Tag Archives: sport

Mercedes 28/95 Sport

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1921 Mercedes 28/95 Sport

Offered by Aguttes | Brussels, Belgium | October 2024

Photo – Aguttes

Mercedes, in its pre-Benz days, launched the 28/95 model in 1914 – just prior to the outbreak of WWI. Like, they only got 25 cars out before the war came, so production stopped and then resumed, with another 550 built before 1924.

It was the first Mercedes with four-wheel brakes (starting in 1923). The engine is a 7.3-liter inline-six that was rated at 90 horsepower in Sport form. And it was sporty: examples raced competitively at the Targo Florio.

This particular car retains a real 28/95 engine, transmission, and axles. It has a modified chassis (Sport cars had a shortened chassis and a lower radiator). This car has a radiator from a different Mercedes and a recreation body in the style of the Targa Florio cars. The estimate is $335,000-$555,000. More info can be found here.

Bedelia Cyclecar

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1913 Bedelia Type 8 Sport Torpedo

Offered by Gooding & Company | April 2024

Photo – Gooding & Company

Bedelia was a French marque that existed between 1910 and 1925. Prime time for cyclecars, which were light, low-powered cars that were cheap and efficient. They were a fad, really. And one that never came back. They were kind of like the proto-microcar.

Some of them featured tandem seating like this car. In today’s world, being positioned behind your passengers as the driver seems insane. The car features a V-twin engine turned to the side, unlike a Morgan of the same era.

This is another car that was acquired by the Mullin museum from as part of the Schlumpf reserve collection. It’s a project, but finding another one isn’t going to be easy (they’re out there, though). The estimate is $10,000-$20,000. More info can be found here.

Audi Sport Quattro

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1984 Audi Sport Quattro

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Phoenix, Arizona | January 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Audi’s two-door Quattro went on sale in 1980 and arrived in North America in 1983. It is not the same car as the similarly-styled Audi Coupe. It was powered by an inline-five that varied in capacity depending on model year. But the Quattro hung around until 1991. Audi also used it as their Group B rally car.

Group B was an insane time in rallying, where manufacturers were pulling out the stops to try and win, producing some truly ludicrous cars in the process. So Audi developed the Sport Quattro, a four-wheel-drive monster powered by a turbocharged 2.1-liter inline-five that, in road car form, was rated at 302 horsepower.

Yes, they made about 214 road versions in order to homologate the car for Group B competition, where it won two championships. This one has less than 6,000 miles and was sold new in Japan. The pre-sale estimate here is $575,000-$700,000. Click here for more info.

Ermini Sport

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1954 Ermini 1100 Sport Competizione

Offered by Bonhams | Paris, France | February 2, 2023

Photo – Bonhams

I’m not sure if Ermini or Bandini are the definition of “etceterini,” but I’d have to lean toward Ermini. The cars are named for their constructor: engineer and racing driver Pasquale Ermini. He built his first cars in 1949 and shifted from full cars to bodies for specials in the mid-1950s. By 1962, it was all over.

Only a small number of Ermini cars were actually built, with some sources estimating total output of less than 40 examples. This car is powered by a 1.1-liter Fiat twin-cam inline-four. This car had a fairly extensive racing career in Italy with its first owner through 1959.

It’s been in Italian collections of the last few decades. This is a ticket into historic racing and rallying events worldwide. It’ll cost the next owner between $405,000-$460,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

Chiron Sport

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2019 Bugatti Chiron Sport

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Miami, Florida | December 10, 2022

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The Chiron is the last of its kind. The last full-out gasoline-burning chaser of speed. It debuted in 2016 and followed up on the Veyron with a version of that car’s quad-turbocharged 8.0-liter W16. In 2018, Bugatti introduced the Sport variant, which is said to be “track-focused.” It’s like 40 pounds lighter than the base Chiron, which already weighed 4,400 pounds. Hard to think anything that heavy really belongs on a track.

But I guess, if you have to overcome some heft, an output of 1,480 horsepower would help do the trick. This was the same output as the base car. You were basically paying an extra $400,000 for the Sport, which brought some carbon-fiber bits, a stiffer suspension, and a torque vectoring system.

This is one of 60 Chiron Sports built. Well, Bugatti said they would build 60, but who knows if they actually did. What’s fun is that you can forget zero-to-60 times and instead note that it will hit 100 mph in 4.4 seconds, which is crazy. The pre-sale estimate is $3,000,000-$3,500,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $3,305,000.

1926 Lorraine-Dietrich

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1926 Lorraine-Dietrich A4 Torpedo Sport

Offered by Aguttes | Neuilly, France | March, 27, 2022

Photo – Aguttes

Lorraine-Dietrich cars came about when their parent company, a locomotive manufacturer, branched out into automobiles in 1896. Initial cars were an Amedee Bollee design, and by 1902 the designs were by a young Ettore Bugatti. Later events saw a short-lived merger with Isotta Fraschini and a sweeping of the podium at the 1926 24 Hours of Le Mans.

This A4 is also from 1926. It’s powered by a 12-horsepower, 2.3-liter inline-four and served as the company’s entry-level model. This car was restored in the last decade, starting that time out as a bare chassis and pile of parts.

So the body is a new one, but it looks the part, especially in French racing blue. The pre-sale estimate is $39,000-$60,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $47,234.

Bandini Siluro

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1953 Bandini 750 Sport Siluro

Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | March 18, 2022

Photo – Artcurial

The Siluro: the most famous of all Bandini models. The cars were produced in 1100 and 750cc form, the former between 1947 and 1949, and the latter between 1950 and 1956. The 750cc Siluro won multiple SCCA championships and saw racing success on both sides of the Atlantic.

The 747cc inline-four was a modified Crosley unit capable of pushing out 71 horsepower. Bodywork varied car to car, but it followed general trends over the years. For example, 1953 cars received fenders that blended into the body in lieu of more cycle-style fenders or cars that were fender-less altogether.

This car arrived in the U.S. prior to 1957 after having raced in Italy. It later returned to Italy where it was acquired by the Bandini family and restored. It’s been a part of three historic Mille Miglias and now carries an estimate of $285,000-$400,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Bandini 750 Saponetta

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1957 Bandini 750 Sport Internazionale Saponetta

Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | March 18, 2022

Photo – Artcurial

Ilario Bandini’s little car company was founded in 1946 and was pretty popular in the 1950s, taking SCCA class championships in the middle of the decade. They built a number of models over the years, some as late as the 1990s, and it seems that very few were all that similar.

This particular car features a streamlined body and similar mechanicals to the company’s 750 Siluros. The engine is a 747cc inline-four that made 68 horsepower when new. A total of nine Bandini Saponettas were built. The competition history for this chassis includes:

  • 1957 Mille Miglia – DNF (with Carlo Camisotti and Giovanni Sintoni)

Bandini himself campaigned this car for years thereafter, selling it in the late 1960s. It was restored in the late 1990s/early 2000s and has been used in the Mille Miglia Storica. It now carries an estimate of $675,000-$1,000,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $707,815.

S.P.A. Torpedo

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1913 S.P.A. 25HP Sport Torpedo

Offered by Bonhams | Paris, France | February 3, 2022

Photo – Bonhams

Societa Piemontese Automobili was founded in Italy by Matteo Ceirano and Michele Ansaldi in 1906. The Ceirano family was involved in various early Italian marques, including Itala, SCAT, Ceirano, and others. S.P.A. was taken over in 1925 by Fiat, who phased the marque out.

S.P.A. had some sporting credentials, winning the Targa Florio in 1909. This 25HP model is powered by a 4.4-liter inline-four. The bodywork, while sporty, is described in the auction catalog as a passenger car with a speedster-style body. The coachbuilder is unknown.

This car was delivered new in France and later spent time in the Le Mans Museum before being purchased by its current owner in the 1990s. Not many S.P.A. cars still exist, and this one appears rather nice. It is expected to sell for between $230,000-$270,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $450,469.

Flavia Sport Zagato

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1965 Lancia Flavia 1800 Sport Zagato

Offered by Bonhams | Online | November 19-29, 2021

Offered by Bonhams

Lancia, once one of the world’s foremost manufacturers of interesting cars, is now reduced to a single hatchback. The Flavia was introduced in 1961 and was offered in sedan, coupe, and cabriolet form at different times throughout its production run, which wrapped in 1971, at which time the model transitioned to the 2000.

For 1963, Lancia upped the Flavia’s engine from 1.5 to 1.8 liters. The flat-four was mounted way out ahead of the front axle and produced 104 horsepower in the dual-carburetor Sport model. Alloy bodywork here is by Zagato, and this car is one of just 670 bodied by the firm.

A restoration was carried out on this car in the Netherlands in the 2000s, and it’s been in France since 2006. The pre-sale estimate is $57,000-$69,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Entire auction disappeared from Bonhams’ website.