers. They had, perhaps, the most looked-forward-to car (and definitely the most interesting) of the entire week: Hitler’s Mercedes. Unfortunately, the high bid of $7,000,000 wasn’t enough to take it home. The 1907 Cadillac we featured brought $93,500 and the Kurtis Indy Roadster $308,000. The top sale overall was $420,000 for this 1938 Mercedes-Benz 320 Cabriolet. Click here for more results.

Photo – Worldwide Auctioneers

Onward to Russo & Steele where this 1967 Cheetah was the top seller at $660,000.

Photo – Russo & Steele

The ASA Spider we featured sold for $67,100 and you can see the rest of the results here.

Finally, in the U.K., we have the first sale of the year from Brightwells, their Modern Classics sale. We didn’t feature anything, but the top sale was this 1988 Mercedes-Benz 300SL for $26,127. Click here for complete results.

Photo – Brightwells

ASA Spider

1967 ASA 1100 GT Spider

Offered by Russo & Steele | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 17-21, 2018

Photo – Russo & Steele

Autocostruzioni Societa per Azioni, or ASA, was a small Italian car company that got their start in 1962. They built small, attractive sports cars through the end of the decade. Interestingly, the cars were developed with a little help from Ferrari’s top guys, namely Gioacchino Colombo and Giotto Bizzarrini.

Colombo was responsible for the 1.1-liter straight-four that put out 95 horsepower. Bizzarrini designed the tubular chassis, work he was familiar with from his time spent on the 250 GTO. ASA’s most popular model was the 1000 GT, with a 1.0-liter engine, but two cars – this being one of them – snuck out of the factory with an extra 100cc.

Most of ASA’s cars were coupes. They only built a few convertibles, and this convertible, like the hardtops, wears a body by Bertone. ASA built about 125 cars before production ceased in 1969. Check out more about this car here and see the rest of Russo & Steele’s lineup here.

Update: Sold $67,100.

August 2017 Auction Results, Pt. II

We’re going to pick up again in Monterey with Worldwide Auctioneers. The Benz Tourer we featured sold for $121,000. The top sale was $605,000 paid for this beautiful 1940 BMW 328 Roadster. Click here for more results.

Photo – Worldwide Auctioneers

Next up, Russo & Steele in Monterey. Their top sale was a 1953 Ferrari 250 Europa for $1,155,000. The rest of their results can be found here.

Photo – Russo & Steele

Let’s hop across the Atlantic for a few European sales, beginning with Bonhams’ Beaulieu sale. The top sale was this 1921 Napier “Blue Bird” Homage for $342,679.

Photo – Bonhams

We featured a few old cars from this sale but the Sheffield-Simplex and Bayliss-Thomas failed to sell. The Vauxhall was a big seller, bringing $277,432. The Fiat Berlina sold for $25,309, the Daimler Tourer $22,331, the Vermorel $25,681, and the Calcott $23,820. And the Invicta Black Prince Wagon sold for $21,438 – which is probably the cheapest you’re going to find one of those. Click here for complete results.

Silverstone Auctions held The Salon Privé Sale in early September. We didn’t get to feature anything, but the top sale was this 1989 Porsche 911 (930) Turbo SE Flachbau Cabriolet in a pretty awesome shade of blue for $317,880. Click here for the rest of the results.

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

And finally, H&H Classics’ early September sale held at the National Motorcycle Museum. We didn’t get to feature anything from this sale either, but in a sea of sub-$10,000 cars, this 1975 Jaguar XJ-S 5.3 Coupe stood out, bringing $50,306. Click here to see everything else.

Photo – H&H Classics

July 2017 Auction Highlights

July was a lull in the auction world between a packed June and an always-huge August. We start this with H&H Classics at the Imperial War Museum. The top seller at this sale was this 1929 Bugatti Type 44 Saloon by Vanvooren that brought $258,555.

Photo – H&H Classics

The Adams Roadster we featured sold, bringing $22,900 (you can see all of the results here). And we’ll stay in the U.K. for the first half of Silverstone Auctions’ two-parter, the Classic Race Car Sale. The Tojeiro-JAP failed to meet it’s reserve, but the top sale was this $295,492 1990 Lancia Delta HF Integrale Works Rally Car. Click here for complete results.

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

Next up, Mecum’s Harrisburg sale. A previously-featured Stutz failed to sell at this auction. The top sale was this 1970 Plymouth Hemi Superbird for $415,000.

Photo – Mecum

The Hertz Rent-a-Racer Shelby we featured sold for $120,000. Complete results can be found here.

Let’s jump back to June to cover Russo & Steele’s Newport Beach auction. The top sale there was $292,600 for this 2006 Ford GT.

Photo – Russo & Steele

The Fiat 1200 TV we featured failed to sell. Check here for more results.

Here we go… the first of the Pebble Beach sales: Bonhams in Carmel. The top sale, as predicted, was the single-owner McLaren F1 we featured that ended up bringing an astonishing $15,620,000. The 1904 Premier we featured blasted past its estimate, selling for $341,000. A couple of no-sales included the Maserati Mistral, Ferrari 312 F1 car, the Lotus Indy car and a previously-featured 1904 Humber.

We’ll give Most Interesting to this 1957 BMW 503 Cabriolet by Bertone that we really wanted to feature but ran out of time. It sold for $583,000.

Photo – Bonhams

A rare model of Horch we featured a long time ago while it was for sale at a dealership sold at this auction for $102,300. Click here for more from Bonhams.

Fiat 1200 TV

1959 Fiat 1200 TV

Offered by Russo & Steele | Newport Beach, California | June 2-4, 2017

Photo – Russo & Steele

The Fiat 1100 was a small family car produced between 1953 and 1969 in many varied formats. The 1200 debuted in 1957 as a step up from the 1100. Three different 1200 models were offered before the model went away after 1963: the Granluce (four-door sedan), the Spyder (or TV), and the Cabriolet, which were both convertibles. The Spyder, offered between 1957 and 1959, was replaced by the Cabriolet, which had a different design.

The 1200 is powered by a 1.2-liter straight-four that was based on the 1100’s engine and made 54 horsepower. The Spyder looks coachbuilt with its split grille, but was actually designed in-house at Fiat. The Cabriolet that succeeded it was designed by Pininfarina, but isn’t as stylish as this car.

This example was originally black, but looks quite good the red it wears after undergoing a complete restoration. I don’t have production numbers for this model, but they aren’t all that common. Additionally, there isn’t a pre-sale estimate available, but expect this car to land in the $40,000-$50,000 range. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.