6C 2500 Super Sport Villa d’Este

1950 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Super Sport Villa d’Este Coupe by Touring

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Phoenix, Arizona | January 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Alfa’s 6C model was around for over 25 years, debuting in 1500 form in 1927 and bowing out with double the displacement after 1954. While the handful of 6C 3000s built were mostly race cars, it was the 6C 2500 that was really the final evolution of the model.

The Super Sport variant debuted in 1939 with triple carburetors on the 2.5-liter inline-six, which was good for 110 horsepower. A few different body styles were offered on this chassis, including the Touring-penned Villa d’Este coupe, of which just 36 were built.

Delivered new in Switzerland, the car eventually made its way to Texas. It was restored in Milan, though the catalog doesn’t quite make it clear when. Sometimes in the ’80s or ’90s apparently. This car is pretty fantastic, and it has an estimate of $450,000-$550,000. Click here for more info.

Paige Fairfield Touring

1915 Paige Six Fairfield Touring

Offered by Bonhams | Paris, France | February 1, 2024

Photo – Bonhams

Paige Fairfield Touring could be somebody’s name. That’s one thing to love about Paige automobiles – they actually gave their models names, and as early as 1912. Not something that was very common. Paige-Detroit came into being when Henry Jewett bought into Fred Paige’s car company, only to realize that the Paige-Detroit was garbage. He forced Fred out and changed the name to just Paige before beginning production on a better car of 1911.

Paige soldiered on until 1927 when Jewett sold the company to Graham Brothers. Paige sold 7,749 cars in 1915, their first year for six-cylinder cars (which is all they would produce thereafter). The 1915 Six is powered by a 29.4-horspeower inline-six, and three body styles were offered on that chassis.

This car moved to its current Belgian collection in 1981 and was restored there about five years later. Paige marketed their vehicles as “the most beautiful cars in America” – and while a stretch, this certainly is a handsome machine. $1,395 when new, it now has an estimate of $32,000-$43,000. More can be found here.

1917 Case Touring

1917 Case Model T Touring

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 2024

Photo – Mecum

Jerome Increase Case founded the J.I. Case Threshing Machine Company in 1842. By the end of the 1800s, they were one of the largest producers of steam traction engines. Gasoline-engined tractors appeared in 1895, and about 15 years later, they would parlay that knowledge into road cars.

Case-branded road cars were available from 1911 through 1927. The Model T of 1916 and 1917 was powered by a 40-horsepower, inline-four. Two body styles were offered in 1917, a roadster and a touring car, both retailing for $1,190.

The catalog only has four photos of this car, so there’s not much info to glean. It does look nice, especially on unpainted wood-spoke wheels. Click here for more info.

EMF Touring

1910 EMF Model 30 Touring

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 2024

Photo – Mecum

Everitt-Metzger-Flanders was relatively short lived – around from just 1908 to 1912. But those three names were all over the place in the early days. Everitt built bodies, Metzger helped get Cadillac off the ground, and Flanders was Ford’s production manager.

The Model 30 was their only product, and in 1910, it was only offered as a five-passenger touring car. The 3.7-liter inline-four engine made… 30 horsepower. It’s obviously been restored, and is said to have spent its recent life as a parade car.

E-M-F built ~15,000 cars in 1910. They don’t come up for sale all that often, but this EMF is… unbelievable. Click here for more info.

Maserati 3500 GT Coupe

1960 Maserati 3500 GT Coupe by Touring

Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | October 22, 2023

Photo – Artcurial

The 3500 GT debuted at the 1957 Geneva Motor Show, with production of a Touring-penned coupe starting later that year. Spyders followed, as did some coachbuilt examples. Eventually a limited-run 5000 GT also joined the Maserati lineup before both cars were supplanted by cars like the Sebring and Mistral.

This car was sold new in January 1960 to a Swiss-born racing driver in California. It returned to Italy in 2007 and was later restored in Austria. It’s finished in white with a contrasting burgundy roof over a tan leather interior.

Power is provided by a 3.5-liter inline-six that was rated at 217 horsepower. Not overpowered for sure. Fuel injection would come along later and increase output by some degree. But this was a grand tourer, not a race car. If you’re in the market, this one will likely set you back $150,000-$190,000. More info can be found here.

1912 Michigan

1912 Michigan Four-40 Touring

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 4-5, 2023

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The Michigan Buggy Company of Kalamazoo has one of the more colorful histories of any short-lived pre-war auto manufacturer. They first car debuted in 1904, and it was a small single-cylinder buggy without reverse. Regular production of a more typical automobile started in 1911.

But it’s amazing they sold any cars at all. Most of the officers at the company were involved in some kind of fraud. In 1912, the company offered two models: the Four-33 and the Four-40, the latter of which is powered by an L-head Buda inline-four that made 40 horsepower. It wasn’t really a bad car either.

Michigan ceased production after 1913, and the factory was eventually bought by the United States Motor Car Company, and their Greyhound would be built there. The car shown here has been restored and now has an estimate of $50,000-$70,000. Click here for more info.

Overland Model 82

1915 Overland Model 82 Touring

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 4-5, 2023

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Claude E. Cox founded Overland in Terre Haute, Indiana, in 1903. The company spent a few years in Indianapolis before settling in Toledo in 1909, which was a year after it was purchased by John North Willys. Willys was able to increase Overland production significantly, and for most of the 1910s, they were America’s #2 o4 3 automaker.

Their 1915 catalog offered three models, the Model 81, 80, and 82. The Model 82 was the largest of the three and was powered by a 5.0-liter inline-six rated at 50 horsepower. It was only offered as a seven-passenger touring car.

This restored example has been under current ownership since 2017 and is a pretty nice example of what was a common, larger mid-priced car in 1915. It has an estimate of $20,000-$30,000. Click here for more info.

1912 Marquette

1912 Marquette Model 25 Touring

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 4-5, 2023

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

This was the first time the Marquette marque was introduced under General Motors. Billy Durant bought up Rainier and Welch-Detroit, both of which were making pretty nice cars. But both were losing money. He propped up the Marquette-Buick name to use on race cars before the Marquette road car debuted in 1911.

It was very closely related to the Rainier, making it a pretty nice car that would’ve retailed for about $3,000 in its day. A Model T was about $650. Around the time that this car got off the ground, Durant lost control of GM, and the new people in charge scuttled the marque. GM would bring the Marquette name back for 1930 as the one-year-only companion make for Buick.

This Model 25 Touring is powered by a 40-horsepower, 6.8-liter inline-four and is one of only a few known to exist. It has an estimate of $60,000-$80,000. Click here for more info.

1906 Tourist

1906 Tourist Model K Touring

Offered by Mecum | Harrisburg, Pennsylvania | July 26-29, 2023

Photo – Mecum

Tourist is a rare example of a California-based car company and was a product of the generically named Auto Vehicle Company of Los Angeles. It existed from 1902 to 1910. When the funding ran out, the Auto Vehicle Company reverted to being a dealership for Firestone-Columbus, Warren-Detroit, and Columbus Electric cars, while their factory and tooling was sold off to make the Beardsley electric car.

A range of models were offered by Tourist, including trucks. In 1906, when the company was making about 500 cars a year, they offered the Model K and the four-cylinder Model M, both in five-passenger touring car form only. The Model K is powered by a 3.2-liter flat-twin making about 20 horsepower.

This restored example was part of a collection and is one of but a few of Tourist cars remaining. You can read more about it here.

Update: Sold $27,500.

Touring-Bodied Bristol

1949 Bristol 401 by Touring

Offered by Brightwells | Leominster, U.K. | April 8, 2023

Photo – Brightwells

Here is, however unlikely, another coachbuilt Bristol 401. When Bristol switched from aircraft to cars after the war (or at least, partly), they had a guy on board named H.J. Aldington, formerly of Frazer Nash. Frazer Nash was the British BMW importer before the war. So it’s easy to see how BMW influenced these early Bristols.

Aldington wanted Bristol to use Touring’s Superleggera coachwork on their new cars. Approximately 10 were bodied by Touring before Bristol decided to just use their old-school ash framing. That said, the factory-bodied 401s looked pretty much like this. Touring also reused parts of this design for the Alfa Romeo Freccia d’Oro.

Power here is from a 2.0-liter inline-six that made about 85 horsepower. This car has been mostly restored but has a little work left to do. You can read more about it here.

Update: Not sold.