This Multimillion-dollar 1914 Mercer Is The Coolest American Sports Car At The Monterey Auctions
The Monterey Car Week auctions always see plenty of American sports cars trade hands for seven-figure prices.
More often than not, they are Shelby Cobras, and a few of them are set to cross the blocks this year.
But what’s likely to be the most valuable one on offer is a fair bit older than the 1960s roadsters.
The 1914 Mercer Type 35-J Raceabout is a Brass Era performance and racing car that was something of the Corvette of its day.
The model was built from 1911 to 1914 by the Trenton-based company which took its name from Mercer County, N.J., and went out of business in 1925.
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The two-seater is equipped with a 58 hp 300 cubic-inch T-head four-cylinder that drives the rear wheels through a four-speed manual transmission.
It rides on solid axles with leaf spring suspensions and friction dampers, while its quick steering ratio requires just over one turn from full left to full right.
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A circular pane of glass serves as a windshield and the top speed was is 80 mph, which helped one to finish in second place at the 1913 Indianapolis 500.
The example that’s up for auction on Friday evening was restored in the 1960s and has been with the same owner since 1971. It sold for $2,500 when it was new, which is around $75,000 today, but is expected to sell for much more than that.
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The pre-auction estimate is $3 million to $4 million, which will have it vying with a 1930 Duesenberg Model J Dual Cowl Barrelside Phaeton and a 1912 Simplex 50-hp Toy Tonneau for top honors among all American models at the Gooding & Company event.
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