On Sunday evening in Monterey, some people fade away due to travel arrangements or blistered feet or hangovers or exhaustion. But for those folks with the stamina—and wallet—for one more premiere event, Gooding and Company delivers with the final auction of a long week. Conveniently, the sale is held within easy walking distance from the eighteenth fairway at Pebble Beach. Per a list gathered by Hagerty, here are the top-ten priciest cars that Gooding sold last night, when it had the spotlight all to itself and some ringers on the docket.
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10. 1959 Mercedes-Benz 300SL roadster, sold for $1,100,000 (Gooding)
-This car lived in Germany for the first fifteen years of its life. More recently, it has competed in the Copperstate 1000 and the Colorado Grand vintage rallies. Rudge wheels and fitted luggage add value.
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9. 1975 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.0 RSR, sold for $1,292,500 (Gooding)
-A cool 1969 Chevrolet C30 transporter ramp truck was part of the deal, but clearly it was the Porsche that earned the majority of these dollars. One of the last few 3.0 RSRs built, this car competed in only one race when new.
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8. 1965 Aston Martin DB5 convertible, sold for $1,540,000 (Gooding)
-No Aston sold for more at auction in Monterey this year. This beaut is unrestored and “highly original,” with about 29,000 miles on the odometer. The original owner was Hollywood screenwriter Bill Manhoff, whose credits include Sanford and Son, The Partridge Family, All in the Family, and Leave It To Beaver.
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7. 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing, sold for $1,595,000 (Gooding)
-Recently fully restored, this Gullwing has Dunkelgrau (dark gray) paint, tan leather interior, and green and red tartan seat upholstery that help it stand out among other examples of this standout model. Originally owned by a doctor in Cleveland.
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6. 1967 Porsche 906E, sold for $1,650,000 (Gooding)
-This mid-engine monster raced extensively in the late 1960s, finishing seventh overall at Sebring in its debut and notching several first-in-class honors in USRRC and SCCA competition. Jerry Seinfeld owned this prototype racer for a while, and the person he sold it to cosmetically restored it to the striking Sebring livery seen here.
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5. 1961 Ferrari 250 Series II cabriolet, sold for $1,842,500 (Gooding)
-Despite certified originality by Ferrari Classiche and a recent restoration to its original, attractive color scheme, this car is worth only a fraction of some other 250 Ferraris of the time period. But we certainly wouldn’t kick it out of our garage.
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4. 1998 Ferrari 333SP, sold for $2,090,000 (Gooding)
-This endurance racer competed all over the world for two seasons when it was new, its most notable finish being fourth overall in the 1999 24 Hours of Daytona. Sadly, it’s been mostly dormant in recent years—let’s hope the new owner changes that.
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3. 1934 Packard Twelve 1108 Dietrich sport sedan, sold for $3,630,000 (Gooding)
-We’d have a hard time arguing with Gooding’s statements that this rare Packard body style resulted in “arguably the most attractive closed automobiles of the prewar era” and that this is “arguably the most beautiful classic-era Packard.” If you still had money during the Depression, you flaunted it, and this now-restored, Dietrich-bodied sedan remains among the classiest ways to show off your wealth in the 21st century.
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2. 1957 Ferrari 410 Superamerica Series II (open headlight), sold for $5,087,500 (Gooding)
-Clearly Shah Reza Pahlavi of Iran had very good taste, because he was the first owner of this gorgeous Grigio Metallizzato over red coupe. According to Gooding, he and his wife, Princess Soraya, “developed a love for Ferraris” when they “were exiled to Italy in 1954.” Soon after, they collected the car from Enzo Ferrari himself; she got the car in a divorce and kept it for about a decade. Since the mid-1970s, it has graced concours d’élégance all over America.
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1. 1961 Ferrari 250GT California SWB Spider (closed headlight), sold for $16,830,000 (Gooding)
-The fact that this car was originally painted metallic blue and had a red leather interior—a charming change of pace in the red-over-tan sea of Ferrari-dom—doesn’t seem to have hurt its value, although Gooding’s description of the car more or less encourages the next owner to return it to its original colors. (Naturally, it was painted resale red by a car dealer in New York in the late 1960s, pretty much as soon as it was brought over to the States and traded in on a new Jaguar E-type.) In any case, California Spiders are among the most desirable cars on the planet, and this example’s closed headlights and short wheelbase add to the appeal.
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Of all the superb cars on the Monterey Peninsula, nearly 1400 were offered for sale at the various auction houses. Even if we had $20 million to burn, it’d be hard to pick a favorite. Fortunately, we don’t have that problem?
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