By Pete Prunkl AUBURN, Ind. — For country music fans, it’s Nashville, Tenn. For Arts & Crafts collectors, it’s East Aurora, N.Y. For American classic car enthusiasts, Auburn, Ind., is the place to be. Here between 1900 and 1937, three of America’s most innovative and desirable automobiles evolved: the Auburn, the Cord and the Duesenberg. On May 31 and June 1, at the Auburn Auction Park, RMSotheby’s rolled out 273 cars; a third of these gems were for sale without reserve. Contacted before the sale, RMSotheby’s Car Specialist Zach Oller said there was considerable early interest in a 1979 American Motors AMX. “It is not the most valuable car in the sale (est. $6000/$10,000),” said Oller, “but it is unique and with its own following.” The AMX complete with black and orange flame-painted hood, sold to an on-site bidder for $24,200. All selling prices contain a buyer’s premium. Oller’s favorite car in the sale was a 1994 Toyota Supra Twin Turbo, a sports car with a Targa top. “It is a very desirable car with black paint and a tan interior.” The sleek Supra brought $53,000, lower than the record high of $173,600 for a 1994 set in March 2019 at the RMSotheby’s sale at Amelia Inland, Fla. Phone and internet bidding represented only 10 percent of the winning bids. American and overseas bidders prefer to travel to car auctions to inspect the merchandise, not rely solely on photos or written descriptions, said Oller. The sale was a homecoming for two of the cars in the RM lineup: a 1936 Cord 10 Phaeton and a 1930 Cord L-29 convertible Phaeton sedan. The 1930 sold for $157,300 after the owner removed the reserve. That decision catapulted the Cord to first place among the cars that sold at Auburn. The 1936 failed to meet its reserve and was still for sale at the end of the auction. Cars from two shuttered museums were included in the sale. Nineteen cars came from Dick’s Classic Car Garage in San Marcos, Texas. Proceeds went to the Richard L. Burdick Foundation. The top-dollar Burdick car at $84,150 was a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Aire convertible. Second place went to a 1954 Packard Caribbean convertible at $80,300. After his death in 2018, Packard collector David Kane’s Route 66 Museum in Afton, Okla., was closed. Of the 19 cars from the Kane collection, a 1939 Desoto Airflow SG coupe brought top dollar at $38,500. Close behind was a 1936 Packard One-Twenty convertible coupe at $37,400. All the cars in both collections sold without reserve. The oldest car in the sale was a 1913 Buick Model 25 touring car. This was the last year for a Buick with the steering wheel on the right, British style. The fully restored car opened at $10,000 and sold onsite for $38,500. Four European cars made it to the sale’s top 10 list. Coming in a close second after the 1930 Cord was a 2015 Rolls Royce Wraith at $156,750. Just below the $100,000 mark was a mid-1988 red over black Ferrari Testarossa at $99,000. The ever popular 1971 Mercedes Benz 280 SL Pagoda was $93,500 and a classic 1967 Austin-Healey 3000 Mk III BJ8 came in at $81,400. Total sales for the automobiles and 800 lots of vintage and neon signs from the Bob Strauss collection was $6,853,794. At the close of the auction, 90 cars and trucks that failed to meet their reserve were still for sale. In 2015, Canada-based RM Auctions announced the formation of a new strategic partnership with Sotheby’s, the famed antique auction house founded in Britain in 1744. RMSotheby’s is the classic car auction arm of Sotheby’s, now headquartered in New York City. For information on the next classic car sale at Auburn on Aug. 29-Sept. 1, visit rmsotherbys.com or call (519) 352-4575. |