Tag Archives: 1931

8 Litre Bentley

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1931 Bentley 8 Litre Convertible Victoria by Murphy

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Phoenix, Arizona | January 2025

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Bentley’s 8 Litre car is a legend. It was the final new model introduced by the marque before they went belly up and got absorbed by Rolls-Royce. It rode on a large ladder frame and was powered by an 8.0-liter straight-six connected to a freshly designed four-speed manual transmission. These cars are on par with Duesenbergs, big Cadillacs, the supercharged Mercedes of the 1930s, etc.

Between 1930 and 1932, just 100 left the factory. They are prized today. Two wheelbases were offered, with this being on the shorter side. It is the only 8-Litre model that was exported to the U.S. to be bodied by an American coachbuilder. And to that task went the Walter M. Murphy Company of Pasadena, California.

It was purchased new by an heir to a sugar fortune. It was discovered in Mexico in 1948 and made its way back to the U.S. by 1971. Restored for the first time later that decade, the car would be restored again in 2012 before taking a prize at Pebble Beach. The car has an estimate of $2,750,000-$3,250,000. More info can be found here.

Duesenberg J-346

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1931 Duesenberg Model J Disappearing Top Convertible Coupe by Murphy

Offered by Gooding & Company | Amelia, Island, Florida | February/March 2024

Photo – Gooding & Company

Can we talk about how good this car looks painted silver with green wire wheels and wide whitewalls? What a combo. This is a Murphy-bodied Model J, and it has known ownership history back to new.

But what makes it interesting is that it was repainted, and the interior refreshed, in 1951. It remained with one owner for 61 years and appears to have been somewhat recently acquired by its current owner. The car was offered privately late last year but went unsold. There is a document on their website tracing the car’s history, but it is somewhat confusing.

In any case, this is what you’d call a “driver”, which is the best kind of car, much less a Model J. Not only that, but it’s a highly desirable Murphy-built body style. There are plenty driver-level Model J sedans, but most open cars have been [over] restored. It has a 6.9-liter straight-eight capable of 265 horsepower, and more info can be found here.

Update: Sold $2,645,000.

Duesenberg J-446

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1931 Duesenberg Model J Convertible Sedan by Franay

Offered by Bonhams | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 2024

Photo – Bonhams

Here’s another great Duesenberg, one that has been off the market since 2002, when it was acquired by its current owner. The convertible sedan body style is not an unusual one on a Model J, and this looks like many other such cars.

Except it looks slightly different. This car is among not all that many Model Js that were bodied by European coachbuilders. It wears coachwork by Franay and was one of two Js on the 1931 Paris Salon stand. It was purchased new by the Queen of Yugoslavia.

It then went to a Peruvian owner in Paris. A restoration was completed in 1996, and the car is powered by a 265-horsepower, 6.9-liter straight-eight. You can read more about it here.

Update: Not sold.

AJS-Jensen Tourer

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1931 AJS-Jensen Open Tourer

Offered by H&H Classics | Duxford, U.K. | March 15, 2023

Photo – H&H Classics

A.J. Stevens & Co. Ltd. was founded by Jack (Albert John) Stevens in 1909 after an engine produced by his father’s machine company was successfully used in a 24-hour motorcycle run. They sold motorcycles under the AJS brand from 1910 through 1931.

As far as car go, AJS started by building bodies for Clyno, and when Clyno went out of business at the end of the ’20s, AJS put their know-how to use and launched their own car in late 1930. They were powered by a 1.1-liter inline-four that made 24 horsepower. Production estimate range from 1,000 to 3,000 through 1931.

Only 38 of their cars are known to exist. This one was sold new as a bare chassis (which was an option) and was bodied for the first owner by Jensen Brothers, which is what they did before they started building their own cars. Restored, it now has an estimate of $30,000-$38,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

Duesenberg J-131

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1931 Duesenberg Model J Convertible Sedan by Murphy

Offered by Gooding & Company | Amelia Island, Florida | March 2-3, 2023

Photo – Gooding & Company

Feel like it’s been a bit since we’ve featured a car from Gooding & Company, although it’s hard not to take notice when they start putting Duesenbergs out there. We’ve got a few other cars coming from this sale too.

This is among the classic looks for a Model J: a convertible sedan with coachwork by Murphy, the most prolific Model J coachbuilder. Power is from a 6.9-liter inline-eight rated at 265 horsepower.

This one has mostly known ownership history back to new and was restored over 30 years ago, when it received its current two-tone paint job. Convertible sedans look much better with the top down, and this one is no exception. The pre-sale estimate is $2,000,000-$2,400,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $2,205,000.

Pre-War Divco

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1931 Divco Model H Milk Truck

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 5-6, 2022

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The classic milk truck, the Divco milk truck, was introduced in the late 1930s. It had a streamlined design with a waterfall-ish front grille and would be produced into the 1960s with a few design tweaks but the overall profile remaining essentially the same. That’s what most people picture when they hear “Divco.”

But the company was actually founded in 1926 by George Bacon, an engineer at Detroit Electric who wanted to try a gasoline engine in their delivery vehicles. The company balked so he set out on his own with the Detroit Industrial Vehicles Company. Earlier Divcos, like this one, featured a snub nose design but looked much more similar to other trucks and cars of the era.

They still had a step-through design with a flat, low floor. This one is powered by an inline-four and has had its rear cargo area converted to bench seating. It’s selling without reserve. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $36,300.

One-Off Hampton

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1931 Hampton 16HP Open Sports Tourer

Offered by Bonhams | Beaulieu, U.K. | September 10, 2022

Photo – Bonhams

Hampton Cars was a British automobile manufacturer that existed from 1912 into the 1930s. It’s kind of remarkable that this is the first car from this marque that I can recall coming up for auction in the last decade. And they were around for about 20 years!

The company was originally founded by William Paddon in 1912, but they were out of business by 1915, with very few cars built. Hampton reappeared in 1919. Four years later they were selling 300 cars a year, but bankruptcy followed in 1924… and again in 1925. They reformed once more but were done for good sometime around 1930. About 1,100 Hampton cars were built, and only five are thought to exist. Well that explains that.

This particular car was built in 1931 after Hampton’s final bankruptcy. It was constructed by/for former company GM William Milward. Right before they went out of business, they planned to produce 50 independently sprung chassis and ordered 100 engines from Rohr in Germany. Only one such chassis arrived before both Hampton and Rohr went out of business.

So Milward left the company upon its demise, taking all of the parts with him. This car was the result. It’s powered by a 2.3-liter inline-eight paired with a ZF gearbox. It has known ownership history since new, having been with the current owning family since 1961. The car has not been used in some time, so it’ll need a recommissioning. The estimate is $30,000-$35,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

Duesenberg J-164

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1931 Duesenberg Model J Arlington Sedan by Derham

Offered by Worldwide Auctioneers | Auburn, Indiana | September 3, 2022

Photo – Worldwide Auctioneers

There have been some great Duesenberg sedans coming out of the woodwork this year. This four-door sedan features blind rear quarters (no rearward side windows), which was sometimes called a Club Sedan. Derham called theirs the “Arlington,” which sounds much more dignified.

Five Derham Arlington sedans were built, four of them on the short-wheelbase Model J chassis like this one. And power came from a 6.9-liter inline-eight rated at 265 horsepower. This one was purchased new by a Peruvian singer who likely kept it at his New York home before taking it to other countries. It later spent time under ownership in Paris and Cairo. Exotic.

The car came back to the U.S. in 1957. It has not been restored but was apparently repainted at least once, though it isn’t made all that clear in the catalog when that happened. No estimate is available, but you can read more here.

Update: Sold $857,500.

Isotta 8A Landaulet Imperiale

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1931 Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A Landaulet Imperiale by Castagna

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 18-20, 2022

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The 8A was one of the biggest and grandest exotic luxury cars you could buy at the dawn of the Great Depression. This particular car was sold new to a woman in New York City who traded in another 8A on the purchase. It cost her $9,250 in 1931. Yeesh. Definitely a car for running over poor people.

The body is by Castagna, a familiar name on Isotta Fraschini chassis. The body is an all-weather landaulet limousine cabriolet. That’s a lot of descriptors. Landaulet Imperiale sounds fancier. This means that various parts of the top can come off, probably including the very rear portion or the bit over the driver/chauffeur.

Power is provided by a 7.4-liter inline-eight that made about 115 horsepower in base form. The car has known ownership history since new and was restored decades ago. The pre-sale estimate is $275,000-$375,000. Click here to read more.

Update: Sold $368,000.

Update: Sold, Mecum Monterey 2023, $330,000.

Marmon Sixteen Limousine

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1931 Marmon Sixteen Limousine by LeBaron

Offered by Mecum | Monterey, California | August 18-20, 2022

Photo – Mecum

Howard Marmon’s Marmon Motor Car Company was in trouble in 1931 when they launched the Sixteen, which had been in development since 1927. The timing was certainly bad, but the company found the resources to produce the Sixteen for three years before production of cars stopped.

The 8.0-liter V16 was rated at 200 horsepower and made the car one of the best American cars you could buy in 1931. Right there with V16 Cadillacs, big Packards, and Duesenbergs. This car wears limousine coachwork by LeBaron with seating for seven. It’s said to be the only limo example with dividing privacy glass left.

Less than 400 Sixteens were built across three years of production. This car has been a part of a few big collections over the years, and you can read more about it here.

Update: Sold $451,000.