Andy hunts through AutoHunter docket

For this edition of my picks from the AutoHunter auction website, driven by ClassicCars.com, I decided to showcase two vastly different categories — muscle cars and British luxury cars. 

Each does different things and the cars are entertaining in completely different ways. 

The British cars waft down the road in quite luxurious splendor and the muscle cars tell you and every driver around you that you are here to burn rubber and collect pink slips. 

Any collection could benefit from owning a car in each category as sometimes you want to show off, but to two different crowds of collector car enthusiasts. These picks allow you to do so.

1965 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III

The Silver Cloud II was the last of the classic Rolls-Royce standard-production cars. It was the last that was a body-on-chassis design and thus the end of the classic Rolls-Royce eras. 

Yes, the Phantom series continued for years after the demise of the Silver Cloud, but those were very different cars, being chauffeured limousines and not a car that you would drive yourself. 

This car is a left-hand-drive model, which makes it that much more desirable in the US. It is finished in the classic color combo of Pewter over Silver paint with a red leather interior. It looks to be in exceptional condition and features its original owners handbook, spare, jack, torch, and toolkit. 

This is an air-conditioning equipped car as well and offers such modern niceties as electric windows. You can go to your local Rolls-Royce dealer and buy a modern Ghost at a cost of more than $300,000 or you could buy a Rolls-Royce from the end of the classic era, a model that was the final expression of everything that made Rolls-Royce the icon that they are for considerably less. I would definitely choose the Cloud III.

1966 Dodge Charger 426 Hemi 4 speed

I know the next generation Chargers are the ones everyone seems to want, largely driven by the whole Dukes of Hazzard phenomenon, but to me these earlier Chargers have a bit more style in both their interior and exterior designs, courtesy of designer Carl “Cam” Cameron. 

The fastback rear styling of these first-generation Chargers is simply stunning and much more dramatic than the second-generations cars. There is a certain mid-century modern jet-age look about them. 

Now combine that with the incredible performance of the 426 Hemi V8under the hood mated to a 4-speed manual gearbox. This is a muscle car that is also sophisticated, the car in the 1960s that was driven by a well-dressed executive in a suit that completely blows the wheels off of some 17-year-old’s hot-rod Chevy Nova during a traffic-light drag race on a Saturday night.

This Hemi Charger is painted in factory red over a black vinyl interior, is listed in the Hemi Registry, and has recently had $25,000 of mechanical work done, including rebuilding both 4-barrel carburetors, a full brake job, a new fuel system from the tank up, clutch repair, and more.

These first generation Chargers are just starting to gain serious interest in the muscle car world and finding one in as nice a condition as this one appears to be is much more difficult than finding a nice example of a second generation model. For my money these cars are something to consider now before the rest of the world becomes aware of these amazing cars.

2009 Jaguar XJ Portfolio Edition

The Jaguar XJ is one of the best buys available in the European luxury car space. These cars are the very definition of the old Jaguar advertising tagline of “Grace, Space, and Pace,” the epitome of refined performance. 

This XJ is finished in Astral Gold paint over a Ivory leather interior with Navy blue piping. The Wilton Wool carpets continue the contrasting theme, finished in Navy with Ivory leather edging. Wood in the car is hand-crafted Rich Oak veneer and unique to the XJ Portfolio edition. The XJ is powered by Jaguar’s 400 horsepower supercharged 4.2-liter V8 and capable of accelerating to 60 in a very respectable 5.7 seconds.

Options on this car include individually heated and cooled front seats, 7-inch touch-screen with navigation, Jaguar premium sound, dual-zone climate control systems, Bluetooth, JaguarVoice command, adaptive cruise control, and a rear multimedia system with a DVD player and dual display screens.

There are reported to only be a total of 140 of these Portfolio Edition cars built and this car is bound to offer quite a lot of car for the money.

1966 Pontiac GTO Tri-Power

The GTO is a car many people consider the origin of the species for the muscle car. Dreamed up by John DeLorean after observing how younger people were modifying their cars, the GTO was introduced as an option package to the Pontiac LeMans in 1964, and in 1966 become a separate model. 

Being a 1966 model, this example represents the first version of that separate GTO model. These 1966 models gained a more coke-bottle shape and a more stylized tunneled rear window treatment, adding to the drama of the design.

This GTO was equipped with the desirable WS code 389cid Tri-Power V8 rated at 360 horsepower. Currently, it has a YW-coded 389cid block from 1966 equipped with the factory-correct Tri-Power setup and 093 heads. Both the engine and carburetors were rebuilt with great attention to detail paid during the restoration using all factory-correct finishes and hardware. The heads are date-code correct and capped with factory chrome valve covers.

The GTO will always be the granddaddy of every muscle car that came afterward, and this is an opportunity to own one of the most mythic muscle cars ever built.

To see what else is available on AutoHunter, visit the website.