With all the wealth flowing through Monterey Car Week, it’s not surprising that auctions there have a history of setting records. Multi-million-dollar Ferraris new and old, the most expensive Beetle ever sold at auction, the most expensive Bugatti Divo ever sold … I could go on. However, it’s worth looking at the other end of the lot listings, because even in a posh place like this, there are cars you likely won’t have to be minted to be the high bidder on. Welcome to the rundown on this year’s fancy Monterey auction cars with the lowest forecast prices. Ghouls and goblins, it’s time to rev up those credit cards.
First, some ground rules for this Monterey Car Week auction lot round-up: A qualifying car must be legal for use on the road. Old race cars are often surprisingly cheap, to the point where you could pick up an ex-Cup Series road course stock car for the price of a certified pre-owned Camry and immediately become the most feared person at your local track day. Likewise, scaled-down “junior” cars—effectively go-karts with bodies shaped like real cars—are incredibly cool but also relatively inexpensive and difficult to use for normal car purposes. With that in mind, let’s get cracking.
1982 BMW 635CSi “The Observer Coupe”
Where: Bonhams, Laguna Seca, Aug. 13.
Estimated value: $18,000 to $24,000
The E24 BMW 6 Series is an icon of the ’80s. Sure, it wasn’t as sophisticated as a later Mercedes-Benz 300CE, but it had attitude. Big straight-sixes, a glowering shark-like nose, and as much leather as you could really want. However, this one’s a bit different. With the help of the newspaper The Observer, it was turned by MGA Developments into an early panoramic moonroof prototype. Imagine the jaws that dropped seeing a retractable glass roof in 1982.
Unfortunately, this roof doesn’t retract anymore. For the past 33 years or so, the glass panel’s remained fixed in place. Still, if you want a wild example of ’80s European coachbuilding, this seems as solid an example as any. Not only does it have a full-fat Euro-spec M30B34 3.4-liter straight-six producing 215 horsepower, but that engine’s hitched to a proper manual gearbox. The “Observer Coupe” looks the part, too. Beyond its wild roof, the skirts, spoiler, and significant parts of the greenhouse are new. Also, check out those Centra alloys. How ’80s is that?
1973 Citroën GS Birotor
Where: Broad Arrow’s The Quail auction, Aug. 13.
Estimated value: $20,000 to $30,000
If you’re like me, you probably miss when the French made some absolutely mad stuff. Hydropneumatic suspension? Check. A one-spoke steering wheel? Check. A two-rotor engine joint-developed with NSU? Absolutely. This is a Citroën GS Birotor, and it’s awesome. Alright, so it might’ve been as expensive as a DS23 and thirstier, which made it a complete sales failure with just 847 units sold, but doesn’t it just ooze cool out of every pore? We’re talking a smooth 106 horsepower, an even smoother suspension system, and styling that’s aged absolutely perfectly.
Not only is this GS Birotor in fully usable condition, it’s also a genuine museum-quality car. This thing was part of the late, great Mullen collection before that museum closed down. Parts may be unobtanium and you will have to explain this car everywhere you go, but it might just be the most unique thing you can buy for the money if its estimated value of $20,000 to $30,000 is accurate.
1973 Ford F-100 Ranger XLT
Where: Bonhams, Laguna Seca, Aug. 13.
Estimated value: $25,000 to $35,000
A dentside Ford is about as far from a Citroën GS Birotor as you can get while staying in the ’70s, but there’s something deeply handsome about this generation of Ford trucks. All blue jeans and that. It’s America with mud on the tires, ready, willing, and able to take on the task at hand. I remember when a handful of these were still plying their trade as beaters in the Rust Belt. Slow-breathing, uncomplicated, built for a world before cable TV.
This particular dentside is an F-100, but one that’s specced rather well. Not only does it have a 360 cubic-inch FE big-block V8 under the hood, there’s a four-speed manual shifter sprouting from the floor in front of the middle passenger. Ranger trim adds a touch of luxury, and come on, how often do you see these things in black? I’d rock it. You might too.
1968 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Convertible
Where: Bonhams, Laguna Seca, Aug. 13.
Estimated value: $25,000 to $35,000
On second thought, with today’s gas prices, maybe a big-block V8 isn’t the wisest idea. Maybe something smaller but just as cool would offer more smiles per mile. How about this Karmann Ghia convertible? This gorgeous Beetle-based machine gets me every time, even though it isn’t exactly swift. Mechanical parts are common and inexpensive, the styling riffs on a Virgil Exner classic, and it’s just impossible to be mad at this very economical personal coupe. Um, drop-head coupe.
This particular 1968 model makes about 50 horsepower and is finished in its original colors of beige-on-brown. Guess what? The lines are lovely enough that it absolutely works. While the optioned Riviera wheels are worth a mint, the whole car should be rather reasonable for such an icon. Not a bad way of spending $25,000 to $35,000 in Monterey.
1970 Citroën M35
Where: Broad Arrow’s The Quail auction, Aug. 14.
Estimated value: $30,000 to $40,000
And now for something completely different. What happens when you take a fancy, beefed-up Citroën 2CV and change just about everything? Replace the air-cooled twin with a single-rotor engine, design rakish new coachwork, and add hydropneumatic suspension? You get the Citroën M35, a limited-run rolling testbed that was actually tested by select Citroën customers.
The seat backrests hinged above the hipline made it to the SM, a two-rotor version of the Comotor engine made it into the GS Birotor, the hydropneumatic suspension continued to be a Citroën mainstay, and the M35 itself went … nowhere, actually. Most were scrapped after returning to Citroën, making this one an absolute rarity. While an estimated value of $30,000 to $40,000 may sound crazy to the uninitiated, sometimes crazy equals genius.
1958 BMW Isetta 300
Where: Broad Arrow’s The Quail auction, Aug. 13.
Estimated value: $30,000 to $40,000
Stefan Urquelle to the courtesy phone, please. This is a 1958 BMW Isetta 300, possibly the most successful Italian-German product of the mid-20th century. Initially designed by Renzo Rivolta and built under a variety of names on several continents, the Isetta’s the weird bubble car you remember from “Family Matters.” Guess what? The ’90s were a long time ago, and now this 300 cc machine is positively chic. [Ed note: you may also recall the 1957 Isetta in Depeche Mode’s video for “Never Let Me Down Again” – Pete]
Okay, so your knees are still the crumple zones, and attempting interstate travel doesn’t seem like a wise idea, but for ambling about town? It’s absolutely class. People will coo and aww as you pass, like you have a kitten on your shoulder. Plus, wherever you end up, parking shouldn’t be a problem. These things have enjoyed strong values over the past decade-plus, but as far as conversation-starters go, few things on four wheels are better. Even in Monterey.
1958 Fiat 600
Where: Broad Arrow’s The Quail auction, Aug. 13.
Estimated value: $30,000 to $45,000
While the Fiat 500 gets all the credit as the car that put post-war Italy on four wheels, the Fiat 600 came first and was even more successful. A 10-foot-seven-inch long rear-engined marvel, it not only got Italian families into a car, it repeated the same feat in Yugoslavia, Spain, Argentina, and Colombia. It’s the basis for the iconic Multipla, was modified and raced by Abarth, and had a total production run of nearly five million examples.
This 1958 model’s a reasonably early one, built just three years after the Fiat 600 said hello to the world. The mint paintwork is surely a dose of la dolce vita, and the roll-back fabric roof only adds to the appeal. It’s a little more spacious than a 500, a little more usable, and ready to stir nostalgia in passers-by from all over the world. Not bad, seicento, not bad.
2010 Porsche Cayman S
Where: RM Sotheby’s Monterey auction, Aug. 14.
Estimated value: $30,000 to $60,000
Then again, maybe you want to go fast. The 987 Porsche Cayman is pretty much the best entry point into mid-engined magic on the used market, and the 987.2 facelift model eliminated the IMS bearing for reliability and brought in the PDK dual-clutch automatic for easy 2-1 downshifts in extremely tight hairpins or on the autocross course. This 2010 987.2 Cayman S is optioned with two pedals, but it doesn’t exactly look like a Sunday driver.
That’s because this 320-horsepower Cayman S has been fitted with harnesses and a roll bar and a bucket seat and track-spec wheels and tires for cutting fast laps at Thermal Club, a members-only racetrack in California. It may only have 33,951 miles on it, but many of those look to have happened at full tilt. RM Sotheby’s expects this thing to fetch $30,000 to $60,000 in Monterey, and I’d expect it to fall on the conservative side of that, judging by its modifications and prior use. Still, if you’re looking for a track-prepped PDK-equipped 987.2 Cayman S, this seems as good as any.
So, will these be the cheapest cars at Monterey Car Week’s fancy auctions? There’s only one way to find out. With some lots going under the hammer on Thursday, there’s not much waiting to do now.
Top graphic image: Bonhams, Broad Arrow
Thomas, is there going to be a follow up article on what these actually gavel for?
What’s hanging under the dash of the F100? It’s got a Buick logo on it.
My college roommate had a beat to shit Karmann Ghia that had electrical problems and kept overheating, after that he drove a beat to shit rusty 1970’s Ranger with a camper shell on the back, never thought I would see either at Monterey Car Week!
Seat backrest that hinge ABOVE the waistline is some diabolical shit. Car looks like a stunner though with the hydropneumatics fully let out.
Any early 2000s era VW nut would be jizzing in their pants over the Centra wheels on the BMW
You gotta be high as all hell to think that a longbed dentside is worth anything near $25k. Also, what is it doing at car week? Did someone just tow another car to Monterey with it, then decide to sell it while they were there? Do they just want to pay insane auction fees when they could just sell it on Facebook Marketplace? So weird.
Ugh, the shifter says it all for me. I like this era though
I’d really love to have that M35. Too cool. Incidentally, Renzo Rivolta didn’t design the Isetta. His company built them, but the designer was Ermenegildo Preti who previously was known as an airplane designer.
The Isetta is what got me interested in cars. Saw one on vacation as a kid, in some random place (maybe Duluth MN?) and for it fascinating. Were they “born from props”?
These all make me feel like Jim Douglas walking into Thorndyke’s dealership at the beginning of The Love Bug. And they’re the cheapest options? No thanks. I’ll stick to my shitboxes.
Imagine if you pitted that F100 at expected price against basically any truck for <10k. I would hope and pray that the any truck would win handily.
It's a nice truck, but not a special truck IMO.
We all prisoners, Chickie Baby!
Normally, I’d opt for either weird Citroen (I like them both… a lot) but the thought of actually using that Cayman as a daily is too tempting to keep it from being my #1 choice. 😉
Zut Alors! Deux Citroen! I will be SHOCKED if the gavel falls for less than six figures on the Cayman.
choices. Fiat 1, Karmann Ghia 2 (since I had one already), Citroen Birotor 3, just to sit in it and dream of Southern France on a sunny day, BMW just because I have only had BMW Motorcycles, never one of their cars since I understand from Finance the present vale of money
I had a ’74 Bavaria that was the poster child for Break My Wallet. You’re better off with their bikes.
But that was a beautiful BMW. My money would wait for a 2002tii though.
Good Lord! I just looked up what one of those goes for now on Bring a Trailer.
I read everything thoroughly except the Porsche, because eh. Another effing Porsche.
Those Citroens are pretty damned cool. I sure as hell don’t want to be the misbegotten bastard that has to try to keep them alive, but they are cool.
I especially like the Birotor. But yeah, keeping those running? Mission: Impossible.
Hard to turn away a sharknose BMW. The 6 Series is what Ford benchmarked for the ’89 and up MN-12 Thunderbird. I also like the F-100 and the Karmann Ghia.
I’m torn on the wheels though; these are unique and period, but I have a soft spot for BBS basketweaves.
I’ve always loved the styling of those since they were making them new. That or the equivalent 4 door would be the only BMW I would consider owning.
Those wheels look like something from my food processor. I like the BBS wheels better too. RHD is perfect if I ever move to ANZ.
So, when I was recovering from back surgery, I got into a British game shop called Bargain Hunt. Amazon plays it “live” all the time. It’s about buying antiques and selling them at an auction.
One of the surprises is how inaccurate the auction houses are on estimates. I would say that out of 8 items auctioned off each episode, 6 are in auction estimates, 1 is off by a little and 1 is off by a ton. Sometimes an auction is dead (particularly in the episodes filmed during covid) and without interest, all the estimates are high. Sometimes, the auction is lively and the estimates are all low.
So, when we look at these auction estimates for these cars, remember that they are just estimates. There might be just one person that is interested in French cars and they throw out stupidly low bids to get the auction started and there is no other bidder. Or perhaps, there are two wealthy bidders that both REALLY want that Ford and will do whatever it takes to win.
I prefer Antiques Roadtrip
There’s a guy driving a BMW Isetta across the USA right now. It looks incredible.
I’ll just be the typical American but that Fjord is the nicest one to me haha
Ditch the mini steering wheel though. Also, is this a true 4 speed or is first just a granny gear for towing off the line. If the latter then in daily use it is a 3 speed.
Every one of these is cool but the Ford is certainly the most affordable long term.
At first, that 6 series had my eye and then I saw the F-100 and I really wanted that.
Both went away when I saw that Karman Ghia though. Something about a brown-on-brown 60’s car…
It’s unfortunate it’s just a plain 600. If it had been breathed on by Abarth, it would be a perfect giant killer for terrorizing other more ‘established’ marques on the track. A true David vs Goliath.
If it was we could safely multiply the estimate by three.
I spent a chunk of my childhood being driven around in a GS, then a GSA. Happy times. I’d love a Birotor.
Citroen bought them back and destroyed them, as many as they could. So it’s amazing there are any left.
I’m glad I looked it up, because the first thing I thought when I read about the Ford was “wait, are you sure that’s not a 460?”
No, apparently there was actually a 360 Ford FE. Smallest Big Block I’ve ever heard of.
Chevy made a 348 big block that preceded the 409.
Now that’s the smallest.
And teeeeeeechnically, Pontiac had a smaller big block with the 326. Almost all true Pontiac V8s shared the same block physical size with displacements from 326-455ci. So they kinda sorta had a big block that had a variant with a displacement as small as 326ci.
Sort of.
I expect someone to come in here and be even MORE pedantic and correct me.
I mean, if we really want to get pedantic, we could call a 5-horse Briggs a “big block” compared to a 3.5 horse motor. But, yes, that’s fair, the Pontiac V8s were all pretty much the same engine.
My dad had a 360 I think. Tough as nails. When he got the truck, the valves were leaking because the owner had been using unleaded and put about 70k miles on it. Dad pulled the heads, had a machine shop put in hardened seats and put it back together. He sold it to his boss when it hit 150k miles and the boss gave the truck to his kid. Last I saw it, the kid was driving it 20 years later and it was rust holding hands. Blowing a lot of blue smoke. Odometer had broken when it rolled around the 3rd time 10 years before.
Early in my career I worked with a senior engineer who dailied a ’74 or so dentside, brush painted, 300 I6, 3 speed manual. Once saw him rebuilding the carb at his desk. This was at a steel mill in semi-rural Western PA. I said he is smarter than all of us because he DNGAF. What is a deer gonna do to that beast?
I figured this: his wife either drove a brand new leased Mercedes E class – or an ’81 Olds Cutlass sedan. There is no in between. Never got an answer.
Another senior engineer drove a cop spec whale-body Caprice.
As a junior engineer, I wondered why the senior engineers all drove old janky POSs.
Now that I am a senior engineer, I know why
The end result is what you talk about. You get something unkillable, keep it running and pay down debt. It’s always just one more thing to fix away from lasting until you can be out of debt, retire and downsize to 1 nice car.
That last part is very likely a pipe dream, but it’s there and you end up just getting by with a janky old car for years. I’ve seen it and made fun of it in senior engineers my entire career. And here I am in my late 50s doing exactly what they did.
I’m now 50, my daily is a ’14 Camry hybrid with 267000 miles. I’m nearly debt free aside from the mortgage. Are you in my brain?
My wife’s 07 Sienna has 305k, my 04 Camry has 235k. I’m late 50s and thinking “if there is just a way to keep both around for another 10 years, we can scrap the pair and get a new Sienna the way we want it.
I sort of think that it’s a complete pipe dream to think both cars will last that long, but Toyotas are pretty darn tough and we live pretty close to everything now so we aren’t putting a ton of miles on our vehicles. I know when it’s time, we will replace the Sienna with another. As for the Camry, I think a C-HR or a BZ might be a better choice given my needs, but a Camry Hybrid would be hard to pass up on.
A Crown Signia would meet all my needs, lose the Camry and the Highlander. Her ’07 Corolla only has 140k and will run forever.
If you want a nice car in PA, you need a winter beater to keep it that way. Obviously this guy didn’t care either way, but I went through a succession of beaters to keep my nice cars nice.
Never boring beaters, though; E30 325i, Roadmaster Wagon LT1, Ford Country Squire, etc.
The GS and Isetta speak to me. The Fiat would, too, but I can still remember being offered one for $100 when I was in high school….
IMO, auctions — especially Car Week auctions — are not the best places to buy cars. There’s always some high-roller with more money than sense willing to pony up to fill a corner of his fancy collection with something cute.
Me? I have no money and no sense. So I’ll get something from the Scratch & Dent shelf and hope I can shine it up.
Apparently the time to go to Barret Jackson is like Monday or Tuesday; before all the big money cars show up for the weekend. If I ever wind up with a pile of money I want to burn I might check one out just to see what it’s like.
If I had a pile of money I wanted to burn, I probably wouldn’t even think about $100 Fiat 600s.
I’d want a 600 Abarth, at a minimum.
I’ll take the Birotor, thank you. I would even fancy it with the standard engine. Those GS have disappeared completely.
Price expectations for the Isetta seem a bit high, but the color sure is cute.
Man, I’ve never heard of that Citroen M35, but it sure seems super cool. Gotta be the most interesting car here, for a “cheap” price too. Honestly, seems like the perfect car for a moderately rich guy to mistakenly buy after knocking back a few too many. I just wonder how bad the running costs are.
Either way, it’s infinitely cooler than some ’67 Mustang or whatever some equally rich and drunk guy will mistakenly buy at Meccum for 2x the cost.
Here at Mecum, Wecum.
I went to Mecum in Houston once. I was blown away by the number of middle aged and older, small business owning drunk guys, who constantly complain about taxes, minimum wage being too high, and the cost of gas, that could then just drop $100k+ on some generic 60s muscle car that they didn’t even intend to buy when they got there. Why did no one tell me you can make so much money owning the local HVAC company in some tiny ass town?
Because then colleges wouldn’t be able to take your money and banks wouldn’t be able to collect the interest on that money.
And we, the taxpayers, are probably covering Medicaid and food stamps for their underpaid employees.
To be fair – on only one point – hroup health insurance is devilishly expensive for companies with less than 25 employees. At that point the staff is better off hitting the Obamacare exchanges, if they make too much for Medicaid.
Those Citroens are beauts.
But I can’t be the only one who doesn’t understand the valuation on that F100?
I can.
It’s something Glen Powell or Charlie Hunnam could roll up to the studio in wearing a white t-shirt and aviators and be considered “cool”
I think they’re pretty optimistic with those numbers. Sure, its nice, and the engine and transmission are desirable, but it’s a 2WD long bed. If it was either a short bed or 4WD, I could see it hitting their estimate.
It’s where it’s being auctioned. This is a special auction with special vehicles. Having it in the house raises the value.
I don’t understand the valuation on that Ford either….it’s very cool, but both of those Citroens are MOUNTAINS more rare and interesting.
For being so rare, that Citroen M35 is awefully inexpensive. 267 produced between ’69 and ’71.
Yeah, if you want to make “difficulty sourcing parts” into an entire lifestyle!