On March 10th on Amelia Island, Florida RM Auctions will be auctioning a very unique piece of automotive history.
While we complain in modern times when our
AC Compressor and
AC Evaporator aren't keeping us cool enough, this beauty had no such amenities and yet it is a sight to behold.
It is an extremely rare 1913 Hispano-Suiza Alfonso XIII, chassis #718 - one of only four ever built. It was named after the King of Spain at the time, a young auto enthusiast who bought many of Hispano-Suiza's models - eventually building a fleet of 30. In honor of their best and most respected customer, they named this model the Alfonso XIII, and with a 3.62cc inline four-cylinder engine and a top speed of 80mph (which was excellent for the time) it certainly lived up to it's namesake.
The attention to detail in the making of this vehicle is striking: original Belriot two bulb headlamps (an early example of a hi-beam low-beam set-up), intricately woven and fabulously preserved interior upholstery, wood-framed windows, and special markings on the trunk hardware, leaf springs, and the original dash chassis plate to name just a few highlights.
It also features both an open, summer body and a closed winter body (winter body shown): both are immaculately preserved. The story goes in the mid-80's two avid car collectors were in Seville, Spain. They met an antique dealer and asked him if he knew of any Hispano-Suiza
cars that might be in the area, and he pointed them in the direction of
his client, the Marquis de Sanlucar de Barrameda.
After going to his estate and sampling some of the local wine, he agreed to sell them his grandfather's car - kept in a storage area for wine barrels and untouched for 40 years. They were blown away with how preserved the vehicle was and happily received their purchase.
Lucky find, which will now move to the hands of the next lucky auction winner with a million dollars to spare.
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