Tag Archives: auctions

Spirit Of America Sonic I

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1965 Spirit Of America Sonic I

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

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

People setting speed records sort of started happening as soon as there was a car. After WWII, things got a little more serious when guys started strapping jet engines to some wheels and heading off for the salt flats in Utah.

The first Spirit of America looked like a jet without wings. Craig Breedlove ran it at over 400 mph in August 1963. The FIA wouldn’t recognize it because the car only had three wheels. In October that year he ran 526 mph with the car, but ended up in a pond at the end of the run.

Over the next year and a half or so, Breedlove had this car designed. It had four wheels and a GE J79 jet engine from an F-4 Phantom II. In November 1965, Breedlove hit 600 mph in this car, which was the record that would stand until 1970. It was Breedlove’s fastest run of his career. After that, the car ended up in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, who is now selling it on an estimate of $500,000-$1,000,000. More info can be found here.

Jewett Touring

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1923 Jewett Model 18-22 Touring

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

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Paige-Detroit was a healthy car company in the early 1920s. While they weren’t on the level of Pierce-Arrow or Packard, they did sell luxury cars, and in 1922, they decided to enter the lower end of the market.

They did so by way of their company president, Harry Jewett, who started a lower-priced marque that carried his last name. The Jewett was aimed at Studebaker and Nash. The Model 18-22 was 1922’s model, which was offered as a touring car or a sedan.

Power is from a 4.1-liter inline-six that was rated at 50 horsepower. This particular car is coming from the Clive Cussler collection. Cussler’s first automotive purchase was, apparently, a Jewett, which he bought at age 13. This was a late-in-life purchase to relive those early years. The estimate is $20,000-$30,000. More info can be found here.

Abarth 208A Boano

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1955 Abarth 208A Spyder by Boano

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Paris, France | February 2025

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

In addition to being a tuner of Fiats, Abarth also built some cars of their own. One such car was a racer known as the 207A. Abarth also decided to offer a road-going version of this car, and they called it the 208A. The coupe would get the name “209A.”

This particular car was sold new in the U.S. to members of the DuPont family. It then remained under second ownership from the mid-1970s until the 2000s. It was later mechanically restored. The engine is a 1.1-liter Fiat inline-four that made about 66 horsepower.

Styling highlights here include the exhaust, which hugs the right-side panels below the doors. Good stuff. Styling was done by Michelotti. Only a dozen of this series were built, with just one example of the open and closed road cars being produced. This one has an estimate of $600,000-$700,000. More info can be found here.

Chevrolet Royal Mail Roadster

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1914 Chevrolet Series H-2 Royal Mail Roadster

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

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Chevrolet’s first production car was 1911’s Series C. In 1914, they split their ranges between four- and six-cylinder cars. The Series H-2 was dubbed the “Royal Mail” and was sold for 1914 and 1915 (and the H-2 1/2 was offered in 1916). These were Chevy’s first four-cylinder cars.

The engine was a 2.8-liter inline-four that was rated at 24 horsepower. It cost $750 when new. This example was restored prior to being purchased by Bill Harrah in 1974. It was later donated to the Auburn-Cord-Dusenberg Museum in 1998. Clive Cussler purchased it in 2012.

Those are some notable collections. Early early Chevrolets are hard to come by. This one has an estimate of $25,000-$35,000. Click here for more info.

Ferrari 512 M

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1970 Ferrari 512 M

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Paris, France | February 2025

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Ferrari didn’t compete in the 1968 sports car season because of a rule change that outlawed any engine over three liters. Porsche developed the 917 for 1969, taking advantage of a loophole in the rules. Enzo had just sold half of Ferrari to Fiat and now had the money to take the fight to Porsche for the 1970 season.

So for 1970, Ferrari debuted the 512 S, of which 25 were produced. Seventeen of these 25 cars competed in the 1970 endurance racing season, with this car being the only example delivered new in Giallo. It went to Ecurie Francorchamps in Belgium, delivered new as a 512 S. Under that guise, it competed in:

  • 1970 1000km Spa – 8th (with Derek Bell and Hughes de Fierlant)
  • 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans – 5th (with de Fierlant and Alistair Walker)
  • 1971 24 Hours of Daytona – 38th, DNF (with de Fierlant and Gustave Gosselin)

During 1970, it was used during the filming of Le Mans. After the ’71 Daytona race, the car went back to Europe to become one of 15 examples that were upgraded to 512 M specification. The 5.0-liter V12 was lightened and now made 610 horsepower. Aerodynamics were improved with lower bodywork. The car was completed in time for:

  • 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans – 18th, DNF (with de Fierlant and Alain de Cadenet)

The car ran a few other races, including a Can-Am race at Watkins Glen. It’s been in various collections, including the current one since 2018. The estimate is $9,500,000-$12,500,000. More info can be found here.

Zonda F

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2006 Pagani Zonda F Coupe

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Paris, France | February 2025

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The Pagani Zonda debuted in 1999, and one-off variants still pop out of the factory today. In 2005, the company launched the Zonda F, which was named in honor of Juan Manuel Fangio. The car was the most-different variation of the Zonda theme up to that point.

It was powered by the same 7.3-liter Mercedes-Benz-sourced V12 from the Zonda S that was enhanced to make 594 horsepower in F spec. Zero to 60 passed by in 3.4 seconds on the way to a claimed top speed of 214 mph.

An F Roadster premiered a year later, with just 25 examples of both body styles produced. This car is #16 amongst the coupes, and it now has an estimate of $10,000,000-$13,000,000. Click here for more info.

Frazer Nash-BMW 329

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1937 Frazer Nash-BMW 329 Cabriolet

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Paris, France | February 2025

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The late-1930s BMW 329 actually traces its roots back to their 303 model of 1933. This was the company’s first six-cylinder car, and the 329 was introduced in 1937 as a replacement for the 319.

Differences between the two are mostly down to styling, which was much more contemporary here than on the outgoing model. Power is from a 1.9-liter inline-six that made about 45 horsepower. This car is said to have a 2.0-liter unit.

Frazer Nash comes into play because they were the UK distributor for BMW, which they sold hyphenated. This car was restored over 20 years ago and has spent time in the U.K., Portugal, and Belgium. It has an estimate of $55,000-$75,000. More info can be found here.

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.

VPJ-Ford

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1969 VPJ-Ford

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 2025

Photo – Mecum

Vel’s Parnelli Jones Racing was founded in 1969 by Parnelli Jones and Velko Miletich. They would compete in USAC (Indy car) and Formula One in the 1970s. Their first car was dubbed the VPJ and debuted in 1969.

Some later cars would wear the Colt moniker in USAC. This particular chassis retains a 2.6-liter Ford V8 and a Hewland four-wheel-drive system. It has been restored and is said to have been driven in period by Al Unser and Joe Leonard, although no specific race history is mentioned. The car was not used at Indianapolis.

If you like obscure old racing cars or obscure old race car technology, this is pretty hard to beat. You can read more about it here.

Laurin & Klement Sportwagen

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1911 Laurin & Klement Type S2 Sportwagen

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

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Flying Scooters is a type of amusement park ride where you sit in a suspended (usually two-person) car that spins in a big circle amongst other similar cars. Each car has a handheld rudder that can be swung side to side to change the angle of the car.

That’s what this reminds me of. An early Czech automotive manufacturer, Laurin & Klement existed from 1895 until 1925. Auto production began in 1905, and in 1925, it was purchased by conglomerate Skoda, who renamed it after themselves. That’s how it exists today.

This car features an early form of active aerodynamics. Turning the steering wheel turned the rudder at the rear (in addition to the front wheels), which produced side force, allowing the car to corner faster. Its first owner, racer, Baron Leo Haan, fitted the device as well as the wheel covers. It’s powered by a flat-twin.

The car was purchased by the Indianapolis Speedway Museum in 1964 out of 40 years of storage. About the only thing that has changed is the fact that it was repainted many decades ago. The estimate here is $100,000-$150,000. More info can be found here.