A terrific collection during a remarkable week
R.M. Sotheby’s is always one of my favorite auctions to attend during Monterey Car Week. Their lots tend to be one of their most varied and contain some truly outstanding vehicles, ranging from modern supercars to antiques with enough pedigree to rival a show-winning poodle. It’s no exaggeration to say that I could spend hours ogling everything the team at R.M. has so carefully arranged around the Portola Hotel & Spa. However, for the sake of brevity, we’ll stick to what I consider to be my top three favorites.
A collection of Juniors
Gabriel Ionica
Gabriel Ionica
Okay, so these may not be full-size cars, but how incredibly neat are these?! The three Harringtons are modeled after a Ferrari 250 California Spider, a Ferrari Daytona 365 GTB/4, and the iconic Shelby 289 Cobra. All are made with a fiberglass-reinforced plastic body and steel chassis and feature 150-cc single-cylinder engines with electric starters, fully independent suspension, disc brakes, and working headlights and horn. Somehow, they have a reported top speed of 40 mph, which sounds like a horrific amount of fun.
The fourth in this collection is an F-Racer Junior, modeled after just about everyone’s favorite Italian stallion: the Ferrari F40. This one is especially rare, being one of only 10 produced in black over black. Despite having a larger 270-cc engine, it has a lower top speed of 35 mph.
Gabriel Ionica
Gabriel Ionica
Regardless of which Junior is your favorite, one can only imagine that kind of life-long passion one of these would instill in anyone’s kid. With a hammer price between $24,000 on the low end for the F-Racer Junior and one of $32,400 on the high end for the Ferrari Daytona 365 GTB/4 replica, that would be one expensive passion. Much like working on full-size cars.
A what?!
Gabriel Ionica
Gabriel Ionica
Gabriel Ionica
Gabriel Ionica
Everyone is undoubtedly familiar with the first-generation VW Beetle. Alongside its bigger VW Bus sibling, the Beetle was one of the driving forces of the 1960s and a big part of the Flower Power/Hippie movement of that era. However, have you ever seen a VW Beetle Limousine? Unless you’re a VW aficionado or you attended this auction, the answer is probably no, as this is a one-off coachbuilt example commissioned by influential West Coast Porsche/VW distributor John von Neumann. A slew of automotive personalities played a role in bringing this thing to life, including Troutman-Barnes of Culver City, builder of Chaparral and Scarab racecars, Junior Conway of Junior’s House of Color, and upholsterer Tony Nancy.
What’s the method behind the madness? There’s no surefire answer, but a lot of it seems to point towards “because I can” being the main reason. It worked so well, in fact, that VW ran a nationwide ad campaign titled “The $35,000 Beetle,” featuring this very Beetle Limousine. What a tremendous thing to exist.
Enter the Zust
Gabriel Ionica
Gabriel Ionica
I tend to pride myself on my knowledge of obscure cars, but sometimes I’m still surprised. Such was the case with this 1906 Züst 28/45 Spider Corsa, one of only five surviving pre-World War I examples of what was known at the time as the “Italian Mercedes.” With its sophisticated and sturdy engineering, Zust cars were known for succeeding in grueling trials where others simply fell by the wayside. One of the company’s cars took part in the Ministry of War’s Mobilization Trials of 1905, and was the only one to arrive in Florence under its own power. A few others took part in the 1907 Targa Florio and later in the “Great Race” from New York to Paris. This example is believed to be one of the 1907 Targa Florio participants and is one chassis digit apart from the Great Race participant, making it an incredible historic monument in automotive racing history. This particular 28/45 was sold to a German wrecking yard in 1946 before it was bought and restored in 2016.
Gabriel Ionica
Gabriel Ionica
It was fascinating to see in person and imagine the spectacle it must have been watching it roar down the dirt roads of pre-World War I Italy. Think of how stressful it all must have been for the drivers to undertake such a journey and the emotions this car must’ve witnessed, only for it to then sit forgotten and forlorn for seven decades. It is automotive heresy to leave a legend of this caliber in such a state for so long. Oh, if it could only speak.
Final thoughts
If you can’t get enough auction spotlights, fear not, for I have two more articles just like this one on the way from the Gooding & Co. and Bonhams lots. If you were at this auction too, tell me what your favorites were! Is there one I didn’t include that I’m an utter moron for missing? There’s a good chance!
About the author
Gabriel Ionica
Senior Editor, Autoblog