The 8V is Fiat’s most legendary, significant, and storied production model. The most striking were the 15 bodied to Giovanni Savonuzzi’s stunning Jet Age design, known as the Supersonic.
The Fiat 8V had a 70 degree V configuration displacing 1,996 cc and fitted with two twin-choke Weber 36 DCF 3 carburetors. In its first iteration (type 104.000) the engine produced 104 hp at 5,600 rpm. The improved type 104.003 made 125hp. The engine was connected to a four speed gearbox. The car had independent suspension all round and drum brakes on all four wheels.
Only 114 of the high-performance coupés were produced. Regardless, they continued to win the Italian 2-litre GT championship every year until 1959. Eight 'Supersonic' are thought to have survived.
A 1953 Fiat 8V Supersonic by Ghia sold at Amelia Island in 2017 for $1.3m.
This example is another gem from the Elkhart collection. It made $2m in 2022.
Porsche stunned the automotive world when it unveiled its new “Gruppe B” at the 1983 Frankfurt Auto Show. The Porsche 959 is an all-wheel-drive, twin-turbocharged, homologation car that represented the pinnacle of Porsche’s technological know-how. Power output was factory rated at 444 horsepower and 369 lb-ft of torque. The 959 was the fastest production car in the world when new, with a zero-to-60 time of under four seconds and a top speed of 197mph. 337 examples were produced between 1986 and 1988.
The 2.85L M959/50 flat-six was based on the unit found in the 956 and 962 race cars and features water-cooled, four-valve cylinder heads as well as titanium connecting rods, forged alloy pistons, Nikasil-lined air-cooled cylinders, and sequential turbochargers. Featuring a pair of asymmetrical turbochargers, each of them intercooled, the engine delivered power almost seamlesly, with a small turbocharger spinning up almost from idle to establish low-end boost, while the second exhaust-driven turbine came into play at 4,500 rpm. At full throttle and maximum boost, the relatively small engine produces 450 horsepower at 6,500 rpm. Power is sent to all four wheels via six-speed manual transmission and a computer-controlled Porsche-Steuer Kupplung (PSK) system can route up to 80% of power to the rear wheels.
Most 959s were delivered as “Komfort” models, with a broad array of cockpit amenities, including full leather trim and air conditioning. A 1987 Porsche 959 'Komfort' typically commands prices exceeding $1.5m, with top examples selling for over $1.8m.
The 1928 Cadillac Town Sedan has only 1,111 miles on the odometer and a host of hardware. It features one-inch-thick bulletproof glass windows all around, and the side windows can even be cranked up to allow a two-inch gap at the bottom for gunmen to shoot a Thompson submachine gun. The back window opens as well to allow rear-firing. The car was outfitted with a police siren, flashing police lights, and a police radio hidden in the glove box.
The car sold for $341,000 in 2014.
The green and black paint was similar to Chicago’s police cars. The infamous Caddy has lived a quiet, little used life, occupying museums.
The U.S. Treasury Department impounded Capone’s Caddy after he was arrested in 1931. When FDR went to Congress to ask for a declaration of a state of war on December 8, 1941, he rode in this Cadillac.
26,073 miles. The newly styled 1963 Corvette Stingray coupe came with the optional Z06 package, which created a race-ready Corvette for an additional $1,818, a jaw dropping price. The Z06 Special Performance Equipment package added nearly one-half the base price to the cost of the Split Window coupe. For that money a massive 36.5-gallon fuel tank for long distance racing was included. 15 examples were built in 1963. Z06 Corvettes came equipped with the Rochester fuel-injected 327ci L84 V-8, rated at 360 horsepower and bolted to a four-speed Borg-Warner T-10 manual transmission.
Chevrolet assembled a total of 199 Z06 coupes, including 63 tanker versions. A Z06 Big Tank split-window coupe is the most desirable of all Corvettes.
A 4-speed manual transmission and Positraction limited-slip rear end were mandatory options. To reduce unnecessary weight, most Z06 Corvettes left the St. Louis factory without radios.
2,610 Corvettes were equipped with the RPO (Regular Production Option) L84 engine for 1963, though just 199 were equipped with the RPO Z06 “Special Performance Equipment” package and only 63 came with the RPO N03 36-gallon long range fuel tank.
This 1963 split window Corvette coupe is one of a very few. It made $346k at Mecum.
The 1939 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 was a high-performance, six-cylinder car known for its elegant design, featuring a 2.5-liter engine and aerodynamic coachwork. It was the last pre-war model and first post-war offering from Alfa Romeo.
The 150 ci engine made 95hp and redlined at 4,600 rpm.
Italian dictator Benito Mussolini gave an Alfa Romeo to his mistress Clara Petacci as a gift. The pair met at Lake Como and planned to seek asylum in Switzerland. A motorcade they were in, which included a retreating German anti-aircraft unit, was stopped at a roadblock near the town of Dongo on April 27, 1945. The fascist leader and his mistress were both identified before being shot dead and their bodies hung upside down at a petrol station. Petacci’s Alfa Romeo was confiscated and eventually acquired by an American Army Air Corps officer, Major Charles Pettit.
The vehicle was given a new life in 1970 when it was bought by Ron Keno for $300. He was eventually put in touch with Franz Spogler, a former Nazi whose job it had been to drive Petacci and Mussolini towards the end of the war. Letters between the pair convinced Keno that he had the historic car.
In late 1978 the partially restored Alfa Romeo was sold by Keno to collector Donnie Morton, of Connecticut, who ultimately passed it to the Imperial Palace Auto Collection. Staff restored and displayed it as part of their holdings of rare automobiles for the next two decades, until it was sold to another long-term owner in 1999.
A no-expenses-spared restoration followed. The work, which went so far as to recreate replicas of the original dashboard switchgear, took two years and cost a staggering €500k ($625k in 2004).
The 1939 Alfa Romeo 6C2500 achieved a high bid of €1.8 million ($2.1 million) in 2022, but failed to meet its reserve price.
One of 120 Hispano Suiza J12s built between 1931 and 1938. Winner of the 2024 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance Alec Ulmann Trophy for its elegant Vanvooren Cabriolet coachwork. Offered without reserve following fire damage in 2024. Weeks after its second in class and trophy winning-performance, tragedy struck. While in an enclosed trailer a fire engulfed the Vanvooren Cabriolet. While what we see doesn't look like much, the car remains a heron-badged Hispano Suiza J12 and one with Vanvooren coachwork. Hispano Suiza J12 Cabriolet chassis number CH14019 was commissioned by industrialist Baron Jean Empain of Belgium, one of the world's wealthiest men during the Great Depression.
Originally a cabriolet bodied by Fernandez et Darrin, the chassis received its Vanvooren coachwork three years later.
Empain used the J12 for his travels between Europe and Africa. It was later seized by the Axis powers during World War II.
A full concours restoration began in 1998. The car was at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in 2013 and 2024, when it received the Alec Ulmann Trophy as “the car that best embodies the combination of excellence in performance and elegance in design."
Even in this too sad condition the icon made $224k against an unreserved estimate of $300k - $500k. Here.
The 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz Convertible symbolizes 1950s America: a time of exuberance, excess, and self-indulgence. Cadillac designers drew on jet aircraft for inspiration, the sharp swept-back tailfins reached their grandest and the front parking lights resembled B-52 bomber air intakes.
Frame-off nut and bolt restoration.
1 of 99 Eldorado Biarritz convertibles made with bucket seats.
390 CI V-8 engine with Tri-Power carburetion.
4-speed Jetaway Hydramatic transmission.
Factory air conditioning.
White leather interior.
Power windows including vent windows.
Price in 1959 for the top of the line 5060 pound luxury car was an eyewatering $7,401. Average 1959 wage was $4,965 per year.
The modern V8 engine pushed all two-and-a-half tons of the Eldorado land locomotive to speeds of up to 120 mph. 1959 saw the appearance of gas-filled shock absorbers, and cruise control, the first on a production Cadillac. The quintessential ‘big fin’ convertible, its ridiculous price led to low sales, making the car extremely collectible today. 1,320 in total were built. Hagerty suggests a concours example is trending around $320k. This example appeared at Mecum.
Original matching numbers drivetrain validated on January 18, 2025.
Listed in the LS6 Chevelle Registry, Certificate no. LS6-194.
Rotisserie restoration completed in 2014.
Original CRV code 454/450 HP LS6 engine.
Original Muncie M22 4-speed transmission.
Original 12 bolt, 3.31 ratio Positraction rear end.
Rebuilt drivetrain and F41 suspension.
SS wheels with Firestone F70-14 tires.
Refinished in the original Cranberry Red over black.
Highly detailed engine bay and undercarriage.
Sitting atop the muscle car food chain in 1970 was Chevrolet’s SS Chevelle designated RPO Z15. Checking off this option delivered a 450 hp, 454 cubic inch solid lifter behemoth that cranked out 500 lbs.-ft. of torque and bludgeoned all challengers.
The 450 horsepower LS6 was the most powerful engine offered in 1970. The Cowl Induction system fed outside air to a 780 cfm Holley carburetor. The LS6 featured a beefy bottom end with four-bolt mains, forged steel crankshaft and connecting rods with forged aluminum, and 11.25:1 compression pistons.
Because of the LS6’s high (6500) redline, deep groove accessory drive pulleys were necessary. Thanks to new Federal emission standards, the LS6 was hobbled with the primitive Air Injection Reactor (A.I.R.) pump. That was the first to go when owners took delivery. Either the Muncie M22 “Rock Crusher” close ratio four-speed manual transmission or the three-speed M40 Turbo Hydra-Matic automatic were available with rear gear choices up to 4.33:1 rear gears and limited slip differential. Buying an LS6 Chevelle required the customer to purchase mandatory options, and it wasn’t cheap. The RPO Z15 SS 454 package was $503.45. The LS6 added $263.30 and either a M22 ($221.80) or M40 ($290.40) was required. The biggest bad dog meant an additional $988.55 to a base price of just over $2,800.
It’s agreed that Chevrolet produced 4,475 LS6 Chevelles, however there is no break down as to coupe, convertible and El Caminos in that total.
A rotisserie, no expense spared nut and bolt restoration was completed in 2014. Virtually all major components were rebuilt. This top end example carried a too high estimate of $250k to $300k at Mecum.
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Price in 1959 for the top of the line 5060 pound luxury car was an eyewatering $7,401. Average 1959 wage was $4,965 per year.
