In the space of two days, RM Sotheby’s announced two autumn sales programmes that will dominate the classic car market agenda over the remainder of the year – for very different reasons.
Firstly, the auctioneer revealed that it had been selected by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum to sell several cars from the museum’s collection in a bid to support its long-term sustainability. The undoubted star of this collection is the 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 Streamliner ‘Monza’, as driven in open-wheel form by Juan Manuel Fangio, and in bodied form by Sir Stirling Moss at the 1955 Italian Grand Prix.
The hype is already building for this car (pictured above); some believe that it could be the most expensive automobile ever offered by open public auction, with figures already suggesting interest in the $70m to $80m bracket. The previous W196 to be offered for sale – chassis 196 010 00006/54, Fangio’s German, European and Swiss Grand Prix-winning car – sold for £19.7m ($29.6m) in 2013.
If that wasn’t enough to dominate the classic car market agenda, the sale will also include the 1964 Ferrari 250 LM piloted to victory by Masten Gregory and Jochen Rindt at the 1965 Le Mans 24 Hours (chassis 5893, pictured above). This represented the sixth successive win for Ferrari, although it was the first non-works victory since Ecurie Ecosse in 1957; NART’s win was also the last Ferrari victory at Le Mans until 2023.
While the car finished five laps ahead of its nearest competitor, a fragile differential nearly cost the team victory – it broke completely on the cool-down lap. The car would go on to compete at Le Mans in 1968 (DNF) and 1969 (eighth overall, fourth in class), as well as Daytona in 1966 (ninth overall, sixth in class), 1968 (DNF) and 1970 (seventh overall, fourth in class). It’s been displayed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum since 1970, although it has been seen at Amelia, Pebble Beach and The Quail several times over the decades.
The auction will also include a 1991 Benetton B191 F1 car, a 1929 Bugatti Type 35C, The Spirit of America, a 1911 Mercedes 22/40 Touring, a 1911 Laurin & Klement Racer, a 1907 Itala, the 1909 Mercedes Brooklands ‘Semmering Hill Climb’, 1957 Chevrolet Corvette SS Project XP64 and 1966 Ford GT40 Mk2 chassis P/1032, which was supplied to Holman Moody and finished second at Sebring. The sale is due to take place in the autumn, with no fixed date set in place.
Just a day later, RM Sotheby’s announced The Junkyard: The Rudi Klein Collection. For the uninitiated, Rudi Klein was a German immigrant who arrived in the US in the late 1950s and, after a spell as a butcher, started selling European classic cars through his scrapyard on the hinterlands of Los Angeles. The collection, preserved untouched since Klein’s passing in 2001, has been rumoured to include some of the rarest cars ever; its precise contents have been shrouded in mystery, because his personal collection was kept hidden from view for more than 50 years.
RM is yet to reveal exactly what treasures the auction will include, although it has picked out the 1935 Mercedes-Benz 500 K Caracciola, one of 29 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Alloy Gullwings (pictured below) and the unique 1967 Iso Grifo A3/L Spider Prototype by Bertone.
Even a cursory glance at the images provided thus far reveal at least three Lamborghini Miuras, a Ferrari 365 GTC/4 (well, three-quarters of one), a multitude of Porsche 356s and 911s, a Facel Vega, at least two further 300 SLs and a multitude of mangled SLs in Pagoda and R107 form. We’ve put some of these images in a gallery below.
RM Sotheby’s has said that the cars will be auctioned during October, with the catalogue going online in September. The auction will include parts as well as complete automobiles. For more information on both sales, head here.
