Casablanca. Humphrey Bogart. It doesn’t get any bigger. Which makes the upcoming auction of the 1940 Buick Phaeton driven by Bogie in the classic 1943 film such a treat for movie fans. The car will be auctioned as part of Bonhams’ “What Dreams Are Made Of: A Century Movie Magic” auction in New York on November 25.
The car is a Buick Model 81C trunkback convertible Phaeton, one of just 230 made in 1940. It has only 42,000 miles on the odometer. It has a 320-cubic inch inline-eight engine, three-speed manual transmission, and Aztec Brown paint. The vehicle had a mechanical restoration in the 1990s.
The car was used by Warner Brothers until 1970 (it appeared in another Bogart classic, High Sierra), when it passed through a string of private owners. It was last sold in June 1995 for $211,500. It is expected to fetch upwards of $500,000 at next month’s auction.
