The Gooding & Co. tent at Monterey Car Week welcomes one and all to admire one of the most varied auction lots on the peninsula. Choosing between R.M. Sotheby’s and Gooding would be like deciding which of my children I love more. However, considering that Gooding has a healthy amount of patina offerings for sale and the fact that I don’t have children, I would warily say it inches ahead of R.M. ever so slightly. I’ve done my best to narrow down the list to my personal top three, and if you’re familiar with my love for rust, crust, and patina, some of these should not be surprising.
1934 Bugatti Type 57 Ventoux
Oh my goodness. Seeing a Type 57 in the flesh is the kind of once-in-a-lifetime occurrence that made past civilizations create religions, but seeing an unrestored example in such utterly despicable shape is another honor entirely. The story of this one is as tangled up as Tangela the Pokémon, but to put it succinctly, it was once owned by early Bugatti collector John Shakespeare. This, as well as 29 other Bugattis, was eventually bought by M. Fritz Schlumpf, an industrialist of Malmerspach, France, in 1964. In the 1970s, Fritz and his brother fled Switzerland due to a business dispute. The collection was subsequently found, and most of it eventually ended up in the Cité de l’Automobile national museum in Mulhouse.
Some of them ended up in the Mullin Automotive Museum as unrestored, original examples, which is where this one originates from. It’s hard to look at a single inch of this car and wonder about the historical significance of all its blemishes. Where did that scratch come from? What about the horribly delaminated window? What historical figures or heads of state laid eyes on or perhaps touched this car in its prime? So many questions remain unanswered, which is why unrestored cars like this Type 57 Ventoux are a source of infinite wonder. One can’t help but feel slightly uneasy being up close and personal with a car like this, much less sit inside it. It’s as if you’re being blanketed by an insurmountable wave of history and the experiences of all those who came before you. I should write an article just about this.
Regardless, this 1934 Bugatti Type 57 Ventoux sold for $224,000, and I can only hope that its new owner simply gets it running and driving, without altering its physical appearance. It would be a shame to write over such rich history with a fresh brushstroke.
1948 Tucker 48
The story of Preston Tucker and his Tucker 48, or Tucker Torpedo, is far too lengthy for an article of this type. To put it briefly, it’s the story of a dreamer who nearly single-handedly competed with the Big Three, but was brought down through scandals and controversial accusations, which ultimately proved baseless. This particular Tucker 48 was owned by Francis Ford Coppola, the filmmaker who also directed the biographical film “Tucker: The Man and His Dream.” The car was used in the movie and is one of just 12 finished in #200 Waltz Blue Metallic.
While everything about the Tucker 48 is utterly jaw-dropping and downright incredible, including its multiple transmission iterations, the third headlight is the one that always has my attention. You see, this center-mounted headlight swiveled with the steering wheel, illuminating the car’s path around corners. Keep in mind that this is still technology that’s rarely seen nowadays, and the Tucker had it back in 1948. Of course, 17 states had laws against cars with more than two headlights, for some draconian reason, so Tucker had to create a cover for the third headlight for use in those states.
With such provenance. history and the fact that a mere 50 examples were ever produced, it should be no surprise that this example sold for $1,545,000. Despite its demise, there is an ardent and dedicated group of Tucker collectors who have amassed an incredible collection of cars, memorabilia, and original factory parts and paperwork to show what the 48 could have been had it not been bogged down by politics.
1898 Panhard-Levassor M4E ‘Course’/Racing Type Paris-Amsterdam ‘Americaine’ Four-Seater
If there is one constant in the automotive world, it’s that the French tend to make some of the wackiest/most interesting cars you’re likely to see. This 1898 Panhard-Levassor is a tremendous example of that, largely due to its exposed radiator fins prominently placed behind the single headlamp. While its original coachwork and race-ready Paris-Amsterdam specification make it an especially collectible early example of the car, this model was also the first production car to feature a standard steering wheel as opposed to a tiller.
You might assume that something of this age and provenance likely sits in a museum or in someone’s collection as an example of what cars once were. Thankfully, however, you would be wrong. This 127-year-old automobile is a proven participant in the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, having secured three first-place finishes to its name. It sold for a whopping $1,380,000, and we can only hope its new owner continues the tradition by racing it in the 2025 London to Brighton Run.
Final thoughts
I could go on for hours about every single car in that tent, but I think you get the idea of the wonders that Gooding & Co. had to offer. Are there any that you believe should have absolutely made the list? Let me know what your favorites were in the comments!
About the author
Gabriel Ionica
Senior Editor, Autoblog