RM Auction's Hershey sale - favorite picks

With the AACA's Hershey meet come the RM Auction's Hershey sale. Looking past the mountain of Fords, RM has assembled an interesting group of cars - as they always do. Tailored to the crowd at Hershey, the sale has many unique early cars and these are always favorites of mine.

The following are a few of my picks for the sale. I just wish I had a suitcase full of money and more garage space.

1911 Braiser (photo credit: RM Auctions)

Lot 108 is the 1911 Brasier Runabout. The inline monobloc four-cylinder engine is rated at 11/15 hp (that's taxable horsepower). Yes, it's a smaller horsepower car, but a great make and very handsome. The car has a wonderful history of being purchased new by the family of the consigners from the Manhattan dealership of Flandreau & Company, importers of French automobiles. The car is estimated to bring between $30,000 and $50,000.

1930 Cadillac Model 452 (photo credit: RM Auctions)

Lot 109 is the 1930 Cadillac V-16 Roadster by Fleetwood. Body style 4302 is possibly the most striking of the all the bodies offered in 1930. The car was ordered originally by the Whittalls family through Fizhenry Cadillac of Worcester, MA. I grew up around the corner from Worcester and would love to have such a magnificent piece of local history stay in the area - we'll see. This car is expected to sell for $450,000 to $650,000.

1902 Covert (photo credit: RM Auctions)

Lot 142 is the 1902 Covert Runabout. Ok, this is not the most practical motorcar as it's tiller steering and has a single-cylinder engine rated at 3 hp. However, it's history of Miss Woodard (a librarian) purchasing the car new in 1901 at the Lockport, NY factory is wonderful. She drove the car for a decade and it's largely as it was was she owned it. The Covert is expected to sell for $30,000 to $50,000 (I think it might do more).

1922 Duesenberg Model A Coupe (photo credit: RM Auctions)

Lot 156 is the 1922 Duesenberg Model A Fleetwood Coupe. One of only about 60 Model A Duesenbergs to survive, this is the only known Fleetwood bodied "Doctor's Coupe". In fact, it was originally purchased by Pennsylvania physician Doctor C.E. Beals. The car is expected to bring between $220,000 and $260,000.

1905 Fiat Quinby bodied touring car (photo credit: RM Auctions)

Lot 257 is the 1905 Fiat Quinby Touring car - the star of the sale. Bonhams Simeone sale just featured a Springfield Rolls-Royce owned by the Anheuser Busch family and here's another. This car, chassis 3003, is the third of twenty 60 horsepower chassis built in 1905. August Anheuser Busch Sr., of the legendary brewing company, purchased the car from Hollander and Tangeman - the American importer for Fiat located in Manhattan. The car was bodied here in America by Quinby & Company and the family kept the car until 1934 when it was purchased by legendary collector James Melton. The car is expected to bring between $800,000 and $1,200,000 (I'm confident will do over a million) - fantastic!

Bonhams' Simeone Sale - Preserving the Automobile

I'm off to the AACA National Fall Meet - better know as Hershey. The team at Bonhams as been working to establish a sale, in association with the fantastic Simeone Museum, that starts the week and features preservation cars. As with any new event, the first couple of years have been challenging, but they seem to have a pulled together a wonderful group of cars for this year's sale.

The following are a few of my picks of the sale. It should interesting to see how these cars do over the block. Which are your favorites?

1917 Packard Model 2-25 (photo credit: Bonhams Auctions)

Lot 305 is the 1917 Packard 2-25 Twin-Six Brougham with coachwork by Chauncey Thomas & Co. (a rather obscure coachworks from Boston). Not much seems to be know about it's early life, but it is a fascinating Packard. It is expected to sell for between $70,000 and $90,000.

1925 Cunningham Phaeton (photo credit: Bonhams Auctions)

Lot 322 is the 1925 Cunningham Series V-6 Phaeton with factory coachwork. The James Cunningham, Son & Company out of Syracuse, NY made a small number of extraordinary cars through the classic era. Regardless, of the model designation, this car is driven by the companies own 442ci L-Head V8 engine and is expected to bring between $135,000 to $160,000 - an absolute bargain in my humble opinion.

1927 Springfield Rolls-Royce Phantom I (photo credit: Bonhams Auctions)

Lot 326 is the the 1927 Rolls-Royce PI Dinsdale Limousine with Brewster coachwork originally delivered to Mrs. August Anheuser Busch, wife of August Anheuser Busch Sr, of the famed brewing company. This car appears to have only 13,500 original miles and has spent all but the last three years in the hands of two owners. It is expected to bring between $75,000 to $95,000.

1907 American Underslung Roadster (photo credit: Bonhams Auctions)

Lot 341 is the famed 1907 American Underslung Roadster of F.C. Deemer. Ok, this car really isn't a preservation car having been restored twice, but it is an amazing car with an incredible history. Written up back in 1979 in the Antique Automobile, the car was purchased by Deemer, an oil tycoon, to take her bride on their honeymoon. This car is probably one of the first Underslungs to be produced by the factory and the earliest to survive today. It was found in the early 1960s in the Deemer homestead with the three other American Underslungs the family had owned. This car is expected to fetch between $900,000 and 1.3 million - I expect that it will do better than $1 million.