- Pebble Beach Ready to Break a Few Classic Car Auction Records
Next week is a huge one for classic motoring when the annual Monterrey Classic Week goes down in California. A classic case of automotive sensory overload throughout the week of Saturday 13 to Sunday 21 August, it is among the greatest and most diverse spectacles of the classic motoring year. Monterey is everything from a casual car meeting to a historic race week at nearby Laguna Seca, the classic Concours d’Elegance. And the regular record breaking auction.
And 2022 is no different, with a stunning variety of machinery topped under the gavel as Sotheby’s, Mecum and Gooding & Company auction off hundreds of high-quality classic cars through the Pebble Beach Week. Everything from Bentleys and Bugattis to early Ferraris, Porsches and more will be hammered down, many of which had superstar owners and drivers over the years. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights.
Ferrari 410 Sport Spider THE MONTERREY STAR
The auction’s most expensive car is a Scagliettti bodied Ferrari 410 Sport Spider is auction’s most expensive car. One of two factory 4.9-litre dual-ignition V12 built for the 1956 season Juan Manuel Fangio drove the 400 HP machine in the 1956 Buenos Aires 1,000. Carroll Shelby also raced it to eight wins and ten podiums in California speed derbys. As sale at the estimated $25 to 30-million would mean a record for the 2022 auction year. That’s R490 million!
The King of Afghanistan’s Supercharged Mercedes
Another RM Sotheby’s star is a fleet of ten supercharged Mercedes including 500K and 540K models. One of them is in incredible original condition. Rarely seen in public and an auction debutant, the King of Afghanistan was among the owners that put 20,000 kilometers on the clock. Expect to part with two-hundred million rand for this one!
Talbot-Lago T150-C SS ‘Goutte d’Eau’ IN MONTERREY
Another stunning Pebble Beach lot is a Talbot-Lago T150-C SS Teardrop Coupe by Parisian coach builders Figoni et Falaschi. Known as ‘Goutte d’Eau’, or water drop, its first owner entered the Le Mans 24 Hour in 1939. It retired on the 88th lap in 9th place. Confiscated by the Germans in 1942, it later stood with a private owner south of Berlin before a chequered route to where it is expected to fetch anything up to R180 million in California next Friday.
Hispano-Suiza H6B ‘Wooden Racer’
RM Sotheby’s eight liter overhead camshaft straight six Hispano-Suiza H6B ‘wooden racer’ has been held by the same family for almost 100 years. French aperitif tycoon André Dubonnet lowered the chassis, added a long distance fuel tank and ordered the body torpedo-shaped mahogany from an aircraft manufacturer. Held together by thousands of rivets, it allegedly weighs just 80 kilograms and it also expected to top too-hundred million on auction.
Aluminum Body Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing
Another Monterrey highlight is a Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing said to be worth as much as R110 million. While Gullwings usually change hands for fifteen or 20 milllon or so, this is one of only 29 aluminum bodied cars. And it has all of 2,607 kilometers on the odometer and. Restored by Kienle. its three-liter direct injection straight-six has a ‘Special Parts’ performance camshaft.
Von Trips & Bonnier’s Porsche 718 RSK
James Dean mad the 550 made infamous when he died in one. But this less famous Monterrey Porsche 718 RSK is even more appealing. This light aluminum bodied Fuhrmann boxer-four 718 RSK was one of ten Porsche works cars. Raced by among others, Wolfgang von Trips and Jo Bonnier, who won their class in the 1959 12 Hours of Sebring. And to fourth in the Nürburgring 1000 by Hans Herrmann and Umberto Maglioli. Expect it to fetch R80 million, or so.
So Monterrey is the place to be next week. Especially if you have a half a billion burning a hole in your pocket. Should be a treat, either way.