SilverPhile by John Kuhn Bleimaier

Around the Block on the Monterey Peninsula

Photographs by Marina Pushkareva

In Band of Angels, Robert Penn Warren writes a brutally vivid description of the sale of a female slave, which still haunts me.  Similarly, I guess I do not feel comfortable at classic-car auctions because I believe automobiles also to be animate, with individuality and soul.

Seeing a creature of beauty on the block, ogled by tipsy, raucous prospective purchasers, brings up my gorge. Perhaps it’s my imagination, but I sense a cringing on the part of the numbered chattel as her well-formed curves and innermost components are critically scrutinized by a leering crowd of strangers.

However, many fine motorcars change hands during the Pebble Beach weekend. Enthusiasts from all over the world flock to the Monterey Peninsula each year in August. These car people are the target market if you would like to sell an unusual vehicle. Of course, at the great concours itself, at the Concorso Italiano, at Quail Lodge, and at the Legends of the Autobahn exposition “for sale” signs are strictly forbidden. But we all know that in our society, most everything has its price. Thus, every year before the streamers announcing the selection of “best of show” settle to earth, it’s a good bet that more than one thoroughbred will be headed for a new stable.

I have been attending the various automotive events loosely associated with Pebble Beach since 1988. In the old days, folks with collectible cars for sale used to get them all tarted up and park them by a lamp post on the streets of Old Town Monterey on the evening before the concours d’elegance, with a discreet proposition tucked behind the windscreen. That used to be the way to ply the trade.

Now the great auction houses stage mega-sales on the Monterey Peninsula to coincide with the Pebble Beach weekend. Despite my visceral reaction to the bidding process, it is interesting to see the great cars assembled for sale by Gooding & Company, Bonhams, RM Auctions, and newcomer Russo & Steele. Hundreds of cars come to market in this fashion, and the auction viewing areas constitute a veritable car show in their own right.

Prices of collector cars increased steeply over the past decade as investors joined hobbyists in the market. Even in the teeth of the Great Recession, the figures have continued to increase. I am not a financial adviser, but it seems to me that paper investments do not inspire much confidence in the post-Enron era. Gold is a good hedge, but it’s difficult to store and not much fun to play with, unless you are Silas Marner. Classic cars, on the other hand, seem to hold their value while providing a healthy dollop of pleasure.

Of course, unlike fungible commodities, two automobiles of the same model, make, and year can vary widely in value due to condition, not to mention such intangibles as color and provenance. Reputable auction houses rationalize this market by providing scrupulously accurate descriptions. And a particular vehicle that has appeared on the auction circuit more than once establishes its own track record. There is now an international market for vintage motorcars. The level of organization of this market is in itself a source of financial security, stability, and convenience.

The auction mentality, however, may gradually overwhelm our hobby. Interesting cars may ultimately become the sinecure of the rich. Outstanding exemplars may languish in climate-controlled storage, leaving car shows, vintage rallies, and historic races without their finest flower. Historic races may become more dangerous, with frequent accidents, as competitors shift from gearhead, enthusiast restorers to hired drivers and oblivious, incautious, affluent dilettantes. Automotive museums may be priced out of the market for new acquisitions, just as art museums have found it difficult to purchase great masterpieces since investors came to dominate the world of fine art. Furthermore, if restorers start to prepare cars for sale and storage rather than for the road, the level of craftsmanship may degrade. Food for thought.

This year, once again, I found myself on that fairy-tale peninsula jutting into an azure sea as the hot sundowner winds blew through the coastal range and the mists rose up from the cool Pacific waters. It’s August, and the beautiful conveyances and their fervent admirers rush to the coast of Central California like lemmings. A veritable red tide of Ferraris and a silver mantle from Stuttgart covers the foreground and extends to the horizon.

I was there when the old racers congregated in Seaside preparing to relive ancient rivalries at Laguna Seca. I trod the canyon turf between rows of Mercedes, BMWs, and Porsches at the newly organized exhibition, Legends of the Autobahn. Up in Carmel Valley, I reveled in the automotive and epicurean feast known as “The Quail, a Motorsport Gathering.” I witnessed the classic-car drive-by along 17-Mile Drive. And, of course, I was on the green before The Lodge at Pebble Beach for the crowning jewel of the weekend’s festivities, the concours d’elegance.

My friends know that the vehicles bearing the three-pointed star occupy a very special place in my heart. My grandfather purchased our first Mercedes back in 1929, a Type S saloon, painted in two shades of blue.

The Pebble Beach events always present a wonderful opportunity for stargazing. There was a beautiful blue 300SEL Finback at the Legends that caught my fancy. At The Quail, Jim Utaski’s newly restored 300SL, known as “Old Blue Eyes,” made her spectacular car-show debut. At the Pebble Beach Concours, Thomas Taffet’s 1929 630K town car was my sentimental favorite.

At the auctions, several splendid Mercedes-Benz automobiles came under the hammer. Two were standouts.

Gooding & Company presented the Marx Brothers’ magnificent 1927 Mercedes Type S white boattail speedster, with coachwork by Murphy of Pasadena, in unrestored condition. It was the centerpiece of Gooding & Company’s auction and ultimately realized $3.74 million. Purposeful and dynamic, this supercar of the interwar period played a leading role on the silver screen in “Sylvia Scarlett,” the 1935 film starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant. In the real world, the speedster raced against a Model J Duesenberg on the dry bed of Muroc Lake, east of Los Angeles, to settle a $10,000 wager between Zeppo Marx and his archrival, theatrical agent Phil Berg. Professor Ferdinand Porsche designed the mechanical components of the Type S. Murphy, the California coachbuilder, was known for his extravagance. However, this car’s spare lines and cool, commanding presence make it a standout in any automotive company.

Bonhams presented a 1930 Type SS Mercedes-Benz with Sindelfingen touring coachwork, described as largely “original,” in conservative red and black livery. This car, also a derivative of Professor Porsche’s design, was originally sold to a baronet in Great Britain and entered the United States in 1955 when it became student transportation for a playboy at the University of Virginia. The radiator and rechromed grille enclosure raised some questions in my mind. However, this is a very rare and historically important model. It is hardly surprising that it fetched a cool $2.54 million on the block.

Okay, I am a romanticist. I see the world a little differently. Spirits and notions from the distant past move in and out of my consciousness. I have a mission: I have long hoped to locate my grandfather’s 1929 Mercedes. He owned it in China, where he worked as a mechanical engineer from 1923 to 1938. Ultimately, my grandfather sold his Mercedes to a German physician who operated a sanitarium at Laoshan. When I was a boy, we heard a rumor that a high-ranking Chinese Communist Party official drove a large Mercedes painted in two shades of blue. But for the past half-century, there has been no word of that elusive Type S four-door sedan.

I am in a large, dark hall with many people seated in rows of folding chairs surrounding a brightly lit ramp and podium. A loud voice is barking out staccato numbers and phrases over a crackling microphone. Figures with large cigars are milling about the periphery. Several waitresses in short skirts are serving drinks to the restive crowd. I am not sure why I am in this place. I feel vaguely uncomfortable. Suddenly, a large, dark vehicle drives onto the ramp. By its noble prow, I immediately realize it is a Mercedes. Its fenders and roof are a dull, navy hue, while the four doors and the bonnet sides are a chalky powder-blue. “Oh, my God!” I feel a rush of recognition. A succession of old, faded album images flits before my eyes. Now I am on my feet and my right fist is jabbing the air. I am yelling defiantly. Then there is silence and a hammer blow. I am rushing forward with a canvas tarpaulin. Covering the naked bodywork of the motorcar I love. Rescuing her from the stares of the obscene rabble. Taking her home to a farm in the distant hills of New Jersey.

Then I woke up, still in my hotel room in Monterey.

Captions

Above: The 1955 300SL Gullwing sold by RM Auctions for $550,000. Below: This custom Murphy-bodied 1928 Mercedes-Benz Type S 26/180 6.8-liter supercharged boattail Speedster,  once owned by the Marx Brothers, and raced on the dry lakes east of Los Angeles, and a star of the movie “Sylvia Scarlett,” was sold by Gooding & Company for $3.74 million.

This exceptionally well-restored (some might even say over-restored) 1930 Type SS in stunning red with black fenders had interesting provenance, including original ownership by an English baronet and use by a wealthy college playboy in 1955. Not surprisingly, it fetched $2.54 million when it crossed the block at Bonhams.

Top: RM specializes in postwar sports cars, but offered this lovely old dowager, a 1911 37/70 Mercedes. Not too many years newer than the Simplex on the field at Pebble Beach, it had originally been owned by Samuel P. Colt of the firearms family. It fetched a fair $495,000, putting to rest the myth that brassies are no longer of interest to collectors.

Middle: This customized 1937 540K is the very car that graced our cover in July-August 2010. We can only assume the owner decided to capitalize on this pinnacle of fame, selling the car through Gooding for $2.145 million.

Bottom: This rather awkwardly striped 1927 630K with leather coachwork was offered by Bonhams, but the owner passed up the offered $400,000.

Top left: As one would expect, 300SLs and 190SLs were offered at each of the major venues. This red 1955 300SL Hardtop Coupe was offered at Gooding & Company. Above: It couldn’t find a buyer despite the period Carrera sticker on its windshield. Top right: A buyer was fortunate to pick up this lovely 1961 190SL at Russo & Steele for $31,900. Left: At The Quail, Jim Utaski’s newly restored 300SL, known as “Old Blue Eyes,”  was not for sale.

This 1952 300 Cabriolet sold at RM Auctions in Monterey for $115,500.