Tag Archives: worldwide auctioneers

Faraday Future Prototype

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2016 Faraday Future FF 91 Prototype

Offered by Worldwide Auctioneers | Auburn, Indiana | September 5, 2020

Photo – Worldwide Auctioneers

Faraday Future was (is?) one of quite a few electric vehicle startups that have recently promised big things and, well, have yet to deliver. Electric car companies are to 2020 what exotic supercar startups were to 2005… and 2020. Named for 19th-century scientist Michael Faraday, Faraday Future was founded in Los Angeles in 2014 by Jia Yueting.

The FF 91 was introduced in 2017. I think it’s a crossover. Power is from three electric motors that combine for 1,050 horsepower. Sixty mph was supposed to arrive in 2.4 seconds courtesy of an all-wheel-drive system. Sound too good to be true? Faraday Future has been in the news more for their financial issues than for the creation of tangible products.

Production has been delayed a few times (see financial issues above… it’s like car startups don’t realize the capital involved in bringing an automobile to market… this isn’t 1909). Most recently it was pushed to “late 2020.” The fact that Worldwide is offering not one but two FF 91 prototypes at no reserve does not signal good things.

What it does signal is that this may be your best chance ever to acquire one of these cars, although some of the interior leaves a bit to be desired, like exposed switchgear. No word on if you would be able to road-register this, but probably not. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Withdrawn.

February 2020 Auction Highlights

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Before we dive back into February, we need to backtrack to Worldwide Auctioneers in Scottsdale. The top sale was this 1936 Auburn 852 SC Boattail Speedster for $880,000.

Photo – Worldwide Auctioneers

The Duesenberg we featured sold for $605,000, and a previously-featured Chrysler concept car brought $742,500. The Bertone Mantide failed to sell. More results can be found here.

Onward to February and RM Sotheby’s in Paris. Top sale here? Well, this 1958 BMW 507 Series II went for $2,162,108.

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The Hispano-Suiza and Gemballa Mirage failed to sell, but this previously-featured Isotta Fraschini sold for $267,386. Other sales included the Dyna-Veritas ($75,978) and the Spyker C8 ($267,386). Click here for final results.

Artcurial also had a sale during Retromobile, and the big Mercedes and Alfa Romeos we featured both failed to sell. Top sale territory was cornered by Ferrari, and this 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB sold for $2,753,831. The 126 C3 F1 car we featured brought $1,583,200.

Photo – Artcurial

The DB HBR4 sold for $190,176, the Rolland-Pilain $25,575, and the Serenissima $990,226. The ToJ did not sell. Click here for more results.

The results of Silverstone Auctions’ Race Retro sale included this 1964 Aston Martin DB5 that brought $918,184, more than anything else in the sale. The Countach we featured failed to sell, and more results are available here.

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

And finally, for this round, we have Brightwells Leominster Classic & Vintage Cars sale. The TVR we featured failed to sell, and the overall top sale was this 1988 Porsche 911 Turbo for $109,611.

Photos – Brightwells

The Fordson pickup sold for $11,835. More results can be found here.

Mantide

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2009 Bertone Mantide

Offered by Worldwide Auctioneers | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 15, 2020

Photo – Worldwide Auctioneers

Let’s start by stating that “Mantide” is a ridiculous name for anything, including a car (it means “Mantis” in Italian). The Bertone Mantide is a concept car produced by Bertone in 2009. They initially planned to build a run of 10 examples, but only one was ever completed.

It is based on the contemporary Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, which means the engine is up front. That engine is a supercharged 6.2-liter V8 that makes 638 horsepower. Top speed is 218 mph. The car was shown at the 2009 Shanghai Auto Show – and it was originally red.

Its first owner had it repainted white, and the car was later shown at The Quail, where it won the supercar class. In an era of limited-run supercars, it seems relatively easy to come across an example that never got past the prototype stage. But it’s not so easy to actually get a chance to acquire one. You can read more about this car here and see more from Worldwide Auctioneers here.

Update: Not sold.

Duesenberg J-350

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1930 Duesenberg Model J Sedan by Willoughby

Offered by Worldwide Auctioneers | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 15, 2020

Photo – Worldwide Auctioneers

I feel like it’s been a while since a Model J Duesenberg crossed the block. Here we have what was probably a very common version of the car: the sedan. Many Model Js have had their bodies swapped out for either reproductions or real-deal period bodies lifted from other cars.

Usually, these upgrades took the form of going to a dual cowl phaeton or some kind of two-door convertible. But there were plenty of rich people during the Depression that just wanted the best sedan money could buy. And, in this case, Willoughby was happy to deliver.

This car carries engine number J-350, which is a 6.9-liter straight-eight good for 265 horsepower. It is selling at no reserve, and will likely be a great way for someone to get into Model J ownership, as the sedans don’t carry the same values as the convertibles. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $605,000.

Update: Sold, Worldwide Auctioneers, Auburn 2021, $527,500.

Fiat 519S Torpedo

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1924 Fiat 519S Torpedo Sport Speciale Convertible by Bertone

Offered by Worldwide Auctioneers | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | November 23, 2019

Photo – Worldwide Auctioneers

The Fiat 519 was produced between 1922 and 1927 in a few different forms, including the 519S, which rode on a shortened wheelbase compared to other models. It was offered in different factory body styles, but customers could also have coachbuilt bodies constructed, as is the case with this example.

It carries a boattail Torpedo body from Bertone and is powered by a 40 horsepower, 4.8-liter inline-six. Top speed was about 79 mph. This particular car was discovered in a barn in Australia in 2011 and subsequently restored.

Only 2,411 examples of all 519 models were produced. Just 25 of those were of the 519S variety, and this is said to be the only remaining example. It’s a beautiful – and early – example of Bertone coachwork. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Ferrari 456 Spider

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1995 Ferrari 456 GT Straman Spider

Offered by Worldwide Auctioneers | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | November 23, 2019

Photo – Worldwide Auctioneers

The Ferrari 456 was Ferrari’s sensible four-seater that was produced between 1992 and 2003. They have aged well, and I quite like them. What Ferrari did not do was produce a convertible. Yet here we are.

Convertibles, wagons, sedans, and targas were all produced off of the 456 by aftermarket manufacturers. In this case, the R. Straman Company of California produced approximately three drop-top versions of the car. This one is believed to have been owned by Mike Tyson.

It is powered by a 556 horsepower, supercharged 5.5-liter V12. That supercharger is not stock. It’s the perfect car for some rich dude in the Middle East, which is where this is being offered by Worldwide Auctioneers. You can read more about it here and see more from this sale here.

October 2019 Auction Highlights

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We start in October with Worldwide Auctioneers’ liquidation of the Corpus Christi Old Car Museum. The overall top sale was the Apollo 3500 GT Spider we featured for $506,000. We will award Most Interesting to this heavy-duty 1972 Chevrolet C50 Pickup that brought $23,100. Full results can be found here.

Photo – Worldwide Auctioneers

Next up, Bonhams’ sale at the Simeone Foundation in Philadelphia, where this 1941 Chrysler Town & Country Nine-Passenger Barrelback Station Wagon sold for $277,760 – more than any other car at the sale.

Photo – Bonhams

Other sales included the Fiat-Daniela for $106,400, the Gwynne Eight for $8,680, and a previously-featured Pope-Toledo for $100,800. The A.B.F. prototype failed to sell, and complete results can be found here.

We featured quite a few cars from RM’s Hershey sale, mostly because they were selling off an amazing collection of weird old cars. Here’s a list of results:

The top sale was the 1930 Cadillac V-16 Sport Phaeton by Fleetwood pictured below. It sold for $1,221,000. More results can be found here.

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Bonhams’ Zoute sale always has a decent collection of European classics, which were led by this 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB Alloy for $3,203,900. The F40 we featured sold for $1,025,248. Final results are available here.

Photo – Bonhams

And we’ll go back to RM Sotheby’s for their London sale. A pair of our feature cars didn’t sell, including the Ferrari 412 T1 and the Noble M600. This 1969 Lamborghini Miura P400 S was the overall top sale at $1,600,969.

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The Arrows A21 we featured (there were two in this sale) brought $92,194, which was just slightly less than the other one. And the Wiesmann brought $103,257. More results are available here.

September 2019 Auction Highlights

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We start in September with Worldwide Auctioneers’ Auburn sales results, which somehow were posted before their Pacific Grove sale. We’ll get to those later. But to start, the top seller here was a 1948 Tucker for $990,000.

Photo – Worldwide Auctioneers

The Epperly-Offy we featured sold for $385,000, and the Surlesmobile went for $30,800. The Gray-Dort was a steal at $6,600, and, not surprisingly, the 1904 Carter brought only $1,925. Full results can be found here.

Across town (or on the other side of the highway), was RM’s Auburn Fall sale. The top seller here was this 2005 Ford GT for $302,500.

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The Duesenberg concept car failed to sell, but the Harroun brought $33,000, the Auto Union $23,650, and a previously-featured Kissel $49,500. Click here for all of the results.

Next up, Brightwells Leominster Classic & Vintage sale. The Bristol 412 we featured sold for $17,258. The top sale was $259,565 paid for this 1960 Aston Martin DB4 project. More results can be found here.

Photo – Brightwells

Following up on Worldwide’s Pacific Grove sale, the Riker electric car and the Simplex failed to sell. The Stevens-Duryea brought $115,500. The top sale was a 1958 Porsche 356 1600 Speedster for $264,000, but they’ve taken the photos off of their website. 🙁

You can still read through the results here.

Finally, Bonhams at Beaulieu, where a previously-featured Trumbull cyclecar failed to sell for a second time. The top sale was this 1929 Bugatti Type 44 Tourer by Harrington. It brought $365,225.

Photo – Bonhams

Our other two feature cars both sold. The Miniature Velox brought $64,451, and the Healey Tickford sold for $21,483. Click here for complete results.

Apollo 3500 Spider

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1963 Apollo 3500 GT Spider

Offered by Worldwide Auctioneers | Corpus Christi, Texas | October 4-5, 2019

Photo – Worldwide Auctioneers

There is absolutely zero about this car that screams “Oakland, California.” Yet that’s where it was assembled. The Apollo was the result of the work of a trio of Californians who wanted European style and American reliability in their sports cars. The first Apollo went on sale in 1962. Two models were offered: the 3500 GT and the 5000 GT.

This 3500 GT model is powered by a 3.5-liter Buick V8 that made 200 horsepower. The body was built in Italy by Intermeccanica, and the whole package was assembled in Oakland.

Only 11 GT Spiders were built, with this being the very first one. About 90 Apollos were made in general across multiple companies (including cars badged as the Vetta Ventura). They’re very rare, but they’re around. And the Spider variant is beautiful. It is being sold without reserve, and you can read more here. See more from this auction here.

Update: Sold $506,000.

Gray-Dort Touring

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1920 Gray-Dort Model 15 Touring

Offered by Worldwide Auctioneers | Auburn, Indiana | August 31, 2019

Photo – Worldwide Auctioneers

William Gray founded a carriage-building company in Chatham, Ontario in 1856. In 1915, his company began selling American-made Dort cars under license in Canada. By 1916, they were building the cars themselves and fitting them with luxurious and innovative features. The first reverse light was installed on a Gray-Dort.

This Model 15 touring car is powered by a 21 horsepower, 3.2-liter Lycoming inline-four. The cars were popular in Canada, outselling Chevrolet there for a period of time. And Canadians took notice – the Canadian Parliament named Gray-Dort a national treasure. The Bricklin didn’t get that honor.

About 26,000 cars were built through 1925, which is when Dort closed down. Gray-Dort searched for another manufacturer to hook up with, attempting deals with Nash and Hudson before trying the American company Gray. But Gray closed down in 1926 and Gray-Dort was gone. Only 30 examples of their work remain, and this one will sell at no reserve. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $6,600.