American

Photo courtesy Barrett-Jackson Auction Company A value proposition back then, this era-ending muscle car remains so today This 1970 Mercury Cyclone Spoiler CJ is powered by a 429-ci Cobra Jet V8 engine that has been rebuilt to factory specifications and paired with an R-servo C6 3-speed automatic transmission with the original cast-iron tail-shaft housing. Power…

Photo credit: Mathieu Heurtault, copyright and courtesy of Gooding & Company LLC One of six examples of these race cars produced takes the overall win at Monterey Car Week Billed to Shelby American in November 1963, CSX2300 was the third Daytona Coupe completed. CSX2300 debuted at the final round of the 1964 FIA GT Championship:…

Photo courtesy Bonhams A rare surviving prototype faces market realities This Cord limousine prototype was previously owned and used by E.L. Cord. The “Baby Duesenberg” prototype limousine isn’t conventional, but neither is it an evolution of Gordon Buehrig’s epic Cord 810/812. The long hood is emblematic of the long V12 and V16 engines that Packard,…

A fair price for an “instant collectible” approaching its 50th birthday When Cadillac announced that 1976 would be the last year of the convertible Cadillacs, there was an instant increase in demand, and production went up by 156% compared to the year before. The convertible was reintroduced in 1984, but it never became the same…

Photos courtesy Kruse Auctions A strong price achieved by a very nice car in a rare color Introduced for 1953, the Chevrolet Corvette was America’s bold answer to the European sports cars that were capturing attention after World War II, and by 1954, the concept was gaining real momentum. Still hand-built in low numbers and…

This Bill Thomas Cheetah is believed to be the last example constructed and was commissioned without a drivetrain in November 1965 by Eddie King, who accepted delivery in April 1966 at King’s Sales and Service Inc. in Ohio. King registered the car for street use and retained ownership through 1968, when its second steward acquired…

This 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Split-Window coupe body shell includes the roof structure, firewall, doors, floors and partial interior components. The front bodywork and much of the rear bodywork are missing. The seller tells us that it had been sitting outside before their acquisition and that the frame was discarded due to damage. This C2 Split-Window…

Earl “Madman” Muntz was, in every sense, one of the great characters of early post-war America. His fortunes — there was more than one — were made in used cars, and subsequently in manufacturing and selling televisions; reportedly “TV” was first coined when Muntz abbreviated the name for skywriting. Muntz’s Jet was created when the…

While the enlargement of the Thunderbird into a 4-passenger car proved excellent for sales, buyers continued to pester Ford for the return of a 2-passenger model. In response, for 1962, the third-generation “Bullet Bird” became available as a limited-production Sports Roadster. The “top-of-the-line” Ford featured a sleek fiberglass tonneau that fit over the rear seat,…