1934 Hispano Suiza J12 Vanvooren Cabriolet - $224k

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.