Originally built for a French count, this 1884 De Dion-Bouton et Trepardoux — aka “La Marquise” — will go on the auction block this August in Pebble Beach, Calif. Surprisingly, the 123-year-old steam-powered car still runs … on coal and wood. It was raced a year before Daimler and Benz built their first gasoline-powered cars and 12 years before Henry Ford’s auto effort.
The auction company estimates La Marquise’s value at $1.5 to $2 million, but with the recent trend of over-inflated prices at exotic-car auctions, we could see the old count’s coach going for much more than that.