A Talbot-Lago "Goutte d'Eau" was the most expensive classic car at the Gooding auction in Amelia Island. The "Teardrop" brought 12 million. Several Porsches and Ferraris were also auctioned off.
During the Amelia Island Concours Week in early March, the three major auction houses Bonhams, Gooding & Company and RM Sotheby's traditionally auction hundreds of top-class classics. While collectors from all over the world show over 300 rare cars, the Porsche Club of America holds its factory reunion on the lawn of a golf club, classic car fans have the opportunity to add to their collection - or to build one.
During the three-day auction weekend, classic automobiles of almost all conditions, origins, brands and price categories went under the hammer. Including rare gems that cost millions. Gooding & Company auctioned 99 classic cars on Friday, March 4th at the Hotel Omni, ten of which had an estimate of at least two million dollars.
Talbot-Lago T150 C-SS Teardrop Coupé (1937): 12.2 million euros
The most expensive car in the Gooding auction even cost eight figures: a Talbot-Lago T150 Teardrop Coupé from 1937. The estimate, then the estimated price was "over 10 million dollars" (8.81 million euros). It was ultimately sold for the equivalent of 12.2 million euros.
The two-seater was one of the fastest cars of its time with its 142 hp four-liter straight-six. With its body by Figoni & Falaschi, the "Teardrop" is still considered one of the most beautiful cars ever. Rarely is one of these cars sold. The T150 on offer has won prizes at several Concours d'Elegances - the first time in 1938 in Paris, most recently in Amelia Island, among others. According to Gooding & Company, this is the first car to be offered publicly since 1950.
Bentley R-Type Continental (1954): 2.7 million euros
The racing driver Bill Spear received a Bentley R-Type Continental Fastback in 1954. If neither the car nor the driver tell you anything, it doesn't matter. Still, the two probably go well together: Spear, a friend of Briggs Cunningham, finished third at Le Mans in 1954. Incidentally, together with Sherwood Johnston on a Cunningham C4-R, as Wikipedia tells us. The auction house Gooding, on the other hand, knows about Mr. Spears Bentley that it is one of 23 with left-hand drive and center shift. The car was restored by P & A Wood, awarded in 2009 during the Concours d'Elegance in Pebble Beach.
The Bentley was one of the fastest and most luxurious cars of its time with its 174 hp 4.9-liter straight-six, which is supplied with fuel and air by two SU-H6 carburettors - and of course also among the most expensive.Well, how much does what used to be the most expensive, fastest and most luxurious car cost after first being owned by a successful Le Mans competitor and then being owned by eight gentlemen in the USA and Switzerland? Gooding & Company had estimated the price at 2.0 to 2.5 million dollars, the equivalent of 1.76 to 2.2 million euros. The sales price including premium was 2.7 million euros. There's a lot of car for the money: lots of boldly sculpted sheet metal painted dark blue, an interior paneled with oodles of fine-grained wood, thick red leather-upholstered seats, and a gleaming black monument of engine under the two-wing hood.
BMW 507 (1959): 1.96 million euros
Elvis Presley drove a BMW 507 , John Surtees as well. The motorcycle and Formula 1 world champion was given his 507 by MV Agusta boss Count Domenico Agusta and kept it until the end of his life. After Surtees' death, Bonhams auctioned off the 507 during the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2018 for a record €4.5 million. Gooding & Company auctioned an original 507 from the second series without a prominent previous owner in early May 2021 for the equivalent of 1.8 million euros - the BMW is more expensive than a 300 SL Roadster from Mercedes-Benz.
Gooding & Company estimated the value of an unrestored second-series 507 that went under the hammer in Amelia Island in early March to be between two and two.4 million dollars (1.76 to 2.11 million euros). With 1.96 million euros including premium, the estimated value was almost reached. The black roadster, which features a red leather interior and hard top, was owned by a family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for over 60 years. They bought the BMW new in 1959. The engine is the same as when it was delivered, the car has never been restored. It is a second-series model with a modified dashboard and improved passenger space. Of the 254 507 built, 218 are from the second series.
Ferrari 330 GTS (1967): 1.9 million euros
The successor to the Ferrari 275 GTS reached 240 km/h with its 12-cylinder engine increased to four liters. For anyone who saw the Spider at the Paris Motor Show in October 1966, that must have been an impressively high speed. At that time, 150 km/h was a respectable speed for most everyday vehicles. Ferrari built 99 copies of the GTS with the nose of the 500 Superfast in two years. In addition to its V12 engine, the Spider has another special feature with its transaxle drive: the ZF five-speed gearbox is on the rear axle, which improves weight distribution. A locking differential improves traction. In 1968, the US car magazine Road & Track praised the good nature and predictability of the twelve-cylinder Ferrari.
Chassis 10173 was delivered to Greenwich, Connecticut. Since then, the factory-painted Ferrari in Amaranto has only changed hands three times – most recently in 2004. The Spider was restored ten years later: the body panels were sanded down and repainted in the original Amaranto colour, the engine was removed and overhauled, and the chassis revised. During the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, this 330 GTS was part of the Ferrari 70th Anniversary Exhibition. Now he should find a new owner for two to 2.4 million US dollars (1.76 to 2.12 million euros). What succeeded: The Ferrari was sold for the equivalent of 1.9 million euros.
Ferrari F40 (1991): 2.2 million euros
With the F40 , Ferrari built the most radical dream car of the 80s: racing wheel suspension and a 2.9-liter biturbo V8, whose 478 hp to 1,245 Kilogram curb weight hit. A tubular frame and carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic elements support the engine, chassis and body. There is only as much of everything as is absolutely necessary for driving fast: the paint is applied so thinly at the factory that the carbon fiber structure shows through. The rear looks brutally functional with the wide rear wing and the perforated, transparent hood that opens in one piece. Neither servo nor ABS nor brake boosters or traction control help the driver master the power. He has to manage the sprint from zero to 100 km/h in 4.6 seconds himself – there is no help from launch control. It takes another 6.4 seconds to reach 200 km/h.
On March 4th, Gooding & Company is auctioning off an F40 that was delivered new to the USA in 1991. Since then, three owners have moved it 3,779 miles (6,046 km). It was supposed to cost 2.4 to 2.8 million US dollars (2.12 to 2.47 million euros) and was then sold for the equivalent of 2.2 million euros including premium.
Packard 904 Deluxe Eight (1932): 1.59 to 2.12 million euros
Packard, founded in 1899, took just 16 years to build a twelve-cylinder: The Twin Six was the first twelve-cylinder in late 1915 the automotive world. In the 1920s and 1930s, the brand competed with Cadillac, and from 1932 again with a twelve-cylinder. Until then, models with in-line eight-cylinder engines were at the top of the range. Like the Ninth Series presented in 1931, which was characterized, among other things, by a synchronized gearbox. Anyone who wanted something more ordered a Dietrich Individual Custom, whose special feature is the two-part, V-shaped windshield. Only two of these models are said to exist today. One of these was up for auction at Gooding & Company in Amelia Island in early March.
This Packard 904 Deluxe Eight Individual Custom Stationary Coupé has been owned by a Mr. Perkins since 1968 and was previously passed on within the club.It was once green but was given its current cream paintwork and interior to match during its most recent restoration in the early 2010s. Under the hood, a 6.3-liter eight-cylinder engine produces 137 hp, which the driver manages with three gears and tames with four drum brakes. At a price of 1.8 to 2.4 million US dollars, the equivalent of 1.59 to 2.12 million euros, the Packard was not sold. The highest bid was $725,000 (€666,500).
Porsche Carrera GT (2005): 1.8 million euros
For the same money there would also be a Porsche Carrera GT at the same auction. The super sports car built in 2005 has a V10 mid-engine that transmits 612 hp to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual transmission. It is one of 644 Carrera GTs that Porsche has delivered to the USA - and the only one in polar silver metallic, the auction house explains. According to the description, the mileage is less than 2,400 miles (3,840 km) and the condition is as good as new. The Porsche is currently in second hand.
Porsche 904/6 (1965): 2.2 to 2.86 million euros
This Porsche got around: The factory used 904-011 in tests in Le Mans in April 1965, followed in June by a use in the hill climb at Mont Ventoux and in July at Solitude. In the winter of 1967/68, the car was finally sold to racing driver and Porsche dealer Vasek Polak in California. He built a four-cylinder into the six-cylinder 904 and drove it in races. In subsequent years the car was painted black, crashed, burned, was rebuilt and painted silver metallic. Several changes of ownership, many races, a few states and at least one restoration later, 904-011 is now a two-liter six-cylinder again, as it should be, and found a new owner for a sales price of US$ 2.2 million (2.0 million euros). .
Porsche 718 RSK (1959): 2.0 million euros
As the successor to the 550 Spyder, the 718 RSK is undoubtedly one of Porsche's icons. The RSK had a more powerful engine, better brakes and an optimized chassis. The air-cooled Fuhrmann four-cylinder engine generates around 160 hp from a displacement of 1.6 liters at 7,800 rpm.
The 1959 Targa Florio won an RSK, followed by other Porsches in second and third place. The car with chassis number 718-018, which is now looking for a new buyer on Amelia Island, was also successful in racing: Emil Beck Pardee, Porsche and Volkswagen dealer in Palo Alto, California, used the 718 RSK in 1959 in 14 races and won ten of them. In the years that followed, the Porsche changed hands several times, but remained in California until 1970. The last change of ownership took place in 1970 – the car has been family-owned ever since. The sales price, including premium, was the equivalent of two million euros.
Conclusion
New world record for a Talbot-Lago T150: The "water drop" brought at an auction by Gooding & Co.in Amelia Island a sales price of 12.2 million euros. Millions were also offered for other classic cars from Bentley, Ferrari and Porsche.
