Art Market Magazine - Visit zone-secure.net
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€1,461,800 Talbot Lago T 150 C, 1936, chassis no.<br />
82930, inline 6-cylinder engine developing 170 hp at<br />
4,700 rpm; max. speed: 210 kph.<br />
Coupé, no longer with its original engine. In 1962, the<br />
Bugatti register published by HCG Conway indicated<br />
that "the vehicle has been considerably altered during<br />
its long career at the factory" (twenty years –Ed.). It has<br />
a type 101 compressor engine coupled to a Cotal<br />
gearbox. A majestic 1938 Mercedes-Benz 540 K<br />
cabriolet with coachwork by Vanden Plas went for<br />
€672,750. This has silver grey paintwork with a<br />
burgundy leather interior. Its first owner was the son of<br />
American press baron William Randolph Hearst.<br />
Talbot Lago, Duesenberg J, Bugatti:<br />
a winning combination<br />
On 8 February, right in the middle of the Rétromobile<br />
show, the <strong>Art</strong>curial-Briest-Poulain-F. Tajan auction<br />
house posted the highest total ever obtained for a<br />
collectors' automobile sale in France: €14,618,984<br />
(90% by lot). At €1,461,800, a French collector carried<br />
off the star of the sale, the Talbot Lago T 150 C shown<br />
in the photo. This was used in competitions from 1936<br />
to 1950. The original design of its coachwork was<br />
restored in 1983 by specialist Paul Grist, who based it<br />
on two types of racing 150 Cs then in England. Only six<br />
T 150 Cs were built, all belonging to the extremely<br />
restrained category of French cars produced in line<br />
with the 1936 Automobile Club de France regulations,<br />
AUCTION RESULTS THE MAGAZINE<br />
HD<br />
with the aim of winning back places in competitions<br />
from the German rivals. It is thought that fewer than<br />
twenty cars in this category still exist in a drivable<br />
original state. A well-deserved million-plus bid! An<br />
American car from the Roaring Twenties with coachwork<br />
by Walter M. Murphy in California went for<br />
€1,036,344. Beautifully maintained, in 1981 this had<br />
carried off the most prestigious prize a classic car can<br />
receive, the "Best in Show" at the Pebble Beach<br />
Concours d’Elégance. The Duesenberg J is an<br />
American legend, considered by enthusiasts as one of<br />
the fastest, most powerful and best-constructed cars<br />
of its time. Murphy produced around sixty roadsters<br />
with this model, considered must-haves. €586,112<br />
acclaimed a 1935 Bugatti type 57 with cabriolet coachwork<br />
by Vanvooren in Courbevoie. The bodywork,<br />
chassis and engine are all original, and it has only had<br />
four owners. There was a lively battle for another<br />
Bugatti type 57, this time from the second series,<br />
which went for more than its estimate. €421,445<br />
rewarded the first Type 57 C ever built, with a Ventoux<br />
body and an engine sporting the number "1C". In a<br />
more "celebrity" vein, we can just mention the<br />
€162,025 obtained by Alain Delon's 1987 Ferrari Testarossa,<br />
after an estimate of no more than €80,000…<br />
decidedly a gain in value thanks to the cinema!<br />
Sylvain Alliod<br />
N° 23 I GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL<br />
53