In the poetry of nostalgia, few words resonate with as much clarity as the names of classic automobiles.
Even before feasting your eyes on the truly remarkable vehicles on display at the Blackhawk Collection’s annual Exposition Sale held here last month, it was possible to conjure romantic images of several bygone eras just by reading the list of cars available to well-heeled connoisseurs of “rolling sculpture.”
The sale catalog, published in conjunction with the 47th annual Pebble Beach Concours D’Elegance, teased the imagination with the promise of such treasures as the 1938 Delage D8-120S Letourneur et Marchand Aerospace Coupe, a 1947 Delahaye Type 135MS Franay Cabriolet and a 1933 Duesenberg J Rollston Torpedo Convertible Victoria. It also boasted of a 1920 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Barker Boattail, a 1938 Talbot-Lago 150C SS Figoni et Falaschi Teardrop Coupe, even a 1955 Dodge Firebomb.
In another 40 or 50 years, will Neon, Aspire, Probe and Contour sound nearly as intoxicating? By then, will anyone have figured out why Prizm and Infiniti are spelled the way they are, or what the words Camry, Corolla, Jimmy, Sentra and Protege are supposed to convey to motorists?
By comparison, even the naming of the 1954 Oldsmobile F-88 Motorama, a concept car, seems to have been inspired by the muses.
All of the 60 or so antique, classic and custom-coachwork automobiles in the tented pavilion on the Peter Hay Golf Course, a short walk from the Lodge at Pebble Beach, had passed such exams with ease. These were museum-quality specimens that, at once, defined and defied the term priceless.
Such were the centerpieces of this year’s exposition: a 1927 silver-and-red Isotta-Fraschini Tipo 8A S Roadster and a green-and-black 1931 Bentley 8-liter Mulliner Sport Sedan.
As signaled by the shining cobra coiled on the radiator of the roadster, the sporting machine was commissioned by matinee idol Rudolph Valentino. Building on a high-performance Isotta chassis, imported from Italy, it took three years for the American firms of LeBaron and Fleetwood to meet the silent-film star’s exacting specifications.
The Bentley originally belonged to William K. Vanderbilt III, then a student at Trinity College, Cambridge. He wasn’t happy with the sedate convertible-sedan bodywork, so it was rebuilt in 1934 by H.J. Mulliner to put the driver and passenger under the same roof, without a divider.
Both cars have been out of view for several years and likely will move again to a private garage or warehouse when sold by the Blackhawk Collection, which has about 75 cars at any given time. Thus, this exposition provided a rare opportunity for investors and amateur enthusiasts to examine the automotive treasures.
Though most of the cars on display in and around the big white tent carried price tags ranging from $85,000 to more than $2 million, it didn’t stop spectators from dreaming. Some brave souls even pulled out their wallets.
A few days after the event, when Timothy P. McGrane, Blackhawk’s commercial and operations director, was asked whether he had found a new owner for the crowd-pleasing Isotta-Fraschini, he reported, “No, we didn’t get that one sold, but a couple of the right people expressed some interest in it.”
Which, given the car’s $1.5 million sticker, was almost all one could anticipate.
“Obviously it’s a very significant car,” McGrane said. “Cars like that take some time for transactions to be put together, so it isn’t unusual. We were pleased with the interest that we got for this first showing, which let people know that, yes, it was available.”
One gentleman who collects Bentleys “didn’t know this one was on the market and he became emotionally attached” to it, he added. Negotiations continue.
“We were very pleased. The number of cars we sold justified doing it and coming back next year.”
The Pebble Beach Concours D’Elegance is generally acknowledged to be the premiere event of its type in the world.
It is the centerpiece attraction of a car-crazy weekend–generally the third in August–that lures throngs to the Monterey Peninsula each year.
The juried show, held Sunday on the 18th fairway of the fabled Pebble Beach tournament course, is the main event, featuring nearly 200 impeccably restored autos from more than a dozen nations.
But also commanding attention are the Blackhawk Collection exhibition; three days of historic auto races at Laguna Seca; three nights of major auctions conducted by Christie’s and the Rick Cole Auction Co.; and the Concours Italiano, which, in one day, attracts more brightly colored Ferraris, Maseratis, De Tomasos and Lamborghinis to the Carmel Valley than a Rust Belt driver is likely to see in a lifetime.
This year’s Concours D’Elegance celebrated the centennial of steam-powered vehicles, Aston Martin’s post-war contributions to the automotive industry and the American hot rod.
Some 12,000 people purchased tickets to the show, held along some of the most scenic shoreline in central California.
The car judged Best of Show was a blue and silver 1937 Talbot Lago T150C Figoni et Falaschi coupe, owned by William E. Connor of Hong Kong.
A 1938 model of the streamlined “Teardrop” coupe, in burnt orange, also was on display at the Blackhawk tent.
Three of the six cars entered in the Concours from the Blackhawk Collection won awards. Enhancing their impressive resumes were a gold 1929 Duesenberg J Bohman & Schwartz Berline, which won best in its class; the 1938 Delage D8-120S, which won an elegance award and third in its class; and the 1954 Oldsmobile concept car, which also took a third.
“If you win, you’ve established that you’ve got a great car,” said McGrane, relaxing in a well-cushioned alcove of the Blackhawk tent. “It’s been judged with other cars in the same group. So, if you come out ahead with a first prize or another notable award, then, yes, it’s done the car justice.”
McGrane pointed out that the Blackhawk Collection, with its amazing selection of–dare we say it?–available-to-purchase used and pre-owned vehicles is separate from the Blackhawk Automotive Museum, which lures aficionados to Danville, just east of San Francisco.
Don Williams, who began selling classic cars in Los Angeles in 1966, founded the Blackhawk Collection in 1982. With the financial assistance of land developer Ken Behring, he scoured the world for significant automobiles and industry-related art.
Since then, according to company literature, “almost every great car built in the 20th Century has, at one time or another, passed through Williams’ hands.”
Behring founded the Blackhawk Automotive Museum in 1988 and, together with its research library and art gallery, the facility is recognized as one the nation’s most distinguished private institutions. In its permanent and rotating exhibits, hundreds of autos are on display as a “functional art form,” with the accent on design, beauty and craftsmanship.
“The Blackhawk is a magnificent museum,” said Ken Gross, director of the Petersen Automotive Museum, in Los Angeles. “Their location is a little tricky, but they probably have the finest collection of classic cars of any museum in the world. I’d give my eyeteeth to have some of their cars.”
McGrane feels that the classic-car business is a pretty good barometer of the economy.
“There are some very expensive cars being bought and sold . . . interesting, great cars,” he said.
“There has always been interest in great classic cars, whether it’s a competition Ferrari or a Duesenberg. There’s been a consistent increase in prices . . . sometimes it may escalate a bit higher, but, for the most part, all the great cars are worth more than they were five years ago.”
He said that collectors come in all shapes, sizes, genders and ethnic groups, but the composite portrait of the average deep-pocket buyer would resemble a self-employed male, age 35 to 65. No single country dominates the pastime, as there is a global market for–and universal interest in–classic cars.
Comedian Jay Leno and designer Ralph Lauren probably are the most prominent American collectors (both were at the Concours), and the French government has the largest collection.
As a rule, Americans tend to rate Duesenbergs higher than collectors elsewhere in the world.
McGrane said the pursuit can be addictive, and, just as in most transactions involving cars, his customers like to horse-trade.
“We’ll have conversations, yes,” he allowed. “Some people might have a collection of cars, and they’ll say: `I have a lot of muscle cars, I have some lesser ones . . . I want just one great car.’ So, maybe we can trade six cars for one, or one for one.”
For example, McGrane said Williams sold the Valentino car to its current owner 10 years ago.
“He is an avid collector and has bought some of the great cars over the years,” he said. “Now, he’s changing the focus of his collection. So, we were talking to him earlier this year and decided to offer it for sale. It would be the star car of this event.”
Clearly, it was a magnet for inquisitive fans.
Thirteen-year-old Drew McDonald, of Palos Verdes, Calif., was struck by the cobra mascot on the radiator hood. He did, however, have to ask his mother, Bonnie, what Rudolph Valentino did for a living.
“He’s clueless,” said McDonald, whose husband collects Jaguars.
“The car’s hideous in its own way, but it’s spectacular that it has survived after all this time. This is our fifth year at the concours and every year it becomes better and better.”
Pat Farrell, of Cedro Woolley, Wash., was participating in the reunion of steam-engine enthusiasts. But he took time away from polishing his 1914 Stanley to admire the Isotta-Fraschini.
“My first impression is that it’s a very unusual car, beautiful colors, one of a kind,” Farrell said. “It was commissioned by a celebrity, so it’s the ultimate in what someone might be looking for in a car.”
He cautioned, however, “it would be nice to own one of these, but when it comes to the price tag and maintenance to keep them up, they’re beyond most people’s means.
“A steam car is more affordable. We’re in the $60,000 to $100,000 bracket, and these guys are 10 times beyond that.”
After the concours, Farrell, et al, would tour the Monterey Peninsula in their steamers.
Though McGrane likes to wave the Blackhawk flag at Pebble Beach and Hershey, Pa., where the eastern division of the Antique Automobile Club of America will hold its National Fall Meet Oct. 8 through 11, much of his work is done at the home office via the telephone.
“We’ll make some sales here at the expo, but we also will get people interested in cars who might come by in a couple of weeks or a couple of months,” he says. “Nobody’s waiting in line to buy great cars. But we work on relationships with our ongoing customers, so that, when one comes out, we’ll be able to let them know and find out if they are interested.”
For example, he noted, one of the cars featured in the catalog, a 1947 Delahaye-Franay Cabriolet, was sold before it was put on the truck for Pebble Beach.
“The gentleman saw the catalog and said, `No, if it goes down there, someone will get it and I don’t want to miss out. So, I’ll buy it now,’ ” McGrane said. “We’ve had that happen every other year or so. We sold a Hispano just before one expo because a gentleman who had a passion for those particular styles of cars worried that when we opened the doors, somebody else might buy it.”
Unfortunately for mere fans, many of the truly significant cars disappear “into black holes” after they are sold.
“There are some cars that were sold 20 years ago that haven’t seen the light of day since,” said McGrane, when asked what the Holy Grail of car collecting might be.
“I don’t think there’s any one car that stands out for me, but the Bugatti Royale probably is pre-eminent in the classic car world. (A 1930 Royale last was sold to a Japanese businessman for $14 million.) There’s only six of them, all with different bodies.
“If you think you’ve got a great classic car collection, having a Royale would be one way to rank it against someone else’s.”
The hunt for such rarities is what inspires the most avid collectors, and the ability to find those select investors is what keeps people such as McGrane hopping.
“If a car like the 1936 Mercedes-Benz 770 Roadster came on the market, I might only call up four or five people and suggest that this is the way to go for their collection, but they’d be the right people,” he said.
“There are still cars at the moment that you cannot buy, because the people who own them have no desire to ever sell them. If they ever come back on the market, people would be interested.
“Until a car comes to the surface, there’s always a hunt for it.”
Though not as highfalutin as the concours in Pebble Beach or at Michigan’s Meadow Brook Hall, the Hershey event should appeal to almost any kind of car enthusiast.
Yes, the Blackhawk folks will be happy to introduce you to classic-car collecting, but consumers on more limited budgets are welcome to wander among the flea market’s 10,000 booths and a car corral, where vintage cars are offered for sale.
“For many years, the Antique Automobile Club of America has put on this swap meet, and it’s gradually grown into the world’s biggest, drawing hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world,” McGrane said.
“People are buying and selling anything that may be construed as automotive. There’s an old saying, `If you’re looking for a part for your car and you go to Hershey three years in a row and can’t find it . . . it’s just not out there.’
“The judged show on Saturday is the largest of its type (with 1,700 cars), but it’s basically a smaller part of the whole event. They have everything from 1927 REOs, Diamond T’s and Macks, all the way up to Duesenbergs.”
What, no Yugos?
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For information and sales appointments, call the Blackhawk Collection at 510-736-3444. The museum can be reached at 510-736-2277. For information about the AACA’s Hershey event, call 717-534-1910.
