- A 1912 Mitchell Model "5-6" Touring car owned by Del DeRees of Romeo, Mich. The Mitchell car brand was produced between 1903 and 1923 and the company was a large producer of heavy-duty horse-drawn military wagons and went out of business due to over expansion after World War I. DeRees designed the commemorative license plates given out to the owners of cars at the concours.
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| Artist Del DeRees sits behind the wheel of his blue 1912 Mitchell Model "5-6" Touring car. The Mitchell car brand was produced between 1903 and 1923 and the company was a large producer of heavy-duty horse-drawn military wagons and went out of business due to over expansion after World War I. (Photo: Joe Cabadas, Canadian Auto Press) |
- A rare 1946 Buick Model 59 Estate Wagon by Dick Thams of Gaylord, Mich. This wood-sided wagon is 95 percent original and had one prior owner before Thams bought it 17 years ago. After storing it for years, Thams finally got it up and running three years ago after acquiring a parts car -- the remains of a Buick sedan that was owned by a doctor on Mackinac Island. What's interesting about the parts car is that Mackinac Island, located in the watery channel between Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas, is best known for its ban of motorized vehicles. The doctor was exempt from this restriction for several years, Thams noted.
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| A rare 1946 Buick Model 59 Estate Wagon, owned by Dick Thams of Gaylord, Mich., is at the head of a lineup of cars outside Meadow Brook Hall in Rochester, Mich. This wood-sided wagon is 95 percent original. (Photo: Joe Cabadas, Canadian Auto Press) |
The RM Vintage Motor Car Auction is the eighth such event to be held at Meadow Brook by the Blenheim, Ont.-based RM Auctions Inc., said spokesman Terrance Lobzun. Some of the most significant cars up "on the block" at this event were a 1931 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Henley Roadster that was one of a handful of its kind ever built (only five of which survive); a 1931 Marmon Sixteen Sports Coupe, which was one of the most powerful cars of the classic era; a low-mileage 1962 Bentley S2 Saloon; and a 1935 Duesenberg Model J Convertible Coupe that originally sold for around $20,000 when most family cars cost approximately $500.
