what is the rarest car you have come across

1933 Essex 5-W Coupe
Owner sez-"1 of 3 known to exist!"
Goodguys Charlotte 9/08

 

Wow, and he managed to make it look just like a streetrodded Ford!

-Dave

 

Coming back from the Yellowstone Rod Run in 1980. Stopped in Egale, Idaho to see my buddys uncle. We could see a couple of cars about a half mile off the road in front of a very nice old house. Drove down there, met the guy, asked what the one outside was. " It's a 1924 Doble Steam car, son". A roadster, HUGE! He said it was a one-off built for Howard hughes. Went for a ride and dang, it was fast! Inside the restored garage/shop/barn was a Stutz Bearcat roadster with torn down engine because he said he gotten a little excited and over-revved the engine, stripping the timing gear. He also a had a restored Stanley steamer open car. But that Doble was the real prize!!

 

did an mot on this old girl last year 1929 berliet only 3 in the wold aparently

 

classy auto

 

1970 Superbird 440 4bbl Automatic, it sat in my neighbor's yard throughout my childhood and it was NOT FOR SALE. He did let me climb all over it and he loved to cars so I have faith it is back together today.

Yellow with a black top and white interior. Coolest car I have ever seen.


Tom

 

My father in law bought this a couple months ago. It is a 1934 Bentley 3 window coupe Coachbuilt by Freestone and Webb. The only coupe they made that year. So i guess that makes it a 1 of 1!!

 

1977 On a farm in Leavenworth KS there were 2 pole barns with dirt floors.

Pre WW2 cars were inside and there were 35 total. All had been painted in the spot where they sat, looked like with a brush.

Elderly man had a Blue Peerless he said was 1 of 2 built.

I wanted his 1934 REO 4 door Flying Cloud with 7,000 miles.

Next building had the car, that I remember most. A 1916 Rolls royce Silver Ghost. Man it was huge and just cool sitting on this dirt floor. He assured us that each one ran and he got them running regularly. It seems his Son was a Dr. and had the car shipped from England.

We were sworn to secrecy about the place. He had us sign a guest book and said we would be sent an announcement when he would ever need to auction or sell the cars.

In 1982 My Dad got an auction notice of his Estate sale, the old guy had died. I was out of State when the sale happenned, and I had my Brother bid on the REO. I could go $4,ooo. It sold for $4,500.

The expensive cars were not being sold.

 

I have been in cars since I was around 6 or 8 and I have seen a lot of rare cars in the years following but the few that do stand out are as follows......

A guy in the eighties had an 18 wheeler at Petit Jean and he had 2 Duesenburgs and a Cadillac V-16 double stacked in there

The same place many years later and a 1932 Chrysler roadster

I rode in the Ludens sisters (Ludens cough drops) 1938? Packard limousine

A 1920 something Falcon Touring car

And the neatest one that I think is very HAMB friendly is owned by one of my old customers and friend Dan Storey, its a Holman and Moody built Mustang flopper with a Cammer motor that was dynoed at their facility with the HM paperwork with it sitting in a crate next to it.

 

When I was a lad, I used to go "old car huntin'" as often as I could. There was a guy in Glendale or Burbank, "Tiny Snell's Model "A" Garage". He was closing shop and selling of all his cars. I went there and he let me into the back where all the cars were. I remember he told me that any Model A was 125 bucks except for one Vicky that was 150-175, I forget. Over in the corner was a big ol' roadster. He said he needed at least 350 for it. It was a '35 supercharged Auburn Speedster. All the cars were ready to drive home. I gotta finish the time machine that I've been woking on.

 

There was a sunk-in-the-mud hunk-a Muntz for sale at an auction I attended this summer, went for 1100 and I had about 4 large in my pocket--it was easily in reach. Nobody knows how many Muntz cars were made but there are 49 accounted for before this one. Now it's 50. I passed.

The real rarest was an all original Harley XA, their boxer flathead made to combat Rommel in North Africa in WW2. It was about 1969, the notice was in the LA Times. I was 18, I walked in and there it was, 100% complete. I stood there wondering where I'd get parts--I planned to use it as a daily driver. Another guy crowded in behind me and said he'd take it. It was $300. I also had a guy who tried to trade me a real disaster of a 54 Corvette for a VW 3-wheeler I'd built. If he'd been able to get the vette started, I'd have traded. Again, I was looking for a daily driver.

Damn I was a stupid kid. The Muntz, I made the right move.

 

Put new hinge pins in a ATS (Italian sports car) 1 of twelve in the world.
My 48 Packard Henney Hearse is one of 225 made
I doubt you'll ever see another chopped one...

Mike
www.Customikes.com

 

not sure how "rare" it is but i got to take a little ride in a 1956 Continental Mark II today. Pretty fast "little" car.

 

The Muntz was bought by a Hamber. Here is the thread:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=223864&highlight=muntz+auction

 

Well the other 2 are now worth more,since this one is beyond saving!LOL

 

NOT!!- it looks just like it is. I,d take it over any 33/4 Ford!

 

Here in the middle of farmland USA, I've come across a 1915 Fiat and a 1929 Jordan in sheds.

Still trying to pry that Jordan from his old bony fingers....

 

A 1954 Venus; one of only two in existence, and out of only 10 made!
;-)

 

I too attended that auction. I was briefly tempted by that Muntz. I needed a new lower 3".

I was offered a complete (looked like a BMW) XA Harley about 3 years ago for 6k. It was complete but needed it all. The owner told me it was a prototype given to the D.O.D. for testing.

I once saw a Mormon (not Marmon) roadster.

 

Some of the rare cars I have seen while volunteering at a local car museum.

1920's Wills Sainte Claire roadster with an overhead cam V8. Owned by family in Shreveport that owned the original Wills Sainte Claire dealership in Shreveport, the car was never sold.

RHD Auburn boat tail speedster, was supposed to go to Australia but never made it. Jay Leno stopped by the museum and I have a picture of me and him standing next to it. I also have a picture of him under the Dusenberg we had at the time, he crawled underneath to see why it was "leaning" to one side. Nice guy, just him and his wife at the museum for a private tour.

VW Karman Ghia type 34 "razors edge".

Datsun (Nissan) from the late thirties, it looked like a small early 30's Ford
http://nissan-me.com/English/Pages/heritage/en_detail.html?002

 

I had a 59 Abarth Zagato... weighs only 1,000 pounds so My freind and I lifted the front onto a utilty trailer... rolled it foreward and the lifted the rear onto the trailer and "Roped it down"...! (SEE PICS!)

I don't know the numbers on it but haven't seen any others before and one other since I bought it!

Then I bought a 54 Porsche Speedster... "1 of 200" made... and "1 of the 100" brought to the U.S...!

I also owned a Renault R-17 Gordinni...!!!!

OOooooopppppps... I thought this was for Rare cars personally owned!!!!

Stout Scarab... A guy in Milwaukee has 2 of them!

There's a couple of "Private collections within 10 miles of my house that have Mercedes Gullwings, 1920s Rolls, Old Bentlys, 1920s Isotta Frachini, Kaiser Darrins, Tucker, 1920s Popes, 1920s Hartfords, 1930 (?) Marmon Meteor, and a 1909 Thomas with telescoping tilt wheel!

These guys are getting "Old" and I know their kids are going to Auction everything off as soon as they get a chance!

Wisconsin has some unique "Hoarders" and I've been Blessed by having a chance to see these "Secret" collections!

 

I was at a rod/ machine show set in fairgrounds. I walked round a corner and Wham !- there in front of me a '34 Ford V8 Deluxe 5 passenger Australian roadster- my all time dream Ford. ( Imagine a factory roadster Vicky- that's what they are). It was Street rodded ( resto ), full fender, shiny red ( of course), flathead, T- Bird wires on rubber rake, nice stance, sano & perfect.
Had a brief chat to the mature owner who was a pleasant D.T.E. bloke. Wow, what a car..

 

...I worked in a country Dodge Dealer in the late 60's to the early 70's. The owner was not the typical 'suit'...he was a car guy. We worked on anything and everything that came in the shop, farm equipment, fire trucks, new Mopars and Renaults and Peugeot's too. He had a collection of true antique cars and some really cool hot rods. We did work on his buddy's collectables too. The best was a Stutz Bearcat roadster, 1931 or 32 that had a leather body!! Painted Steel fenders and the hood and cowl area were steel, but the doors and rear deck area were wooden framed and everything was covered with a yellow leather. Very classy and a real sharp car. I changed out the clutch first, the it came back for a motor change. The owner had purchased a 'rebuilt" engine that turned out to be a fizz can overhaul. So we tore down the original 4 cyl (pistons the size of a Maxwell House coffee can and rods about a foot long) had a true rebuild and the put the original motor back in. The car was very powerfull and very nice to drive. I have no idea where it ended up, but we also worked on his real 289 Cobra.
This was the most unconvential dealership ever, but we did 426 Hemi warranty work for other dealers, changed many hemi cars over to 318's or whatever else the customers wanted. When he got back into stocks cars in 67, I made many a trip to the GreyHound bus station to pick up parts that came from Petty or Nichols/Goldsmith. He would even clock us in to work on the race car if he had a big deal race comming up. I learned how to fix and repair, not just replace parts. A real good education.....

 

I see this one often in the summer,being driven daily. 1929 Marmon-Roosevelt.

 

I found the worlds quickest and fastest Shelby Cobra,#csx3198.Sponsored by Haire Ford and driven by Gus Zedima.The only known 427 Dragonsnake.A/Sports and AA/Sports record holder when the class was retired.
Bought it on a Wed. and sold it the next Mon.
Made 40 large.It sold last year at Pebble Beach for 485,000.Made me sick.That was 375,000 more than I sold it for
Larry

 

My buddy and I used to see the one-off Oldsmobile show car that sold at Barret-Jackson a couple of years ago for 3 million at an antique mall back in the late 90's. If I remember correctly, they wanted $4500 for it!

 

I came across a 1976 custom van whe i was in high school!

















































I mean all the way across it!!!!

 

And what is that supposed to mean? I think its in fantastic condition-NOW.

 

Well it may not be a car . I bought a 1936 John Deere DI setting in on a dealers back lot in the junk row. It is 1 of 100 built

 

thanks for sharing information on the venus patrick . it makes interesting reading .its amazing what stories are being told and yet to be told . dave