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W06 SS by Corsica

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1929 Mercedes-Benz 710 SS Roadster by Corsica

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Munich, Germany | November 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The Mercedes-Benz W06 is one of the best things the company ever produced. It started with the Model S, which evolved into the SS, or Super Sport (and later the revered SSK). The SS was offered in three guises between 1928 and 1933: the 27/140/200, the 27/160/200, and the 27/170/225. Between all variants, just 111 were produced.

Those different numbers come from the car’s 7.1-liter inline-six, which was equipped with an engageable Roots supercharger. So that naturally aspirated 140 horsepower jumped to 200 horsepower if you pushed the throttle to the floor. As is typical of late, RM’s catalog is light on details as to which engine this has, but based on the model year, it is probably the 140-200 horsepower variant.

As we’ve discovered with other Benzes of the era, when sold in the U.K., the cars were given slightly different model names. In this case “710 SS” (based on displacement) in lieu of SS 27/140/200. The original body on this car was damaged in an accident, and it was re-bodied by Corsica prior to 1934. In 1979, it set a record as the most valuable car ever sold at auction in $320,000. Now it has an estimate of $3,850,000-$4,950,000. Click here for more info.

1902 Haynes-Apperson

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1902 Haynes-Apperson Two-Cylinder Surrey

Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | November 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Haynes-Apperson was an important pioneer in the American automotive industry. Elwood Haynes built one of America’s first cars (though he would long claim the first) and partnered with the Apperson brothers of Kokomo, Indiana, to found Indiana’s first car company.

Production started in 1898, and they sold a few hundred examples of their 7/8-horsepower twin in 1901. In 1902, the company expanded the line to two models, both twins: the small eight-horsepower runabout and the 12-horsepower car available as a phaeton or surrey, the latter of which is pictured here.

The car cost $1,800 new, and the two-cylinder engine displaced more than four liters. It carries chassis #74 (though it’s unclear how they were numbering their cars) and is thought to be the oldest operational Haynes-Apperson. A former Harrah collection car, it has run the London-to-Brighton route multiple times. It now has an estimate of $175,000-$200,000. More info can be found here.

Bertone-Bodied FIat-OSCA

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1959 Fiat-OSCA 1500 Aerodynamica Berlinetta by Bertone

Offered by Bonhams | Newport, Rhode Island | October 2024

Photo – Bonhams

The Maserati brothers founded OSCA in 1947 and went on to build sports cars and prototypes. But the secret sauce was their tiny little four-cylinder engine, which Fiat would end up using under license. You could get a Fiat 1500 with an OSCA engine. They built just under 3,100 configured as such.

Most of them wore pretty typical-looking bodies (for the period) from Pininfarina. But because this was Italy in the 1950s, there was always the option of coachbuilding. In this case, Franco Scaglione penned the design, with Bertone carrying out the construction. Only two cars were ever fitted with this body, and this was the only one with an OSCA engine.

The 1.5-liter inline-four was capable of 104 horsepower, and this car is freshly restored. It now has an estimate of $400,000-$500,000. More info can be found here.

Delahaye 135 S

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1936 Delahaye 135 S

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | London, U.K. | November 2, 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Grand Prix racing in the 1930s was a pretty competitive era with various countries flinging their best automakers into the field. France had Delage, Bugatti, and Delahaye all competing at one time or another, and Delahaye’s brightest car of the period was the 135, which it took racing in the form of the 135 S.

Just 20 examples of the 135 S were built, and this is the second-to-last. It was campaigned by Delahaye themselves. It competed at Reims with Alberto Divo behind the wheel and later changed hands that season in the U.K., becoming a vehicle for Prince Bira, who won the 12 Hours of Donington in it. Other entries included:

  • 1939 24 Hours of Le Mans – 8th (with Ian Connell and Rob Walker)
  • 1949 24 Hours of Le Mans – 24th, DNF (with Tony Rolt and Guy Jason-Henry)

That 1949 race ended with the 3.6-liter inline-six failed… as no one had rebuilt it since before the prior Le Mans. The car continued to race into the mid 1950s. In 1970 it was purchased by Rob Walker, who raced it in ’39, and restored. It’s remained with his family since. The car now has an estimate of $1,300,000-$1,950,000. More info can be found here.

Philos Torpedo

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1913 Philos A-4-M Torpedo

Offered by Aguttes | Brussels, Belgium | October 2024

Photo – Aguttes

Philos was based in Lyon, France, and existed from 1912 through 1923. This early car was restored around 2000 and looks like the type of Edwardian car you would see in a children’s movie that took place prior to WWI. It’s so colorful and covered in brass.

This early two-seat Philos is powered by a 1.1-liter inline-four that was rated at eight (presumably taxable) horsepower. The engine was sourced from Ballot. The survival rate for Philos cars isn’t that high, as this is the second one I can recall coming up for sale in the last decade.

It has an estimate of $16,000-$28,000. More info can be found here.

Mercedes 28/95 Sport

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1921 Mercedes 28/95 Sport

Offered by Aguttes | Brussels, Belgium | October 2024

Photo – Aguttes

Mercedes, in its pre-Benz days, launched the 28/95 model in 1914 – just prior to the outbreak of WWI. Like, they only got 25 cars out before the war came, so production stopped and then resumed, with another 550 built before 1924.

It was the first Mercedes with four-wheel brakes (starting in 1923). The engine is a 7.3-liter inline-six that was rated at 90 horsepower in Sport form. And it was sporty: examples raced competitively at the Targo Florio.

This particular car retains a real 28/95 engine, transmission, and axles. It has a modified chassis (Sport cars had a shortened chassis and a lower radiator). This car has a radiator from a different Mercedes and a recreation body in the style of the Targa Florio cars. The estimate is $335,000-$555,000. More info can be found here.

Nacional Pescara Race Car

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1929 Nacional Pescara 3-Litre Competition

Offered by Aguttes | Brussels, Belgium | October 2024

Photo – Aguttes

Nacional Pescara was supposed to be the national motor company of Spain. It had government backing and was spurred on by Argentinian engineer Raul Pateras Pescara. Founded in 1929, Pescara tried to prove the car’s worth via competition, and production got under way in 1930.

The production cars, like this early racing special, were powered by a 3.0-liter DOHC inline-eight that made 125 horsepower. Not bad for a start-up in a country not exactly known for their cars, Hispano-Suiza aside. But the timing was all wrong. Even with all of the government funding, the company only managed to make about 12 production cars and two or three race cars before the money ran out and they closed up in 1932.

This is the only survivor. One of the racers (unclear if it was this one) won rounds during the 1931 European Hillclimb Championship, and this car was entered for the 1932 Monaco Grand Prix, but did not start. It’s been in the same family since the 1940s and now has an estimate of $660,000-$880,000. Click here for more info.

Maybach SW38 Sport Cabriolet

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1938 Maybach SW38 Sport Cabriolet by Spohn

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Los Angeles, California | October 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Maybachs do not come up for sale very often. That’s because they weren’t super common in their day. In their history they only made 1,841 vehicles. And if Daimler’s 2000s Maybach resurgence taught us anything, it’s that Maybach is step up from Mercedes-Benz. And they were.

Wilhelm Maybach was an engineer supreme, and the cars that bore his name were very solid. The SW38 was offered between 1936 and 1939 and saw power from a 4.0-liter inline-six that made 140 horsepower. It could hit over 100 mph and was available in your coachbuilder’s choice. In this case, Spohn supplied the body. Maybach delivered 172 new cars in Germany in 1938.

This car was sold new to Carl Krone, of European circus fame. It was reupholstered in the U.S. in the 1960s or ’70s and was acquired by the current owner in 1989. It was then hidden in a barn until now. At some point, back in Germany in the 1950s, the engine was upgraded to a 4.2-liter unit. The car now has an estimate of $150,000-$200,000. More info can be found here.

Horch 855 Special Roadster

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1939 Horch 855 Special Roadster by Glaser

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Los Angeles, California | October 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Horch has an interesting history which we have probably discussed here before. They were a German luxury car manufacturer by the 1930s – the most luxurious of the four Auto Union marques. In 1935 they introduced the 850, which brought with it a fairly large inline eight-cylinder engine.

There were various versions, including the original 850, the uprated 851, and the uprated and shorter 951 and 951A. And then there were the sportier variants, including the original 850 Sports, the now-quite-famous 853 and 853A, and the ultimate iteration: the 855. The Horch 853 is a pretty sought after pre-war classic, but the 855 is pretty much impossible to get your hands on.

Part of that is the only built between five and seven of them. The other part is that only two remain: the 853-based prototype and this, the only production version left. It wears Special Roadster bodywork from Glaser. The 855 is powered by a 120-horsepower version of the 850’s 4.9-liter inline-eight. It had a top speed around 87 mph, weighed less than the 853, and typically had a shorter wheelbase.

This car was sold new in the Netherlands and was brought to the U.S. by a returning member of the military in the 1940s. It spent time in a museum in the 1950s, was used in at least one movie in 1959, and moved to its current collection in 1980. In 1992, Audi found out about the car and convinced its reclusive owner to lend it to them. Audi then restored it and kept it on display in their museum until this sale. You can read more about it here.

NSU Ro80 Concept

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1971 NSU Ro80 2 Porte +2 by Pininfarina

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Los Angeles, California | October 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Rotary-powered cars have not been built very often, and when they have, it was usually by Mazda. But in the late 1960s, NSU decided to get in the game and produce a sedan, the Ro 80, which would remain in production through 1977 – the year in which NSU was merged into Audi.

This is NOT what those cars looked like. It’s somewhat retro-futuristic vibe is thanks to Italian design house Pininfarina. It’s a four-seater and, despite the confusing name, retains four doors. However, the rear doors are flipped around and open “suicide-style.” The rest of the bodywork is pretty modified, and the interior is very 1970s. The engine is a 995cc twin-rotor Wankel that was rated for 113 horsepower.

This concept debuted at the 1972 Brussels Motor Show and would later find its way to California, where it was purchased by the late current owner. Instead of moving to his junkyard, this car, one of the last that he purchased, was instead put on long-term display in Audi’s museum, where it remained up until this sale. There is a pre-sale estimate of $60,000-$80,000, and more info can be found here.