Offered by Bonhams | Amelia Island, Florida | February 29, 2024
Photo – Bonhams
The roots of Napier could be traced back to a company founded in 1808. The original founder’s grandson took over the company in 1895 at age 25. Just a few years later they were building motor cars. And race cars.
The L48 was built for setting records. It’s powered by a massive 15.0-liter inline-six that makes an incredible 240 horsepower. At Ormond/Daytona Beach in 1905 the car hit 104 mph over the flying mile. That was a world record, and it was the first car to hit 100 mph in the U.S. and the first British car to break that barrier. In 1908 it broke 130 mph at Brooklands.
Napier later sold the car for scrap, which is pretty terrible in terms of keeping your history alive. The engine went into a boat and survived, later being discovered in Australia, where a replica of the original 1904 L48 was constructed around it.
Sure, this isn’t the exact car that set the speed records, but the wonderful one-off motor did. It’s still worth a lot: with an estimate of $900,000-$1,100,000. Click here for more info.
We stay in Britain for Brightwells’ Leominster sale where our lone feature car, the Jaguar XJS Monaco, failed to sell. The top seller was this 1989 Ferrari 328 GTS for $75,101. Click here for additional results.
Photo – Brightwells
Onward now to Amelia Island and Bonhams, where we featured a lot of interesting cars. Remarkably, only one of them didn’t sell according to Bonhams’ results: the 1910 Pope-Hartford that was supposed to be offered without reserve. Not sure what’s going on there.
Relative deals consisted of the $62,720 Columbus and the $60,480 Crow-Elkhart. A previously-featured 1904 Knox sold here for $252,000. Final results can be found here.
We also featured quite a few cars from the RM Sotheby’s sale in Amelia Island, including some we featured from past sales like this 1924 Isotta Fraschini, this V-12 Cadillac, this AAR Eagle – all three of which failed to sell. The big-dollar Bugatti failed to find a new home as well. The overall top sale was the 1930 Duesenberg we featured. It sold for $1,650,000. We will award Most Interesting to this wicker-bodied 1911 Napier 15HP Victoria that brought $156,800.
Of our feature cars, the OSCA 1600 GT sold for $489,000 and the Kurtis $263,200. A previously-featured Abarth 207/A went for $362,500. Click here for complete results.
We’re going to pick up again in Monterey with Worldwide Auctioneers. The Benz Tourer we featured sold for $121,000. The top sale was $605,000 paid for this beautiful 1940 BMW 328 Roadster. Click here for more results.
Photo – Worldwide Auctioneers
Next up, Russo & Steele in Monterey. Their top sale was a 1953 Ferrari 250 Europa for $1,155,000. The rest of their results can be found here.
Photo – Russo & Steele
Let’s hop across the Atlantic for a few European sales, beginning with Bonhams’ Beaulieu sale. The top sale was this 1921 Napier “Blue Bird” Homage for $342,679.
Silverstone Auctions held The Salon Privé Sale in early September. We didn’t get to feature anything, but the top sale was this 1989 Porsche 911 (930) Turbo SE Flachbau Cabriolet in a pretty awesome shade of blue for $317,880. Click here for the rest of the results.
Photo – Silverstone Auctions
And finally, H&H Classics’ early September sale held at the National Motorcycle Museum. We didn’t get to feature anything from this sale either, but in a sea of sub-$10,000 cars, this 1975 Jaguar XJ-S 5.3 Coupe stood out, bringing $50,306. Click here to see everything else.
Offered by Bonhams | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | October 5, 2015
Photo – Bonhams
We will be featuring a Stearns-Knight in a few days. Stearns-Knight is the company that Stearns became in 1912. Stearns started building cars back in 1901 when company founder Frank Stearns wanted to build the best cars in the world. He did it: Stearns cars were big from the get-go and this car is no exception.
This 1907 Stearns is powered by a 8.7-liter straight-six making 60 horsepower. It’s a big car – really big – but it’s perfectly proportioned. It was restored a while ago but looks great. It’s an ex-Harrah car and should sell for between $650,000-$850,000. Click here for more info.
Update: Not sold.
1913 Napier Type 44 Touring by Cunard
Offered by Bonhams | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | October 5, 2015
Photo – Bonhams
We’ve featured a lot of cars from the Hershey-area auctions this year (as in the most we’ve ever featured from a single week’s worth of auctions). This is because there have been so many rare cars – most of which have been American. But here is a British tourer. Napier built cars and seriously powerful engines for both marine and aircraft use.
They even had an American arm for about a decade. But this is a British-built Type 44 that features a 4.7-liter straight-six making 35 horsepower. While this car looks nicely patina’d, it has actually been restored (back in the 1960s). It has a great look to it and is a complete driver. It should bring between $150,000-$180,000. Click here for more info.
Update: Not sold.
1908 Rainier Model D 45/50HP Seven-Passenger Touring
Offered by Bonhams | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | October 5, 2015
Photo – Bonhams
Do you find this car to be in terrible shape or in great shape? I guess that’s a matter of perspective. It’s almost 110 years old and although it doesn’t currently run or drive, getting it to that point would win you awards in any preservation class anywhere. Rainier (originally of Flushing, New York, later of Saginaw, Michigan) built cars from 1905 through 1911. It was short-lived, for sure, but the cars were big – and powerful.
The engine in the 1908 and 1909 Model D is a 6.8-liter straight-four making 45/50 horsepower. John T. Rainier’s company was swallowed by General Motors in 1911 but they quickly phased it out in favor of Marquette. This is the only surviving Rainier Model D and it should bring between $250,000-$350,000. Click here for more info.
Update: Sold $253,000.
1910 White Model GA 20HP Tourer
Offered by Bonhams | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | October 5, 2015
Photo – Bonhams
We’ve become a fan lately of early White motorcars. Steam cars are always interesting, something White heavily invested in for most of its passenger car-building life, but the gasoline cars are interesting too, as they are a little less remembered.
The Model GA was built for 1910 and 1911. It was the entry-level gasoline model and was offered in a variety of body styles. The engine is a 3.7-liter straight-four making 20 horsepower. It’s a nicely-finished driver, perfect for tours. It should sell for between $30,000-$50,000. Click here for more info.
Update: Sold $37,400.
1910 Buick Model 16 Toy Tonneau
Offered by Bonhams | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | October 5, 2015
Photo – Bonhams
David Dunbar Buick is one of our automotive heroes. He created what is now the oldest active American automobile manufacturer. It’s because the company started building quality products and continued doing so for decade after decade. Sure, they’ve had their issues in the past thirty years building anything remotely exciting (GNX aside), but these early cars are interesting.
The Model 16 was built 1910 only, smack in the middle of what would even today qualify as a full model range. The engine is a 5.2-liter straight-four making 48 horsepower – which is actually quite a lot for a car in this class in 1910. The restoration is relatively new and very nice. This is a quick car and would be a lot of fun to own. It can be yours for between $50,000-$60,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Bonhams’ lineup.
Offered by Bonhams | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | October 5, 2015
Photo – Bonhams
We’ve featured a lot of cars from the Hershey-area auctions this year (as in the most we’ve ever featured from a single week’s worth of auctions). This is because there have been so many rare cars – most of which have been American. But here is a British tourer. Napier built cars and seriously powerful engines for both marine and aircraft use.
They even had an American arm for about a decade. But this is a British-built Type 44 that features a 4.7-liter straight-six making 35 horsepower. While this car looks nicely patina’d, it has actually been restored (back in the 1960s). It has a great look to it and is a complete driver. It should bring between $150,000-$180,000. Click here for more info.
Offered by Bonhams | Carmel, California | August 15, 2014
Photo – Bonhams
D. Napier & Son of London began selling automobiles in 1900, although the company dated back to 1808. Among their claims to fame: they built the first British race car and they were the first company to sell a six-cylinder car. They were an accomplished, important, early British motor manufacturer.
This Type 23A uses a 45 horsepower 6.2-liter straight-six. It’s a powerful car for 1908 and, remarkably, it retains its original body. The car came to America at some point around WWII and was owned by the President of the Veteran Motor Car Club of America. Later, it entered a collection in the 1960s – and remained there until the current owner acquired it in 2007.
A restoration was then carried out and it shows beautifully. The car has been brought to the U.S. for sale, but it has not been shown here – so it’s a perfect candidate for admittance into the great many prestigious car shows that country has to offer. It can be your ticket for between $1,100,000-$1,400,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
RM Auctions’ recent sale in Amelia Island, Florida sold some outstanding cars, among them the 1929 Cord L-29 Special Coupe that we featured on this site. Far and away the most attractive Cord I’ve ever seen, it was the top sale at $2,420,000. Other million dollar sales included a 1956 Ferrari 250 GT Coupe Speciale by Pinin Farina that sold for $1,430,000.
A little more exotic was the 1930 Bugatti Type 46 Superprofile Coupe which has “recreation” coachwork. It was originally a sedan but the body was replaced with a “faithful recreation” of a famous Bugatti design. The real one would have brought more, but this car was no slouch at $1,017,500.
It sold for $79,750. Our final feature car was one of the more affordable cars sold (the second lowest selling price for an automobile at the auction), the Rovin D4 sold for $27,500 – a little price for a little car.
And finally, one car that really stood out was the 1958 DKW Universal Kombi Wagon, which is a type of car that you usually don’t see at American auctions. There are a multitude of interesting cars from all over the world and they tend to not pop up at auctions stateside – or even auctions held in Europe by North American auction houses. There are so many Packards and Porsches that sell at auctions like this, and not nearly enough cars from companies like DKW, or (name just about any European or Asian manufacturer). Now, I understand that they aren’t quite as collectible (money talks, after all) and that not many were imported. But they definitely stand out (in a very good way) when they do show up. This one brought $60,500.
