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.