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Pebble Beach accelerates to sell the best cars in the world


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This Sunday marks the 73rd edition of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in California, one of the year’s highlights of classic car events, where hundreds of the world’s rarest and most beautiful cars compete to be named best in show. Last year’s winner was a 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster, first owned by the Shah of Afghanistan.

But for those more interested in becoming a potential future winner, the focus of the week will be the Pebble Beach auctions on Friday and Saturday (presented by Gooding and company) and the opportunity to put one’s hands on one’s own A piece of automotive history. The 200 lots span from 1908 to the present day, including classic European brands such as Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Mercedes-Benz, Rolls-Royce, Maserati and Jaguar, and American icons such as the Ford Thunderbird, the Cadillac Phaeton, the half-timbered Chrysler Town and Country and the Dodge Challenger.

The 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Lungo Spider is the highlight of this year's Pebble Beach auctions, with a high estimate of $16-20 million
The 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Lungo Spider is the highlight of this year’s Pebble Beach auctions, with a high estimate of $16-20 million

The star car is a 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Lungo Spider (estimated value: $16-20 million). One of only five long-chassis 8C 2900B Touring Spiders believed to still exist, the car is an earlier model. Elegance contest Winner, having placed first in its class at the 2000 event. It made headlines two years ago when it was stolen from a parking lot in South Carolina while on its way to a restoration in Maine. A $50,000 reward was offered for information and the car was eventually found by the FBI.

A 1955 Ferrari 857 Sport that belonged to Andy Warhol (estimated value between $6 and $8 million)
A 1955 Ferrari 857 Sport that belonged to Andy Warhol (estimated value between $6 and $8 million)
The first Porsche 935, estimated to be worth between $4.5 and $5.5 million
The first Porsche 935, estimated to be worth between $4.5 and $5.5 million

Other exceptional lots include a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider (est. $15-17 million) that served as Kimi Räikkönen’s official parade car during the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix; a 1955 Ferrari 857 Sport Spider (est. $6-8 million) that, after a distinguished racing career, was purchased by Andy Warhol; a one-of-a-kind 1954 Ferrari 250 Europa GT Coupe Speciale (est. $4.5-6.5 million) commissioned by Princess Lilian de Réthy of Belgium, second wife (and former governess) of King Leopold III of Belgium; and the first-ever Porsche 935 (est. $4.5-5.5 million), a prototype of the model that won at Le Mans, Daytona and Sebring.

Other highlights of the sale:

1937 Bugatti Type 57SC Atalante

It is estimated that between $9 and $11 million will be spent.
1937 Bugatti Type 57SC Atalante

Of the 57S, only 42 units were built. The “C” in this particular model’s name means that it was a supercharged version producing around 200 bhp, making it one of the fastest production cars built before World War II.


1938 Delahaye 135M Torpedo Roadster

It is estimated that between 2 and 3 million dollars will be spent.
1938 Delahaye 135M Torpedo Roadster (estimated value: $2-3 million)

The incredibly curvaceous version of the French brand Delahaye’s 135M, with roadster-style bodywork by Figoni et Falaschi, was first seen at the Paris Motor Show in 1936 and popularised the style known as French Curves. Only five of the 11 Torpédo Roadsters built are believed to exist. This example was discovered in a scrap metal dealer’s home in the Algerian mountains in 1992.


Lamborghini Miura P400 S 1970

Estimated $2 million to $2.5 million
Lamborghini Miura P400S 1970
©Mike Maez

The P400 S was first shown at the Turin Motor Show in 1968 and, with a top speed of 168 mph, was considered the fastest road car by 1970. Road and track This example had three owners in Turin before being shipped to the United States in the early 1980s, where it sat, undriven, in the living room of a car enthusiast’s modest East Rockaway home. When it was sold earlier this year, the house had to be partially demolished to get it out.


1914 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Alpine Eagle Tourer 40/50 HP

Estimated between 3.5 and 4 million dollars
1914 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Alpine Eagle Tourer 40/50 HP

This heavily modified, lightweight Silver Ghost was created by James Radley, son of the aviator and coal magnate, to compete in the gruelling 1914 Alpine Trial race. It won by a wide margin and a week later hit 98mph at Brooklands race track in Surrey. The car was subsequently sold and shipped to the USA. It passed through many hands before being bought by a farmer and used as a tractor, before being relegated to a shed where it lay abandoned for 60 years. Now fully restored, it has won many accolades at concours and was entered in the centenary race of the Alpine Trial in 2013.


1959 Maserati Type 61 Birdcage

It is estimated that between 5 and 6 million dollars will be spent.
1959 Maserati Type 61 Birdcage
© Photography by Jeremy Cliff

At the time this car was built, sports car design was changing and engines were moved from the front to the centre of the car. Even so, Maserati’s chief engineer Giulio Alfieri persisted with the traditional front engine, creating an extraordinarily light “Birdcage” chassis, and the car continued to triumph for many years at the highest levels of racing. This example is one of only 17 built.


1914 Sunbeam Tourist Trophy racing car

It is estimated that between 1 and 1.4 million dollars will be invested.
1914 Sunbeam Tourist Trophy racing car

This is a very rare survivor from the pre-1918 racing era and is one of only three 1914 Sunbeam Tourist Trophy models in existence. After the First World War it was rebuilt on a new chassis to be sold as a road car, but a later owner restored it to its original Tourist Trophy specification.

Pebble Beach AuctionsAugust 16 (4:00 p.m. PDT) and August 17 (11:00 a.m. PDT); public viewing August 14-17, Pebble Beach Parc du Concours