![Phoenix from the ashes.]()
January 15 could be called bleak mid-winter, and you can either wrap up warm and hum along to the
beautiful carol of that name, or alternatively head over to The
Westin Kierland Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, Arizona where Bonhams are holding their first 2015 car auction. Booklovers should get there early because the first few lots are all very tempting groups of books covering various aspects of our sport – particularly
lot 4 which is an almost complete run of
Automobile Quarterly. I am constantly looking out for copies missing from my collection, and I always welcome a chance to dip into this high quality source of reference with its excellent pictures and text from the best historians. If you like posters, your heart should be beating by now because there are some rare examples of 20’s and 30’s artwork to tempt you. My daughter is named Phoebe so
Lot 38 caught my eye depicting an
elegant lady in a delightful Paris motoring scene C 1905. The next lot also has a lady at the wheel – this time a
Fournier Cyclecar in some mountains.
What is it about
bright red Packards? Whilst learning about the immaculate
1934 Packard Eight 1101 Coupe Roadster I read there are only about 30 known of the original 300 of the 1101 straight eight series made, and there is one other with similar red paint. The one for sale is believed to have once belonged to Hollywood actress
Arline Judge who was married seven times! The other one ( not in the sale) seems to have been a 'peace offering' to a wife from her husband, who had been unfaithful. She accepted the car in place of a divorce and they lived happily together until his death. There is an advertisement in Britain for paint, and its catch-phrase is ‘does what it says on the tin’. So I begin to understand why the
American Automobile Company of Indianapolis called its famous and revolutionary car ‘ The Underslung’. Their 1914 innovative designs placed the frame rails below the axles, giving the cars a significantly reduced center of gravity as well as a signature and
unmistakable look.
If you are looking for an even earlier car, then how about a
1904 Humber 8.5HP Twin-Cylinder Two Seater which is well known on the fifty mile stretch of road between London and Brighton in the south of England. The 2015 event will celebrate America and American owners of veteran cars from 1904 and before are encouraged to enter. Why not help commemorate the abolition of the requirement for all cars to be preceded by a man on foot with a red flag with this
charming little car?
Still not sure what to buy? How about a
1937 Chevrolet Master Deluxe 'Demonstrator' Sport Coupe with its famous 'Stovebolt' in- line OHV six cylinder engine and very smart appearance. Iin 1929, these highly popular six-cylinder Chevrolets helped GM's mainstay out-sell Ford for most of the 1930s. Then there’s a
1926 Kissel 6-55 Gold Bug Speedster for the sportier driver, an open top
1924 Chrysler Model B-70 Roadster with wooden wheels, or for the discerning motorist desiring a dignified elegant carriage, a
1934 Lincoln KB Convertible Victoria with its legendary smooth and powerful
V12 motor.
The Type 57 Bugatti in all its forms attracted discerning owners who were only satisfied with the best, among them speed king Sir Malcolm Campbell, himself the owner of a Type 57, who wrote: "If I was asked to give my opinion as to the best all-round super-sports car which is available on the market today, I should, without any hesitation whatever, say it was the 3.3 Bugatti... it cannot fail to attract the connoisseur or those who know how to handle the thoroughbred. It is a car in a class by itself." The
1938 Roadster with coachwork in the style of Jean Bugatti has literally risen like a phoenix from the ashes with the help of some heroic individuals with the essential passion and expertise to relentlessly see the project through to completion.
They can be proud.
(Text Robin Batchelor, pictures courtesy Bonhams)
