Saturday, August 27, 2011

Results-European Style With American Muscle In Monterey-Part 2

by Mike -

Sales results are in red text.

Cars with European styling and American power are of special interest to me. There are several cars in this unique category for auction in Monterey later this month. Here are my favorites - Part 2.

1953 Nash Healey Roadster at Mecum Auctions.

Not Sold.


Mecum says:

- 4,141 CC OHV engine, 140 BHP 
- Dual carter side draft carburetors, 3-speed manual transmission with overdrive, one of the most correct Healeys known to exist, formerly of the Skip Barber collection 
- A truly international sports car, the Nash Healey is an English Roadster with Nash ambassador 4.1 L straight 6 and a hand made Italian body by Pininfarina. It was born out of a very successful bid at Lemans where Donald Healey campaigned a one-off Roadster in 1950 to 4th place in class. He decided to produce a small run of his racing car for the road in 1951, which would then receive the sexy Italian body for 1952. Nash Healeys would continue to race with great success including a 3rd overall at Lemans in 1952.


I think these are unusual looking but they did do well in racing.


- The road going Roadster you see here is one of just 150 built in 1953, and a very proper example. It has undergone an exacting ground up restoration to the highest standards.




1957 Dual - Ghia at Gooding

$200,000 Sold

Estimate is $230,000 - $260,000


Gooding says:

Designed by Paul Farago and coachwork by Ghia.

315 cid Dodge D-500 Hemi V-8 Engine , Single Carter 4-BBL Carburetor , 230 BHP at 4,300 RPM , 2-Speed PowerFlite Automatic Transmission , 4-Wheel Hydraulic Drum Brakes , Independent Front Suspension and Live Rear Axle with Leaf Springs



This is not the most attractive Dual-Ghia style that I have seen but it is rare.





Not Sold at a high bid of $550,000

Estimate: $675,000-$875,000


I am not sure that this car belongs on this list. But it is close enough and interesting enough to include it. The Cunningham Continental C-3s were bodied by Vignale of Turin Italy and this C-3 West Palm Beach, one of a kind model, is the immediate predecessor to the Continental C-3. The C-3 West Palm Beach was made in the Cunningham shop in Florida.

Could some Italian styling and chassis design been a part of this car? I do not know but the history as described by RM is fascinating.



RM says:

220 hp, 331 cid Chrysler ‘Hemi’ V-8, four Zenith carburetors on a Cunningham log manifold, independent front suspension, live rear axle, Cadillac three-speed manual transmission.

- Singular example of Cunningham’s Competition C-2R-based coupe
- Restored to exacting factory specifications
- Impressively documented, unbroken ownership history from new


1966 Sunbeam Tiger at Russo & Steele

Sold: $52,875


Russo & Steele says:

The Tiger has near 0 miles on a meticulous rotisserie restoration from an award winning Sunbeam builder. The stock appearance of the entire Tiger has been carefully retained, yet the Ford V8 has been caressed to 250 HP and Ford top loader 4-speed transmission is upgraded to wide-ratio gears. Rear differential is the Salisbury Dana 44, also correct for the Tiger. Additional stock appearance “hidden” upgrades included in the restoration are a Hurst Competition Plus shifter with period correct shifter handle, 4-core CAT club radiator with 6 blade fan, 2-inch exhaust and LAT option “Traction Master” rear axle traction bars.




Sold: $56,175

This car is offered without reserve. This is fairly new for Russo & Steele as they differentiated themselves at one time as the all reserve auction.

The Russo & Steele web site does not provide any specific information on this car. Usually not a good sign.



European Style With American Muscle In Monterey - Part 1 is here.

Click on the images for a larger view.

If you like these cars you would like my book, European Style with American Muscle, available in paperback here and all eBook formats here.

Click this image below to see the Table of Contents from the paperback version.


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4 comments:

  1. I thought the Dual-Ghia looked especially nice.

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  2. It was in good shape and sold for $200,000, so somebody else liked it too.

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  3. I thought the Tiger would have fetched a higher price, something closer to the high 60's to low 70's... am I missing something about this particular car?

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  4. I agree that this Tiger seemed to be a bargain for the buyer. I guess that there were not enough Tiger fans in the audience.

    ReplyDelete