Collector forks out R1.4m for Corvette

• But Mustang Convertible Pony with V-8 289 engine finds no buyer at sale

A 1959 Corvette, described as “the great American sports car”, fetched R1.4m at the Stephan Welz collectable cars auction in Johannesburg last week.

Included in the line-up of the collectable cars at the Stephan Welz fine art and design auction was a 1965 candy apple red Mustang Convertible Pony series powered by a V-8 289 engine. The car was unsold.

Ford introduced the Mustang in 1964 for the prosaic purpose of filling the gap formed when the Thunderbird evolved from a two-seater to a four-seater. Instead, it produced a wildly popular sports car that received the Tiffany Award for Excellence in American Design. “It looked like nothing ever seen before” with its long bonnet and short deck. More than 400,000 units were sold within a year.

Interestingly, 100 Years of Automobiles, edited by Michael Benson, says one of the first 37 Mustangs off the assembly line, which paced the parade laps at the 1964 Indianapolis 500, was involved in the fiery crash that killed two drivers and injured a number of others in front of the grandstand.

Incidentally, it was in 1965, the first anniversary of the “pony car”, that Ford switched from “the archaic generator to a modern alternator”.

The Corvette was introduced by Chevrolet in 1953 and became the “great American sports car ... stunning to behold”.

But according to 100 Years of Automobiles, the Corvette did not start out with “a heck of a lot of punch under the hood”. Horsepower was rated at a mere 150, but by 1959 the standard 283 cubic inch V-8 engine rated 230hp, enough to drag race with the best muscle cars.

That was the year that the Corvette Roadster recorded the most chrome on its “snout” with interlocking tubes of chrome forming the grill, licence frame and fenders.

Of special interest was a Cobra Race Car which was raced by cricketer Clive Rice and was his personal car.

The car is fitted with an Edelbrock 400 Chev engine, hardtop and roll cage.

The AC Cobra was created as a joint venture between AC cars of Britain and Carroll Shelby, a Texan builder of race cars.

According to 100 Years of Automobiles, it was Shelby’s ambition to beat the Corvettes, even if it meant stuffing “a massive Ford engine, meant of a Mustang, into a tiny British sports car”. Not surprising then that the 6,989 cubic centimetre V-8 engine, developing 425 horsepower at 6,000 revolutions a minute, could hit a top speed of 165 miles an hour.

Also attracting attention was a red 1969 Mercedes-Benz 280SL Pagoda. The car has a 5speed ZF gearbox, manual, 2,778cc engine and four-wheel independent suspension with hardtop, California version.

An orange/red 1980 Mini Clubman with a Leyland 1275cc engine on offer is possibly the oldest known production example of this marque by British Leyland and Sigma Motor Corporation.

In the line-up too is a 1988 charcoal grey Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit with an interesting provenance. According to the catalogue, it was produced by RollsRoyce Motors in Crewe, England, and launched in 1980 as the first model in the SZ series.

As the catalogue says, it is a luxury handmade car, made in the old fashion way with real metal, steel and chrome.

It was the first car to feature the retractable Spirit of Ecstasy mascot which sinks into the radiator shell if dislodged from its position.