Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Enstone, U.K. | May 11, 2019
Photo – Silverstone Auctions
This is the fourth different Jaguar XJ220 we’ve featured – and the first, plain Jane road car. It’s listed as a 1995 model, though the last XJ220 rolled off the assembly line in May 1994. So that’s believable enough. Silverstone Auctions has another XJ220 in this same sale that is titled as a 1997 – with no explanation given. Which is weird.
At 212 mph, the XJ220 was the fastest production car in the world at the time of its introduction. Power is from a 542 horsepower, twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6. It features an aluminum chassis and body as well as a well-appointed interior.
Celebrities lined up to buy them when they were new, but they gained a reputation for disappointment over time, and I’m not sure why. Maybe the V6 wasn’t exotic enough. The prices sort of bottomed out and never took back off again like the McLaren F1 and Ferrari F50. This one is expected to bring between $420,000-$485,000 – a relative supercar bargain.
This car is finished in Le Mans Blue and was brought to the UK in 2015 out of a collection in Malaysia. Supercar collections in Southeast Asia are always interesting, and you have to wonder what kind of stories this car could tell. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Enstone, U.K. | May 11, 2019
Photo – Silverstone Auctions
Noel Macklin was a British entrepreneur who founded Invicta and ultimately sold it in 1933. Looking for something to do, he borrowed the last name of Reid Railton, who was famous for designing land speed record cars, and started a new car company.
Railtons were based on American Hudsons, and Macklin ended up selling the company to Hudson in 1939. History nerds know that a war broke out that year, and Railton was essentially DOA when Hudson took over.
In the late-1980s, William Towns (who designed this beauty, as well as the Aston Martin Lagonda) decided to try and relaunch the brand. Two models – both convertibles – were introduced and were based on Jaguar XJS mechanicals. In an effort to – well, I’m not sure what the intention was – the car was re-bodied on top of the original Jaguar body. Sure, why not.
But that XJS motor is still there – a 280 horsepower 5.3-liter V12. Only one Claremont and one example of the other car (the Fairmile) were produced. You can differentiate the two because the Claremont has rear wheel skirts. The only example produced, this car should bring between $75,000-$90,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
We’ll pick up where we left off last time, Scottsdale. This time it’s Russo & Steele, where this2012 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.
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.
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.
Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Stoneleigh Park, U.K. | February 23, 2019
Photo – Silverstone Auctions
The Longchamp is far from De Tomaso‘s most famous model, as it is neither a Pantera nor a Mangusta. And the convertible (or Spyder) variant is so rare that most people who have heard of the Longchamp might not even realize a drop-top was ever offered.
The Series II Longchamp went on sale in 1980, and the GTS variant debuted that year as well. It is set off from lesser cars with wheel arches and Pantera-like Campagnolo wheels. The top version, the GTS/E, went on sale in the mid-1980s and featured some styling changes (which are supposed to include round headlights, which this car does not have). Power is from a 5.8-liter Ford V8.
Only 409 examples of all types were built between 1972 and 1989, with the coupe/convertible breakdown being 395 to 14, respectively. Very few were built in the last few years, and only a few GTS models were also Spyders. In fact, of the 14 convertibles, only three are GTS/E models. This is one of them, and it should sell for between $115,000-$140,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Stoneleigh Park, U.K. | February 23-24, 2019
Photo – Silverstone Auctions
When the Walkett brothers founded Ginetta Cars in 1958, do you think they had any idea their company would still be involved in the highest levels of motorsport 60 years later? They started out building kit cars and in 1961 they hit it big when the G4 went on sale.
The G4 was nice because it was a usable car and a great race car. With a fiberglass body and reliable Ford powerplants, the cars were competitive and sold well – about 500 were produced through 1969 when production stopped (though it restarted in 1981 and lasted through 1984 with about 35 additional “Mk IV” examples built). This car is powered by a 1.5-liter Ford inline-four.
Painted in bright orange, the car was recently restored, including work performed by Ginetta Heritage. It’s race and road ready and should cost between $32,000-$40,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
The Talbot Tourer we featured brought an also-impressive $242,200, as did the other Rolls-Royce at $176,146. The Healey Abbott failed to sell. Complete results can be found here.
Onward to RM Sotheby’s sale held at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. The top sale was the huge price paid for this 1956 Ferrari 290 MM by Scaglietti: $22,005,000.
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
The Mochet microcar we featured sold for $25,200, and a previously-featured Ferrari wagon sold for $313,000. Final results can be found here.
Aguttes held a sale in December that had a few cars sprinkled in, the most expensive of which ended up being this 1994 Ferrari 348 GTS for $74,305. Full results can be found here.
Photo – Aguttes
And now we’re into 2019, beginning with Mecum’s epic Kissimmee sale that lasted for almost two weeks. Somehow, a LaFerrari Aperta we featured failed to meet its astronomical, irrational reserve at a bid of over $6 million. However, its sister car from the same collection, a 2014 Ferrari LaFerrari was the overall top seller at this sale for $3,300,000. Which was below the pre-sale estimate. Go figure.
And finally, we move to another early January sale: Silverstone Auctions’ Autosport International sale. The Griffith we featured sold, but is still listed as “result to follow.” Once it’s posted we’ll update our Griffith page, so check back if you just have to know. The top seller was yet another Ferrari, this time a 1970 Ferrari 365 GT 2+2 for $257,360. Final results can be found here.
Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Birmingham, U.K. | January 12, 2019
Photo – Silverstone Auctions
The Griffith is an unusual car. Partly because it has practically zero overhang front or rear, and partly because it has a confusing production history.
An American – Jack Griffith, to be exact – stuffed a Ford V8 into a TVR Grantura Mk 3 and then decided to open his own company to build the car. Just like an off-brand Cobra. The Griffith Motor Company of Plainview, New York, produced the car, using Ford engines and British-built bodies. Okay, less like an off-brand Cobra and more like an exact duplicate of Shelby’s entire business plan.
In the U.S., these cars were sold as the “Griffith 400” (there were other models as well). In the U.K., they were sold as TVR Griffith 400s. This is a right-hand-drive example, thus the TVR prefix. It is powered by a 4.7-liter V8 that was originally rated at 271 horsepower. It’s a rocket.
This car has been active on the historic race circuit and has FIA papers. Only about 300 Griffiths were built in total across all models. Less than 20 were the U.K. RHD TVR variants, making this car quite rare. It should bring between $150,000-$175,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
Continuing in a busy October we come to RM’s Porsche 70th Anniversary sale held in Atlanta. The Rothmans-liveried 959 rally car was the top sale at $5,945,000. We will certainly have to award Most Interesting to this 1956 Porsche 356 A Training Chassis that sold for $112,000. Click here for more results.
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
Mecum’s Chicago sale also had a Porsche bring the biggest money. In this case, it was a 1979 Porsche 911 Turbo (originally owned by Walter Payton) that sold for $324,500.
Photo – Mecum
The Ford Burma Jeep we featured sold for $8,800 – a steal. Final results can be found here.
Now we’ll jump back across the Atlantic, to Italy, and Bonhams’ Padua sale. The Alfa 155 GTA Stradale was withdrawn, and our featured Horch failed to sell. The top sale was $576,549 paid for this 1960 Ferrari 250 GT Series II Coupe, and more results can be found here.
Photo – Bonhams
Now we start with November’s sales, beginning with Artcurial. The Delaunay-Belleville we featured failed to sell, though the Ligier brought $91,897. Overall, the top seller was this 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster for $1,131,027. Click here for more results.
Photo – Artcurial
Finally, we have Silverstone Auctions’ NEC Classic Motor Show sale. The McLaren we featured failed to sell, and the VW XL1 brought $132,465. The top sale was this 1966 Aston Martin DB6 for $275,176. Click here for expanded results.
Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Birmingham, U.K. | November 10-11, 2018
Photo – Silverstone Auctions
McLaren reappeared on the road car scene in 2011 with the MP4-12C. That car was replaced in 2014 with the 650S, and since then they’ve had a product introduction blitz. A new model seemingly appears every 6-8 months. The 675LT was a limited edition model built between 2015 and 2017. It’s based on the 650S, but is supposed to be a more track-focused car.
The “LT” in the name is for “Long Tail” – harkening back to those wonderful longtail McLaren F1s from the 1990s. It features a single-piece carbon fiber structure and uses even more carbon fiber in its construction than the 650S. Power is from a twin-turbo 3.8-liter V8 good for 666 horsepower and 205 mph.
Only 500 examples were produced, and there were apparently 500 examples of a Spider variant built between 2016 and 2017 as well. This one has been owned since new by Jay Kay of Jamiroquai and should bring between $300,000-$365,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Birmingham, U.K. | November 10-11, 2018
Photo – Silverstone Auctions
Well, this isn’t a classic car – or some crazy new exotic. It’s a plug-in hybrid, hardly the fodder for enthusiasts’ dreams. But the other thing that it happens to be is an extremely rare, almost sci-fi-like car of the future… and until this cropped up in Silverstone Auctions’ catalog, it was a car I wasn’t sure even really existed.
Take for instance the history of this car. Volkswagen first showed a 1-liter concept car in 2002. It was roughly the same shape as this car. In 2007, the head of VW said the car would go on sale before 2010. In 2009, they showed another, more advanced concept dubbed the L1. It looked a lot more like this, and VW said it would go on sale in 2013.
Then, in 2011, they debuted the XL1 concept car. In 2012, VW said that this model would go on sale instead, starting in 2013. Guess what happened in 2013? Who knows? Everyone got caught up in the whole diesel scandal in 2015 when these evidently debuted, and they forgot all about it. In all, 200 copies were made. Supposedly.
They are powered by an 800cc turbodiesel twin-cylinder engine coupled with an electric motor for a combined output of 74 horsepower. The drag coefficient is incredible, and the car gets over 310 miles per gallon. Imagine a car like this on a grand scale. This example is still owned by Volkswagen UK and shows 79 miles. It’s an instant collector’s item and should sell for between $125,000-$150,000 (they were pretty expensive when new, too). Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
