In the U.S., the lion’s share of classic car ownership is of American cars. This figures, since at the time the most popular old cars were made, the lion’s share of sales in the U.S. were of American makes. That’s not to say, though, that there aren’t a large number of imported vehicles to be found at the big auctions in Scottsdale during January auction week. There are even a couple of auctions that sell primarily European classics, but I didn’t attend those. These are nine of my favorites that I saw.
image by Megan, four year old photographer
I have to make a disclaimer: I am not qualified to be your trusty correspondent for import vehicles at classic car auctions. My old car knowledge is primarily with American makes. I am not the man to pick out the most significant, or even interesting, foreign cars at an auction. I’m sure I pass right by lots of cars many of you would find fascinating and may be totally oblivious to the most amazing foreign gems in the show. Like asking my 4 year old to find the most important cars with her kiddy camera, she’d photograph the shiniest cars (and the ground, the sky and a squirrel, etc.). I’m not much better when it comes to imports. It’s not that I can’t appreciate many of the vehicles, they are just not my first love. I look at and photograph a relatively small number of import vehicles that I find appealing for my own strange reasons. I’m also learning as I write about these cars. Hope you enjoy!
(bonus points if you can identify the vehicle in the above photo. Hint: it’s an import)
This actually probably was the shiniest import car at Barrett-Jackson! It’s a 1934 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Binder. It has the same Full Classic presence as many American luxury cars of the period and is very difficult to take your eyes off of in person. (in the background is the ’71 Challenger stripe delete R/T discussed in the comments of my last post)
I took a few photos from the B-J website. The front is probably its better angle. Still interesting, but in my opinion, this isn’t as flattering a shot. Naturally, this era of luxury car had outside companies doing custom bodies on the factory chassis. Rolls continued this tradition much longer than American makers, having bare chassis available until the Silver Shadow in 1965. Barrett-Jackson had five Rolls from the ’20’s and ’30’s, this one bringing the most money by far at $385,000.
The interior is quite spare and functional, but of course featuring nice leather, carpet and wood. It is very interesting to me that all the Rolls’ during this period had the gearshift and brake lever to the right of the driver even though they are right-hand-drive cars.
The Phantom II engine was a straight six displacing 7.7 litres. The Phantom II was what was called the 40-50h.p. series. They also had a smaller 20-25h.p. series with a 3.7 litre six. From what I have been able to gather, the U.K. taxed cars based on horsepower, so it’s likely the engines tended to be underrated.
Rolls-Royce used mostly straight sixes until 1959 when they switched to V-8’s. If they did in fact tax on horsepower, at some point that law changed and Rolls became very coy about power ratings, which led to my favorite fact about the company: for many years the publicly stated power rating for their cars was “adequate”. So British, I love it!
Perhaps a reader can clarify that tax history a bit.
This 1966 Mercedes 250SE was a stunner. It looked great in white, with a big chrome grille, painted hubcaps and wraparound windshield. Bidders apparently agreed when they took the price up to $97,500 (I don’t know if that is actually a high price for this, but it seems like a lot of money to me).
I’m no expert on M-B numerical nomenclature, but from what I researched, this would be a W111 series started in 1960, with 1966 being the first year for the 250SE. The 250SE had a new 2.5L fuel injected straight six making 170hp.
The interior may be the most striking part of the car. Kind of like the Rolls-Royce above, it has an understated elegance with warmth added by liberal use of highly polished wood on the dash and A pillars and rich looking perforated leather seats. It’s a totally different approach than American luxury cars of the day and you can see how well-heeled buyers were beginning to discover the alternative charms of these cars. I’ve always liked the big steering wheel hub on M-B cars in this era.
Having a similar appeal is the 1971 Mercedes-Benz 280SL, which sold at Russo and Steele for $63,000. This is an example of the last year for this W113 generation of SL, which started in MY1963 with a few different engines offered through its run. I love the clean styling of these cars. Every line of this car is graceful, the proportions are perfect and it manages to be both crisply beautiful and restrained. It lacks the flamboyance of the American, or even the Italian, cars of its era but there is no denying it embodies at least an equal degree of greatness. Mercedes has had a long string of elegant, obsessively well engineered and built cars from their beginning, representing some of the best qualities of their country.
One of the regrets I have about globalization is that you used to be able to tell a lot about a country by the cars it made. Each country’s cars had a different flavor to them that was unique and reflective of much of their national character. Not as much nowadays as corporations get bigger and more efficient and each country’s cars get more and more similar to every other’s.
The dark red interior looks perfect on the white car and had that great quality and comfortable look of Mercedes’ interiors of this time. Take your pick of A/C, or remove the pagoda roof for fun in the sun. I believe the SL’s also had soft tops, but I’m not sure if that is universal.
The final engine in the W113 SL was the 2.8L inline six. It was cast iron with aluminum heads and an overhead cam putting out 180hp and 193lb-ft of torque in the SL. The four speed manual this one has was standard, with automatic available.
You have to love this 1972 Toyota FJ40 Landcruiser which sold for $32,000. There were actually 7 FJ’s offered at Russo and Steele, but I found this one to be the most attractive. It’s bone stock and super clean looking with a full non-convertible body and obligatory, but totally complimenting, white roof.
Unfortunately I have no detail photos as this is the only one on the R-S website. The FJ was one of the more long-lived of any models in all Autodom, being sold with the same basic body from 1960 to 1984. There was even a Brazilian version that was made until 2001. Technically the model is J (for jeep-style 4×4), F denotes gas powered engine (B for 4 cylinder diesel, H for 6 cylinder diesel), and 40 denotes short wheelbase version (bigger numbers for longer wheelbases)
My second favorite FJ at Russo and Steele was this 1982 Toyota FJ40, which was a no sale. The color is perfect.
Toyota really nailed it with the FJ, taking the best qualities of the American Jeep and the British Land Rover and making their own unique and very well executed design. It was particularly popular worldwide, becoming a staple in third world countries or anywhere with more dirt roads than paved. The FJ’s lifetime coincided with Toyota’s massive increase in sales outside Japan, which is probably not at all unrelated. In the ’60’s, it was an early sales success in the U.S. market and helped establish a quality reputation that paved the way for their automobiles and pickups to gain widespread acceptance and growing sales in the ’70’s.
It doesn’t get much more simple and functional than this. I like the way the instrument panel and the glovebox door compliment each other. This interior is mint, but it looks like it could take infinite amounts of hard use or abuse and still be just as useful. In fact, a patina of wear would probably just make it look better!
The engine lineup is very simple. Gas powered models all had an inline 6 displacing 3.8L until 1975 and 4.2L (designated 2F) through 1984. The Diesel engines were never sold in the U.S. Naturally, they were all manually shifted. The 2F engine had 135hp and 210lb-ft of torque.
As a child of the ’80’s, when I think Ferrari, this is the first car to come to mind (in red). This unusual color 1985 Ferrari 308 GTS did not meet its undisclosed reserve at Russo and Steele.
1985 was the last year for the 308 version. That year it was replaced by the 328, which had the same body but with a larger 3.2L V8. The body style was produced through 1989. The first year model had a fiberglass body, but switched to steel for 1977 and thereafter.
The interior has a ’70’s look, befitting a car introduced in 1976. The S in GTS signifies spyder, or targa top. The steel roof version was the GTB, B for berlinetta. The GTS sold much better in the U.S.
I had to pull this off an internet picture search, as the Russo and Steele website had no engine pics. As a measure of how little I know about these cars, I just learned researching this article that the 308 had a transversely mounted engine. I hadn’t realized that any exotic mid engine cars had that arrangement. The engine was a 2927cc 32-valve alloy V8, fuel injected since 1981. It made 235hp and 188ft/lb torque running through a 5 speed transaxle. At least the oil filter is easy to get to!
Again as a child of the ’80’s, I naturally watched Magnum P.I. and Miami Vice. It’s funny that both of these Ferraris are flipped in their colors made famous on TV. Still, red is the default color for all Ferraris, so this 1986 Ferrari Testarossa looks great. It was also a no sale at Russo and Steele, but a similar 1988 Testarossa sold for $107,500 and another sold for $102,500.
The rear angle is the most dramatic on a Testarossa due to its very wide body accentuated by the full width ribbing across the tail lights and rear end.
The rear styling compliments the dramatic straked sides, which cover functional air intakes to cool the radiators mounted ahead of the rear wheels. The body is 10 inches wider than the 308/328.
Now this is seriously sexy. The 4.9L 12 cylinder 48-valve flat (boxer) engine is mounted longitudinally, the only truly attractive mounting direction! It made 380hp and 354lbs-ft of torque. I’m probably one of the only car enthusiasts to not have known that the Testarossa (redhead) took its name from the color of the engine cam covers. The name was previously used on a ’50’s race car.
The interior is attractive while screaming,”80’s!” You definitely won’t see a full sized floor shifter like this in any recent Ferrari. Introduced in 1984, it was made through 1995 with a 1992 name switch to 512TR (5 liters, 12 cylinders, TestaRosa).
Returning to the old Toyota 4×4 theme, Silver had a 1989 60 series Land Cruiser. Introduced in 1980, it replaced the FJ40 in the U.S. as well as the FJ55, which was a larger, four door 4×4 which is not quite as famous and iconic as the 2 door 40. The 60 series Land Cruiser is more refined and pavement-ready than the older models, even being offered with automatic transmissions and air conditioning. Internationally, the FJ40 was replaced by the 70 series, which is a more rugged vehicle and never sold in the U.S., if my research is accurate. It is actually still being made in a few countries more than 30 years after introduction.
Not to get totally off topic, but to add some context to all the confusing numbers, here’s an FJ55 owned by a guy at my work. I forget what year it is, but it’s kind of irrelevant because it has been extensively refurbed and modified. It has a GM crate LS engine. The FJ55 was made from 1967-1980 and had the same engines as the FJ40.
The 60 series may not have been as off road oriented as the FJ40, but it is still a real truck and very basic by today’s standards. It was replaced in 1990 by a larger and more luxurious Land Cruiser, which is the concept still being sold today (but a few generations later). Kind of like the Jeep Grand Wagoneer, these 80’s Land Cruisers have a cult following among folks who appreciate a capable, truck based SUV from a simpler era. As with all the Silver cars, I don’t know if it sold.
Lastly, we have a 1992 Toyota Supra which sold at Silver. I only know it sold because it has a “sold” placard in the windshield, but unfortunately it didn’t say for how much (B-J hand wrote how much each car sold for on the sold sign, e.g. 42k. I had not seen this in auctions I’ve been to in the past and was a really nice touch).
This car is from the Supra’s third generation (A70), sold from 1986-1993. Along with just about everyone else, I am a fan of the fourth generation, 1994-1998 in the U.S. I’d be curious what a nice unmodified example of that would go for at auction, as cars that are fast but not furious are pretty rare.
Maybe it’s because I’m not looking, but I almost never see the third generation cars anymore, whether stock or otherwise. They just don’t seem to be a real popular choice for “ricer” treatment and unmolested originals are very seldom seen. Perhaps some of you have had different experiences.
Other articles in my Scottsdale 2018 series:
Cadillacs-part 1 restored cars
Cadillacs-part 2 unrestored cars
“One of the regrets I have about globalization is that you used to be able to tell a lot about a country by the cars it made. Each country’s cars had a different flavor to them that was unique and reflective of much of their national character. Not as much nowadays as corporations get bigger and more efficient and each country’s cars get more and more similar to every other’s.”
So true, I miss those days.
The pagoda Mercedes is an iconic design. The simplicity of it’s lines and detailing and especially the airy greenhouse make it a favorite of mine. That Toyota Supra has been overlooked by modifiers probably because it is quite heavy and the trailing arm rear suspension keeps it from being a top handler. I think that it is more like a plush Corvette with a small backseat and better quality. I do have a preference for the previous model although the interior in these is much nicer.
As a citizen and resident of Canukistan, I totally agree! Its given us all sorts of wacky things that are totally foreign to our southern neighbours, although some of their names are more evocative of a accident “Hey look at that Ford over there, it got hit in the Frontenac!”, or the Pontiacs that were all Chev under the skin (my ’67 Pontiac Grand Parisienne had a 396 and the fender callouts to show), or the Hyundai Ponys and Stellars that were foisted upon us as penance for truly wanting something more out of life. As a true “cheap Canadian”, a new BMW or Mercedes goes by, and I yawn, but something with poverty hubcaps drives by, and I pay attention!
What do all those cars say aboot Canada (where I was born)?
I think they say it may resemble the U.S. on the surface, but underneath there are many quirky differences.
Love that Supra! Looks like a turbo, and I’ve always liked that White Appearance Package. Few of those left in the wild anymore.
I just learned researching this article that the 308 had a transversely mounted engine. I hadn’t realized that any exotic mid engine cars had that arrangement.
The Dino 206/246 predecessors V6 was transverse as well, and at the top of the spectrum the Lamborghini Maura was transverse as well. It even shared it’s oil sump with the gearbox early on, like a Mini.
*Miura. Apparently that does not compute with autocorrect.
“I believe the SL’s also had soft tops, but I’m not sure if that is universal.”
A pagoda SL “California Coupe” was one with only the removable hard top but no folding soft top. The California Coupe configuration is not common but also not unusual. It was one of the ways the pagoda could be bought.
Cars were taxed long ago on “RAC Horsepower” which had nothing to do with power output, but was based on the total surface area of the pistons ( yes really).
So my 1946 993cc Ford Anglia was 8 HP, and the 1959 997cc Ford Anglia would have been rated at 16 HP because of its’ short stroke/big bore design, though cars were taxed at a flat rate by then.
Thanks for the enjoyable writeup and pics.
Great selection… and in thinking about it, even if I had unlimited funds, I’d rather buy the ’92 Supra than the Ferrari 308. This is both because of my admiration for those Supra, but also because nothing in the world would terrify me more than a used Ferrari.
Keep training your 4-year old to be a good car spotter! My kids are now (at ages 8 & 10) great spotters of old cars, and it’s nice to have an extra set of eyes with you as you’re driving around. My kids are very different at car shows — one is drawn to the brightest and shiniest cars, like your daughter, and the other is always drawn to big American broughams. Oh, and Megan has stumped me with her picture!
Thanks! Megan shows promise. Since she turned 3 she has been able to spot Mustangs, since I have a 2011 model (she called them Daddy’s Car for a while but calls them Mustangs now). Not just my generation, she can ID any Mustang from 1998 to present as a Mustang, and also the early first gen cars. She knows Jeeps, Corvettes and bizarrely 1997-01 Toyota Camrys (called Connie’s Car because our neighbor has one).
I’ll post the answer to the picture tomorrow, in case anyone else wants to try.
Excellent article; brought back some fond memories of the 80s. My compliments to Ms. Megan as well, and my guess – based on wild conjecture – is a Nissan Murano. Hope she gets a classic car of her own someday. 🙂
The mystery picture is our 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe. That one is made in Korea.
Interesting article, your comment about the MB steering wheel reminded me of the Ivory steering wheel of a 63 220sb fintail I used to drive in the 70s and was one of my favourite features ,
Funny how a steering wheel can alter your impression of a car
It was the same style as in the 250 convertible you picture, except it was ivory, had a matching ivory padded section in the middle and a white backed star; and the horn ring was circular not flattened at the top, still remember it today, it even had fine cracks in it like real ivory.
So true. A steering wheel is the part of a car that the owner spends the most time looking at and touching. Surprising more automakers don’t put the effort in to make theirs great.