1941 Chrysler Newport Dual Cowl Phaeton

1941 Chrysler Newport Dual Cowl Phaeton

Shortly after Pearl Harbour, Chrysler sold off 4 of the Dual Cowl Phaetons to private owners and kept the one you see pictured above and below as a demonstration model.

Chrysler’s last remaining Dual Cowl Phaeton was the official pace car of the Indianapolis 500 motor race and wowed both the motoring press and the tens of thousands of spectators who attended the race. It’s been said that if it wasn’t for the war, this car may have had significantly more impact on mid-century American car design than it otherwise did.
As Chrysler geared up for wartime production the Dual Cowl became little more than a dust gathering curiosity and it essentially disappeared from history before resurfacing in the 1960′s as a member of the legendary Paul Stern automobile collection.

Over the following decades the car moved through series of impressive collections, even belonging to famed car auctioneer, Tom Barrett of Scottsdale, Arizona for a short while.

RM Auctions will be selling the car at the Amelia Island auction on the 10th March this year

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1938 Dubonnet Hispano Xenia

The 1938 Dubonnet Hispano Xenia is one of the most iconic pre-war automobiles out of continental Europe, only one was ever made as it’s purpose was not not make money but rather to showcase a new type of automobile suspension, a suspension arrangement that would go on to be the grandfather of the suspension system used in almost all modern motorcars.

1938 Dubonnet Hispano Xenia

The Dubonnet Hispano’s new suspension was designed and built in 1937 by André Dubonnet, heir to the significant Dubonnet aperitif fortune, his goal was to integrate the aircraft aerodynamics of the day into a vehicle with what he dubbed “independent suspension”.

The essential design saw each wheel getting it’s own enclosed coil spring suspension, this gave the car better roadholding and a more comfortable ride. The new suspension design was so successful that Dubonnet licensed the patent to General Motors, Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Delahaye.

That remarkable body was designed by Jaques Saoutchik, a leading automotive designer of the 1930′s, he was asked by Dubonnet to create an aerodynamic and futuristic body with an aircraft themed interior. It is perhaps telling that all these years later, it is impossible to find pictures of the revolutionary suspension of this car but pictures of the exterior design are a dime a dozen.

Via Silodrome.com

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Ford F-150 Lightning Rod Concept

Ford F-150 Lightning Rod Concept

Estimated price: $40,000-$60,000

The Lightning Rod concept based on eighth generation F-150 Ford pickup, the best-selling vehicle in the United States for 24 years as well as the best-selling truck for nearly 35 years, 
evokes the "passion of muscle cars of the 1960s, the hot rod industry and the current body art craze", in the words of the manufacturer

It is powered by a 5.4-liter SOHC V-8 engine, four-speed automatic transmission, coil spring independent front suspension, live rear axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs, and four-wheel hydraulic power disc brakes. Its looks comes with a shorter roofline, a raked windshield and hidden wipers. Two horizontal neon headlamps and taillights perfectly matches its Cherry red metallic paint .

A traditional tattoo of the native New Zealand Maori tribe covers leather-wrapped tonneau, and thr theme  carries through to the leather bucket seats and headliner. Its  five-spoke cast aluminum wheels carry radial tires with a tread pattern and nicely matches the maori theme

News Source: RM Auctions

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Gold Plated 1920 Pierce-Arrow 48 Coupe

Gold Plated 1920 Pierce-Arrow 48 Coupe

Price: $300,000

Gold-plated and even more antique car is 1920 Pierce-Arrow 48 Coupe, probably the first one that can only be described as jewelry.
Originally designed for salt-mining entreprenuer Emerson Carey in Hutchinson Kansas, and later  perfected  by a subsequent owner during 1945,  the  3-seater Coupe Model 48 was powered by a T-head inline six-cylinder engine of 525 cubic inches with a 4-speed transmission on a 142 wheelbase chassis.

Gold Plated 1920 Pierce-Arrow 48 Coupe back view

Every one of the Pierce-Arrows finely cast aluminum body panels has been meticulously prepared and plated in 23-karat gold, and the fenders and hood in bright nickel. The engine and chassis received the same treatment. The wood spoke wheels are gold leafed.

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