RM Sotheby’s has revealed the hitherto hidden depths of the Rudi Klein Collection ahead of its two auctions, to be held in October 2024. A live auction will take place on October 26 with 208 lots, while 358 lots will be offered online between October 26 and 28.
For the uninitiated, Rudi Klein’s legendary Los Angeles junkyard was a place of mystery, an enigma; for many years, its contents were a mystery. Since 1967 Klein had built up a huge collection of spare parts for some of the most exotic automobiles on the planet, but entire cars were also hidden behind the walls of the compound. Few people had been inside since the 1990s – and now the Rudi Klein Collection’s secrets are to be revealed and will be offered for sale at no reserve.
We’re going to focus on the cars, but it should be noted that spare parts make up the majority of the lots – with some truly rare items up for grabs, as well as some motorcycles. However, we’ve picked out ten of the most fascinating cars from the collection. What are you in for?
The above 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing is the 26th of 29 alloy Gullwings built, and was originally ordered new by Luigi Chinetti. He ordered the car in special-order black with an optional windscreen-washer system and a 3.42:1 rear axle ratio. Chinetti kept the car for 20 years; during the 1976 Daytona 500 Klein met Chinetti and agreed to purchase the Gullwing for $30,000. Klein eventually took delivery in 1977, and the car remained in the central building of the junkyard in the decades since.
A few items were sold off the car – the tool kit, jack, spare wheel and shift knob – but it has covered 73,387km and retains its matching-numbers engine, gearbox, rear axle, steering box and front spindles. The only damage is a dent in the rear, when Rudi reversed it into his forklift truck in 1981. It’s estimated at between $4.5m and $6m.
The collection includes another 300 SL – a 1957 Roadster that’s one of just 30 factory-equipped with Rudge wheels. Originally finished in Fire Engine Red, it retains its matching-numbers engine, rear axle, body and front axles, and comes with a correct-type gearbox. Originally delivered to a Mr Thompson of Kitzingen, Germany, it now has 17,873km on the clock. It’s estimated at $800k-$1m.
Other 300 SL items for sale include a set of Gullwing doors, a crankshaft, an intake manifold, a bonnet and a brace of steering wheels.
This 1935 Mercedes-Benz 500 K is arguably the star of the collection – it’s a one-off car built for Mercedes-Benz’s racing driver, Rudi Caracciola. Tailored to Caracciola’s height, the car features a taller roofline set up for grand touring – there’s room for two passengers and their luggage. Caracciola used the car until the late 1930s before selling it through a Parisian dealer, allegedly to the Italian foreign minister, Galeazzo Ciano.
It was later found in Ethiopia, hidden away under tarpaulins, and then bought by Long Beach dentist and Bugatti collector Dr Milton Roth. He passed away not long after its purchase in 1963, and the car moved to Le Cercle Concours co-founder Matthew L Post. He had the car restored over 16 months by Dale Hanson, and it was then displayed at the 1966 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. It was sold to Axel Wars in 1973, before passing on to James Packer, who returned to Pebble Beach in 1977 and took home a class victory. It was acquired by Klein in 1979, and it remained hidden for 44 years – despite one collector simply offering him a blank cheque. No estimate has been revealed at the time of writing.
Other Mercedes-Benz highlights include a 1931 370 S Mannheim Sport Cabriolet (estimated at $100k-$150k), a 1968 600 Pullman formerly of Southwest Leasing of Beverly Hills (est: $40k-$50k), a 1938 230 Coupé by Baur (est: $30k-$50k), the ex-DW Griffith/Hogan’s Heroes 290 Sedan (est: $20k-$30k), and a 1965 300 SE Cabriolet (est: $20k-$30k), with several more on offer.
The car pictured here is the only surviving production example of the 1939 Horch 855, and one of either five or seven ever constructed. Built on a shortened 853 chassis and fitted with Special Roadster bodywork by Gläser, it was originally delivered to the Netherlands before being acquired by Loren E Lawrence of McPherson, Kansas, then serving with US Army Counterintelligence in Germany, in the late 1940s. It came with him to the US, and was retained until 1953 when Lawrence was posted to Europe as an envoy of the State Department.
It was sold to collector Purcell M Ingram as part of the Kings of the Road Museum in California, and then passed to James Bruckler Senior in 1959. During this era it was seen in several movies, including being driven by Rock Hudson in The World Is Ours. It later became part of Movieworld Cars of the Stars and Planes of Fame of Buena Park, before joining the Rudi Klein Collection in 1980. In 1992 the 855 and two other Horchs from the collection were loaned to Audi to star in the Audi Forum museum at Ingolstadt. As part of this process they were restored over 30 months and exhibited in Germany for 30 years. No estimate has been revealed.
Other Horchs in the Rudi Klein Collection include the ex-Alexander Cunningham (GM vice-president) 853 Cabriolet (est: $200k-$300k) and a 780 Sport Cabriolet (est: $90k-$120k).
This 1968 Lamborghini Miura P400 is one of three and a half Miuras in the collection. We’ll come to the other two (and the half) in a moment, but this particular car is the 159th of 275 built, and was originally finished in Giallo Miura paint over a Bleu interior. RM Sotheby’s speculates that the original owner – Mr Zampolli – was actually Claudio Zampolli, the Lamborghini test engineer and driver, who went on to form the Cizeta supercar project. It’s estimated at between $500k and $700k.
There’s also a Bleu over Bleu 1969 P400 S (est: $500k-$700k) and the 53rd P400 ever constructed (and thus a thin-gauge body car); sold new to Italy, it later came to the Baldwin Hills neighbourhood of Los Angeles, California. That is estimated at $350k-$450k.
Now for the aforementioned half… offered as a complete lot, this features the front chassis section and clip from a late-production Miura P 400, chassis number 3646, on the back of a VW Type 2 single-cab pick-up. It is presented in exactly the same way as it has been in the junkyard for decades, prompting the question – are these vehicles now, or a work of art? Either way, it’s estimated at $20k-$30k.
This unique 1964 Iso Grifo A3/L Spider Prototype was the companion to the original A3/L prototype coupé, and was developed as a surprise for Iso management. Bertone displayed the car at several car shows through 1964, including Geneva, where it was pictured alongside designer Giorgetto Giugiaro. It was exported to the US in the late 1960s, and was eventually acquired by TV producer Greg Garrison in 1973. It entered the Rudi Klein Collection in 1980, having been repainted several years earlier. It had been in accident, which is why it has a standard Grifo nose. It’s estimated at between $700k and $1m.
Other Italian highlights in the Rudi Klein Collection include a 1961 Iso Grifo Series 1 (est: $125k-$175k), a 1964 Maserati Sebring 3500 GTi Series I (est: $30k-$40k), a 1977 Maserati Bora 4.9 (est: $20k-$30k) and a 1968 Maserati Mistral 4.0 (est: $15k-$20k).
This 1959 Porsche 356 A Carrera 1500 GS/GT features one of 14 or 15 Type 692/1 four-cam engines ever built (featuring a plain-bearing crankshaft). It was picked up at the factory by a Mr. Burgoyne of Princeton, New Jersey, and later owned by a Roy Leventhal of La Verne, California, before joining the Klein Collection in 1976. It’s estimated at between $450k and $600k.
Porsche 356s (and their parts) account for 51 of the lots in the Rudi Klein Collection, with notable cars including a 356 B 1600 ‘Twin-Grille’ Roadster by D’Ieteren with 600 miles on the clock (est: $350k-$550k), one of 96 356 B Carrera 2 2000 GS Cabriolets (est: $100k-$150k) and one of only 126 356 C believed to have been built with the four-cam Carrera engine (est: $40k-$50k).
This 1938 Maybach SW38 Sport Cabriolet was originally delivered to German circus impresario Carl Krone, and would later be owned by Noel Thompson and Thomas H Wilson II, having come the US in 1951. Bodied by Spohn, it features special items such as a Telefunken radio and front seats that, with the pull of a lever, drop flat, transforming the interior into a bed. It’s believed that the car received an updated 4.2-litre engine before it came to the US, as part of a factory upgrade. It joined the Klein Collection in 1989, and is estimated at between $150k and $200k.
Other Maybachs in the collection include a Wendler-bodied 1939 SW38 ‘Ponton-Sport’ Cabriolet (est: $100k-$150k) and a Spohn-bodied 1936 SW38 Cabriolet (est: $50k-$75k).
This unique 1971 NSU ro80 2 Porte + 2 by Pininfarina is one of the newest vehicles in the Rudi Klein Collection, and it has recently been returned to the US from long-term loan in Europe. Based on the NSU ro80, Pininfarina focused on aerodynamics with ventilation through large air intakes along the bottom of the windscreen, and on the sides of the roof panels and doors. The roof compartment could be opened for ventilation, with the roof sliding down on the bootlid, and the dashboard places all of the binnacles in front of the driver. It was displayed at the 1972 Brussels International Motor Show, and was later acquired by Thomas Taffet of Chatsworth, California. It joined the Klein Collection in 1995, and was then displayed by Audi in Germany for the best part of 30 years. It’s estimated at between $60k and $80k.
Other notable cars in the Rudi Klein Collection include a 1957 BMW 503 Series I Cabriolet (est: $75k-$100k), the first Facel Vega sold to the US, a FV2 Cabriolet conversion once owned by actor Edward Ashley (est: $20k-$30k), the ex-Lyle Waggoner 1985 Audi Treser Largo (est: $5k-$10k) and several Porsche 911s.
This 1956 BMW 502-based creation is the sole example of the Marburg, built by Autenrieth of Darmstadt. Originally delivered to Autohaus Essen during February 1956, it was commissioned by a wealthy Autenrieth patron from Marburg. It’s estimated at between $30k and $50k.
There are several Ferraris in the Rudi Klein Collection that are distinctly ‘secondhand’ – the above 1967 330 GTC (chassis 9415) was first delivered to Milanese meat-packing company Salumificio Pietro Moleni S.a.s., and was last recorded with Ramon Otero of California in 1975. It’s estiamted at $50k-$75k.
Other than Hollywood producer and director James R Burroughs’s briefly owned before being crashed 1972 365 GTC/4 (chassis 15633, est $40k-$50k), there’s very little left of the 365 GT 2+2 chassis 12365 (est: $25k-$35k), a drivetrain-devoid 330 GTC chassis 9135 (est $30k-$40k) and half of a 1966 275 GTS, body PF165/chassis 7921 (est: $30k-$40k).
For more details on the forthcoming RM Sotheby’s sale, head here.
