7 Oddballs (and One Airplane) Keeping It Weird at the Arizona Auctions
Over 2000 vehicles are expected to change hands at the 2024 Arizona auctions at the end of the month. Most of them will be classic muscle cars, vintage trucks, resto-modded muscle cars, or resto-modded trucks (joking aside, there is quite a bit of interesting and high-dollar kit crossing the block this year, which you can read about here). One of the best parts about an auction event this big, though, is the unusual stuff that pops up in between all the mainstream collector vehicles. Scottsdale always brings out some weird and wonderful, and 2024 is no different. Here’s the stuff that caught our eye.
1989 Daimler DS420 Limousine
While Jaguars of the ’50s and ’60s had the whole “Grace, Space, Pace” thing down pat, their Daimler cousins sometimes struggled with that first one. Particularly the 1968-92 DS420, with its matronly body work and its awkward bustle-back trunk, never had much in the way of “Grace.” “Space” was never a problem with the DS420, though, and these English limousines have shuttled around important people for decades.
Including, in this car’s case, Queen Elizabeth II. She reportedly used it on her 50th Anniversary tour of New Zealand in 2002, following the car’s apparent six-figure restoration. It then sold to an owner in the U.S. who is a “devoted DS420 collector,” of all things.
Given Elizabeth’s 70-year reign, there are lots of cars out there with a Queen connection. Prices have been as varied as the vehicles themselves, but perhaps the latest and closest comp was a 1966 Vanden Plas Princess Limousine the Queen used on an official trip to Jamaica. It sold in 2022 for $110,000.
1957 Reliant Regal MkIII
That Daimler limo may have been fit for a queen, but the only thing regal about this Reliant is its name. Built by Reliant, the company best known for its budget three-wheeled Robin and nifty Scimitar sports estate, the Regal was one of the company’s first postwar models. It was also the follow-up to the similarly ironically named “Regent” and “Prince Regent.” Available as a saloon, van, estate or pickup, Regals also came with various engines, all of them tiny. To drive one, all you needed was a motorcycle license, which in Britain was a significantly cheaper way of motoring.
As a Mark III, this one has an ash-framed fiberglass body and a 747-cc side-valve four-cylinder churning out 16 eager horsepower. According to Bonhams there is currently no soft-top included with this tripod, but can you imagine driving it in the rain? For Scottsdale, it has a $10,000-$15,000 estimate.
1969 AMC AMX “Banacek”
Ever heard of a show called Banacek? I haven’t, but I have heard of George Barris, who turned his customizing skills to this AMC AMX two-seater for the 1970s detective series. What started as a standard 1969 390/315hp automatic AMX had its top chopped, windshield moved further back, and its bodywork lengthened with that massive schnoz. The rear is even cooler, with louvers that run all the way down the back window and just keep going, right until they run into the rear bumper. Chrome side pipes, Ram Air scoops, Cragar SS wheels, and tri-color Murano Pearl/Tangerine Candy/Copper paint complete the picture.
If you like oddball AMCs but want something a little less outrageous and expensive, there’s a ’72 Javelin SST Alabama State Police car crossing the block at the same auction.
1961 Panhard PL 17 Sedan
An unusual sight in this country, the Panhard PL 17 was a rather popular car in Europe. Similar to another French people’s car, the Citroën 2CV, the Panhard embraced a front-engine, front-wheel drive layout with its air-cooled parallel twin laid way out in the front of the chassis.
While aimed at the same kind of customers as the Volkswagen Beetle, the PL 17 never made the same kind of financial or cultural waves as the VW. Its 848-cc engine was both smaller and had half the cylinders of the VW, and it was never priced competitively, either. But the Panhard punched above its weight. With 50 horsepower from the top-spec Tigre engine (which this example reportedly has) it made more grunt than a 1192cc Type 1 Volkswagen, and despite their size and the unusual layout of their drivetrains, PL 17s took the top three places overall at the 1961 Monte Carlo Rally. Panhard’s flat-twin engine would also find success on track in small displacement classes, powering Deutsch-Bonnet’s (DB) race cars in Europe and Bill Devin’s earliest race cars here in the States. The PL 17 sedan on offer in Scottsdale has a $20,000-$30,000 presale estimate.
1971 Citroën Ami 8
Like the Panhard, this Citroën isn’t such an unusual sight on a cobblestone street in the French countryside, but it certainly is in the deserts of Arizona. The Ami (which, adorably, translates to “friend”) came about in 1961, and was loosely based on the 2CV. With France recovering well from the war, Citroën perceived a need in the French market for a car that was still affordable but larger, more practical and a little more powerful than its everyman 2CV.
Amis were built from 1961-78 and came in various body styles that included vans, estate wagons, fastbacks sedans and even an extra-odd notchback sedan with a steep, reverse-raked rear window. This one is a 1971 wagon model—one of the more conventional-appearing Ami body styles—that still doesn’t look like anything else on the road. It is represented as an older restoration with a 1998 engine rebuild and 2012 repaint. There is no presale estimate, and we don’t carry the Citroën Ami in the Hagerty Price Guide, but our colleagues in the UK do, at least in saloon form. They currently put a ’71 Ami at between £2000 and £10,000 (about $2500-$12,700).
1960 Hillman Minx IIIA Convertible
Looking a little bit like a ’56 Ford that shrank in the wash, this Hillman Minx is part of a family of mid-size family cars sold in various forms from 1931-70. Part of Britain’s Rootes Group, Hillman was sister-companies with Singer, Sunbeam and Humber, and cars built on the Minx’s platform included the Singer Gazelle, Sunbeam Rapier, and Humber 80. One version even sold in Japan, produced and sold there as the Isuzu Hillman Minx. A left-hand drive MkIIA convertible, the blue one on offer in Scottsdale has a very attainable $10K-$15K estimate.
2006 Hummer H1 Alpha
If you like the look of an H1 Hummer with its monster size and macho angles but the wheels are just a little too…round, then look no further. This one rides on custom Mattracks Tracks attached to upgraded suspension. And if an H1’s 300-hp turbodiesel just doesn’t do it for you, this one also spins its wheels tracks with 500hp thanks to a new turbo and exhaust. Other mods include (but are not limited to) all-LED lights, full WARN recovery accessory kit and 16,500-pound rear winch, brush guard, air lift hooks and bezels, and a windshield light bar hoop.
1952 Beechcraft Model 18
You at least need a driver’s license to actually use almost all the vehicles that Barrett-Jackson sells. Occasionally, you’ll also need a motorcycle license, or for certain car, even a racing license to use them as intended. This auction, however, is one of the rare occasions when you’ll need a pilot’s license.
Sold new by Kansas aircraft company Beechcraft to the Canadian military, this Beech 18 entered civilian use in the early 1960s and reportedly has a detailed history since. The most interesting parts of that history, though, start in the 1980s, with its use in movies and TV shows. It seems this thing was the go-to plane for production companies that needed a ’50s or ’60s aircraft in the background. The credits include episodes of Unsolved Mysteries and House, as well as the films Amelia Earhart: The Final Flight (1994), Terminal Velocity (1994), Man on the Moon (1999), All the Pretty Horses (2000), and even Ford v Ferrari (2019). It has also done commercials for Pepsi, Honda, and Bud Light.
Remarkably, this isn’t the first airplane offered in Scottsdale. Barrett-Jackson sold a 1929 Ford 4-AT-E in 2009 for $1.21M, a 1958 Cessna in 2016 for $66K, and a wild 1954 Taylor Aerocar in 2020 for $275K.
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I don’t think private investigator Banacek would ever drive in an modified AMX. He was a limousine kind of guy with an appreciation for classics.
If I remember correctly Banacek was a detective series starring George Peppard.
The Beech 18 is a great airplane. There was an Airworthiness Directive that required a Spar Strap and some other major work that took a lot of them out of service, but there were over 9,000 of them built over 30 years or so. My late father worked for Atlantic Aviation and fitted out quite a few of these as executive transports, cargo carriers, sprayers, etc. He loved the P&W R-985 and said you COULD get them to stop leaking, but it required draining all the oil……..then again, he said the R-3350 from his airline days never ever leaked, it was just Madame Super Constellation marking her parking spot. To this day I love the sound of a big radial, especially on start-up.
In my USMC days we were still flying DC-3’s as transports mostly between air stations. Just riding in one of those iconic airplanes gave a sense of how aviation evolved.
Andrew, you’re showing your youth not knowing about a pre-“A-Team” George Peppard and apparently much about Barris cars.
The AMC was done circa 1970.
It was modified Circa 1972 for an episode of Banacek where it played a safety car prototype with huge added bumpers.
Also…the Beech 18 was produced for 30 years, one if the first modern business aircraft. That this one did a low budget Amelia Earhart film isn’t surprising, it looks a lot like the Lockheed 12 she disappeared in.
Finally about Sky King, yes he flew a Cessna T-50 (military designation: UC-78, AT-17, or Crane…if in Canada).
He later switched to a new Cessna 310B.
To the person who said it was a “Cessna show”… you’re incorrect. In a very early episide, Clipper…Penny’s brother, flew a early Beech Bonanza…complete with the flying crown insignia.
In a later episode, the bad guys fly a Beech 18.
And his last two cars weren’t DeSotos, they were top of the line
New Yorker wagons…A ’55-56 and a ’58-59.
I recall the Bonanza. I would not argue at all who was the owner but I thought Sky flew it.
Well I guess you told us didn’t you? Hats off to you for being the authority on all things driven and flying 🙂
Except for the Hillman and the Beechcraft, they all look like they got beaten by the ugly stick.
You’ll need more than a pilot’s certificate for that Beech. You’ll need a tailwheel checkout, multi-engine rating, complex aircraft rating, and high performance aircraft rating.
Just for the record, pilots don’t get a license. We are certified with a certificate. Same with A&P (Airframe and Powerplant) mechanics. Apparently, the CAA and later the FAA were not in the business of licensing folks for liability reasons.
On another note, after Banacek debuted, no one could pronounce my name properly for over a decade. I always compliment those who get it correct the first time.
What I was taught during my pilot’s training is that all US citizens have the right to fly aircraft. Since a license is the government granting someone a privilege, the FAA cannot require or issue licenses. But the FAA is responsible for insuring flight safety, so they require that every pilot passes certain tests. If they pass, the FAA certifies that they are/were a reasonably competent pilot at the time of testing. Every pilot must pass another fairly short test every two years to continue to exercise the privileges of his or her certificate. Of course, there aren’t any “speed cops” pulling pilots over for “license checks”, so there’s no telling how many pilots are in violation of this regulation.
Really enjoyed that detective show. Heard the ratings were still good when George Peppard quit because he didn’t want his soon-to-be ex-wife getting any more money from him.
I’d like to have that Hummer for runs to Costco, but it wouldn’t fit in my garage—or in a parking space—or on the street.
Bob Cummings owned a similar Beechcraft, N38M which he flew in his “Bob Cummings Show.”
Originally a tail dragger, she was evidently converted to tricycle gear per pictures.
The “Banacek” AMC seems like a car that AMC should have taken to production. They probably would have needed to leave the windshield in the OEM location, but even in a limited run, it could have drawn some eyes toward the beleaguered brand.
No, it’s just Andrew should know it’s old guys (who unlike his own admission, remember obscure TV shows from 50 years ago) who have the time to comment on trivia like this. I doubt if he took my tongue in cheek rebuke/comment too seriously… unlike you.
Yes, I’m an pilot, aviation history buff, and own a Barris TV car…so I do know what I’m talking about.
Just trying to keep history straight.
It was a Beechcraft 18, N63158 that flew through that Coca-Cola billboard in “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.”
I have heard my English friends call the Reliant Robin a “Brush and Dustpan” car… Because after somebody rolls or crashes one, that’s what you need to sweep up the pieces that are left… The Robin is fiberglass and unstable – it looks like this earlier one is too.
The car was supposedly used in just the second episode of the first season.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banacek