September 1, 2007

The Tech Check Behind That Vintage Ride

Filed under: Uncategorized - Administrator @ 12:24 am

Vintage cars are pretty expensive. Only well-off individuals can afford one. But what makes them extra-expensive are the tech perks. A lot of vintage car collectors these days combine the vintage and modern concept to make a unique and adorable ride. Double the wobble and the result will be a multi-million ride!

For the super-rich, price is nothing significant. Put a top down, add in some modern audio - and viola! – collectors will swarm. They are not after an improved styling or enhanced Volkswagen heater core. They are in for a nice rare old car.

That was the ambiance at Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance which was held last Saturday. The prestigious event is one of the most famous vintage car shows around the globe. Pebble Beach is open for golf daily but one day is set aside to accommodate the vintage show.

More than 200 cars worth over $200 million and the Gooding auction generated a record $60 million. Rolls Royce collector Richard Solove auctioned his entire collection, including a beautiful Rolls once owned by India’s Mahareshi, and donated all $14 million to cancer research, wrote Jim Goldman.

"I love the cars very much, and I am sad to part with them, but I really have a deep passion for curing and preventing cancer, and that cost a lot of money," Solove tells us. A Ferrari GT 250 coupe sold for more than $1 million. A 1931 Blower Bentley sold for $4.5 million. The world’s oldest running car, an 1894 deDion Bouton et Trepardoux Luton sold for nearly $4 million.

Goldman added: “I was wandering the aisles of cars, each more stunning than the last, and overheard one collector talking about the auction the night before as dominated by ‘stupid money.’ I was struck by an extraordinary 1939 Rolls Royce Phantom III owned by John Rich Sr. from Pottsville, Pennsylvania. My favorite car was a little 1953 Ferrari 250MM Spyder owned by William Connor II. Small, fun, sweet. Perfect.”

“I spent a lot of time photographing an amazing bright yellow Duesenberg, highlighted by these big chrome letters on the hood spelling out the name of the car. It was striking. Sublime. Owned by collector Harry Yeaggy from Cincinnati who bought the car 3 years ago for $4.5 million,” he added.

"It’s that old rule," Leno told Goldman. "If they only made a few of something and it’s really popular, it’s going to go up!"

There’s the 32-Ford Lloyd Bakan 3-window hot rod. The car that Monterey, Calif.-based collector Don Orosco has been craving since he saw it on the cover of Hot Rod Magazine back in ‘58 when he was a 13-year-old boy, CNBC reported.

"I think I remember the car. I definitely remember the women," Orosco said from his astonishing garage, shop and museum that feature his multi-million dollar collection, dotted by Lotus’, a rare Scarab, an amazing Lamborghini "Birdcage" and the list goes on.

Vintage car collecting really pays off! By the way, who says billionaires don’t have a soft spot?

 

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