Displaying items by tag: Ferrari

A 1930s Mercedes (DAI) may sell for more than $16 million in California this month as classic-car auctioneers test the market with an unprecedented lineup of big- ticket autos by names such as Ferrari, Bugatti and Bentley.

The Mercedes-Benz 540 K Special Roadster is one of only 30 built. It may exceed an auction record of $16.4 million, set by a Ferrari last year, and comfortably beat the price of a Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder convertible, one of three included in the series of sales, which is estimated at $9 million.

A curvy red 1957 Ferrari became the most expensive car sold at auction, fetching $16.4 million at Gooding & Co. on Aug. 20 and topping a weekend of sales in which autos outshone equities.

The Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa prototype, which competed in the Le Mans 24-hour race, was on the block with hundreds of other collectible autos during auctions coinciding with Monterey Car Week in California, an annual gathering of collectors and other enthusiasts.

Despite the recent stock market turmoil, buyers competed aggressively for trophy autos, establishing records for cars and auction houses.

“The ultra-rich remain ultra-rich,” said Marcel Massini, a Swiss-based Ferrari historian, who attended several auctions last week. “The very, very best sells easy and incredibly high.”

Gooding’s two-day sale brought in more than $78 million, beating its 2010 tally of $64.6 million. Sales at RM Auctions totaled about $80 million, topping its previous high of $67 million last year.

“The stock market being volatile almost helped us,” said Max Girardo, managing director of RM Auctions in Europe. “It makes classic cars even more desirable” because they are seen as safe tangible assets.

RM Auctions set a record for a Mercedes-Benz with the $9.7 million sale of a silver 1937 540 K Spezial Roadster. It was consigned by Sam Mann, a collector from Englewood, New Jersey. The same model fetched $8.25 million four years ago, according to Girardo.

‘More Satisfaction’

“In an era when cash returns practically less than the rate of inflation, investing in tangible assets like automobiles brings you better returns,” said Dave Kinney, contributor to Automobile magazine. “And they give you more satisfaction.”

The top lot at Bonhams, a 1957 BMW 507 Roadster with its engine rebuilt by Motion Products Inc., sold for $1 million, reaching its presale high estimate.

One of the star lots, a 1925 Rolls-Royce New Phantom, custom-designed for the Bengal tiger hunting expeditions of India’s Maharajah of Kotah, failed to sell. It was expected to bring $750,000 to $1 million.

Also unsold was a 1963 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III Drophead Coupe owned by Sammy Davis Jr., which was expected to bring between $475,000 and $550,000.

At Gooding, a 1931 Duesenberg, which was expected to fetch as much as $7 million, sold for $10.34 million, topping the $4.5 million auction record for a “Duesy” and establishing a record for a U.S. car at auction

A tiger-hunting Rolls-Royce, a Ferrari estimated at $13 million and a Steve McQueen motorcycle are among the highlights of automotive auctions in California next week.

The sales coincide with the Aug. 15-21 Monterey Car Week, the annual extravaganza that gathers rare vehicles and wealthy owners. Auction houses Gooding & Co. and Bonhams will offer more than 500 lots of cars, motorcycles and memorabilia.

Bragging rights may go to a Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa prototype that’s coming on the block Aug. 20 at Gooding in Pebble Beach. Its forecast price of more than $13 million would set an auction record for an automobile.

Assembled in 1957, it competed in the Le Mans 24-hour race as well as in endurance races in Argentina and Venezuela. Its curvaceous red body and a 12-cylinder engine made the Testa Rossa the most popular Ferrari racing model in the 1950s and 1960s.

“This model won almost all races between 1957 and 1963,” said Marcel Massini, a Swiss-based Ferrari historian, in a telephone interview. “It’s an iconic car and an iconic design.”

A star lot at Bonhams’s annual two-day sale in Carmel is a red 1925 Rolls-Royce New Phantom. Custom-designed for the Bengal tiger hunting expeditions of India’s Maharajah of Kotah, the four-door convertible is powered by an 7.7-liter, 6-cylinder engine and is expected to bring $750,000 to $1 million.

Killer Car

You could blow away the whole village along with the poor tiger. The car was outfitted with a mounted double-barreled shotgun, a rifle stand in the rear passenger compartment and a machine gun on a trailer hitch. A cannon could be mounted on the rear bumper.

“I highly doubt that anyone would go hunting with it,” said David Swig, a motorcars specialist at Bonhams. “It’s more of a museum piece.”

Another highlight is a 1931 Duesenberg, which is expected to fetch as much as $7 million at Gooding, exceeding the current $4.5 million auction record for a “Duesy.” One of the grandest and most elegant cars of its type, it was commissioned by Captain George Whittell Jr., who had a pet lion and a 40,000- acre Lake Tahoe estate.

Whittell paid $17,000 for the car, a tiny fraction of his fortune. He liquidated his entire stock portfolio for $50 million just two weeks before the 1929 market crash.

There’s plenty of celebrity provenance at the California sales. Gooding offers a black 1931 Brough Superior SS80 motorcycle that once belonged to McQueen. Its estimate: $100,000 to $200,000.