Offered by Bonhams | Goodwood, U.K. | July 14, 2023
Photo – Bonhams
Trident Cars Ltd was one of many low-volume sports car manufacturers that operated in the U.K. between the 1950s and 1970s. Their first car, the Clipper, was born out of a TVR prototype that TVR decided not to build. So one of their dealers, Bill Last, set up Trident cars to make it.
The Clipper was followed by the Venturer in 1969. Styling was similar, but instead of the Clipper’s V8, the Venturer received a 3.0-liter Ford V6 and a lengthened Triumph TR6 chassis. Production ceased in 1974, and an attempted restart in 1976 saw a few cars built before Trident closed for good in 1977.
About 84 Venturers were built, making it the most common of Trident’s models. This one was restored in the late 1990s and now has an estimate of $23,000-$32,000. Click here for more info.
Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | December 16, 2022
Photo – Bonhams
If I call this a Ferrari, I annoy purists who insist it was never sold as a Ferrari, which is true. If I don’t call it a Ferrari, I get eye rolls from everyone who agrees that, even though they were badged as “Dinos” in the 1970s, they are, for all intents and purposes, Ferraris. This is also true.
A third truth is that these are beautiful cars that were underappreciated for a long time. I think of it like 911 owners who look down upon Boxsters… presumably because they cost less yet are just as capable with, perhaps, a better overall balance.
The Dino 246 was sold between 1969 and 1974, available in closed-coupe GT form or targa-top GTS form. There were 2,295 closed coupes built, which outnumbered the open cars by about a thousand. Power is from a 2.4-liter V6 rated at 192 horsepower.
This was a British-market example when delivered new in Rosso Chiaro over black. It was restored in the 2000s and now has an estimate of $305,000-$370,000. Click here for more info.
Offered by Bonhams | Carmel, California | August 13, 2021
Photo – Bonhams
With the Americans really stealing AC’s thunder, the company decided to launch a grand tourer model instead. They took an extended Cobra chassis and dropped a Pietro Frua-designed body over it in 1965. The body featured an aluminum trunk lid and hood.
For power, they turned to Ford. A 7.0-liter (428ci) FE V8 was chosen, and when fitted with a four-barrel carburetor, generated 345 horsepower. The big issue was two-fold. First, the cars were expensive to produce, as the chassis were built in England, shipped to Turin to get a body fitted, and then returned to England to be completed. Second, the big engine put off a lot of heat, a lot of which would end up in the cabin.
This Fastback is one of 51 produced and one of about 80 428s (or Fruas, as they are also known) produced in total. It is expected to sell for between $150,000-$200,000. Click here for more info.
Update: Sold $173,600.
1968 AC 428 Spider
Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 12-14, 2021
Photo – Bonhams
And here we have the drop-top version of the AC 428/Frua. It features essentially the same Frua styling but with a retractable cloth roof. Power was also provided by a 345 horsepower, 7.0-liter Ford V8.
The Spider variant is even rarer than the already-scarce Fastback. Just 30 were built out of the total run of 81 cars. This is sort of the peak example of the last true, stylish AC car. Sure, the company is still around, but everything after this really lacked the same sense of style. Not to mention that, once the 428 went out of production in 1973, AC didn’t offer another car until the 3000ME came along in 1979.
No pre-sale estimate is available at this time, but it is worth more than the coupe. You can read more about it here.
Offered by Bonhams | Carmel, California | August 13, 2021
Photo – Bonhams
With the Americans really stealing AC’s thunder, the company decided to launch a grand tourer model instead. They took an extended Cobra chassis and dropped a Pietro Frua-designed body over it in 1965. The body featured an aluminum trunk lid and hood.
For power, they turned to Ford. A 7.0-liter (428ci) FE V8 was chosen, and when fitted with a four-barrel carburetor, generated 345 horsepower. The big issue was two-fold. First, the cars were expensive to produce, as the chassis were built in England, shipped to Turin to get a body fitted, and then returned to England to be completed. Second, the big engine put off a lot of heat, a lot of which would end up in the cabin.
This Fastback is one of 51 produced and one of about 80 428s (or Fruas, as they are also known) produced in total. It is expected to sell for between $150,000-$200,000. Click here for more info.
Offered by Mecum | Indianapolis, Indiana | July 10-18, 2020
Photo – Mecum
Richard Petty drove a Ford in 1969 and was lured back into a Chrysler product in 1970 with the fantastic Plymouth Superbird. After it dominated the 1970 season, NASCAR tweaked the rules out of the be-winged cars’ favor, so Chrysler decided to put Petty in a redesigned 1971 Road Runner for the next season.
The second-generation Road Runner debuted in 1971, which was also the final season that a car won the Cup championship “using a production-based body and engine” per Mecum’s lot description. It’s powered by a 426ci Hemi V8.
Petty won his third championship in this car (and 21 races that year). The following season would begin NASCAR’s “modern era,” making this car the last of its kind. It was also the final season for the all-Petty Blue livery. You can read more about it here and see more from Mecum here.
Offered by Mecum | Indianapolis, Indiana | July 10-18, 2020
Photo – Mecum
The GTX was a model produced by Plymouth for only a few years. It debuted in 1967 as a trim level on the Belvedere. It was redesigned for 1968, when it broke out as its own model, even though it remained more or less identical to the Belvedere/Road Runner/Satellite. It was just more upscale than those models.
That continued on for 1969, but in 1970 it became a sub-model of the Satellite. For 1971, the cars were restyled again (and the Belvedere was dropped). This was the final year for the GTX, and it looked just like the Road Runner and Satellite, again, but was a stand-alone model. You could get it with a 440 or a 426 Hemi. Plymouth moved just 2,942 GTXs in 1971, only 30 of which were powered by the 426ci (7.0-liter), 425-horsepower Hemi V8.
This is supposedly the only such Hemi GTX in Violet Metallic, and it’s coming out of a muscle car collection that Mecum is planning on selling in July. We’ll see. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
Offered by Barrett-Jackson | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 11-19, 2020
Photo – Barrett-Jackson
Lawil S.p.A. was founded by Henri Willame and Carlo Lavezzari in Pavia, Italy, in 1967. The company actually stuck around through 1988, building a range of microcars over the years. Their early cars were based on Lambrettas.
The S3, also known by its nickname Varzina, was introduced in 1968 and remained in production through 1980. It is powered by a 246cc twin from a Lambretta that makes 12 horsepower. Top speed was about 40 mph.
The S3 wasn’t very popular in Italy but sold okay in other markets (or okay enough to keep it around for a dozen years). They’re a rare sight today, and this one is selling at no reserve. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
The Lamborghini Jarama was a two-door 2+2 produced between 1970 and 1976. With its front-engine, rear-wheel drive, and four-seat layout, it is not the type of car Lambo builds today. Which is a shame. But in the 1970s, this sort of expensive continent-crosser was a popular sell. It competed against cars like the similarly-styled Iso Lele. What an interesting time that would’ve been, getting to cross-shop those two now-obscure models.
This is a 400 GT model, meaning it is powered by a 350 horsepower, 3.9-liter V12, which was shared with the Espada. A hotter “S” model was also produced and brought a modest horsepower gain, among other options.
Originally silver, this car is (obviously) now finished in white – which is a really nice, underrated color for something so exotic. It reigns it back in a bit. This, #18 of the 177 GT models produced, is offered by Girardo & Co. You can find out more about it on their website, here.
Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 3-13, 2019
Photo – Mecum
There have been some great limited-edition factory Corvettes, like the original Z06, the L88s, and the ZR1 and ZR2. The ZR1 was available as a coupe or convertible and could’ve been had in 1970, ’71, or ’72. The ZR2 included all of the special bits that a ZR1 had, except the engine.
Instead of the LT1 in the ZR1, the ZR2 was equipped with a monstrous 7.0-liter (454) LS6 V8 rated at 425 horsepower. Chevy moved 188 examples of this engine in 1971 (the only year the ZR2 was available), but only 12 had the ZR2 package.
And only two of those were convertibles, making this car an extremely rare example of the last of the original run of special edition Corvettes before all of the power was zapped from them. If you think about it, the ZR1 of the early 1990s was the next “go-fast” limited edition Corvette. The last ZR2 we featured brought nearly a half million dollars in 2013. And it was a coupe. Click here for more info on this car and here for more from Mecum.
Update: Not sold, high bid of $380,000.
Update: Not sold, Mecum Monterey 2019, high bid of $300,000.
Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | December 6, 2017
Photo – Bonhams
The TVR Vixen of 1967 was an evolution of the Grantura that dated back another five years (the first Granturas go back to 1958, but the styling of the Series III cars is mostly represented here). While the styling may have been a carryover, the drivetrain underneath was the real news.
The first Vixens were powered by a 1.6-liter Ford unit. But the same year the Vixen was introduced, TVR also launched the Tuscan, which had a V-8 or V-6. Unfortunately neither of these engines met U.S. emissions standards so TVR built a best-of-both-worlds car: the 2500 (or as it was called in the U.S., the Vixen 2500).
Built in 1971 and 1972 only, the 2500 was powered by a 2.5-liter Triumph straight-six that made a modest 105 horsepower. This made it the most powerful Vixen model, but it lacked power when compared to its competition.
Fortunately, a recent owner of this particular example had this car restored in the 1990s. In the process, they hopped up the engine a little bit, making it more of a performer. Only 289 of these were built (though an extra 96 cars were constructed with a different chassis from the M Series… of which there was a “2500M” model that is unrelated to the car pictured above and the 96 “2500”s built on their shared chassis. Confused yet?).
This car should bring between $29,000-$34,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
