Leake Auction, River Spirit Expo, Tulsa, Oklahoma, June 5-7, 2015
Since 1972, when the collector car market was in its infancy, Tulsa has been the core auction for the Leake family, one of the longest-running, continuously managed collector car auctions in the U.S. 2015 was the Leake Tulsa auction’s 44th year, and was one of the best ever.
This year’s sale featured about 140 cars, most offered on Sunday without reserve, from the collection of Chicago’s Larry Klairmont. Characterized in the Kollection’s materials as “An eclectic vehicle collection” it was every bit of that, proving that Larry Klairmont probably never met a car he didn’t like.
Another high visibility offering was the “Lost Cord”, a 1937 812 Supercharged Phaeton that Cord stalwart Glenn Pray had bought in 1953, restored, then sold to James C. Leake to finance Pray’s acquisition of the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Corporation. After passing through the hands of one or two subsequent owners it was lodged in a barn and sat, undiscovered and unknown, for 45 years until a chance call to Glenn Pray’s son, Doug, last year turned it up. Being sold in Tulsa by Doug Pray through the Leake family brought the “Lost Cord’s” history full circle.
The numbers follow, and they are excellent, with a record-setting sale rate (having 140 or so No Reserve cars helps) and a near-record total sale.
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The Leake/Sevenoaks family’s hospitality, sincerity and the Leake Auction Company’s operational efficiency is legend, and Tulsa is where it started and is still best experienced.
Leake Tulsa 2015 – Auction Report
Lot # 0453 1948 Tatra T87 4-Dr. Sedan; Engine # 222667; Silver-Grey/Dark Red Velour; Unrestored original, 4 condition; Hammered Sold at $75,000 plus commission of 10.00%; Final Price $82,500. With Reserve. Rear-mounted sohc 2,969cc/85hp V-8, 4-speed, banjo spoke steering wheel, fender mirrors, black steel 5-bolt wheels, blackwall tires, sliding sunroof. – Painted poorly with orange peel clearcoat over flawed old paint and visible poorly applied filler. Somewhat grungy old interior. Dirty chassis, underbody and engine. Interior window sill trim held on with hardware store pan head tapping screws. Pretty much all there but all of it needs major attention. – Sold for $104,500 at Bonhams auction at the Simeone Museum last Fall. This Tatra is a cool thing, but it is far beyond anything but being displayed behind a barrier 6 feet away to keep people from seeing how bad it is. Even if it were done right (at great cost) it will still be only an odd Czech automobile with advanced design and seriously flawed driving dynamics. Even at $20 Large under what it sold for in October it is still expensive.Lot # 0470 1960 Porsche 356B 1600 Super Roadster, Body by Drauz; S/N 87364; Engine # P85540; Light Grey/Black vinyl; Black cloth top; Older restoration, 3 condition; Not sold at Hammer bid of $126,000. With Reserve. Hubcaps, radial blackwall tires, bumper overriders, matte black luggage rack, Weber carbs (Solexes included.) – Sound clearcoat repaint and interior. Vinyl wrap on the steering wheel rim, scratched and scraped top frame. Underbody is well used and dirty. Orderly but lightly used and oil misted engine compartment with newer Weber carbs with K&N air filters. Loose rear bumper rub strip. A sound but aged and used older restoration with newer paint. – Its numbers are consistent for a late ’59 1600 Super Roadster, but it isn’t pristine and will take some work to get it that way. This is a realistic offer for this car.Lot # 0472 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T Hemi 2-Dr. Hardtop; S/N JS23R0B155925; Red/Black vinyl; Recent restoration, 2- condition; Hammered Sold at $150,000 plus commission of 10.00%; Final Price $165,000. With Reserve. 426/425hp Hemi, dual quads, automatic, dog dish hubcaps on body color wheels, Polyglas GT tires, pushbutton radio, console, Rallye instruments. – Broadcast sheet documented and restored nearly like new. Excellent paint, chrome and interior. Very good paint, interior and major chrome. Engine compartment is aged, used and neglected, underbody shows age and use. Windshield and side window trim is scratched. Door window pockets are full of exterior overspray. Restored on TV in 2007 and looks like it. – A TV car, where restoration quality is suborned to feigned drama. This is a haphazardly done car that was offered at the Oklahoma City auction in February with a high bid of $165,000 and did well to bring this much here. It is neat to be able to say, ‘My car was restored on a TV show’ until the hood is opened and the disorganized mess revealed.Lot # 0476 1967 Chevrolet Corvette 427/435 Roadster; S/N 194677S100365; Engine # T0823JE 7100365; Marina Blue, Black stinger/Bright Blue vinyl; White vinyl top; Older restoration, 2- condition; Hammered Sold at $80,000 plus commission of 10.00%; Final Price $88,000. With Reserve. 427/435hp, 4-speed, 3.36 Positraction, Rally wheels with hubcaps and trim rings, bias ply red line tires, AM-FM, tinted glass, documented with tank sticker copy and NCRS judging sheets. – Restamped replacement correctly date coded block. 2002 NCRS Top Flight, restored in 1999. Very good older clearcoat paint, good chrome and interior. Top is sound but discoloring. Very clean underbody and good interior. Engine compartment looks like it hasn’t been touched or driven since 2002. No longer a showpiece but still better than many Corvettes. – Bid to the same hammer amount last October in Branson and as good a car as the price it brought. It’s not a purist’s Vette, but it is a very good one.Lot # 0487 1988 Santarsiero Atlantis Roadster; S/N CA457689; Blue/Purple, Light Blue/Red leather; Customized restoration, 3 condition; Hammered Sold at $80,000 plus commission of 10.00%; Final Price $88,000. With Reserve. Ford V-8, automatic, hardtop, Sony stereo, AutoMeter gauges, P/W. – Chipped, scratched old Dupont Chromacolor paint, good interior and most brightwork. Several fit issues with doors, windshield posts and hood. An extravagant Figoni-esque custom concept that won’t fit in most garages but will be a dramatic statement on the street. – This is one fantastic custom that outshines in concept and realization many full customs. Batmobiles pale in comparison and it is impossible to argue with the bidders’ determination of its visual impact and the value they put on it.Lot # 1159 1970 Pontiac LeMans Sport 2-Dr. Hardtop; S/N 235370Z125211; Engine # 248696 YA; Red, Beige vinyl roof/Fawn vinyl; Older restoration, 3+ condition; Hammered Sold at $16,500 plus commission of 10.00%; Final Price $18,150. With Reserve. 400/?, automatic, 4-barrel on an Edelbrock intake, P/S, P/B, buckets and console, aftermarket tach and console-mounted gauges, Grant woodrim steering wheel, SS wheels with trim rings, Radial T/A tires. – Good repaint, otherwise a clean and well maintained car. YA block doesn’t decode to a 400 of any known 1970 type. Engine compartment vastly overdone with wet look treatment. A sound and unusual Pontiac with plenty of miles on an old restoration and freshened with new paint. – There are so many ’70 Pontiac engine codes, confusion is almost inevitable. In reputable references, however, YA is consistently a 455 of either 370 or 360hp, making this probably a re-stamp by someone confused by too many conflicting choices. The wet look engine compartment is tacky beyond belief, but the car is essentially a GTO without the badges, a crafty sleeper that sold in OK City sixteen months ago for $20,075 and is a very good value here.
Leake Tulsa 2015 – Auction Report Page Two
Lot # 1163 1980 Fiat 2000 Spider, Body by Pininfarina; S/N 124CS20161113; Blade Silver Metallic/Dark Red vinyl; Black cloth top; Older restoration, 2- condition; Not sold at Hammer bid of $10,000. With Reserve. Nardi woodrim steering wheel, JVC CD stereo, Team Dynamics 12-spoke alloy wheels, luggage rack. – Very good paint, good interior, fair chrome. Ugly DOT bumpers. Old undercoat. Sound body with even gaps and flush panel fits. – This is easily one of the best Fiat 124/2000 Spiders around, a sound and thoroughly done restoration that went deeper than the cosmetics and should have brought a few dollars more than the reported high bid. But not many more.Lot # 2457 1953 Packard Caribbean Convertible; S/N L212159; Metallic Maroon/Maroon, White vinyl; White leatherette top; Older restoration, 3+ condition; Not sold at Hammer bid of $69,000. With Reserve. 327/180hp, Ultramatic automatic, P/W, P/S, P/B, power antenna, pushbutton radio, chrome wire wheels, wide whitewalls, continental kit. – Good paint, interior, top and chrome except a peeling trim piece behind the driver’s door. Dash, gauges and steering wheel are very good. Underbody is old, road grimy and surface rusting in spots. Window trim is dull. Good new glass and body seals. Looks like it was restored a while ago and then cosmetically freshened with new paint and chrome. – The car card says ‘leather’ but the interior feels and looks like vinyl and the rest of the car is presented consistently with leather-replacement upholstery. The reported high bid here should have been sufficient to clear the market of this Caribbean, a desirable but not very attractive partially restored car.Lot # 2463 1973 Datsun 240Z Ferrari GTO Replicar Coupe; S/N HLS30131690; Red/Black vinyl; Facsimile restoration, 3+ condition; Hammered Sold at $10,000 plus commission of 10.00%; Final Price $11,000. With Reserve. Chrome spoke Dayton wire wheels with grey painted rims, Dunlop blackwall radial tires, rollbar, 4-point belts, Ferrari badges, 5-speed with shift gate, Ferrari style woodrim steering wheel, four Weber 44IDF carbs on the Ferrari badged Chevrolet V-8 engine – Good paint, chrome and interior. Fresh and sharp. – About as close to a Ferrari as a Duesenberg II is to a Duesenberg, this is a showoff car, but one done to unusual levels of quality. Were the Ferrari lawyers to take notice it could be crunched into a cube in a heartbeat on account of its ‘aftermarket reproduction’ badges, but it will take them a while to care or to catch up to it (and in the event it happens, please save the intake manifold and Webers.) Until then it’s a fun and reasonably priced driver to take to Datsun events.Lot # 2465 1955 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible; S/N 556290005; White/Dark Red leather; Black vinyl top; Older restoration, 3- condition; Not sold at Hammer bid of $78,500. With Reserve. 331/270hp, automatic, silver Sabre wheels, wide radial whitewalls, Autronic Eye, WonderBar radio, parade boot and all the rest. – Very good paint, chrome and interior. The engine has been out and restored and the engine compartment given a superficial redo. Gauges are dull and dirty, dash chrome is dirty. The chassis and underbody are old and possibly cleaned up original but surface rusty and road grimy. Good enough to drive and enjoy, but not to show. – This is a handsome car, but is far from comprehensively restored. It is hard to find a rationale for thinking that in its present condition it is worth more than the generous high bid it brought here.Lot # 2467 1966 Shelby Mustang GT350H Fastback; S/N SFM6S2118; Black, Gold stripes/Black vinyl; Cosmetic restoration, 3 condition; Hammered Sold at $121,000 plus commission of 10.00%; Final Price $133,100. With Reserve. 289/306hp, 4-speed, Hertz chrome Magnum wheels, Radial T/A tires, dash top Shelby tach, pushbutton radio, woodrim steering wheel, thoroughly documented with SAAC and original paper. – Originally an automatic. Sound but mediocre old paint, decent chrome with weak chrome on the driver’s vent window frame. Good interior is aged and looks original. Repainted underbody with some road dirt. Gauges are aged and faded. A sound and presentable but unexceptional old cosmetic restoration. – This isn’t a great GT350H, but it’s every bit as good as the price it brought, and could have brought a better price without being a bargain. It needs little or nothing to be a great driver, a good value in a desirable Shelby Mustang.Lot # 2469 1937 Cord 812 Supercharged Convertible Phaeton Sedan; S/N 31837H; Engine # FC2380; Black/Maroon leather; White vinyl top; Unrestored original, 4+ condition; Hammered Sold at $95,000 plus commission of 10.00%; Final Price $104,500. With Reserve. Whitewalls, outside exhaust headpipes. – Bought by Glenn Pray in 1953, restored, then sold to James C. Leake to fund the purchase of the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Corporation and its parts inventory. Disappeared from view until discovered by Doug Pray, Glenn’s son, recently. Tired and neglected, with dirty, dull paint, stiff upholstery and top and oxidized chrome. Not running. – This Cord 812 needs everything, but it is generally all there, sound and in the best possible configuration with a correct supercharged engine. Its history also helps since without Glenn Pray’s enthusiasm for Cord and the supply of parts that he bought and maintained many of the Cord 810s and 812s on the road today would long since have disappeared. This result is generous for what the car is, but within a reasonable premium for its history and importance.Lot # 2470 1959 Mercedes-Benz 190SL Roadster; S/N 121042107501915; Ivory/Dark Blue leather; Dark Blue cloth top; Older restoration, 2- condition; Hammered Sold at $150,000 plus commission of 10.00%; Final Price $165,000. With Reserve. Becker Europa radio, body color wheels with hubcaps and trim rings, whitewall radials. – Excellent paint, chrome and top. Exceptionally attractive interior. Underbody was done a while ago and shows limited use but age and some surface rust where water has sat. Engine compartment is clean, sharp and nearly like new. A very fine example, but with a 1957 chassis number. – Described as a fresh restoration, it must have taken a while for it to be done for the underbody to look like this and creates the impression it was sitting for years, then quickly finished up to catch the 190SL freight train. The bidders weren’t fooled, nor was the seller, who got out while the getting was good. An astute transaction on both sides.
