Huge shout out to my grandpa for taking me on this trip! We checked out a bunch of vintage race cars at Weather Tech Laguna Seca Raceway, which was probably my favorite part of the trip. The following day we went to the Gooding & Company auction, which was also pretty cool to check out! They sold a 1965 Shelby GT350 R for $775,000! The next day we went to the Pebble Beach Concourse show, which had some incredible classic cars. One of my favorite things about the trip was hanging out on Ocean Ave in Carme
It was Harley Earl that sold GM on the need to produce an all-American sports car, and to test the waters, his Special Projects team created the EX-122 concept for display at the 1953 Motorama display in New York City. Less than six months later, the car – now named the Corvette – was in production, hand-built by a team of workers in Flint, Michigan. Just 300 examples were built that year, and this August, chassis E53F001300, the final 1953 Corvette built, heads to auction at Mecum’s Monterey sale.
The former Gary Cooper 1935 Duesenberg SSJ with coachwork by Herbert Newport Junior from the Miles Collier Collections will be up for sale at the Gooding & Company 2018 Pebble Beach auctions
The estimate on the car is expected to be in excess of $10,000,000.
DRIVING IMPRESSIONS
At the Wheel of the SSJ by David Gooding
Each time I drive a Duesenberg, I am impressed by the car’s wonderfully over-the-top exuberance – its extraordinary scale, immense power, and brash, showy character. The Model J is a distinctly American creation, and yet it’s unlike any other car built in Detroit or Indiana during the classic era.
Then there is the SSJ, which is something else altogether. With its 400 hp, twin-carb, supercharged engine and lightweight roadster body, this is no ordinary Duesenberg. Visually, it is the archetypal prewar sports car – with an impossibly long hood, radically raked windscreen, rear-mounted spare, and four gleaming pipes bursting from the engine bay. The SSJ is a seriously fast car, one that will leave most European thoroughbreds in its dust.
Unlike many of its contemporaries, the SSJ is quite friendly to drive. It shifts easily, has powerful brakes, and has really impressive handling – balanced and predictable, with light steering. Open the exhaust cutout and it makes a thundering, straight-eight roar, accompanied by glorious noises on overrun.
The SSJ is the original factory-built hot rod and, without hesitation, the most exciting, enjoyable American classic I have ever driven. If only Duesenberg had started building cars like this in 1928 instead of 1935….
Great video here from the Gooding & Company channel on YouTube
The listing and an excellent history of the car can be found here
A 1934 Ford Model 40 DeLuxe roadster cracks the top-10 in Auburn
1934 Ford Model 40 DeLuxe roadster. Photos courtesy Auctions America.
When it comes to vehicles selling in an auction’s top-10, a Ford Model 40 generally isn’t the first model that comes to mind. While some restored examples have reached impressive heights (like the freshly restored black Model 40 DeLuxe roadster that sold at RM’s 2012 Monterey sale for $88,000), most change hands for considerably less money. In Auburn, Indiana, last weekend, a 1934 Ford Model 40 DeLuxe roadster sold for an impressive fee-inclusive price of $77,000, roughly $16,000 higher than current NADA high book value, breaking into the sale’s top-10.
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