My Car Quest: June 2011

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

The Results - Salon Privé - Auction - My Favorite Cars

by Mike -

The results from this RM auction are in red text below:

RM Auctions will be holding a classic car auction in conjunction with Salon Privé - the Luxury Super Car Event & Concours d'Elégance near London on 22nd - 24th June 2011.

The RM theme for this auction is "Quintessentially English", so I think that means British cars only.

Here are my favorites.

1976 Jensen Interceptor Mark III Convertible

£47,600 Sold

Estimate: £38,000-£46,000

330 bhp, 7,212 cc Chrysler V-8 engine, triple twin-choke carburettors, automatic gearbox, independent front suspension with wishbones, coils springs and stabiliser bar, rigid rear axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs and Panhard bar, and Dunlop power-assisted hydraulic four-wheel disc brakes.

I am surprised that this is a Left-Hand-Drive car in England! Read more here.

1977 Aston Martin V8 Series III Coupé

£21,280 Sold

Estimate: £20,000-£30,000 - OFFERED WITHOUT RESERVE

350+ bhp, 5,340 cc DOHC V-8 engine, TorqueFlite three-speed automatic gearbox, independent front suspension with upper and lower control arms, coil springs and anti-roll bar, De Dion rear axle with Watt linkage, trailing arms and coil springs, and four-wheel hydraulic disc brakes. This Aston must be fast. Read more here.

1964 Aston Martin DB5 Coupé

£263,200 Sold

Estimate: £215,000-£275,000 - OFFERED WITHOUT RESERVE

282 bhp, 3,995 cc DOHC inline six-cylinder engine, triple SU carburettors, ZF five-speed manual gearbox, independent front suspension with double wishbones, coil springs and telescopic shock absorbers, rear suspension by live hypoid axle mounted on parallel trailing links, transversely located by Watt's linkage, and four-wheel, twin-servo Girling disc brakes. Less than 20,000 miles. Read more here.

1952 Tojeiro MG Barchetta Sports Racer

Not Sold at a high bid of £92,500

Estimate:

£95,000-£125,000

1,467 cc OHV MG XPAG engine, two SU carburettors, four-speed manual gearbox, independent front suspension by coil springs and wishbones, live rear axle with transverse leaf spring and radius rods, four-wheel hydraulic drum brakes. One of the first race cars built by John Tojeiro, who designed the AC Ace. This is a rare car. Read more here.

1974 Jaguar E-Type Series III Convertible

£42,000 Sold

Estimate: £38,000-£45,000

272 bhp, 5,343 cc V-12 engine with four Zenith-Stromberg carburettors, four-speed manual transmission, four-wheel independent suspension, and hydraulic four-wheel disc brakes. From the final E-Type production year. This is one of the best looking E-Types I have seen, in pictures. Read more here.

1961 Aston Martin DB4 Vantage Convertible

£431,200 Sold, there must have been Peter Ustinov fans bidding.

Estimate: £250,000-£320,000

240 bhp, 3,670 cc DOHC inline six-cylinder Vantage engine, triple SU carburettors, four-speed manual gearbox with overdrive, independent front suspension with upper and lower control arms, coil springs and anti-roll bar, live rear axle with trailing links, coil springs and Watt linkage, and hydraulic four-wheel disc brakes. An original Left-Hand-Drive Vantage DB4, one of only 70 DB4 Convertibles built.

Purchased new by famed actor and diplomat Sir Peter Ustinov. I loved Peter Ustinov in the Disney movie Blackbeard's Ghost. Read more here.

Click on the images for a larger view.

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Tuesday, June 28, 2011

A Rare and Classic 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4

by Mike -

The Ferrari 275 GTB/4 is considered one of the best sports cars of all time and this one is extra special.

The 275 GTB/4 was introduced at the Paris Motor Show in October 1966. It has a 3.3 liter V12 four-camshaft engine with six carburetors as standard equipment. It produces 300 hp and has a top speed of 165 MPH.

This car was designed by Pininfarina and built by Scaglietti; there were 280 made between 1966 and 1968. The body is steel and the hood, doors and the trunk lid are aluminum alloy.

This car has spent most of its 44 year life in storage and has been driven only 11,500 miles. It is a three owner car and has never been restored. It has original paint, chrome, interior, wheels, motor and even the Italian license plates are original!

This is the first time this special Ferrari has been shown and I am very happy that I was able to see this car in person at the Palo Alto Concours d'Elegance.

It would not be surprising to see this car at Pebble Beach in the preservation class.

Click on the images for a larger view.

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Sunday, June 26, 2011

Iso Day In Palo Alto

by Mike -

There were three Isos at the Palo Alto Concourse d'Elegance today. I go to this event every year and I do not remember ever seeing even one Iso.

Here they are:

Iso Grifo Series 2 with a Ford Cleveland 351 cid engine and the extra high pagoda hood scoop.

Iso Rivolta GT.

Iso Grifo Series 2 Targa - one of only four made.

All three of these cars are in wonderful condition. It was a great day for Iso fans and my Series 1 Grifo was in the parking lot, so there were FOUR Isos on the premises.

I will publish more pictures soon.

Click on the images for a larger view.

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Something Seems To Be Missing Here

by Mike -

This is the radiator cap on a Bentley. The coiled copper tube is hollow and is connected to the radiator coolant fluid.

I think that the Bentley coolant fluid would overflow onto the top of the radiator if it were to over heat. It would make a real mess.

A similar radiator cap set up on this 1923 Aston Martin has a tube that connects to the cap and runs down the front of the radiator. This allows the coolant fluid to overflow onto the ground if it over heats.

This is better than coolant fluid flowing on top of the beautiful radiator and grill.

The drive shaft seems to be missing from this 1935 Shaw Indy Roadster below.

The drive shaft should be near the drivers feet and legs as in this 1958 Epperly Indy Roadster below.

It does not seem very safe but that is the way they were back then.

Click on the images for a larger view.

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Friday, June 24, 2011

There Is A Car Show On Sunday

by Mike -

The Palo Alto Concours d'Elegance is on Sunday June 26, 2011 on the campus of Stanford University. I was going through some old files and found my pictures from this event in 2009 when I exhibited my Bizzarrini. See more of this Bizzarrini here.

Bizzarrini GT 5300 Strada

Siata 208-S

I wrote about Steve McQueen's Siata here.

It was a very hot day, around 110°F (43°C). As an owner of a car on display I had to be there all day with my friend and we did suffer in the heat. You cannot tell how hot it was by looking at these pictures.

Lamborghini Islero

Nash-Healey

I believe that these pictures were all taken in the morning because later in the day the heat was so intense that we put the camera away and tried to stay in the shade.