Gary Cooper's 1935 Duesenberg SSJ fetches record price at Pebble Beach
Mon, Aug 27 2018
The Duesenberg was also the lone American-made entrant in the list of top 10 sellers, which was crowded with the names Ferrari and Porsche. You have to go all the way down the list to No. 21 to find the next American car: a 1930 Packard 734 Speedster Phaeton, which sold for a mere $1.127 million. All told, Gooding & Co. said it realized more than $116.5 million in auction sales over the weekend, with a whopping 25 cars sold for north of $1 million, an 84 percent sales rate and an average transaction price of $947,174. Clearly this is how the other
Gooding & Co. said there were five world-record sales at the auction. Joining the Duesenberg were a 1955 Ferrari 500 Mondial Series II, which sold for $5.005 million; a 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Tour de France Berlinetta, $6.6 million; a 1967 Ferrari 330 GTC Speciale, $3.41 million; and a one-of-two 1966 Ferrari Dino Berlinetta GT, $3.08 million.
Oh, and that 1969 Ford Bronco test vehicle we told you about? The one that was rebadged by Holman & Moody as a Bronco Hunter? It sold for $121,000, which was well below the expected range of $180,000 to $220,000. Perhaps it was the presence of all those gorgeous Porsche Spyders and Ferraris that meant collectors weren't interested in boxy, utilitarian off-roaders.
Gooding and Co. had expected the convertible Duesenberg coupe to go for more than $10 million. It was one of only two of its kind built by Duesenberg — the other having gone to Clark Gable — with a specially shortened, 125-inch wheelbase and a supercharged straight-eight with double overhead cams, able to produce around 400 horsepower and a top speed of 140 miles per hour. It features a lightweight open-roadster bobtail body produced by LaGrande out of Connersville, Ind. The car was also owned at one point by race driver Briggs Cunningham.
Here's the rest of the top 10 sales from the two-day auction:
1958 Ferrari 250 GT Tour de France Berlinetta, $6.6 million
1955 Maserati A6GCS/53 Spider, $5.17 million
1955 Ferrari 500 Mondial Series II, $5.005 million
2007 Porsche RS Spyder, $4.51 million
1955 Porsche 550 Spyder $4.455 million
1931 Bugatti Type 51 Grand Prix $3.74 million
1959 Porsche 718 RSK $3.74 million
1967 Ferrari 330 GTC Speciale, $3.41 million
1966 Ferrari Dino Berlinetta GT, $3.08 million
2014 Ferrari LaFerrari, $3.08 million
Featured Gallery 1935 Duesenberg SSJ
- Image Credit: Gooding & Co.
By Sven Gustafson
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