Once, the Invicta was the leading competition for Bentley. The English cars were ahead of their time, rakishly low and expensive, and the company that produced them a victim of the Depression. Only about 1000 Invictas were produced between 1925 and 1936. The example that Bonhams will offer at its annual Goodwood Motorcar Auction on September 15th is a 1931 4 1/2-Litre S-Type Low-chassis Tourer ‘Bluebird.’ The product of a three-year restoration, it’s estimated at $870,000-$1.1m.Among the other unusual entries at the U.K. auction is a 1929 Alfa Romeo 1750 SS Competition Tourer with coachwork by Carlton Carriage Company. The former Irish Grand Prix Team Car, which was campaigned by Leonard Headlam, carries an estimate of $790,000 to $1.1m. Another racing car with a distinguished history comes to the sale without an estimate, usually a sign of an unusually high anticipated price. It’s the ex-Works/Lord Selsdon & Lord Waleran 1939 Lagonda V12 Le Mans Team Car. The racer completed the 24-hour race with an average speed of a bit over 83mph on winding roads, to place 5th.
Vintage Racers Lead Goodwood Auction
August 29, 2012
Winston Churchill’s Daimler Sells In Germany
April 30, 2013Between the years of 1944-49, and thus throughout his tenure as Prime Minister in World War II, Sir Winston Churchill’s ride of choice was a stylish 1939 Daimler DB18 Drophead Coupe. Incongruous as it may seem for an automobile that belonged to the man who led his country’s battle against the Third Reich, the roadster turned up on German eBay, where it set off a bidding frenzy that ended with a price of $621,500. That was, according to the Online Mail, about 16 times what a DB18 might be expected to command.
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100 MPH Without Brakes: Steve McQueen’s 1914 Indian At Bonhams
April 12, 2013Of all the motorcycles owned by Steve McQueen—and there were many—one of the more unusual is the 1914 Indian Board Track Racer that Bonhams will offer at its Stafford sale in England later this month. Produced for one of the first pine-board motordomes in the country, it was fitted with neither brakes nor throttle. Racers went all out, powered by a 4hp, 500cc engine, reaching speeds of 100mph. Restored by Indian specialist Stephen Wright, McQueen’s bike is estimated at $34,000-$43,000.
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Duesenberg Leads Boca Raton Concours Auction
February 22, 2013In its day, the ultra-sleek 1930 Duesenberg Model J Torpedo Phaeton had few rivals for style, luxury, engineering or power. More expensive than a Rolls Royce or Hispano Suiza, fewer than 500 were made, making the cars’ owners members of a very exclusive club that included Clark Gable, Greta Garbo, and William Randolph Hearst. The example that Bonhams will offer tomorrow at the Boca Raton Concours d’Elegance belonged to the wife of Duesenberg’s owner, E.L. Cord and has been featured in numerous movies. Restored to show standards, it comes to the auction without an estimate, generally a sign of high expectations.
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Rising Value of Unrestored Cars
By Malcolm Welford, Vintage Car Specialist
