A car built for $20,000 during the height of the 1929 depression sells for record $2.42 at Concours d'Elegance
A snapshot of history surrounded by beauty
This was the second year in a row that in the final end I didn’t make it to the Concours d’Elégance. Too much to do on the home front that made both my wife and I collapse when the moment came to say OK let’s drive down, park the car half a mile away, fight the sell out crowd and see some of the most awesome automobiles ever put together by mankind.
But we are happy to report that Judie and Lawrence and Ally at the Desk did some beautiful and funny coverage work as did our micro photography expert Helmut Albrecht – once again with a feature from sunrise to sunset of an event that attracted record numbers once again this year.
Concours d’Elégance 2012 Main Event
Concours d’Elégance 2012 Prepping and Auctions
The Concours showcased 300 cars and motorcycles, including a dozen 1960s Ferrari GTOs estimated to be worth about $90 million together.
In the end, the 14th annual RM Auctions sale generated more than $23 million in sales Saturday (an 87% sell through) and the massive climate-controlled tent on the Ritz Carlton’s beachfront actually withstood the up-to 35 mile wind gusts that ripped through the island that day.
and the Winner is......
The top seller was this stunning one-off 1929 Cord L-29 Hayes Coupe, its shapely blue low-slung design by Count Alexis de Sakhnoffsky, build for a reported $20,000 during the start of the 1929 depression, fetching $2.42 million.
Down the road at the Gooding & Co. auction at the Omni Amelia Island Plantation, taking advantage of the attraction the Concours d’Elégance has become over the years, a 1973 Porsche 917/ 30 Can-Am Spyder race car sold for a record $4.4 million.
Top Ten RM Auction Results
1. 1929 Cord L-29 Special Coupe – $2,420,000
2. 1956 Ferrari 250 GT Coupe Speciale – $1,430,000
3. 1965 Aston Martin DB5 Vantage Convertible – $1,210,000
4. 1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Spyder – $1,210,000
5. 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 Berlinetta – $1,100,000
6. 1930 Bugatti Type 46 Superprofile Coupe – $1,017,500
7. 1960 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster – $990,000
7. 1937 Squire 1½-Liter Drophead Coupe – $990,000
9. The Lalique Mascot Collection of Ele Chesney – $805,000
10. 1929 Duesenberg Model J Convertible Berline – $803,000
