Tag Archives: touring

Ferrari 212 Export

Posted on by
1

1952 Ferrari 212 Export Barchetta by Touring

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Lake Como, Italy | May 23, 2015

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

What’s great about these old Ferraris is that they were built for sport but are totally street-able. They are sports cars. But there’s nothing outrageous about them and they look like an early post-war convertible car from Europe.

The 212 Export (which differs from the 212 Inter, which was marketed as Ferrari’s grand touring model while the Export was being built as a racing car) was built in 1951 with a at least a couple finished in 1952. This is actually the final 212 Export to be bodied by Touring and is one of only 28 ever built. It is powered by a 160 horsepower 2.6-liter V-12.

This car has period race history, including:

  • 1952 Targa Florio – 10th (with Baron Luigi Bordonaro di Chiaramonte)
  • 1953 Targa Florio – 16th (with Bordonaro)
  • 1956 Mille Miglia – DNF (with Edouard Margairuz)

Those are some pretty important races and it’s 1952 Targa Florio finish is most impressive. The car spent 30 or so years in the hands of American owners before being shipped to its next owner in Madrid. It then moved to London before returning to the States, where it resides today. It was restored years ago but looks great. It’s eligible for nearly every great historic racing event and will command a nice sum at auction. Click here to read more and here to see more from this sale.

Update: Sold $7,593,600.

Flint Touring

Posted on by
Reply

1924 Flint Model E Touring

Offered by Worldwide Auctioneers | Houston, Texas | April 25, 2015

Photo - Worldwide Auctioneers

Photo – Worldwide Auctioneers

The Flint was a motorcar sold by the Durant Motors Company for a few short years in the 1920s. Billy Durant’s story is an interesting one. After he was forced out at General Motors, he went out and founded his own General Motors, but called it Durant. It was to have a full line of automobiles, and included marques Durant, Star, Rugby, Locomobile, and Flint.

The Flint was an assembled car, built out of parts Durant could buy on the open market instead of designing one from the ground up. Actually, the design of this car came with a factory he bought, a former Willys factory. The cars were produced in Long Island City from 1923 through 1924 before production shifted to Elizabeth, New Jersey and Flint, Michigan until 1926. The Flint factory ceased production a year before the rest of production halted in 1927.

The Model E was the only car offered by Flint in 1923 and 1924. It uses a 65 horsepower straight-six Continental engine. This original tourer has been in long-term storage and will need a bit of freshening before being roadworthy. At any rate it should sell for between $40,000-$60,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Worldwide’s auction lineup.

Update: Sold $12,100.

1912 Imperial

Posted on by
Reply

1912 Imperial Model 34 Touring

Offered by Worldwide Auctioneers | Houston, Texas | April 25, 2015

Photo - Worldwide Auctioneers

Photo – Worldwide Auctioneers

The Imperial Automobile Company was founded by brothers T.A. and George N. Campbell – owners of the Jackson Carriage Company in Jackson, Michigan. They undertook automobile production in 1908, offering four-cylinder touring cars and roadsters from the start.

The Model 34 was built from 1912 through 1914. It uses a four-cylinder engine making 40 horsepower. In 1912, the Model 34 was only offered in the Five-Passenger Semi-Torpedo Touring body style you see here. The Campbell brothers sold out in 1914, merging their company with Marion. But the Imperial name was gone after 1916 (although Chrysler would use it in an unrelated manner years later).

This car was in collections as far back as the 1950s and spent a long time in a museum. It is offered “barn fresh” from said dissipated museum. It’s a large, sturdy touring car that would be a lot of fun if fixed up. It is expected to bring between $40,000-$60,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $13,750.

Packard Model S

Posted on by
Reply

1906 Packard Model S Touring

Offered by Mecum | Houston, Texas | April 9-11, 2015

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

For 1906 produced a single model called the Model S and it was only offered in that 1906. The Model S was a step forward for Packard, who, up to this point, had been sort of building a slightly reworked version of the same car year after year.

It is powered by a 5.7-liter straight-four rated at 24 HP but actually produces somewhere in the neighborhood of 40-50 horsepower. Because of its initial rating, the Model S was sometimes referred to as the Model 24. It was offered in five body styles with this Touring example being the least expensive at $4,000 – in 1906. So it was still pretty rich.

Packard only sold 728 cars for 1906 and only three are known to exist. This one spent 20 years in the Harrah Collection before joining the collection from which it is being offered in 1991. It is the 22nd oldest Packard known to exist and it is a multi-hundred thousand dollar car. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $300,000.

Update: Not sold, Mecum Monterey 2016, high bid of $285,000.

Update: Not sold, Mecum Kissimmee 2017, high bid of $290,000.

Update: Not sold, Mecum Indianapolis 2017, high bid of $250,000.

Update: Sold, Mecum Indy 2018, $286,000.

Parry Touring

Posted on by
Reply

1910 Parry Model 40 Touring

Offered by Mecum | Houston, Texas | April 9-11, 2015

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

The Parry Auto Company was an Indianapolis-based manufacturer founded by David M. Parry in 1909. David Parry formerly owned Overland before selling it to Willys. Parry-branded automobiles were only available for the 1910 model year, and for 1911 and 1912 they were sold as “New Parry”s.

This is the larger of two models offered for 1910. It uses a 40 horsepower straight-four and features bodywork that is very nice if not somewhat standard for the era. Only 900 Parrys were sold in 1910, making this car very rare.

The company collapsed in 1912 as it was under-funded and operating at a loss (having spent most of their capital on advertising). David Parry died in 1915 but two of his brothers would go on to built the Comet cyclecar. You can see more about this car here and more from Mecum in Houston here.

Update: Sold $50,000.

Cupelle Open Touring

Posted on by
Reply

1905 Cupelle 8HP Two-Seater Open Touring

Offered by Auctions America | Ft. Lauderdale, Florida | March 29, 2015

Photo - Auctions America

Photo – Auctions America

Cupelle is a very rare automobile marque. In the early years of automobile manufacturing, there were companies that specialized in different things. De Dion-Bouton, for example, was a prolific engine builder. And there was another French company, Lacoste et Battmann (of Paris), who built entire cars – for other companies.

Lacoste et Battmann built cars but didn’t want the hassle of marketing them, so they delivered them to other companies who badged, marketed, and sold them. Cupelle was one of those makes. Built by Lacoste et Battmann, this Cupelle uses an eight horsepower single-cylinder engine.

This example was restored in the 1950s and has been in a museum for a while. 1905 was the only year the Cupelle was manufactured, which makes this car mind-blowingly rare. It is thought that it may be the only one in existence. It can be yours for between $30,000-$40,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $45,100.

French Front Oldsmobile

Posted on by
Reply

1904 Oldsmobile Model N Touring Runabout

Offered by Bonhams | Amelia Island, Florida | March 12, 2015

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

This attractive Oldsmobile is a little different than the cars the company was famous for in its early years. The Curved Dash was Olds’ signature look in this era, but this Model N has what they called a “French Front” – a more traditional look styled after the cars coming out of France.

Available only in 1904 and 1905, the Touring Runabout was powered by a seven horsepower, single-cylinder engine of 1.9-liters. It was more upscale than the Curved Dash, featuring an Oldsmobile first: a steering wheel! It cost $100 more, too, at $750. It was available in either this green or a dark red.

Oldsmobile built 2,500 cars in 1904 between the Touring Runabout and a related model, the Light Tonneau. So rarity is guaranteed. This car was restored in the 1950s or 1960s by General Motors and remained in their Heritage Collection until 2011, so it has been well cared for. It’s a good-looking, early Oldsmobile. It should sell for between $65,000-$85,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams.

Update: Sold $94,600.

Templar Touring

Posted on by
1

1924 Templar 4-45 Five-Passenger Touring

Offered by Bonhams | Amelia Island, Florida | March 12, 2015

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

This is a very good looking car. It may appear to be just another Jazz Age touring car, but there’s something about it that is drawing me in. Templar Motors Corporation was a Cleveland-based automobile company that built cars between 1917 and 1924. Templar built only three models and the 4-45 was the main one, being the only car offered between 1919 and 1923. 1924 was the final year and they tried to add a Six, but went bankrupt.

The car was billed as the “Super-Fine Small Car” and it uses a 3.2-liter straight-four putting out 43 horsepower. The engineering is what set this car apart – but it also made it very expensive for how small it was. $2,900 in 1921 for a convertible. You could have a car of similar size for less than a grand at the time.

It sort of priced itself out of business (and suffered a massive factory fire) and only about 6,000 cars in total were built. This is perhaps the nicest example there is of the few that are left. This one could bring between $40,000-$60,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $60,500.

Update II: Not sold, Bonhams, Greenwich 2016.

A Late Stanley Steamer

Posted on by
Reply

1925 Stanley Model SV 252A Touring

Offered by Bonhams | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | October 6, 2014

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

The Stanley Steamer is one of the most beloved American automobiles of all time. Beginning in 1897, the Stanley brothers (who were actually twins) began producing steam automobiles in Watertown, Massachusetts. They were the #1 American automobile manufacturer in terms of production through 1899. The sold the early company to Locomobile and moved on to build the coffin-nose Stanleys everyone recognizes leading up to WWI.

Steam-powered cars didn’t do so well after about 1910, but Stanley soldiered on, sticking with the propulsion that got them that far. In 1923, bankruptcy came calling and the company was reorganized as the Steam Vehicle Corporation of America (SVCA). In 1925, they introduced the Model SV which uses a 20 horsepower, two-cylinder steam engine.

SVCA only built five Model SV Sedans and 48 Touring models in 1925. The car here is the only surviving unrestored 1925 Touring car. There are a couple restored cars out there and only one of those approaches factory-correct. This is thought to be the SV prototype that was built in 1924 before being re-bodied and sold to the public a year later.

It is unrestored, original, and running. Stanley only completed a handful of cars in 1926 and 1927 models may or may not have actually been built (if you have proof, we’d love to see it). At any rate, this car should sell for between $70,000-$90,000, which seems like a bargain. Read more here and see more from this sale here.

Update: Not sold.

National Highway Six

Posted on by
Reply

1918 National Highway Six Touring

Offered by Bonhams | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | October 6, 2014

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Nowadays when companies choose their names they have to think about thinks like “search engine optimization.” Obviously, back in 1900, SEO wasn’t a thing – otherwise the National Automobile & Electric Company may have chosen a different brand name to take to market, as “National” is pretty generic and doesn’t produce great Google results.

But anyway, I am a big fan of cars from about 1916 through the early 1920s. They more or less all look the same: four door tourers with wooden spoke wheels and a nice big radiator cap and MotoMeter out front. National built cars in Indianapolis between 1901 and 1924. The Highway Six was built between 1916 and 1920 and used a 5.0-liter straight-six making 41 horsepower.

This car is mostly original and has been restored “as-needed.” Bonhams sale at the Simeone Foundation in Philadelphia has been an awesome source of unrestored old cars for a few years now. This is a nice find. It should bring between $30,000-$50,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of this sale’s lineup.

Update: Sold $28,050.