Category: Auto News

Have you ever wondered which are some of the most desirable cars from the past? “Which models collectors are crazy for?” is the question asked here. And there goes the answer, including five of the most wanted and expensive cars made in the past.

The first car to be mentioned here is the 1931 Bentley 4 1/2-Liter model. This particular vehicle has only 49 similar to it, which means that there were only 50 ever produced. Hence, the immediate consequence is that the price of the model is very high. For example, sever years ago, such vehicle was sold for the amount of $ 4 510 000. In details, the car includes 2/3-passanger boat-tail body. Bentley 4½ Liter however, is a heavy car, with a total weight of 1 625 kg (3 580 lb). And although it included a manual transmission, one had to be very skillful to operate with the four gears, due to their unsynchronization. The engine contributed for the overall heavy weight of the model, because it was a heavy cast iron inline-four engine. The engine, modern for that particular period, included two double carburetors and dual ignition with Bosch magnetos. Thus it was possible for it to produce the impressive 130 hp (97 kW) at that time. Therefore, you can imagine how easy it was for this model to race in competitions.

Next comes the 1935 Dusenberg SJ model, which will surprise you in many ways. First of all, it has the whole 320 hp (239 kW)! Can you believe a car that fast in the 30’s of the last century? It included 3-Speed Manual transmission, but due to the heavy weight of 2 608 kg / 5 750 lbs, it accelerated from 0 to 100 km/h in more than 10 seconds. Secondly, there are only two vehicles of this particular model, built in the 1935. Another interesting fact about it is that one of them belonged to the famous actor Gary Cooper and the other – to Clark Gable. The model was equipped by two special carburetors and inlet ports of special shape named “ram’s horn”.

In 1937 the luxury brand came out with the Mercedes-Benz 540K model, which now is considered to be one of the most expensive Mercedes-Benz road-going cars. A model of it was a few years ago sold for the amount of $8 235 112. In the late 30’s this model was a development of the Mercedes SSK, and was offered not only as a two seater cabriolet, but also as a four seater coupé or seven seater limousine. The 540K has the unique for that time straight 8-cylinder engine increased to 5n401 cubic centimeters. It was aspirated by twin pressurized updraft carburetors. This made possible for the vehicle to develop 115 hp (86 kW). Moreover it included four-speed or five speed manual gearbox, which had synchromesh on the top three gears. The hydraulic brakes were also vacuum-assisted. What is interesting here, is that people such as Jack Warner (from the Warner Brothers) were owners of this model.

1955 Jaguar D Type is a factory-built race car, which has 3.8 liters engine. Beside the engines it includes some of the most important innovations achieved at this time of the 20th century. What I have in mind here are the use of disc brakes and the monocoque chassis. The latter was the first type of aircraft-style engineering which was featured in a race-car design. This special monocoque technology is made using some basic principles typical for it. First the cabin and the part where the driver sat, was made from alluminium allow sheets, to which was mounted an aluminium tubing subframe. The latter par carries the bonnet, the engine, the front suspension, and the steering assembly. Eventually the rear suspension and final drive were mounted straightly to the monocoque. Another innovation included in this model, is that the fuel was carried in deformable bags inside cells within the monocoque. As you can see, another aspect of this car is the highly aerodynamic body, which was stabilized through large vertical stabilizer mounted behind the head of the driver. This D Type from 1955 has in addition larger valves (than the models in the years before) which were accommodated through a cylinder head with asymmetrical design. D-Type served its purpose well, and won a lot of top places at racing competitions. At last, probably you know the iconic Jaguar E-Type. What you might miss here is that the D Type is the actual predecessor of the aforementioned icon.

I am sure you have already wondered where the Ferrari model in this article is. Well, here comes the 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California, which is an evolution of the 250 GT Tour de France and includes 12-cylinders engine which achieves the whole 280 hp (209 kW) and has three carburetors. On this model were also introduced for the first time disc brakes. A replica of this particular model was also featured in the movie from the 1986 – Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. What is particularly interesting here is that few years ago a black Ferrari of the model was sold for nearly 11 million dollars.