Bonus back to back: coachbuilt Lancia or Maserati?

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'Amelia Island' is on its way, and we’ve picked out another two cars that will be offered for sale during the event. This dynamic duo, seen here last week, will star. But how about these two? They can be yours, too, as both coachbuilt rarities will be offered with RM Sotheby’s this Thursday.

First of them is the 1949 Maserati A6 1500/3C Berlinetta with body by Pinin Farina. 61 Of them are believed to have been built, with this particular example having had Isabella Quarantotti as its original owner, who was a writer and playwright of some fame. She didn’t enjoy it very long, though. A textiles entrepreneur, champion skier and soccer player followed in 1950 as did a US Army officer, stationed in Italy, later. An American gunsmith on holiday in Italy in 1957 was next, and that’s how the Maserati ended up in the US. There it had a string of later owners, among them Domino’s Pizza founder Tom Monaghan as well as the Blackhawk Collection. A restoration ‘at an eyewatering cost of $350,000’ followed in 2009, with a $85,000 costing mechanical-overhaul in the hands of the next owner. It is now estimated to sell somewhere between the $800- and $950,000, but has no reserve. Find out more here.

It’s perhaps not as pretty as an A6G by Vignale, although this Lancia of the same era and by that coachbuilder is an acquired taste also. It’s a 1952 Lancia Aurelia B52 Coupe by Vignale and is in equally pristine condition. Or so its seems from those beautiful pictures. It’s one of just five by the Turin bodybuilder and was commissioned for Count Christian Orssich de Slavetich of Yugoslavia (who spent most of his days in Switzerland). Between registering it for the first time in August 1954 and selling it in 1960, the count is believed to have driven it on a regular basis in Switzerland.

Further history is somewhat cloudy, though, with later signs of its life emerging not before the 1990s. At that time, the B52 underwent a complete restoration in Milan before being sent to the US. It made it to Pebble Beach next, as well as to the Blackhawk Collection before returning to Switzerland in 2014. It is now estimated to sell at $400- to $500,000. See the car’s full description here.

(Words editor, pictures RM Sothebys)

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