A ravishing design restored to the highest standards. Sexy, slinky, the Jean Harlow of 1930s motor cars. Won Gwen Graham trophy at Pebble in 1986. Most recently in Japanese collection.
Going to a prominent northern California collection, where it will join a stunning group of antique and vintage Mercedes. If ever a classic Mercedes was worth the money, this is the car. The ultra-high-end of the market is staying strong.
Excellent paint, with chips to the front end and lots of road wear to the undercarriage. Borranis are caked with dirt and brake dust. No wipers. Excellent crackle finish to dash. Good seats, though the carpet looks out of place in a competition car. Underhood is tidy, but not detailed. Gummy Dunlop non-radials. Looks like it was driven here from the track.
Multiple millions should no longer surprise for any alloy-bodied 250 GT SWB. This example, the cover car for the auction catalog, was presented along with period competition photographs and a race history dating from 1960 through 1962, showing many first place finishes in both races and hill climbs. Accurately described in the catalog as no "garage queen," this SWB looks and is ready for its next race.
Coachwork by Murphy. Nice panel fit aside from both doors slightly out at bottom front edge. Excellent paint shows only light polish scratches. Superb chrome and interior. Murphy body #921, Brian Joseph mechanicals, Steve Cooley cosmetics.
A well-done Murphy-bodied disappearing top Model J, and a First in Class winner at Pebble Beach in ’05. ACD Category One certification. Sold in November 2002 at the Blackhawk auction at Hershey, PA for $737,000 (SCM# 29237), at which time it was a very ’70s tan with brown trim. Interestingly, the mileage here was exactly the same as it was then. A big price, but a superb car.
Fabulous racing history including winning first Bridgehampton road race. Owned and driven by numerous famous drivers. Partially rebodied many years ago. Paul Grist restoration now nicely mellowed. Ready for race or road.
Matching-numbers car sounded wonderful, looked great, ran like a young bear and had more presence than Sophia Loren in an evening gown. A relative bargain, although the 8C market seems to have gone soft in the past few months.
"Rebuilt in late '70s from a wreck by consignor, who was chief panel beater for NART when 250LMs were new. Well sorted, driven to many events, no Le Mans history. Restoration done just right; no better or worse than new."
"Another LM with more racing history sold for $2.15 million at Pebble Beach in 1999. Using that as a yardstick, this car should be called fully priced and then some."
Coachwork by Harrison. Very good panel fit, both right doors tight at top. Well-applied paint shows some subsurface sanding marks, chrome and stainless bright trim have minor scratches on door top pieces. Excellently retrimmed seats and door panels, wood dash and door caps show some finish issues.
One of ten 8-liter tourers built. Most unusually, given the musical chairs changes on most pre-war Bentleys, this one was still wearing its original coachwork. Well restored many years ago and with with newly refurbished upholstery, it was a center of attention during the sale previews, so it should be of no surprise that it made $2.2m. That's a lot of cents, and it was worth every one of them.
Excellent paintwork, with a few light chips present. A dent to the rear passenger side spat. Excellent brightwork, including the beautiful wheel discs. Interior shows a good patina, with some water spots on door cap wood, and very good carpets. Wilson 4-speed pre-selector transmission.
The catalog gave this sensuous car a full 14 pages, plus a fold out to present its rather complete history. Though something in the line of the front fenders appeared a bit off, the presentation in person was every bit as sensational as it was on the pages of the catalog.
Excellent paint and graphics, all fittings and mods look to be well done and in correct order. Minimal chrome is in good shape. Plexiglas front fittings are well polished but were tightened down too much in one place, now cracked. Excellent glass. Interior includes full roll cage, Sabelt safety harnness, terrycloth inserts to seats, very good leather. Crackle-painted dash looks good. A competition Daytona in full race regalia.
Very well documented racing history as well as well documented history after retirement and before historics. I really don't get the value here, I suppose that smarter folks than me have figured this out. For my money, give me a half-dozen fully restored or breathtakingly original Daytona coupes without any racing history. I'll take my change in Kias. (Editor's note: Real comp Daytonas are your entry ticket into the best vintage events, and modern technology has made them far more competitive than when they were new. Doubt it? Just ask SCMer Chip Connor what he thinks of his. But you'll have to wait until he stops grinning first.)
One of the great Ferraris, with a beautiful trend-setting Scagletti body put on after the original was trashed in a series of accidents. These were brutal cars to drive fast. Bobby Unser drove across block.
How would this be treated by the "powers that judge"? Consensus among the attending experts was that it would be accepted in proper Ferrari circles because the rebody was apparently sanctioned by the factory.
Spectacular full-skirted body designed by Figoni et Falaschi and built by Van Vooren for Prince Pahlevi of Iran as gift from French government. Left side trim alignment slightly askew, otherwise hard to fault. Uses Lincoln Zephyr taillamps.
Going to join the Robert Petersen collection at his museum in Los Angeles. Car is just drop-dead gorgeous to most eyes and certainly a one-off in the truest sense.
Excellent paint, one divot on right rear corner at fender lip. Excellent chrome. Hood scoop appears to be quite thick. Beautiful leather shows light wear to driver's seat.
Absolutely sensuous Barchetta body--the 166 MM is perhaps the most organic of early Ferrari designs. This is the 22nd built of 26 Touring Barchettas. Scuderia Ferrari-entered in the 1950 LeMans 24 hour, though DNF due to electrical failure. First overall at Montlhery one month later. A full race history including many successful forays in the United States. I hate to harp on the design of the hood scoop, but if it was my $1.75 million on the table, perhaps I'd feel confident enough to flatten that damn thing out.
Excellent hood fit. Old paint on body is worn, with touch-ups, chips, and rubs visible. Newly painted fenders excellent. Seats show a nice patina but aren't worn. LaMarr wheel discs fitted over wire wheels.
Edsel Ford's custom built speedster. A wonderfully historic car with a delightfully used look. It was discovered by seller Bill Warner as a non-runner, and was mechanically recommissioned with repainted fenders. No one knew what this one-of-a-kind artifact would bring, but the price paid seems to make sense. It could be considered a bargain considering you'll never find another.