Tag Archives: the auto collections

Horch 930V Phaeton

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1939 Horch 930V Phaeton

For sale at The Auto Collections | Las Vegas, Nevada

Photo - The Auto Collections

Photo – The Auto Collections

The Horch 930V was part of the 830 line of cars that August’s company built between 1933 and 1940. Here is a quick breakdown of the different models in this line: 830 (1933-1934), 830 B (1935), 830 BL (1935-1940), 830 Bk (1936), 930V (1937-1940).

The late 1938 through 1940 930V was powered by a 3.8-liter V-8 making 92 horsepower (a 10 horsepower and 300cc bump over the 1937/early ’38 model). Most of these cars were built as a four-door sedan, two-door convertible, and two-door roadster. Only three four-door Phaeton convertibles were built. Two still survive.

It’s a stately car, for sure, but not one really associated with the Nazis (which is a good thing, but it also makes it a little less well known). This car was restored in 1982 and is currently owned by a Guatemalan, but is for sale in Las Vegas for $375,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold, Bonhams Carmel 2017, $102,300.

Cadillac Town Car

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1940 Cadillac Series 75 Town Car by Brunn

For sale at The Auto Collections | Las Vegas, Nevada

Photo - The Auto Collections

Photo – The Auto Collections

The second generation of the Cadillac Series 70 (and its derivatives) was introduced in 1938 and lasted through 1940. This series was Cadillac’s mid-level model in 1940, being flanked on either side by the entry-level Series 40 and the top-of-the-line Sixteen. For 1940, this series included the Series 62, Series 60 Special, Series 72, and Series 75.

The engine in the Series 75 is a 5.7-liter V-8 making 140 horsepower. Cadillac and their in-house coachbuilder Fleetwood offered a bunch of different bodies for the Series 75. But for a wealthy Ohioan, these options were not enough. So he went to The Brunn Company and ordered what was to be the final Brunn Town Car ever produced. The body is all aluminium and almost all custom from Brunn, save for the hood and front fenders.

The car is said to drive splendidly and it has been winning awards for decades. It is all-original and well-preserved and can be yours for $175,000. Click here for more info.

A Chinese Classic

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1974 Hongqi CA770

For Sale at The Auto Collections | Las Vegas, Nevada

1974 Hongqi CA770

Say what? This is actually a really exciting car to see for sale in the United States. The Chinese automobile industry is just starting to take off (I could throw some numbers at you but I won’t. I wrote a thesis-ish paper in college about two years ago regarding it but I don’t want to bore you). But the industry has actually been around longer than 10 years.

Hongqi (which means Red Flag, the name by which the cars are sometimes referred to in Western media) is owned by FAW (First Automobile Works). The cars were the first domestically produced passenger automobiles in China. They were introduced in 1958, essentially as a copy of a 1950s Chrysler. An update came in 1963 and it was known as the CA770, the car you see here.

They were built for elite members of the Communist Party. It used the same engine as its predecessor, a 197 horsepower 5.6-liter V-8 (also a Chrysler design). This model was produced until 1980. Only about 1,600 of these cars (and the earlier model) were made in total. So they are very rare to begin with.

Then you throw the curveball: this car is in the U.S. It is one of very few (it could be the only one) Chinese cars (and not those little electric things) in this country. It is almost certainly the only “classic” Chinese car to have reached these shores. No one’s really collecting them because most people don’t know they are out there. Russian cars have a little bit of a following, but this is a whole new ballgame. The Auto Collections bill it as “the very first collector car to ever be exchanged in the USA with China.” It’s interesting. It’s for sale. I want it, and any collector of interesting cars should too. Click here for more.

Duesenberg J-127

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1932 Duesenberg Model J Sedan by Holbrook

For Sale at The Auto Collections | Las Vegas, Nevada

Since it is our intention to feature as many Model J Duesenbergs as possible on this site, there will come a point where there is nothing new left to say about each car. Yes, they all have the same 265 horsepower straight-eight engine. And they all have custom coachwork from various coachbuilders. Some of them have an interesting story or ownership history, which we’ll try to touch on.

Some are “just Duesenbergs” – if I can say that. This one is a sedan without any former celebrity owners. And since I’ve already exhausted just about everything I can say about this particular car, allow me to furnish the story with a brief history of Holbrook, the company the designed this sedan body.

Founded in 1908 by the merger of two small coachbuilders (one owned by company namesake Harry F. Holbrook, the other by Jack Graham), Manhattan-based Holbrook Company built bodies for all of the top firms of the period, including Rolls-Royce, Isotta-Fraschini, Pierce-Arrow, Cadillac, and of course, Duesenberg. At least three Holbrook-bodied Duesenbergs are known to exist. Harry Holbrook left the company in 1913 and started a competing company in 1927 while partnering with Henry Brewster, who had also left the company bearing his name (it didn’t last). Holbrook was re-organized in 1929, but it spelled disaster and the company was liquidated the following year.

So, how is it that a 1932 Duesenberg could have a body designed by a company that went out of business in 1930? Well, this chassis (#2350) was a 1932 model. It originally contained engine J-338 and a five-passenger sedan body by Derham. At some point, J-127 was installed and the body was switched to the Holbrook sedan you see here.

Price is not listed on the website but this car changed hands in 2004 for $240,000. It popped up later that year for $395,000. I’m sure the price has only increased since. You can find out more here.