Contributors
Rising Value of Unrestored Cars
By Malcolm Welford, Vintage Car Specialist
American automobiles
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.
Read more...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.
Read more...George Lucas’ Tucker May Fetch $2m
February 19, 2013The Tucker motor car company produced just 51 examples of the Tucker 48, known as the Torpedo, before going out of business in 1949. Characterized by its suicide doors and distinctive center headlight, which was conceived to move in tandem with the steering wheel, the 1948 car was the creation of visionary Preston Tucker, whose struggles were chronicled in a 1988 film directed by Francis Coppola and produced by George Lucas. The 1948 example that RM will offer in Amelia Island next month has its own story, having been owned by Lucas himself. The product of an extensive restoration, it’s expected to sell for $1.5m-$1.9m.
Read more...Steve McQueen’s Last Ride In Auction
February 05, 2013Of all the sleek and expensive automobiles associated with Steve McQueen, the least likely was probably the yellow 1951 Chevrolet Styleline DeLuxe Convertible that he drove in his last movie, “The Hunter” in 1980. All the same, McQueen loved the car and bought it at the production’s conclusion. Since then, it’s changed hands just once, in 1984, at the liquidation of McQueen’s estate. Almost 30 years later, it’s coming up for sale again at a Fort Lauderdale auction on March 22-24. Without the McQueen provenance, its value would be about $45,000. With it, the final selling price is expected to be much, much more.
Read more...Prices Soar At Scottsdale Classic Car Auctions
January 21, 2013Little doubt remained about the extraordinary vitality of the vintage car market after the results at the multiple auctions that took place this past weekend in and around Scottsdale, Arizona. Gooding & Co. led the final tallies with a total of $52.5m, paced by the sale of a 1958 Ferrari 250GT LWB California Spider for $8.25m. With six of the weekend top 10 sales, Gooding’s result was up 31% over last year’s sale, a pattern of growth that almost all the Scottsdale events mirrored.
Read more...BMW Races to $167,800
January 11, 2013As a sidecar racer, the mid-century BMW Rennsport RS54 had no peer. The motorcycle dominated its class for almost twenty years, racking up 19 World titles, among other records. Yesterday at Bonhams motorcycle auction in Las Vegas it achieved another one, as a 1954 example led the pack with a $167,800 result.
Read more...‘Godfather’ Lincolns Come To Scottsdale
January 09, 2013Although the offerings at Bonhams’ Scottsdale vintage car sale may lack the mega-million dollar star power of the rare Ferrari’s that will be idling across the block at other auctions in the area next weekend, the January 17th event will still feature an array of extraordinary automobiles, some with rather colorful histories. For example, there are two 1941 Lincolns, one a limousine, the other a coupe, that were featured in ‘The Godfather’ (estimates withheld). Those less focused on showbiz may prefer a 1955 Mercedes 300SL that’s one of the highlights of the sale. Finished in Strawberry Metallic, and recently restored, it’s estimated at $850,000-$1m.
Read more...The Old Buick Was A Star in “Rain Man”
November 26, 2012The Buick has been called the 3rd most important “character” in 1988 “The Rain Man” movie that won 4 Oscars. Although the car is 63-years old, the Roadmaster is expected to sell in the $80,000 range because Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman spent most of the movie riding in it. The Heritage auction will be held Dec. 14 in Dallas.
Read more...’68 Ford Sets Record, ’36 Mercedes Falls Short At Pebble Beach
August 20, 2012Records fell at the high-value vintage car auctions around the Pebble Beach Concours over the weekend, but they weren’t the ones that had been expected. A 1968 Ford GT, used by Steve McQueen in the making of “Le Mans,” became the most expensive American car ever sold at auction when the gavel came down at $11m, including buyer’s premium. A magnificent 1936 Mercedes 540K Special Roadster that had been anticipated to be the weekend’s star fell short, however, selling for “just” $11.7m, including premiums.
Read more...RM Offers Horch, Ferrari & Talbot Lago Rarities At Pebble Beach
August 10, 2012Merely wanting a Horch motorcar wasn’t enough. Prospective buyers of the early German competitor to Mercedes had to demonstrate they had enough in the bank to reflect well on the brand. Accordingly, the manufacturer—a precursor of the Audi—produced few automobiles. For example, Horch made only five Second Series Special Roadsters–one for Herman Goring–of which three exist. The 1938 example that RM Auctions will be offering at its Monterrey auction over the Pebble Beach Concours weekend has still another bonus: the 854A Special Roadster by Erdmann & Rossi won Best of Show at Pebble Beach. It’s expected to realize $6m-$8m.
Read more...Clark Gable’s Duesenberg At Pebble Beach
August 03, 2012The celebrity cars continue to roll towards Pebble Beach. The latest to emerge at the Gooding auction on August 18-19 is Clark Gable’s 1935 Duesenberg Model JN Convertible Coupe. One of only 10 JN’s built, and specially modified for Gable with a raked windshield and other upgrades, it’s the car in which he and his wife, actress Carole Lombard, drove up the West Coast to Vancouver. The Special Award winner at the 2007 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the automobile was also featured in the 1938 film “Merrily We Live.” The JN comes to the sale without public estimate.
Read more...George Clooney’s Tesla, Jay Leno’s Fiat At Pebble Beach
July 30, 2012When Tesla introduced its high-performance electric “Signature 100” roadster in 2008, George Clooney was the eighth person to buy the car. This summer he’s selling it for charity at Gooding’s Pebble Beach auction. At the time he purchased car 0008, it sold for around $100,000. Four years later, it’s estimated to bring as much as $125,000 at the August 19th event. Proceeds will benefit the Satellite Sentinel Project, which is dedicated to preventing a return of civil war between Northern and Southern Sudan.
Read more...Al Capone’s 1928 Bulletproof Cadillac
July 18, 2012Given the company he kept, Prohibition-era gangster Al Capone had more need than most for a bulletproof car. So he arranged for his 1928 Cadillac V-8 Town Sedan to be armored with nearly 3000 pounds of asbestos-wrapped steel plating. When it appears at RM’s St. John’s auction on July 29, it’s expected to ell for $300,000-$500,000.
Read more...Tom Mix’s Rolls At Blenheim Palace Sale
July 10, 2012Few vintage cars can match the Hollywood history of the 1927 Rolls-Royce Phantom 1 Playboy Roadster that Coys is offering in its auction at Bleinheim Palace, birthplace of Winston Churchill. At one point silent screen star Tom Mix owned the car, which went into the Warner Brother’s movie fleet after his death. Over the next 30 years, it was seen in such films as “Giant,” “The FBI Story,” and “Inside Daisy Glover,” with Robert Redford behind the wheel. At the July 14th auction, it’s expected to sell for $171,000-$202,000.
Read more...Five Remarkable Car Collections At Goodwood
June 25, 2012Led by the ultra-rare George Daniels-owned 1929-31 ‘Tim’ Birkin Bentley that may set a new auction record for the marque, and an Ex-Works Le Mans 1932 Alfa Romeo 8C-2300 Lungo (est. $3.9m-$6.2m), Bonhams will offer no fewer than five distinguished collections at its auction later this week at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. A Bentley 3-Liter Speed Model Sports Two-Seater with coachwork by Park Ward (est. $200,000-$230,000) highlights the Peter Gwynn Collection, and a 1938 Bugatti Type 57C (offered without estimate) leads the pack from the noted collector John O’Quinn, who at one point owned 869 vintage automobiles.
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