More than 120 cars were offered in the sale, with over 80 lots from The Harrah Collection – a broad selection of historic motorcars dating from the late 1800s to the 1960s. Many of these vehicles were the sole survivors or examples of limited-production or one-off design concepts that never progressed to production. The sale also included 30 motorcars from The Minden Automobile Museum in Minden, Nevada.
Highlights of the National Automobile Museum Auction included a 1936 Experimental Supercharged Cord. The car was one of five or six prototypes built and was formerly the property of E.L. Cord and was used by the Cord family in Chicago and Beverly Hills from 1936 to 1940. The car sold for $358,400 including premium.
Another car sold with an interesting and extensive backstory was an ex-Carrera Panamericana Lincoln Capri Custom Coupe, created by the Lincoln Division of the Ford Motor Company. The car was the only known survivor of Lincoln’s 1954 Carrera Panamericana campaign and restored by its original builder, Holman and Moody-Stroppe and finished in the unique livery of class winners. It had been preserved for over half a century in Harrah’s Collection at the National Automobile Museum and sold for $117,600, including premium.
The 1971 Duesenberg II SSJ Roadster, formerly owned by Sammy Davis, Jr., originally bought by Harrah’s Club and regarded as one of the best 1970s Duesenbergs, sold for $156,800, including premium.
Also included in the sale was a 1960 Fiat Pininfarina ‘Y’ – a futuristic experimental aerodynamic design personally gifted to the Museum by renowned stylist Sergio Pininfarina, son of Carrozzeria founder, Battista ‘Pinin’ Farina, which sold for $268,800 including premium.
A 1959 Scimitar Station Sedan Experimental by Brooks Stevens and Reutter & Company also sold well for $156,800, including premium. The car was one of only three Scimitars built and the only one made as a retractable-roof station wagon, creating a unique “All-Purpose Sedan”.
The Bonhams Cars US team’s focus now turns to the upcoming Laguna Seca Auction as part of Monterey Car Week on August 13, with consignments being invited for the sale. The Laguna Seca Auction already includes the unique Lola-Ford T70 Mark II CanAm sports-racing car, driven by the late, great American Formula 1, CanAm and Indy driver, Dan Gurney – the only Ford-powered car to win a CanAm race from 1966 to 1974 (estimated at $1,100,000 – $1,500,000). Also offered is the 1967 Vollstedt-Ford 67B IndyCar, driven by Scotland’s double-Formula 1 World Champion and 1965 Indianapolis 500-Mile race winner, Jim Clark, which will be sold without reserve with an estimate of $735,000 – $1,250,000.
