The Swig Family Collection, Presented by Fantasy Junction—All Cars Are Live!: A Practical Look
8/18 Update: the final three cars from the Swig Collection are now live! Check them out below.
Our very own Howard Swig grew up in a family famous for automotive enthusiasm, and in his 10+ years at BaT he has been instrumental in building this site into what it has become today. His late father Martin was the San Francisco franchise dealer for at least 17 different marques, keeping up a vast inventory of interesting vehicles with a heavy focus on imports like Alfas, Datsuns, Saabs, Toyotas, Mercedes trucks, Sterlings, and more. He later went on to found the California Mille, inspired by his participation in the 1982 Mille Miglia Storica as the sole American entrant. His acquisitions of several interesting racing and sports cars formed the backbone of a collection that continues to be kept and enjoyed by the rest of the Swig family. Today, we’re excited to announce that six cars from the Swig Family Collection will be represented here by @FantasyJunction, out of Emeryville, California, and many will be offered with no reserve.
Auctions will begin going live today, Wednesday, July 15. A preview of the cars of the Swig Collection continues below.
1931 Chrysler CD-8 Sport Roadster
The 24 Hours of Le Mans has always been a Eurocentric competition, but for a time in the late 1920s and early 1930s, American vehicles gave the Continentals a run for their money. This car is a tribute to French driver Raymond Sommer’s 1931 Chrysler CD-8 roadster and was restored to its current specification in the mid-1990s by Martin Swig. The car is well-known in the California vintage racing and rally world—a veteran of the California Mille and Monterey Historics. But it’s also traveled internationally to drive the Mille Miglia Storica and 1000 Millas Sport in Argentina.
1950 Ford El Caballo de Hierro Tribute
This is a faithful recreation of Ak Miller’s Caballo di Hierro (“Iron Horse”), a self-styled “backyard special” that raced La Carrera Panamericana twice, finishing seventh in the final running of the event in 1954, right behind Raymond Sommer’s former co-driver Luigi Chinetti in his Ferrari 375 MM. Like Miller’s car, this tribute is based on a ’50 Ford chassis with an Olds Rocket 88 V8, bodywork based on a 1927 Model T Roadster, and a Cadillac 3-speed gearbox, with a whole bunch of other stuff mixed in. It even features an intake setup used on the original Caballo.
This handsome little Millicento is a serial survivor of the California Mille, and most recently completed the event in 2009, so it has been off of the road for a while. It certainly won’t blow the doors off of anything with less than 40 horsepower in stock tune, but these unibody sedans were durable and comfortable even on the relatively primitive Italian roads of the 1950s, making it an excellent choice for vintage rallies.
1975 Toyota Celica 2000 GT RA28 5-Speed
Even back in 1975, Japanese automakers were withholding some of their hottest performers from the US market. That was the case with the first-generation Celica; the RA28 twin-cam Celica 2000 GT was sold primarily in the Japanese market, though this left-hand drive example was first delivered to Switzerland. The car came to the US in 2005 thanks to the Swig family, and remains on American soil today. The engine room is where the magic happens thanks to a revvy DOHC four topped with a Yamaha-designed head, and breathes through two Mikuni-built Solex carbs. This Liftback Celica is being offered at no reserve.
1985 Toyota Corolla GT-S Liftback 5-Speed
It’s always a treat to see an AE86 liftback on the site, particularly one in a great color that remains largely stock. The GT-S got the 7,500-rpm 4A-GE DOHC inline-four, a high-strung but reliable powerplant that perfectly complemented the car’s light weight and 50/50 weight distribution. This one was purchased by the Swig family in Vermont, then driven back to California, where it received a a replacement timing belt and tensioner, clutch slave cylinder, and remanufactured starter. It’s also being offered with no reserve.
The final car in the Swig collection is a Grand Prix White 911SC with California blue plates. It has been in the state since new, and came from the factory with blue leather Sport seats, Sport shocks, air conditioning (currently inop), cruise control, and a power sunroof. It was inducted into the Swig family in 2014, and has since received H4 headlamps and new tires. It’s configuration and maintenance history are documented by a Porsche Certificate of Authenticity and a collection of service records. Oh, and it’s being offered at no reserve!
