cars | Raoul Pop

Back in 2010, Ligia and I had the privilege of seeing a unique collection of vintage and classic cars in South Florida. It was not open to the public, and although we were allowed to take photos and graciously shown around, we were asked not to mention the name of the collection. Instead, we needed to refer to it as “a private, exclusive South Florida organ and car collection”. I abided by those terms all these years, until now.

It is no longer necessary to do so, because in 2012, the Milhous brothers auctioned off the entire collection. Everything went. The entire collection was auctioned off in February 2012 for a total sale price of $38.3 million USD. Since the collection no longer exists and is now spread among various other collectors located who knows where, and it’s been more than three years since the sale and dissolution, the terms of our agreement no longer apply.

This means you are fortunate enough to see immaculately restored cars that few people have ever seen, cars so rare they sell for millions of dollars and for some models, fewer than five exist in the world altogether.

The car that sold for the most money at the auction was a 1912 Oldsmobile Limited Touring. But there is one car prominently featured in the gallery you see here, a car I fell in love with right away, a car I consider to be the most beautiful in the world, a car so special I had to stand at a distance from it and take it all in before I could approach it and touch it. That car is a butter-white 1934 V-16 Cadillac Fleetwood Roadster. It’s a drop-dead gorgeous example of streamline moderne design and it’s a car that will forever hold a special place in my heart.

I truly hope you’ll enjoy these photos. You don’t get to see stuff like this every day.

Part of The Milhous Collection, Boca Raton, Florida. The entire collection was auctioned off in February 2012 for a total sale price of $38.3 million USD.

Have you ever wondered what one of the first cars made in Romania looks like? It was first made in 1968 and it was called the Dacia 1100. It was a faithful copy of the Renault 8 and it was, in my opinion, a beautiful car. Perhaps it was under-powered, but given its chassis, suspension and brakes, that was a good thing. The production of the Dacia 1100 lasted from 1968-1972, after which it was replaced by the Dacia 1300, itself a copy of the Renault 12.

I always found the design of the 1100 much more handsome than that of the 1300 and since only 44,000 of them were sold, they’re quite the rare sight. There were almost 2,000,000 Dacia 1300 models made but given their age and poor construction, they’ve become a rare thing these days as well.

The Romanian Dacia 1100 Club paid a visit to Medias today and several beautiful Dacia 1100 cars were on display, including a couple of the more powerful 1100S variant. That’s where I took these photos, which I hope you’ll enjoy!