Classics Sold Well At Gooding & Company's Pebble Beach 2023 Auction

Jaw-dropping collectibles were wall to wall under the marquee at Gooding & Company’s The Pebble Beach Auctions, the official auction of the 2023 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. This firm offered vehicles spanning more than a century in age at its August 18 and 19, 2024 sales, and ultimately achieved numerous world-record figures as well as the third-highest price from any auction that took place that week.

That high sale of the event (and catalog cover car) was a 1962 Ferrari 250 GT Short-Wheelbase Berlinetta—in handsomely patinated condition—which brought $9,465,000 after buyer’s premium. Other seven-figure sales included a historic 1914 Mercer Type 35-J Raceabout ($4,790,000), a restored 1972 Lamborghini Miura P400 SV ($3,580,000), a Pebble Beach Concours-displayed 1965 Aston Martin DB5 convertible ($2,205,000), and a 4,114-mile 2006 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 ($1,545,000). At the other end of the cost spectrum, auctioneer Charlie Ross hammered a restored 1948 Ducati Cucciolo T2 Turismo motorcycle with no reserve for a fee-inclusive $4,375 and a 1957 Ford Thunderbird for $36,960, the latter having a presale estimate of $45,000 to $60,000.

While the Friday and Saturday catalogs contained a total of 170 lots, 168 vehicles with two, three, and four wheels officially crossed the block. Gooding & Company’s post-auction release indicated 133 lots sold, so by our calculations, this event achieved a 79.2-percent sell-through rate; its reported average price per car was $714,522. Despite these results being a bit behind 2022’s pandemic-inflated figures, they were very competitive with other classic-car auctions taking place in Monterey. We’ll see how 2024 shapes up for Gooding, as this firm’s first in-person event will take place in early March in conjunction with Florida’s Amelia Concours d’Elegance.

By The Numbers

Gooding & Company Pebble Beach 2023 – Entrance

Total Sales: $95,059,875

Sell-Through: 79.2 percent

Average Sale: $714,552

Top Sale: 1962 Ferrari 250 GT Short-Wheelbase Berlinetta, $9,465,000

For More Information

• (310) 899-1960
• goodingco.com

Legend

Gooding & Company Pebble Beach 2023 – Italians

• Condition: #1 = Excellent; #2 = Very Good; #3 = Average; #4 = Poor; #5 = Major Project
• Reserve: Minimum price owner will accept
• High Bid: The highest offer made (but the vehicle did not sell)*
• Selling Price: What the vehicle sold for*
• Average Selling Price: Average market value of vehicles in same condition

_{*Prices shown for sold lots include the buyer’s premium of 12% on the first $250,000, and 10% on the remainder of any bid amount exceeding $250,000. Automobilia lot sales incurred a 25% buyer’s premium.}

1951 Cadillac Series 75

• Condition: Restored/#1
• Reserve: Undisclosed
• Selling Price: $257,600
• Avg. Selling Price: N/A

The woody treatment of this Series 75 was breathtaking, with that and the rooftop luggage rack having tempered the original formality of the long-wheelbase Fleetwood sedan. It was customized when new by Maurice Schwartz of Bohman & Schwartz fame, and subsequently owned for decades by actor-singer Gene Autry. After a 2008 restoration, the Cadillac was shown at Pebble Beach and The Quail. While minor variations in the body-wood color were visible, the condition of its paint and interior remained spectacular. The $300,000-$400,000 presale estimate on this unique car made the hammer price seem a deal.

1932 Bugatti Type 49

• Condition: Restored/#1-
• Reserve: Undisclosed
• Selling Price: $1,325,000
• Avg. Selling Price: $774,000

Ettore Bugatti’s road cars were renowned for their sophisticated engineering and exquisite presentation. This Type 49 roadster, with sporty coachwork by Carrosserie Henri Labourdette, received a restoration before gracing the Pebble Beach (2019) and Amelia Island (2020) Concours lawns. The two-seater featured a 3,257-cc SOHC inline-eight, a rumble seat and golf-bag door, gleaming wood trim inside and out, and magnificent finned alloy wheels. We spotted a tiny bit of damage to the front fender paint and the headlamp and radiator plating, but nothing was noteworthy enough to dissuade this seven-figure sale.

1933 Chrysler Custom Imperial

• Condition: Restored/#2
• Reserve: Undisclosed
• Selling Price: $775,000
• Avg. Selling Price: $355,700

Chrysler’s Imperials were some of the most handsome automobiles of the Classic Era. This sporty 1933 CL Custom Phaeton—one of a reported 36 bodied by LeBaron with four doors and dual windshields—was a fine example that was holding up extremely well considering it was restored before the turn of this century. The open car’s dark green paint and coordinating leather-upholstered interior showed minimal wear, while its “Red Head”-topped 385-cu.in. inline-eight engine gleamed under the long, vented hood. This rare gem handily exceeded both the average second-generation Imperial value and its presale estimate.

1937 Lagonda LG45 Rapide

Condition: Restored/#1

Reserve: Undisclosed

Selling Price: $1,055,500

Avg. Selling Price: $874,000

Our notes for this LG45 Rapide were succinct: “#1 perfect.” What else can we say about this prewar sports car with its W.O. Bentley-designed 4.5-liter inline-six engine sending exhaust out those flashy external pipes? About its bat-wing-like fenders, cut-down doors, and boat-tail rear end? About the green leather-trimmed four-place interior that looked as if it had never been sat in, despite the car having been driven some 2,000 miles since its concours-quality restoration? This Lagonda neatly divided its presale estimate and handily outearned the example sold at another Monterey auction the day before.

1921 Stutz Series K Bearcat

Condition: Original/#4+

Reserve: Undisclosed

Selling Price: $368,000

Avg. Selling Price: $520,900

Standing in stark contrast to most of its gleaming fellow Gooding auction-mates, this 1921 Stutz Bearcat was resplendent in its timeworn patina. It had a famous past, having been a star find on TV’s Chasing Classic Cars. The Series K roadster was made roadworthy—its 360-cu.in., 88-hp four-cylinder and three-speed transmission returned to full functionality—while its original features and finishes were carefully preserved, resulting in the recognition of a 2015 Pebble Beach Concours FIVA Prewar Trophy. This unique car had a presale estimate of $350,000 to $500,000, and with fees, it achieved that mark.

1936 Cord 810

Condition: Restored/#3+

Reserve: None

Selling Price: $106,400

Avg. Selling Price: $157,700

The purity of Cord’s 810 Convertible Coupe “Sportsman” design is unmistakable, as this red over black-leather-trimmed example showed. While it attracted a lot of attention, it wasn’t in concours condition; we found a bit of evident storage wear, as well as a rust bubble in the paint. The tidy naturally-aspirated 289-cu.in. Lycoming V-8 under its streamlined hood was noted to be a replacement for the factory-installed unit, and a sign on the car indicated that its brakes weren’t functional at auction time. These minor demerits, and the fact it had no reserve, led to it hammering far below the presale estimate.

1938 Packard Eight One-Twenty

• Condition: Restored/#3
• Reserve: None
• Selling Price: $128,800
• Avg. Selling Price: $133,500

Packard officially cataloged seven custom body styles by Rollston and Brunn for 1938, but a handful of the firm’s standard five-passenger Convertible Victorias would enjoy a glamorous restyling by “Dutch” Darrin. This example had Hollywood history and came out of long-term ownership. It was restored with a color change in the early 1990s and remained very presentable with remarkably good paint, although the intervening years were more evident inside and under the hood. Pre-1940 Darrins are very rare and don’t appear in value guides; despite this, it sold well under its $200,000-$250,000 presale estimate.

1930 Bentley Speed Six

• Condition: Restored/#1
• Reserve: Undisclosed
• Selling Price: $1,462,500
• Avg. Selling Price: $1,168,250

The 6 1/2 Litre model was Bentley’s most successful car of its early era, having spawned the two-time Le Mans-winning Speed Six racers. The Speed Six was also built as a roadgoing model, as this Mulliner-bodied 1930 Sports Saloon demonstrated. The two-door fixed-head coupe retained its original chassis, aluminum/fabric coachwork, and 180-hp, 6,597-cc SOHC inline-six engine. In the last decade it was restored to its original state, including a Lalique mascot as fitted by its first owner. We only noted a bit of tire wear present. While it failed to sell in Monterey in 2019, this car did rather well in ’23.

1938 Cadillac Sixteen

• Condition: Restored/#1-
• Reserve: None
• Selling Price: $179,200
• Avg. Selling Price: $93,600

Cadillac never built many of its flagship Sixteens; this four-door Series 90 convertible sedan was one of just 13 that left Fleetwood for 1938. It was a real show pony, its odometer reading 1,137 miles and the rear area containing two fold-down opera seats in matching dark-green leather. We spotted some polishing swirls in the apple-green paint and signs of use in the engine bay. Note that all open-top V-16s are rare, and classic.com shows the two restored examples that have been auctioned in the past five years (including this one) have greatly exceeded the average second-generation V-16 selling price

1936 Hispano-Suiza J12

• Condition: Refurbished/#1-
• Reserve: Undisclosed
• Selling Price: $2,040,000
• Avg. Selling Price: $1,800,000

This unique J. Saoutchik-bodied J12 Cabriolet was a star of Gooding’s August 2023 event, receiving a full 8 pages in the catalog. Its entire history was known, having appeared in the 007 film “Moonraker,” and as the poster car for the 2012 Pebble Beach Concours. The Hispano-Suiza got a dramatic color change to purple and black over brown leather during its 2010-’12 restoration, and its V-12 engine was upgraded with a rare long-stroke crankshaft, bringing 11.3 liters and 250 hp. We noted only minor paint issues on the car and found it curious that it hammered a half-million shy of its presale low estimate.

1928 Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A S

• Condition: Restored/#1
• Reserve: Undisclosed
• Selling Price: $467,000
• Avg. Selling Price: $508,500

“Perfection” was what we wrote after viewing this magnificent Landaulet, which was being sold at Pebble Beach by its third-ever owner. It spent its entire existence, after leaving Milan’s carrozzeria Castagna, in the U.S., with full documentation. The Tip 8A S was restored once, circa 2000, while its mechanical systems were refreshed again circa 2018. The result was a formal open car trimmed in leather and fine cloth that offered surprising performance thanks to its 155-hp, 7,370-cc inline-eight engine and servo-assisted drum brakes. It sold better than other 8A Landaulets, but still represented a good deal.

1967 Volkswagen Type 2 Deluxe Microbus

• Condition: Restored/#1
• Reserve: None
• Selling Price: $184,800
• Avg. Selling Price: $106,000

As the catalog explained, this VW bus was no ordinary example, even among the coveted “Samba” sunroof/skylight-window-equipped models. It represented the ultimate year of T1 production, and factory documentation confirmed it was built with the super-rare double sliding side doors as well as a walk-through front seat setup and the venting split windshield panes. It had been treated to a three-year, bare-metal restoration back to its factory colors and specifications, and its condition couldn’t be faulted. We weren’t surprised to see this no-reserve lot blow past its $120,000-$150,000 presale estimate.