April 2013 Auction Round-Up

Posted on May 4, 2013 by classiccarweekly

We’ll start with Mecum’s Houston sale which included our featured, all-original Mercury Voyager wagon, which failed to sell. Our featured pair of NASCAR-themed Mercury Cyclone Spoiler IIs both sold – the Yarborough Special bringing $26,000, while the Gurney special only brought $22,000. Top sale went to this 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 429 Fastback for $220,000.

1970 Ford Mustang Boss 429 Fastback photo 1970FordMustangBoss429Fastback_zps5e9a2272.jpg

And from the “anything can show up at one of these sales” file, this 1972 Toyota Corona Mark II Wagon, which sold for $8,500. For full results, click here.

1972 Toyota Corona Mark II Wagon photo 1972ToyotaCoronaMarkIIWagon_zpsa6099b8d.jpg

On to Barrett-Jackson’s annual Palm Beach sale. Our featured Opel GT sold for $6,050. I was right on with my “how to buy a foreign sports coupe on the cheap” comment. Our featured Dodge D-100 Sweptside pickup brought $73,700. The top (real) sale was this 1968 Shelby GT500 Convertible for $330,000. (I say “real” because cars sold for charity always bring inflated results. There are no brand-new Corvette convertibles worth $1 million. Not even serial #001. Rich people pay big money for these cars to get a tax write off… I mean “to donate to a good cause”).

1968 Shelby GT500 Convertible photo 1968ShelbyGT500Convertible_zps67206b45.jpg

If I had to pick an “interesting sale” I would go with this gorgeous 1956 DeSoto Fireflite Sportsman that sold for $40,150 – which is a good price for a car that looks this good. Check out complete results here.

1956 DeSoto Fireflite Sportsman photo 1956DeSotoFirefliteSportsman_zpse7f0f12b.jpg

Next up was H&H’s sale at the Imperial War Museum in England. Top sale went to this 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing for $1,021,000.

1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL photo 1955Mercedes-Benz300SL_zps44f99fcd.jpg

Our featured Jaguar XJ220 Prototype failed to sell. “Interesting results” honors are split between two cars. First this 1969 Mazda Luce R130 Coupe sold for $25,500.

1969 Mazda Luce R130 Coupe photo 1969MazdaLuceR130Coupe_zpsd53e65b9.jpg

And finally, this 1989 Eltrans Mini-El sold for $2,200. Check out full results here.

1989 Eltrans Mini-El photo 1989EltransMini-El_zpsca2f5df3.jpg

Next up is Mecum’s Kansas City sale. Our featured Mitsubishi 3000GT Convertible conversion sold for $14,500. Interesting sales were led by this affordable and attractive 1969 Mercury Cyclone Fastback for $12,250.

1969 Mercury Cyclone Fastback photo 1969MercuryCycloneFastback_zps5135ffa8.jpg

Top sale went to this 1936 Ahrens-Fox BT Fire Truck. Early Ahrens-Fox fire engines are some of the most collectible fire trucks out there. This one sold for $125,000 (yes, I realize the photo shows it crossing the block for $135,000). Check out full results here.

1936 Ahrens-Fox BT Fire Truck photo 1936Ahrens-FoxBTFireTruck_zps65010ff9.jpg

Next up is the Don Davis Collection, which was offered at no reserve by RM Auctions on April 27. The top sale went to this 1967 Ferrari 330 GTS for $1,936,000. Pictured below that was a million-dollar car (just barely): a 1965 Shelby Cobra 289 which brought $1,001,000.

1967 Ferrari 330 GTS photo ScreenHunter_04_zpsea32638e.jpg

1965 Shelby Cobra 289 photo ScreenHunter_05_zpsf4ab5723.jpg

Our featured Toyota 2000GT brought an eye-popping $1,155,000 – surely a world record for a Japanese car at auction. Anther feature car, the Porsche 356 by Drauz, sold for $137,500. This 1955 Mercedes 300SL Gullwing sold for $1,237,500.

1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL photo 1955Mercedes-Benz300SL_zps9f2627c4.jpg

Other feature cars that sold included a pair of Chryslers. First, the Newport Dual-Cowl Indy 500 Pace Car sold for $880,000. Then the GS-1 Special by Ghia brought $616,000. This 1973 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Spider sold for $1,650,000.

1973 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Spider photo 1973Ferrari365GTB4DaytonaSpider_zps73f93d7f.jpg

Our final two feature cars are the F-Code Ford Thunderbird which sold for $198,000. And the BMW M1 went for $ 242,000. Check out complete results here.

Now we move on to Auctions America’s 2013 Spring Carlisle sale. The top sale (by a recent margin) went to this 1959 Chevrolet Corvette Big Brake Fuelie for $148,500.

1959 Chevrolet Corvette Big Brake Fuelie photo 1959ChevroletCorvetteBigBrakeFuelie_zpsa16ae50f.jpg

Finally, Bonhams sale at the RAF Museum in Hendon, U.K. The top sale there was a 1955 Jaguar XK140 Drophead Coupe for $194,500.

1955 Jaguar XK140 Drophead Coupe photo 1955JaguarXK140DropheadCoupe_zps0da2f79b.jpg

The most interesting car at this sale was this 1917 Fiat 15/20hp Tipo 2B Wagonette. I love the dually rear wheels. It sold for $34,000. Our featured AC Royal brought $26,900. Click here for full results.

1917 Fiat 15/20hp Tipo 2B Wagonette photo 1917Fiat15-20hpTipo2BWagonette_zps84cbc668.jpg

Japan’s First Supercar

Posted on March 26, 2013 by classiccarweekly

1967 Toyota 2000GT

Offered by RM Auctions | Fort Worth, Texas | April 27, 2013

Toyota built small sports cars prior to this, the wonderful 2000GT. But they didn’t even design the 2000GT (much like today’s GT86/Scion FR-S where the bulk of the work was done by Subaru. Makes you wonder if Toyota can do anything exciting on their own). Yamaha designed it did much of the work. They also built it for Toyota.

The body is aluminium and it sits very low – handling was excellent. They were also luxurious on the inside with wood trim and some had air conditioning. They were luxury GT cars that rivaled Europe’s top GT cars for luxury and performance – but not necessarily prestige. Not until recently anyway. This is widely considered the first collectible Japanese car and the first supercar from the country as well. It also put the world on notice that they could build serious cars – which was the point of the project, as Toyota really didn’t make any money off of them.

The engine is a 2.0-liter straight six from Toyota that was tuned by Yamaha. Power was rated at 150 horses. Only 337 were built in total – 233 of them with this engine. They cost about $6,800 when new and have appreciated significantly with a pre-sale estimate on this car between $650,000-$850,000. Click here to read more and here for more of the Don Davis collection.

Update: Sold $1,155,000.

An Unmodified Toyota Supra

Posted on December 21, 2011 by classiccarweekly

1995 Toyota Supra

Offered by Mecum, Kissimmee, Florida, January 24-29, 2012

Yes, a late model Japanese sports car – not a swoopy French classic or a singing Ferrari V12 or a hunk of Detroit iron. No, this is a normal, everyday, Toyota Supra. So why is it featured here? Because it’s a normal, unmodified Supra.

Japanese cars are extremely tuner-friendly and the Supra was one of the go-to cars for people to make a statement with. It is very rare to see an unmolested Supra – the interior and exterior are clean and original. It even has the original wheels – one of the first things to go when a tuner gets their hands on it.

The Mark IV Supra was introduced in Japan in 1993 and lasted there until 2002. U.S. sales ended in 1998. There were different versions: a coupe, a targa, a naturally-aspirated engine and the optional twin-turbo unit which made 276 horsepower.

I’m a purist at heart and while custom cars have their place and own level of respectability, when you see nothing but customized versions of a certain model, it gets kind of exciting when you see a “normal” one.

I am unaware of the mileage, but I’d expect something between $20,000 and $30,000. These cars brought closer to $50,000 when new.

Bonhams Harrogate Highlights

Posted on November 30, 2011 by classiccarweekly

Bonhams recent motorcycle and car auction at the Yorkshire Event Centre in Harrogate, U.K. featured a few interesting sales. Unfortunately, three of our featured vehicles here on the site did not sell: the Triumph 1800 Roadster, Bristol Beaufighter and the Brough Superior SS100.

Some of the highlights include a 1963 Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser. The 40 Series of the Land Cruiser range were made from 1960 until 1984 (and even longer in Brazil. These cars – er, uh, Jeeps – are much beloved by the off-road community. This particular model looks brand new and was owned by the Rover Car Co as an “evaluation” vehicle. It sold for about $26,000. Bonhams has these pictures locked, but I’ll do what I can for the other cars.

At most British auctions, there is a large selection of British cars. Two that I’d like to focus on are a 1946 Hillman Minx Drophead Coupe and this 1934 BSA Scout Roadster.

This isn’t the exact car – the exact car had striking red brakes and wheel caps. BSA, Birmingham Small Arms Company, is known primarily as a motorcycle manufacturer but they built cars from 1909 until 1926 and again from 1929 until 1940. Some of these cars where sporty three-wheelers but they built a number of four-wheeled variants as well. This 8.9 horsepower Scout uses a 1,075cc engine that was rebuilt about three years ago. It sold for about $12,000.

The Hillman Minx was produced from the early 1930s through 1970. The immediate postwar Minx (the example sold at Bonhams a 1946) did not differ much from the pre-war Minx. The model is commonplace but the Drophead Coupe body style is quite rare. A driver in nice black paint sold for about $5,700.

There were two interesting old trucks that passed across the block at this sale: a 1925 Autocar 27KS 5-Ton Truck in original running condition sold for about $10,000. And a 1927 International SF24 1.5-Ton Flat-Bed Truck in restored-as-necessary condition with an engine rebuild at some point brought about the same price.

Check out the complete results here (with pictures!).