Tuesday, August 3, 2010
If you're on this site, you already probably know the automotive basics. Corvette is to Chevy as F430 is to Ferrari, people who drive supercars on city streets tend to wreck a lot, and there is no way a 2011 Ford Explorer can ever truly be called an SUV. You got that down, right? Good. Now be prepared to meet four cars that, unless you are like the writers here on The Car Blog (crazily obsessed), you probably have never seen or heard of. From an early sports-car Saab to a coachbuilt Jaguar and others in between, the extremes of sports cars from every viewpoint are seen in these four beautiful cars.
1: 1954 HRG 1500 Twin Cam, the Swan Song of a Dying Sports Car Company
With only three constructed by the small and then-dying HRG automotive concern, you could say that this racing roadster is pretty rare. It's also just plain pretty, blending the styling of the Shelby Cobra with Ferrari cues to create a great-looking sports car that wasn't particularly fast with only a four-cylinder Singer motor, but still managed to win privateer race victories all over Britain, the cars' market. The HRG 1500 Twin Cam was the last and most modern of HRG's cars, with a svelte body and the new manufacturer providing the mechanical motivation. Though it is not well-known today, it deserves much more popular attention than it gets. What appears to be the specific example in this vintage photo is for sale by The Auto Collections in Las Vegas, the only one of these cars currently located in the US. You can see more photos of the car here at the Auto Collections ad, which does not mention a price at this point.
2: 1960-1964 Porshce 356 B Carrera GTL Abarth, Porsche's Forgotten Racer
Many Porsche race cars are well-known among car folks. The 550, 904, and 914/6 are all recognized among Porschephiles and vintage race fans alike, and have large representation in events like Goodwood and Monterey Historics. But one competitive Porsche racer that was common during the era for a race car seems to be completely forgotten today, even by the very people who watched them race as kids. This car is the 356 B Carrera GTL, engineered in partnership with Carlo Abarth, famous for his FIAT-based sports cars. These cars had racing success, becoming very competitive in events such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Targa Florio. These Abarth-tuned Porsches never finished farther back than eighteenth in any race during their production run (1960-1964), though there were quite a few DNFs in the 1962 and 1964 cars due to mechanical problems.
During the Carrera GTL Abarth's five years and 21 cars of production and racing, five different motors were used, from a 115bhp 1.6-liter powerplant to a comparatively monstrous, 180bhp 2-liter unit. The body was designed by the standards of the day to be lightweight, easy to remove, and at least somewhat aerodynamic. It is unlikely that the latter was achieved to today's standards, but the drag of these cars were about the same as their competitors from Alfa Romeo and other manufacturers. Though the Carrera GTL Abarth is mechanically related to the 356, no production body panels were carried over to the Abarth-tuned racer, though the production car's standard headlights were set back in the body and used in the same basic format. One cannot quite say why these once-famous Porshces now languish unnoticed by collectors, but hopefully someday they'll see the same appreciation (in attention as well as value) bestowed on their brethren, the famous 550 Spyder.
3: 1952 Jaguar XK120 Ghia Supersonic Coupe, an Expensive but Obscure Coachbuilt Wonder
Some people here may have heard of the Ghia Supersonic already. There were many made in Europe, mostly out of FIAT 8V Chassis, for a few years, and have strong prices today among those who are aware of them. They tend to dominate their classes in Concourse events in Europe, beating out Ferraris and other better-known automobiles of their day. But one version of the Ghia Supersonic has been ignored by the masses, with only three made and two left. Though the car shown above won the Louis Vitton Concourse in 1996, that's the last that modern times have shown any recognition for them.
So what is the reason for the XK120 Supersonic's rarity? Nobody wanted to re-body a classy new Jaguar in the same body as a FIAT would be using at the time. During and after the age of the XK120, not many jaguars were coachbuilt, and those that were quickly slipped into obscurity. This car, chassis 679768, was one of two cars bought by the same Frenchman when new, the other in a blue color. The red car was modified by Virgilio Conrero before it left the factory to fit three Weber carburetors and so raise the motor's power to 220bhp, the only one to have that modification. The Whereabouts of both these Ghia Supersonics is known . After restoration, the red car won the Concourse mentioned above, and the blue car resides in a collection in France. Nobody quite knows what happened to the third car. It may be in a secretive, private collection somewhere, it may be stashed in a barn in Europe, or it may be part of a Honda now. If the answer is any of the first two, we at The Car Blog beg the car's owner to sell it or at least bring it out in public just once.
4: 1956 Saab Sonett I, Saab's First Attempt at a Sports Car
Debuting in March 1956 at the Stockholm Motor Show, Saab's 94 Super Sport, better known now as the Saab Sonett I, caught much media attention for the small, independent, Swedish plane-turned-carmaker. It followed the path of many sports cars of the day, such as the Corvette, in fiberglass body design and was very lightweight for the time. Due to a change in the rules of the race class Saab had planned to compete in with the cars, though, only six production 94s were made and sold to privateers in Europe and the US. Those that are still around are very obscure. They don't have a club, they don't have a cult following of any kind, and the current owners of many of the cars never show them anywhere. Though the 94 Super Sport was very innovative in its aluminum body structure, it was underpowered, which is a factor towards them being undervalued today. When they come to market there's no frenzy of buyers waiting in line to give a higher bid, so one could buy one very easily and relatively cheaply and have one of six in the world.
