Tag Archives: special

Auburn-Powered Special

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1947 Bigata Douze Special

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Paris, France | January 31, 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

This interesting contraption was built by Georges Bigata to demonstrate that you could build a fast sporting car powered by natural gas. And he did it in the late 1940s. But why? Well, because his family owned a natural gas company of course.

His starting point was his 1932 Auburn Twelve. The chassis was flipped upside down (to lower the car) and the 6.4-liter V12 was converted to run on natural gas. The aluminum body was supplied by Dassault – yes, the aircraft company. It is said to be capable of 125 mph with its three-speed manual transmission.

The car was later discovered still in the Bigata family and returned to operable condition. The current collection acquired it in 2008. The estimate is $165,000-$220,000. More info can be found here.

Update: Sold $156,989.

Kurtis/Diedt-Offy Special

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1949 Kurtis/Deidt-Offenhauser FWD Special

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 17-19, 2023

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Here’s a handful of names that once dominated at Indianapolis: Frank Kurtis, Emil Deidt, Fred Offenhauser. Combining all three into one car? Should be pretty special. And that’s kind of what happened here.

So, what happened here was: owner Gil Pearson commissioned Deidt to build two front-wheel-drive race cars. Frank Kurtis built the body and frame, and then they stuffed a 4.4-liter Meyer-Drake-Offenhauser inline-four up front to drive the front wheels. They took it out to the Muroc dry lake bed and hit 176 mph.

It was then used in some movies before being parked with its sister car behind Gil Pearson’s house until the 1990s. It was then restored before being invited to Pebble Beach in 2001. Now it has a pre-sale estimate of $350,000-$500,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

Guyot Grand Prix

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1925 Guyot Special GS25

Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | March 18, 2022

Photo – Artcurial

Albert Guyot was an early gearhead. By 1905 he ran a Gladiator and Delage garage in France and later turned to driving race cars. He competed in five Indianapolis 500s between 1913 and 1926, with four top 10 finishes, the highest being third in 1914.

He also ran races in European Grands Prix. He drove a Duesenberg in the 1921 French Grand Prix. Rolland-Pilain hired him the next year to design their Grand Prix car. After that, he started designing his own car, the GS25, seen here. It appeared for the 1925 season. It’s powered by a supercharged 2.0-liter inline-six that featured a valve-less aluminum design. Horsepower was rated at 125.

The competition history for this car includes:

  • 1925 Italian Grand Prix – 14th, DNF (with Guyot)

After that, it entered in Formula Libre events, remaining in competition until 1948. A restoration happened circa 1980, with mechanical freshening happening more recently. This one-off Grand Prix car carries an estimate of $420,000-$535,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Martin Ford Special

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1962 Martin Ford Special

Offered by H&H Classics | Buxton, U.K. | October 6, 2021

Photo – H&H Classics

I had the structure for this post all laid out, and then I went and read the H&H Classics catalog description. And it was pretty much the same thing I planned on writing, which was: the post-war sports car boom rode a pretty strong wave for about 15-20 years. Alongside established manufacturers, there were countless upstarts who were offering various forms of sports cars.

One such form was the kit car, or more appropriately at the time this was built, shells that could be bought and fitted to existing running gear. Basically, re-bodying a common car to make it into a sports car. In this case, Martin Plastics Maidstone Ltd offered their fiberglass shells beginning in 1953.

This particular one was purchased as a bare body in 1956 and was fitted to a 1939 Ford Prefect. The completed car was registered in 1962, hence the date listed. Power is from a 1.2-liter Ford inline-four, and the car was restored around 2016. About 500 Martin shells were sold, and only five are known to exist. This one is expected to go cheap with an estimate of $8,000-$11,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $8,010.

Sadler-Meyer Special

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1959 Sadler-Meyer Special

For Sale by Fantasy Junction | Emeryville, California

Photo – Fantasy Junction

I thought we featured this car a long time ago, but apparently not. So here we are. The 1950s were the golden age of this sort of sports racing special. This particular car was named for two gentlemen: Bill Sadler and Van Meyer. The car started as Meyer’s own rail-frame special that he competed with for a number of years.

In 1958, he took that car to Bill Sadler, who ended up building a number of Sadler-branded race cars. He also heavily reworked Meyer’s special. It used a ladder frame and a Pontiac V8. The aluminum body is reminiscent of a period Maserati. Sadler was successful campaigning the car in hillclimb events before eventually selling it.

The car has changed hands a few times and has been restored twice, most recently in 2008. The engine was replaced over the years and is now a 5.6-liter Chevrolet V8 that makes 425 horsepower. Fantasy Junction sold this car once in 2015 (which is probably why I thought we featured it) and now they’ve got it back. It’ll run you $395,000. Click here for more info.

Hughes-Kircher Special

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1953 Hughes-Kircher Special

Offered by Bonhams | Carmel, California | August 16, 2019

Photo – Bonhams

The 1950s were a great time for one-off road racing specials. Returning soldiers saw the light in Europe with their lightweight sports cars and came back with an increased technical know-how to get it done. And that’s what we have here.

Charles Hughes and Kurt Kircher teamed up to build this very pretty special. Kircher was an ex-GM man who helped develop the Powerglide transmission. Hughes was an ex-G.I. who happened to buy a Jaguar XK120. He took it to Kircher, now in Colorado, and used the XK120 engine, a tube-frame chassis, and an MG steering rack to create the first version of the Hughes-Kircher Special. The body was done in aluminum.

After a few years, the car ceased to be competitive. Somehow, the duo got their hands on a Mille Miglia-prepped 300SL race engine and plopped it under the hood. Later, that engine was swapped for a 240 horsepower, 3.0-liter inline-six from a “standard” 300SL. It still has such an engine, just a different one, as the second straight-six was eventually reunited with its factory Gullwing chassis.

This car has raced all over the world and has been in some major collections. It’s been restored and looks as good as any period Ferrari. But it’ll be much cheaper – between $300,000-$400,000 will take it home. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $304,200.

Wright Special

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1953 Wright Special

Offered by Mecum | Monterey, California | August 15-17, 2019

Photo – Mecum

One-off racing specials were commonplace in the U.S. in the 1950s. Enterprising individuals would take some off the shelf components, drive down the street to the local fiberglass fabricator, and get their self-designed body produced.

Then they’d tear up the tracks in SCCA events for a couple of years. Surely, countless examples of these pieces of mechanical creativity have been lost to time. But a good number remain, including this one, which was originally constructed by George Kopecky using a pre-war Maserati chassis and an aluminum body.

The history thereafter is a little hazy. The catalog description says that the body was bought by Johnny Wright in 1954 and that an upgraded frame was also built. It’s powered by a 5.4-liter V8 from a 1957 Corvette and was clocked at 143 mph in 1957. It’s an interesting build and very of-the-era. You can read more about it here and see more from Mecum here.

McLaughlin-Buick

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1936 McLaughlin-Buick Series 40 Special Sedan

Offered by H&H Classics | Buxton, U.K. | July 19, 2018

Photo – H&H Classics

McLaughin started as a carriage building business in 1869. They founded the McLaughlin Motor Car Company in 1907 in Oshawa, Ontario. Then, they formed a partnership with Buick (to use their engines) and eventually were bought out entirely by General Motors. In 1918, they officially became General Motors of Canada Ltd. Beginning in 1923, the Canadian-built cars were branded as McLaughlin-Buick and were sold that way through 1942.

So this is essentially a Canadian-market Buick that was built in Canada. And at some point, it made its way to the U.K. The Series 40 Special was the entry-level Buick for 1936. It’s powered by a 93 horsepower, 3.8-liter straight-eight. Six different body styles were offered in ’36 with the sedan being far and away the most popular.

This example has been in the same family for the last two decades and shows 88,600 miles. Recent work to the gas tank and braking system mean that this car is ready for the road. It’s a stylish, middle class car from the 1930s and it serves as an interesting history lesson about General Motors. The pre-sale estimate is $18,000-$22,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Marendaz Sports

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1936 Marendaz Special 13/70HP Sports Tourer

Offered by Bonhams | Chichester, U.K. | July 13, 2018

Photo – Bonhams

Bonhams has assembled quite the lineup for their Goodwood Festival of Speed sale. There’s an Aston DB4GT, a DB4GT Zagato, a Blower Bentley, and much, much more. But, to us, this is the most exciting car of the sale. Marendaz existed in England for 10 years: 1926 to 1936. In that time they turned out precious few cars and they are sporty.

This car, the 13/70, was available from 1932 through 1934. It’s powered by a 2.4-liter Continental straight-six rated at 70 horsepower. The factory used this engine but slimmed it down when new to 1.9-liters for tax purposes. So this car has the “correct” engine, but just not in the same specification it would’ve had when new. It’s got open four-seat coachwork with exhaust reminiscent of a Mercedes Type S.

Despite offering nearly 15 different models over the course of the short decade that Donald Marcus Kelway Marendaz’s company existed, they managed to only build between 80 and 120 cars in total. They’re sporty, very rare, and the entire history reminds one of manufacturers like Arab, Squire, and Alta. It’s an interesting old sports car for sure and the price should fall in the $93,000-$110,000 range. You can read more here and see more from Bonhams here.

Update: Not sold.

Update: Sold, Bonhams Beaulieu 2018, $111,710.

1954 Kaiser Special Club Sedan

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1954 Kaiser Special Club Sedan

Offered by Barrett-Jackson | Palm Beach, Florida | April 12-15, 2018

Photo – Barrett-Jackson

The name of the entry-level Kaiser automobile seemed to change every year. In 1953 it was the Deluxe. In 1954 it was the Special (it was different in ’52 and ’55 too). And some of those 1954 Specials were just rebadged 1953 Deluxes that were left over (they also had some styling tweaks applied as well). The Special could be had as a four-door sedan or a two-door Club Sedan.

The Special is powered by a 3.7-liter straight-six making 118 horsepower. This car is one of the 1953 carry-over cars. It still sports the “jet airscoop” front grille that marked all 1954 Kaisers (which was added by the factory before sale) but you can tell it is a “first series” car because the rear glass is a single piece that does not wrap around to the sides.

About 3,500 1953 Kaisers were carried over and sold as 1954 Specials. The number of actual 1954 cars is much, much lower. But the Club Sedan is definitely the rarer of the two body styles. This car has had a cosmetic restoration and an engine rebuild, but the interior is original. These Kaisers are beautiful and rare cars that will stand out at any cruise-in you attend. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Barrett-Jackson’s Palm Beach lineup.

Update: Sold $44,000.