Shannons Auctions to offer US Grunt, French style

From all-American effrontery to French elegance, Melbourne car auctioneers Shannons will be offering a diverse range of investment and/or playtime opportunities on November 24.

The get-outa-my-way Hummer H1 once owned by tennis player Mark Philippoussis is related only in name to the Hummer H3 currently available to Australian buyers and is expected to go under the hammer for somewhere between $40,000 and $50,000 -- impaired slightly by the fact that several bits from inside and outside have been removed. Shannons says they are "easily replaceable".

The French connection comes via the swanky 1959 Facel Vega HK500 V8, built at the French factory as a right hand drive and tipped to sell for somewhere between $100,000 and $125, 000. With its Chrysler Hemi engine, the HK500 coupe was good enough to attract race drivers such as Stirling Moss as a preferred form of transport.

More common, but probably more desirable again is a manual-transmission 1964 Ferrari 330GT 2+2 Coupe worth an estimated $150,000 to $180,000.

And there's a fully restored factory right hand drive Mercedes-Benz 190SL estimated at being worth somewhere between $90,000 and $105,000.

The almost traditional lineup of Australian Bathurst classics will be there too, including a matching-numbers 1972 VH Chrysler Charger E49 R/T forecast to fetch between $140,000 and $165,000, an LH Torana L34 sedan asking a price between $100,000 and $120,000 and a 1977 LX Torana with an A9X replacement body shell as well as all the Bathurst racing options for a figure ranging from $130,000 to $160,000.

The auction will also be something of a plate fest, with 11 special numerical black and white Victorian number plates such as "293", "701" and "911.111" up for grabs.

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