The Monterey weekend is packed with events for every type of car enthusiast. While the majority will go to simply look at the cars, a select few will make the trek to Northern California to possibly put a new car in the garage. There are no fewer than five different auctions during the weekend - RM, Russo and Steele, Bonhams & Butterfields, Gooding & Company, and Kruse. Hundreds if not thousands of cars will cross the auction block, from Shelby Mustang GT-H Convertibles to a multi-million dollar Jaguar racing prototype. Inside Line's Ken Gross has put together a list of the ten best cars up for sale at the Monterey auctions, and it has us drooling in anticipation of seeing the cars in person. Included are the following: 1938 Bugatti 57SC Atalante, 1906 REO Model A Touring, 1959 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spyder, 1960 Jaguar E2A, 1939 Talbot-Lago T150C-SS, 1969 Porsche 908/2, 1957 Chrysler Diablo Concept, 1954 Bentley Continental R, 1972 Lamborghini Miura SV, and 1973 Ferrari Daytona Spyder.
Are they really "one-of-a-kind," as stated by Kruse on its official auction page, if there are 25 of them going up for auction on the same day? That's not to say getting one of the 500 Hertz Shelby Mustang GT-H Convertibles (sheesh, that's a mouthful!) that were built in 2007 is a bad thing, but nobody really knows if these vehicles will ever really gain in value over more pedestrian versions of Ford's iconic pony car like their forebears have. Rest assured, though, you are not going to be bidding the same $250,000 that collector Ron Pratte paid for serial #001. For reference, the last batch of rent-a-racers that were auctioned off managed about $33K per unit.
The car itself is powered by a 319-horsepower version of Ford's ubiquitous 4.6-liter three-valve V8 engine mated to an automatic transmission -- perfect for the kind of top-down summer cruising that these vehicles are likely to see. If you want one of the 25 going up for auction, they'll be at the Kruse Select Auction in Monterey, CA next week.
Just in time for Pebble Beach, Cars That Matter is rolling out a price guide that can give you the current collector value for hundreds of cars on your java-enabled smartphone or PDA.
If you're a collector you've probably researched the catalog and car you want to bid on before you take your bidder number. But what if a 1968 Checker Wagon in good condition and with the Factory Taxi option -- just the one you've been looking for -- is added at the last minute? How do you know how much to pay?
The guide gives you Checker prices broken down in three tiers for the sedan and the wagon, ranging from $7,200 to $20,500. It also lets you know to add another $3,500 for the Factory Taxi option, and a further 20-percent if it were a 1970-71 with the V8. It's the kind of tool that might help you never pay too much for a classic car at auction again. Or, at the very least, you'll know ahead of time that you're about to take a bath on that yellow submarine...
There are hot rods, there are hot rods, and then there's "Um... what is that?" Tom Cramer, an ex-GI and mechanic in Omaha says, "I wanted to see what would happen if you put a really high powered engine in a chassis." Sound familiar? That was in 1953. So he found a fresh 12-cylinder 1,710-cubic-inch Allison airplane engine that produces 1,350-hp/1,500 ft-lb and got to work.
The body of the Cramer Comet was Frankensteined from De Sotos, Dodges, Oldsmobiles, Buicks, Studebakers, Cadillacs, Lincolns, and Fords. Part of the tubular chassis is made up of four-inch refrigerator tubing filled with coolant that runs to a rear-mounted radiator. The engine is mounted in reverse and is heavily insulated -- it gets hot in there. Power is sent through a drive shaft mounted between two truck universals and on to a four-speed transmission. The top speed is said to be 160 MPH, which is low for so much power, but probably sensible considering it's hand built.
Check out that center console. To start the car, the driver (pilot?) sets the throttle quadrant to ten-percent, cranks the fuel mixture to full rich, turns the spark lever to retard, flips the master switch, turns the magnetos on, turns the fuel boost and primer switches on, flips the starter control first to energize and then to on. And then it's time to fly, hopefully not in the literal sense.
Tom didn't get rid of the car until 1991 and it's now up for auction for the first time at this year's Sport & Classics of Monterey held by RM Auctions August 15 and 16. It's expected to fetch up to $300,000. Even if you don't plan to buy, you should check out the gallery of high-res photos below for evidence of how powerful elbow grease is.
Auctioning off a Ford Mustang seems to be a pretty effective way to raise money for charity. The very first Shelby GT was auctioned for $600,000 at Barrett-Jackson in 2007, and the first GT500KR sold for $550,000, both raising money for charity. The latest 'Stang to raise money for a worthy cause is the one-off AV8R Mustang that crossed the block last week at the EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) Gathering Eagles charity auction and brought down the gavel with a final bid of $500,000. The unique Mustang features a 400-hp supercharged V8, Ford Racing suspension upgrades, and an aviation-inspired paint scheme plus much more. Worth half a million? Maybe not, but definitely a great way to donate money to charity. Thanks for the tip, anonimo!
It was a nice idea that Aguri Suzuki had, to start a new F1 team from scratch. Unfortunately, his dreams didn't last long, resulting in the grassroots team closing up shop and its assets put up for auction. Those assets were bought up by Formtech GmbH, a German tooling and construction company.
Formtech intends to use the team's former Leafield, England, headquarters as its new base for UK operations, where it will use Super Aguri's autoclaves and other equipment to design and manufacture composite materials. Formtech also intends to employ some of Aguri's now-unemployed technicians. But what of the actual race cars and fleet of transporters? Formtech bought those too, and is looking for another buyer. So if you're interested in a new Formula One car and a big truck in which to haul it around, better give them a ring.
In the fast-paced world of Formula One, teams come and go. Only most of the time, they're just changing names and management (in fact, Ferrari and Williams are the only teams still on the grid that were founded under the same name and same ownership as they remain today). So Jordan Grand Prix, for a most vivid example, became Midland F1 Racing in 2006, then Spyker in 2007 before its metamorphosis into Force India for 2008. Super Aguri was another story. Founded by former racing driver Aguri Suzuki, the team was the first in years to actually put up the bond necessary to start a completely new entry. Unfortunately, the uniquely Japanese-named team never had the money it needed to succeed, and after a little over two years, the team folded. But not before millions upon millions were spent on cars, equipment and everything else.
So what happened to all that stuff? Well, after Super Aguri went into bankruptcy administration earlier this year, the team's remaining assets are to be liquidated by British auction house SHM Smith Hodgkinson at the end of this month. Among the assets up on the block will be a dozen F1 racing cars, a fleet of transporter trucks and four autoclaves. So if you're looking to buy yourself the remains of an F1 team, this could be your chance.
Last month China's Sichuan province was devastated by a massive earthquake that killed as many as 70,000 people. If you've wanted to donate to help the survivors but were waiting for just the right opportunity, this could be it.
Our friends over at China Car Times are holding several auctions with the proceeds going to the British Red Cross. Three of the auctions require a little travel for us Americans, but just might be worth a special trip. One is a private tour of the London Taxi factory with a chance to drive one of the iconic cars and some special merchandise from the factory. The second is for the chance to be one of the first people to tour MG's Longbridge factory in Birmingham, England, since taken over by Shanghai Automotive. Not only that, but the top bidder will get to drive the new MG TF LE500. The third auction is your chance to try out the latest vehicles from Lotus right there on its test track in Hethel Norwich, England.
Can't leave the country? Line up behind a couple of Autoblog staffers to bid on the 1:18 scale models of the Lifan 520. These are usually only given to VIP visitors to the Lifan factory and are produced in exacting detail. They're gonna look good in my collection.
The final auction should appeal to anyone with an international business hoping to break into the Chinese market. China Car Times will give to the winning bidder one month of advertising on its Web site, which is a great opportunity to see what your business could do over there.
A few weeks ago we would have baulked at the thought of someone paying $7 million for a car, except that some crazy Brit paid a record $10.8 million for a California Spyder last month. Still, it seems like a lot of money to pay for a car, even for this one-off racing prototype Jaguar E2A that Bonhams will be auctioning off in Monterey this August. Undoubtedly the car's biggest draw is its link between the legendary D-Type race cars that won Le Mans three times and the E-Type production cars. It was also driven competitively by Dan Gurney, Walt Hansgen, Jack Brabham, and Bruce McLaren. While we don't know if this will be enough to demand $7 million, we will be on hand in Monterey to bring you the results, as well as additional coverage of all the events during the Pebble Beach weekend in mid-August.
Hey buddy, wanna buy a De Tomaso? Have we got a deal for you. You don't want to settle for just one De Tomaso, so not buy the whole De Tomaso enterprise? On June 28, the De Tomaso name and car operation will go across the auction block giving devotees of the Argentine-Italian marque a shot at attaining their dream. Four years ago De Tomaso pulled the plug after its Mangusta project failed to gain traction and relaunch the company. That was around the same time that company founder Alejandro de Tomaso passed away. Up for grabs will be the rights to the De Tomaso, Pantera and Guara names, as well as the Modena plant where the cars were built.
Founded in 1959, the company is perhaps best known for its De Tomaso Pantera, a car that combined rakish good looks with bulletproof Ford mechanicals. Before the Pantera came the Vallelunga and the infamous Mangusta, which is still considered one the most beautiful sports car of all time. Thousands of Panteras were built from 1971 through 1993 before the company tried an all-new model, the Guara. It didn't have the desired effect on sales and the company floundered. One last attempt to revive the brand came in 2000 when it introduced the new Bigua/Mangusta. A falling out with partner Qvale spelled the end for this once proud sportscar and GT maker. After Alejandro passed in 2003, the company went into liquidation, bringing us up to the present auction.
Our source at Argentina Auto Blog tells us that there will be two lots in the sale. The first will include the rights to the De Tomaso name and logo, as well as rights to the Pantera and Guara names. The starting price is expected to be 1.78 mil Euro. The second lot will include the factory and offices in Modena at a starting price of 7.63 mil Euro. That auction will start July 3. A side note: Alejandro ended up in Italy after fleeing his native Argentina following a failed plot to overthrow Juan Peron. That bit of lore goes along free with your purchase.
