Tag Archives: 1957

Corvette XP-64

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1957 Chevrolet Corvette SS Project XP-64

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Coral Gables, Florida | February 2025

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

In 1956, legendary GM designer Harley Earl bought a Jaguar D-Type (after it finished 3rd at Sebring that year). He wanted to put a Chevy V8 in the car and put it back on track. Instead, Zora Arkus-Duntov imagined what a ground-up Corvette-based racer aimed at the D-Type could be.

The car features a tubular spaceframe wrapped in a one-off magnesium body that carries some of the period Corvette looks. It has independent front suspension, inboard rear brakes, and a 283ci (4.6-liter) V8 that was slightly tuned and fitted with Ramjet fuel injection. It made over 300 horsepower.

Dubbed the Super Sport, the car would go racing, including:

  • 1957 12 Hours of Sebring – 59th, DNF (with John Fitch and Piero Taruffi)

And before they could swap a fiberglass body on it and take it to Le Mans, GM pulled out of factory racing. It was donated to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum in 1967, and they are now selling it. The estimate is $5,000,000-$7,000,000. Click here for more info.

250 GT Boano

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1957 Ferrari 250 GT Coupe Boano

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Ferrari’s 250 GT coupe was the first real GT car Ferrari offered and the first real production car of any quantity that the company manufactured… even it was over a range of various 250 GT models. Between 1955 and 1960, the company sold the first “250 GT Coupe,” which were bodied by either Boano or Ellena.

Cars built between 1955 and part of 1957 were Boano coupes, with the design having been styled by Pinin Farina (but not built by them due to issues with their production capacity). Instead, construction fell to Felice Boano’s Carrozzeria. Just 88 were built, including 68 “low-roof” coupes like this one.

Midway through 1957, Boano went to work with Fiat. His son-in-law, Ezio Ellena took over his coachbuilding firm, renaming it Carrozzeria Ellena. Just 50 Ellena coupes were built through 1958. By that time Pinin Farina was able to take back over.

This coupe is powered by a 3.0-liter Colombo V12. And it has a pre-sale estimate of $875,000-$1,000,000. More info can be found here.

Ghia-Aigle Alfa 1900C SS

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1957 Alfa Romeo 1900C SS Coupe Lugano by Ghia-Aigle

Offered by Gooding & Company | Pebble Beach, California | August 2024

Photo – Gooding & Company

Alfa’s 1900 was a small sedan that was offered between 1950 and 1959. Attractive in its own right, the car was designed by Alfa designer Orazio Satta. Sprint and convertible versions were also offered, as was a short-wheelbase Corto (1900C) variant.

In addition, you could get a hot SS version, of which 854 were built. They featured a 2.0-liter DOHC inline-four with twin Solex carburetors for a rating of 115 horsepower. Many of these received coachbuilt bodies, including a number of them by Ghia-Aigle (not to be confused with Carrozzeria Ghia of Italy). Ghia-Aigle was initially the Swiss subsidiary of Ghia and actually lasted until 1988.

It’s unknown how many Coupe Luganos were built, but four are known. It, as are many 1900Cs, is a very attractive car. And it is selling at no reserve with an estimate of $250,000-$300,000. Click here for more info.

The First Lotus F1 Car

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1957 Lotus-Climax 12

Offered by Bonhams | Monaco | May 2024

Photo – Bonhams

Lotus’s track-focused cars built prior to this were mostly of the sports racing/prototype variety. The 12 was unveiled at the 1956 London Motor Show but wouldn’t hit the track until 1957. That first year it contested three F2 races, one each at Silverstone, Goodwood, and Oulton Park. Drivers Henry Taylor and Graham Hill split driving duties.

After a few more F2 outings in 1958, the car was ready to step up to F1. It was Lotus’s – and Graham Hill’s – first Formula One appearance when the car appeared at the 1958 Monaco Grand Prix. The competition history for this chassis, 353, includes:

  • 1958 Monaco Grand Prix – 9th, DNF (with Graham Hill)
  • 1958 Dutch Grand Prix – 14th, DNF (with Hill)
  • 1958 Belgian Grand Prix – 13th, DNF (with Hill)

Then it was back to F2 for some events in 1958 and 1959. And don’t think the 12 was an F1 dud. Hill’s teammate in ’58 was Cliff Allison, and Allison finished 6th, 6th, and 4th, respectively, in the same outings Hill had.

Power in the car is from a Coventry Climax inline-four. The car was purchased by its current owner in 1991 and was later restored. Quite the specimen of F1 and Lotus history, the car could fetch between $310,000-$420,000. You can read more about it here.

Reliant Regal

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1957 Reliant Regal Mk III

Offered by Bonhams | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 2024

Photo – Bonhams

The Reliant Motor Company is most famous for its three-wheeled vehicles, notably the Robin (and by extension, the Rialto). But prior to the Robin there was this, the Regal. It went on sale in 1952 and lasted for over 20 years before being replaced by the Robin in 1973.

Over that 20 years, they produced seven different series of Regal. This is a Mk III, which was introduced in 1956. It featured an all-fiberglass body and a 747cc inline-four that made 16 horsepower. The Mk IV arrived in 1958.

Bigger engines came later, but this could get to 60 mph if you tried (and how fast do you really want to go on three wheels?). Plus it’s a convertible. These are rarely seen in the U.S., and this one is going at no reserve. Click here for more info.

Aurelia B20 GT

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1957 Lancia Aurelia B20 GT Coupe Series VI

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | London, U.K. | November 4, 2023

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Designer extraordinaire Vittorio Jano oversaw the development of the Lancia Aurelia, which was the first production car powered by a V6 engine. It debuted in 1950, and the two-door B20 GT Coupe arrived a year later, with a body designed be Felice Boano at Ghia. The bodies were actually built by Pinin Farina.

The car was produced in six different series. This car is from the last of them and was produced in the Aurelia’s penultimate model year. Power is from a 2.5-liter V6 rated at about 110 horsepower.

Just 2,650 examples of the B20 GT with the 2.5-liter engine were built across six years. This one was sold new in the U.K. and was restored in Italy. Only 25 Series VI cars went to the U.K., making this a rare subspecies. Anyway, it has an estimate of $100,000-$120,000. Click here for more info.

Studebaker Silver Hawk

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1957 Studebaker Silver Hawk

Offered by Mecum | Las Vegas, Nevada | November 9-11, 2023

Photo – Mecum

Studebaker‘s Hawk line of cars were a series of two-door hardtops/coupes that were born out of the company’s Starliner hardtop coupes of the mid-’50s. The first year for the cars was 1956, when there were four different Hawk models available.

The following year, 1957, shrunk the line to two: the carryover Golden Hawk and the new Silver Hawk, the latter of which would remain on sale through 1959. The Silver Hawk was a pillared coupe that, for the 1957 model year, was available with two engine options. This car has the larger 289ci, 4.7-liter, V8 that was rated at 210 horsepower.

Just 11,035 examples of the Silver Hawk V8 were built this year. This one has a wonderfully mid-century paint scheme and is selling at no reserve. Click here for more info.

Zagato Tour de France

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1957 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Berlinetta Tour de France by Zagato

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 2023

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Well here is a big-boy Ferrari. So big in fact that RM will not even run it across their block in Monterey this year. Instead they are going to the “Sotheby’s Sealed” format, which, I guess, just takes the fun out of watching people bid.

The long-wheelbase 250 GT started out with the 250 Europa, and the “Long Wheelbase Berlinetta” debuted in 1956 and acquired the nickname “Tour de France” after the cars competed in the 10-day Tour de France race. Just 77 were built through 1959, most of which were bodied by Scaglietti based on a Pinin Farina design.

But five of them escaped off to Zagato, and this car is the third of those. It has the signature double-bubble Zagato roof and is the only such example with covered headlights. It also has a 3.0-liter Colombo V12 that made somewhere around 250 horsepower. This car has period competition history, too, including:

  • 1957 Mille Miglia – 6th (with Camillo Luglio and Umberto Carli)

It was restored in the early 2000s and has been with its current owner since 1999. It’s been shown at Pebble Beach three times since, winning its class in 2009. You can read more about it here.

Update: Withdrawn.

La Dawri Sebring

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1957 La Dawri Sebring

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | July 2023

Photo – Bring a Trailer

Okay, so “1957” probably isn’t the year here. No year is listed on the auction page, but what it does tell you about years is surprising. Unlike many fiberglass specials of the 1950s, this one is rear-engined. And it is powered by the 1.3-liter flat-four of its donor 1957 Volkswagen Beetle.

Can we take a moment to really appreciate how great this wild paint scheme is? This is the automotive equivalent of a surfboard. The windshield frame is a real highlight. La Dawri was only around a short time: founded in Canada in 1956 before moving to California the following year. They offered fiberglass sports car bodies until 1963.

Still, in that time, they produced no less than seven or eight different models. This Sebring screams “1950s sports car” but looks completely unlike almost anything else you could get at the time. It’s like some sports car special you would’ve seen in the background of an Elvis movie. This is a car that would be a lot of fun at the right price – and draw a lot of attention wherever it goes. Check out the auction here.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $7,500.

DKW Schnellaster

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1957 DKW Schnellaster

Offered by Dorotheum | Vosendorf, Austria | July 1, 2023

Photo – Dorotheum

The Schnellaster was the first Auto Union vehicle produced in West Germany after the war. It was built in Ingolstadt, Germany, now known as the HQ location for Audi, which Auto Union became later on down the line. We’ve actually featured a Schnellaster pickup before.

But a panel van and a microbus (passenger van) were also offered. The van features front-wheel drive and a two-stroke vertical twin (or triple) engine. This one has the 900cc inline-three from the DKW 3=6. Output was 32 horsepower, and top speed was about 60 mph.

This van has been used by commercial business for most of its existence, or at least until it was restored in the 2000s. Now it has an estimate of $33,000-$39,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.