Records Set at Gooding & Co Pebble Beach Auction
Six Cars Bring More Than $1 Million Apiece
Sale of 84 Lots Yields $21.8 Million
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif., Aug. 23 -- The annual Gooding & Company Pebble Beach Auction Sunday (August 20) night resulted in record prices for at least three automotive marques, including $2.585 million for a 1927 Bugatti Type 35C Grand Prix car, and six cars each bringing more than $1 million in the culminating event of the annual nine days of historic automotive activities on the Monterey Peninsula.
The 84 lots -- 83 percent of the offered number -- sold, including 22 lots of automobilia, resulted in a total of $21,830,630.
According to David Gooding, company founder and chief executive officer, this third consecutive year of his Santa Monica, Calif.-based firm providing the official auction for the renowned Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance was just another in a continuing string of strong auctions.
"The sales were sensational; we had a number of different bidders from our world-wide clientele," he said. "The showroom was packed with more than 2,000 in attendance. And we managed to raise more than a million dollars for charity."
All of the proceeds from the sale of the 1934 Duesenberg Model J Riviera Phaeton for $1.21 million, as well as the $682,000 received for the 1938 Bugatti Type 57 Atalante Coupe, both donated by J. Peter Ministrelli, will go to the Ministrelli Women's Heart Center at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich.
In addition to the record-breaking result for a Bugatti Grand Prix car, other record automotive prices included $715,000 for a 1914 Stutz Bearcat and $616,000 for a Marmon, in this case a 1914 Marmon 41 Speedster. Another record was set for the auction-price of an automotive painting as Peter Helck's "A Motor Race on the Continent in the Early Days" or "Speed Demons of 1904" brought $97,800.
The Bugatti Grand Prix car set the night's standard at $2.585 million with five other cars passing the $1 million mark: a 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta 'Tour de France' for $1.54 million; a 1938 Bugatti Type 57C Aravis Drophead Coupe and a 1955 Lincoln Indianapolis Coupe by Boano, each sold for $1.375 million and the 1934 Duesenberg Model J and the 1937 Delahaye 135 MS Grand Sport Roadster for $1.1 million apiece.
According to Gooding, other significant sales included $269,500 for a 1959 Jaguar XK150S Drophead Coupe, the $748,000 for the Shelby Mustang GT 350 R (second-highest price for this model) and the $24,200 paid for a charming 1951 Fiat Topolino.
Gooding & Company's next automotive auction will be the October 21 sale of the Otis Chandler Collection, one of the largest private automobile, motorcycle and automotive memorabilia collections offered, in an event which could top $20 million.
Gooding & Company (http://www.goodingco.com/) provides unparalleled service for those in the close-knit world of classic car collecting. The auction house has set numerous world records including the highest price paid for an American car at auction (1935 Duesenberg Mormon Meteor) and a Ferrari road car (1967 NART Spyder). And at this year's Gooding & Company Palm Beach Auction in Florida, a Talbot-Lago Teardrop Coupe sold for $3,905,000.
Gooding & Company conducts the Pebble Beach Auction at the annual Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance and the Gooding & Company Palm Beach Auction in January. The company offers a wide range of services including private and estate sales, appraisals, collection management, estate and tax planning assistance.
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