This year I stayed home from the Monterey Car Week festivities as I had some other plans pop up and am still recovering from my leg injury. Ive enjoyed watching the images pop up on the web and watch the live feed of the auctions. The most anticipated car for me personally was the Type64 Porsche at RM Sothebys. Truly the most historic link between VW and Porsche and a car with outstanding provenance. Dr Porsche drove this thing himself and you could probably clone ol Ferdie off DNA in there somewhere.
The auction started and the crowd went wild...the numbers climbed to stratospheric levels! I was absolutely losing my mind as well as the whole crowd and ll who were watching...and then...
Holy smokes that got me laughing! The whole world was on the ride and the numbers were all wrong. The bidding didnt start at 30 million...it was 13 million, and the bids climbed 40, 50, 60. 70 million dollars before it was discovered! Sadly once the real bid number was corrected to 17 million dollars, the room went quiet and they could not scare up another bid form anyone...the car remained unsold and the most highly anticipated auction vehicle in the whole week of auctions...was reduced to a punch line. A simple mistake for sure, I agree completely it sure "sounded" like that was what he was saying. Everyone has an oops now and then and this was RM's. Im sure its not one they will make again and in the end they are still the absolute cream of the crop when it comes to the auction game. It is always a joy to see their offerings and watch the dream cars flow across the block.
The fate of the Porsche? This is a chapter that is yet unwritten.
Stay Tuned! Randy