Tag Archives: torpedo

Argyll Torpedo Tourer

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1913 Argyll 12hp Torpedo Tourer

Offered by H&H Auctions | Duxford, U.K. | October 16, 2013

1913 Argyll 12hp Torpedo Tourer

I’ve literally been waiting months to feature this car. I saw it pop up in H&H’s catalog early on and have been excited about it since. Argyll was a Scottish marque that was founded in Glasgow in 1899 by Alex Govan.

Right around 1913 was when Argyll really hit their stride. Business was expanding – in fact, this car was sold new in Sydney, Australia. It didn’t re-arrive back into the U.K. until 2001. I’m not sure about the John Deere paint scheme, but I kind of like it. I also like the upright windshield and pillarless sides when the top is stowed back.

The engine is a 12 horsepower (presumably taxable) four-cylinder. The “artillery” look of the wheels is one of my favorite early wheel styles (yes, I have multiple categories for favorite wheel styles). This just looks like a fun, usable car from what was once Scotland’s largest automobile manufacturer. It is expected to sell for between $48,500-$56,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of H&H’s auction lineup.

Update: Sold $56,250.

Cottin-Desgouttes Torpedo

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1924 Cottin-Desgouttes Type M Torpedo

Offered by Bonhams | Knokke-Heist, Belgium | October 11, 2013

1924 Cottin-Desgouttes Type M Torpedo

Cottin-Desgouttes (sometimes written as Cottin & Desgouttes) was a French automobile manufacturer founded in Lyon in 1906. Pierre Desgoutte built cars under his own name in 1904 before being joined by a wealthy backer – Cyrille Cottin – two years later.

They built mainly luxury and sporty, racing cars. The company was doing well – and then the war came. Luckily, they found their niche was were able to weather World War One, coming out of it well-equipped and ready to resume production. But the wealth of pre-war France wasn’t quite the same immediately following the war, so the company introduced a cheaper model – this, the Type M.

It used a four-cylinder engine with 12 taxable horsepower. It was well-equipped and technically innovative. This car has a very sporty convertible torpedo body on it and has spent a long time in a museum – the last 15 years of which in storage. It was brought out and driven this year – so it does run and drive. It should sell for between $54,000-$81,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Bonhams’ auction lineup in Belgium.

Update: Sold $70,204.

Rolls-Royce Hunting Car

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1925 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Torpedo Sports Tourer by Barker & Co.

Offered by Barrett-Jackson | Las Vegas, Nevada | September 28, 2013

1925 Rolls-Royce Phantom I by Barker

The Rolls-Royce Phantom I was the successor to the Silver Ghost. The first Phantom was introduced in 1925 – making this a launch-year model. It was available from either Rolls-Royce or Rolls-Royce of America. This is from the British arm of the company.

This is actually a really interesting car and I’ve been monitoring it as it sat at the Auto Collections in Las Vegas, where it’s been for sale for a little while. This car was ordered new by Umed Singh II – the Maharaja of Kotah in India. Rolls-Royces were popular among Maharajas (India was under British rule at the time) and a Maharaja Rolls is a thing that pops up every now and then.

The Maharaja had this Torpedo Sports Tourer body put on the car by Barker & Co. of London – the supplier for many of the bodies on early Silver Ghosts. Barker & Co. would be acquired by Hooper (another popular Bentley/Rolls coachbuilder) in 1938. The engine in this car is a 50 horsepower (or “sufficient,” in Rolls-speak) 7.7-liter straight-six.

India is a land of exotic game and many kings of the day liked to go hunting. This car was well-equipped with enough firepower (including a tow-behind machine gun!) to go hunting on his family’s private estate. This has been referred to as the “Tiger Car” as it packs enough punch to take down a Bengal Tiger.

1925 Rolls with Gun

It’s a really awesome car that has the potential to bring a lot of money. You just don’t see outrageous Rolls-Royces like this – especially one armed like a tank. Only 2,269 British-built Phantom Is were built – and there’s only one like this. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Barrett-Jackson’s Vegas lineup.

S/N: 23RC

Update: Not sold, high bid of $450,000.

Pebble Beach-Winning Mercedes 680S

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1928 Mercedes-Benz 680 S-Type Torpedo Roadster by Saoutchik

Offered by RM Auctions | Monterey, California | August 16-17, 2013

1928 Mercedes-Benz 680S Torpedo Roadster by Saoutchik

Whoa. Every once in a while (and seemingly more and more often as of late) a car comes along that just shouldn’t exist. It’s so rare and it looks like something out of a black and white photograph that it just can’t be real. Cars like this only exist in private European collections. And only 60+ years ago.

But no, here it is. This car won Best in Show at the 2012 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. This car was also displayed at the 1929 New York Auto Salon. A lot of people have seen it in person. We’ve actually featured another Mercedes-Benz 680 (here) if you want to read more about the evolution of the model.

Here’s some specs on this car. It uses a 6.8-liter straight-six with the pedal-controlled supercharger. That is: it made 120 horsepower when cruising around and 180 horsepower when you matted the throttle, engaging the “Kompressor.” It has top-of-the-line mechanicals for 1928.

But then there’s the body. It’s low slung and designed by one of the top coachbuilders of the era: Saoutchik of Paris. The interior is lizard skin. It was ordered by the wife of a wealthy American and by the time the car was completed, the couple was broke. It sat in a New York showroom before it was sold to a young Standard Oil executive. There’s a pretty cool story about it that I won’t reprint here, but you can read about it on RM’s website.

The car was parked in 1952. It was restored for the first time in 1980 and in 1986 it was placed in a museum where it remained until 2006 (the first time it left ownership of the original family). The current owner bought it in 2008 and had it fully restored – with brand new lizard skin interior.

Only 124 Type S Mercedes’ were built. Only three had short-windshield bodies from Saoutchik. Of those three, this is the only one left. In order to bid on this car, you have to tell the auction house prior to the sale. That’s a solid hint that it is expected to bring an insane amount of money. Click here for more info and here for more from RM in Monterey.

Update: Sold $8,250,000.

Update II: Not sold, RM Sotheby’s Villa Erba 2017.

S/N: 35949

Bugatti Type 30 Re-Body

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1930 Bugatti Type 30 Dual-Cowl Torpedo

Offered by RM Auctions | Lake Como, Italy | May 25, 2013

1924 Bugatti Type 30

The Bugatti Type 30 was Bugatti’s touring car model that first went on sale in 1922. It used the same chassis as the earlier Brescia. It was built through 1926 and spawned a series of Bugatti models that would run through 1934. The engines and components would change, but the Type 30 was the initial model in what is considered to be the “30 line.”

The engine in this car is a 2.0-liter straight-eight generating between 65 and 70 horsepower, realistically. The eight-cylinder engine was more powerful than that four-cylinder in the Brescia but also had similar lightness and even more appeal.

The story on this car is that it was taken to the U.K. after WWII in the hopes of turning it into a race car. All that ended up happening was that the body was removed (and subsequently disappeared). Someone else acquired it and decided to restore it in the early-1980s. He had a new body built – a Dual-Cowl Torpedo in the style of Lavocat et Marsaud. This car also has it’s original chassis plate and engine (although it has undergone serious work).

About 600 Type 30s were built and there are some with original and more desirable coachwork. This one is nice and has been repainted in Bugatti blue within the last five years. This failed to sell at a different auction in 2008 with an approximate estimate of $225,000-$265,000. RM hasn’t published an estimate yet, but I expect something close to that, if not a little less. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $407,680.

Hispano-Suiza Torpedo

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1928 Hispano-Suiza H6C Transformable Torpedo by Hibbard & Darrin

Offered by RM Auctions | Amelia Island, Florida | March 9, 2013

1928 Hispano-Suiza H6C Transformable Torpedo by Hibbard & Darrin

Photo – RM Auctions

We featured a Hispano-Suiza H6C fairly recently and while that car was certainly cool, it really can’t match this one for looks. Check out the rounded fenders, swooping lines and the soft cream color scheme. It’s beautiful.

The body is by Hibbard & Darrin, a company comprised of two Americans living in Paris. Four-door convertibles really need to make a comeback (I’m looking at you, Cadillac) as the style is really elegant and imposing, something often not found on modern cars. The sweeping fenders on this car were actually added in the late-1930s after the car had seen a few owners. The engine is a 160 horsepower 8.0-liter straight-six.

This car was one of very few Hispano-Suizas delivered new to the U.S. And it’s also one of only a few H6Cs that are still around. Luckily, it happens to be one of the best looking as well. It can be yours for between $400,000-$500,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $495,000.

Update: Not sold, RM Sotheby’s Amelia Island 2018.

Update: Not sold, RM Sotheby’s Arizona 2019.

Clément-Bayard Torpedo

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1912 Clément-Bayard 4M2 Torpedo

Offered by Auctions America, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, March 16-18, 2012

Adolphe Clément-Bayard was a big name in the early days of the automotive industry – especially in France. There were no less than seven different marques that bore his name and the model seen here was built by SA des Ets Clément-Bayard, a company that built automobiles from 1903 until 1922.

This car has a four-cylinder engine making eight horsepower and a body that we’ll call “petite.” It looks to be in fantastic condition and one thing that struck me while viewing the photos of this car is the fact that early cars were so well badged. The badging on cars from this era all feature intricate brass plating stamped with production dates and company names and locations. Some of them border on art. Here’s some examples from this car:

No lame, mass-produced VIN plates on this car. These things are solid metal that were stamped. It comes from a time when things were built with an eye for how they looked. No detail overlooked. It’s an age we are not likely to ever see again: the end of the industrial era before things were mass-produced.

The middle photo comes from one of the many light fixtures that adorn this car. If you plan to drive it at night, no need to worry. You’ll look like a Christmas tree driving down the road. For the complete catalog description, click here and to see the rest of what Auctions America has to offer in Ft. Lauderdale, click here.

Update: Lot Withdrawn.

Tucker Torpedo

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1948 Tucker Sedan

Offered by Barrett-Jackson, Scottsdale, Arizona, January 15-22, 2012

This Tucker – one of 51 produced by Preston Tucker’s forward-thinking company in 1948 – is offered from the collection of noted Scottsdale-area car collector Ron Pratte – who is a fixture at Barrett-Jackson each January. While the pictured car may or may not be the car offered – it looks exactly like it in beautiful Waltz Blue.

Tuckers utilize a 166 horsepower flat-6 produced by aircraft engine manufacturer Air Cooled Motors. To secure the supply, Tucker bought the company and cancelled their contracts to make them exclusive to Tucker. The engine is mounted in the rear (and it’s rear-wheel drive). It also features one exhaust pipe for each cylinder – which is certainly interesting.

The car features a number of innovative features such as the directional headlight – or “Cyclops Eye” – that turns with steering angles of more than 10 degrees. It has a padded dashboard (hey, in a pre-airbag world, it’s better than nothing). The windshield is shatter-proof pop-out glass and the car was one of the first to feature seat belts.

There were only 51 Tuckers built (50 production models and 1 prototype), yet they still manage to pop up for sale every now and then. Look for this to bag about $1 million. More info is available here and here for more about the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Auction.

Update: Sold $2,915,000.