Tag Archives: classic cars

Stevens-Duryea XXX

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1910 Stevens-Duryea Model XXX Runabout Roadster

Offered by Gooding & Company | Amelia Island, Florida | March 2025

Photo – Gooding & Company

In 1909, Stevens-Duryea launched the Model X, which was a big touring car or limousine powered by a 24-horsepower engine. They also trotted out the XXX, which was the smaller, sportier variant with the same engine.

Both models carried over for 1910, with the 5.2-liter inline-four uprated to 36 horsepower. A three-passenger Runabout Roadster and a four-passenger Baby Tonneau were offered on the XXX chassis in 1910.

By the 1980s, this car wore raceabout bodywork, and when it was restored, a reproduction Runabout body was crafted. It’s one of three known to exist and carries an estimate of $80,000-$125,000. Click here for more info.

Oldsmobile Light Tonneau

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1905 Oldsmobile Light Tonneau

Offered by Gooding & Company | Amelia Island, Florida | March 2025

Photo – Gooding & Company

The Curved Dash Olds was still around in 1905, but things had started progressing at the company, and more conventional-looking motorcars were appearing with what Olds dubbed the “French front” design.

Gooding calls this a “circa 1904” with a hint that you could fool someone on letting you into the London-to-Brighton Run, but it’s thought that most of these were delivered in 1905. In addition to the CDO, Oldsmobile offered a Touring Runabout, a Light Tonneau (which was the rear-entrance tonneau), and a Side-Entrance Touring, the latter of which was their first two-cylinder offering.

This car is powered by a 2.3-liter horizontal single rated at 10 horsepower. Total calendar year production for 1905 for Oldsmobile was 6,500 – or 36 cars a day. It was their final year as America’s top automobile manufacturer. This car cost $950 when new and now has an estimate of $90,000-$120,000. More info can be found here.

1902 Rambler

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1902 Rambler Model C Runabout

Offered by Gooding & Company | Amelia Island, Florida | March 2025

Photo – Gooding & Company

Thomas B. Jeffrey’s first Rambler product was a bicycle in 1897. By 1900 he was into automobiles, and the Model C was the company’s first production model.

It looks like a carriage – and like many of its competitors – and is powered by a 1.6-liter horizontal single that was rated at four horsepower. It also has a two-speed gearbox.

Just four of these are known to exist, and this one, chassis 738, was restored a while back. During that work, the car was upgraded to a steering wheel in lieu of the original tiller (Rambler switched to wheels in 1904). The estimate is $70,000-$90,000. Click here for more info.

Bugatti Type 50

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1930 Bugatti Type 50 Roadster

Offered by Gooding & Company | Amelia Island, Florida | March 2025

Photo – Gooding & Company

The Bugatti Type 50 was the follow up to the Type 46. This car was originally bodied as a coupe after being sold new off of the 1930 Paris Auto Salon stand. The car moved to Denmark before the war and remained there until coming stateside in 1951.

Power is provided by a supercharged 5.0-liter inline-eight that makes 225 horsepower. The big difference between the Types 46 and 50 is that the 50 used a DOHC engine design and a smaller displacement. But power was hugely improved.

It was in the late 1980s that the car received its current roadster configuration (a prior roadster body had been fitted under original ownership in the 1930s). It’s unclear of the Type 50 was supercharged from the factory or not (or whether that denoted Type 50S spec). In any case, only 66 were built and just 25 survive. This one has an estimate of $500,000-$600,000. More info can be found here.

Alfa 1900L by Ghia

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1954 Alfa Romeo 1900L Coupe by Ghia

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

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Alfa Romeo’s 1900 was, at its core, a small sedan (two- or four-door) produced through the entirety of the 1950s. But as Italy is a land of style, there were a fair number of coachbuilt versions also constructed.

The most sought-after of these are on the 1900C (short-wheelbase) platform. This is a rare two-door custom body on the 1900L (long-wheelbase) chassis. The base 1900 was powered by a 1.9-liter inline-four rated between 80 and 90 horsepower depending on configuration.

This is the only one of at least nine Ghia-bodied 1900 coupes produced on the lungo chassis. Originally blue, the car was sold new in New York. It next appeared in California in 2006, having been shown at Pebble Beach that year. Restored, it carries an estimate of $200,000-$250,000. Click here for more info.

1909 Pierce-Arrow Runabout

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1909 Pierce-Arrow Model 36-UU Runabout

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

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

By 1909, Pierce-Arrow was at its zenith of automotive greatness. Few cars were better, among them, other models in the Pierce range. The Model 36 was their entry-level six-cylinder car that year (below it was their lone four).

The 5.9-liter inline-six was rated at 36 horsepower. Pierce-Arrow also sold 40-, 48-, and 60-horsepower sixes in 1909. This particular car is among approximately 10 survivors of the model, and it was rescued out of a Long Island junkyard in the 1940s.

The current recreation body was produced during a 2002 restoration. It is said to replicate the factory three-passenger Runabout, which was among seven styles offered on the model’s 119″ wheelbase. The estimate now is $200,000-$300,000, and more info can be found here.

Zust Spider Cora

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1906 Zust 28/45 Spider Corsa by Sala

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

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Zust was a manufacturing company in Italy that was founded by Roberto Zust. They started off making tools and branched into other areas that required technical expertise. So when they moved into cars, launching their first in 1905, they made them well.

Their first car was the 28/45, which they built through 1908, and it is powered by a 7.4-liter inline-four that made 45 horsepower. It has a four-speed transmission and chain drive. These are sometimes called the Italian Mercedes, as they were well built machines.

This car is thought to have participated in the 1907 Targa Florio and wears coachwork by Cesare Sala. It is one of five Zust cars built before WWI that are known to survive. Zust was acquired by OM in 1917 and phased out. RM notes that Zust (which apparently still existed in some non-automotive fashion after 1917) sold this car to a wrecking yard in Germany in 1946.

It remained there until 2016, when it was restored. It now has an estimate of $800,000-$950,000. Click here for more info.

Gurgel Xavante

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1978 Gurgel Xavante X-12

Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | February 2025

Photo – Artcurial

Well I know if I’m looking for oddball Brazilian-market vehicles, my go-to is Paris. Gurgel existed between 1969 and 1996 and produced some funky off-road-esque vehicles during that time.

Xavante production started in 1973, with X-12 production continuing on into the 1980s. Early cars had Volkswagen underpinnings and fiberglass bodywork. Later cars got a tube-frame chassis. They also had a “Seletraction” system that allowed the driver to route power to either of the rear wheels individually.

Power is from a 1.6-liter flat-four. This example was imported to France in 2023 and later overhauled. Calling this “rarely seen” is an understatement, and the estimate here is $21,000-$31,000. Click here for more info.

Ferrari 555 F1

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1955 Ferrari 555 F1

Offered by Bonhams | Paris, France | February 2025

Photo – Bonhams

Scuderia Ferrari’s 1953 Formula competitor was the 553, which was actually designed to F2 specs, which is what the World Championship formula was that year. They made an F1 version of the 553 for 1954. For 1955, Ferrari updated the 553 to the 555. The new bodywork was longer and more rounded than the year before and earned the car the name the Supersqualo (super shark).

The car is powered by a 2.5-liter Lampredi inline-four that made about 260 horsepower. This car, chassis 555/1, had the following competition history:

  • 1955 Monaco Grand Prix – 8th (with Paul Frere and Piero Taruffi)
  • 1955 Belgian Grand Prix – 4th (with Frere)
  • 1955 Dutch Grand Prix – 7th (with Mike Hawthorn)
  • 1955 Italian Grand Prix – 10th, DNF (with Hawthorn)

The car was also driven in a non-points race by Nino Farina. In 1956, Ferrari had moved on and sold the 555s, including this one. The car was slightly modified and successfully raced in Australia and New Zealand through 1959.

The car was damaged in an event in 1963, after which the engine was removed for use in a boat. The chassis was fitted with Morris Minor (!) bodywork and a Chevrolet V8. In the 1990s, the car was restored back to stock, and now it’s selling at no reserve with an estimate of $4,200,000-$6,300,000. 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.