We like…er…love coffee. We drink it every day. During Car Week, we’re on the move from before sun up, to well after sundown, so we rely heavily on the effects of caffeine to help us stay alert, energized, and awake. Though we consume numerous high test drinks over our four-day tour, for the last several years, our favorite beverage is always the one we have on Friday morning at the Gooding Pebble Beach Auction preview. We send special shouts out to Gooding, the fine folks at Putnam Leasing and Arrvo Coffee for some of the best coffee we’ve ever had, and also a much-needed burst of energy to propel us through the exceptional cars on offer at this year’s Gooding Pebble Beach Auctions.

Before we go into detail about some of the cars at this year’s auctions, held on August 18th and 19th, we’ll let you know how things ended up over the weekend. The prices realized over two evenings totaled $95,059,865 from 133 lots. 24 lots went for $1,000,000 or more (each) and the average price per lot was just over $714,000. The auction’s crown jewel, an unmolested 1962 Ferrari 250 GT short-wheel base Berlinetta crossed the block for an impressive $9,465,000. On Friday evening, a 1914 Mercer Type 35-J Raceabout sold for $4.79 million, setting a new record for Mercer’s sold at auction. That same evening, a 1913 Lozier Type 72 Meadowbrook Runabout sold for $1.765 million, which was also a record for that marque. If you’d like to see/learn more about the rest of the cars on offer at the auction, just click HERE, and the short form results can be found HERE.

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As we’ve done in the past, we will each highlight a few of our personal favorite cars from the auction and then elevate one example as our consensus choice.

Andrew’s Choices….

My first pick is a car that was on offer at the Auction for private sale, meaning that it would not go across the auction block with the other cars under the Gooding tent. Sadly, not so conspicuously presented, kinda back in a corner was a porschephile’s dream, the first ever Porsche 935 ever built, #935-001, from the year of my birth, 1976. This car has all the things. It’s got boost, it’s got gobs of raw power, it’s got flares, iconic martini livery, and that wing! Sure it kinda looks like a 911, as it’s a homologation car that followed “silhouette” rules that allowed for departures from the car’s stock appearance. That said, it really looks like a whole other thing altogether…kinda scary, kinda intimidating. I’m sure that in its heyday it must have struck fear in the heart of any poor soul who found it growing large in their rearview mirror. To add insult to injury, that same poor soul, after the pass, would see nothing ahead but fire-spitting hind quarters of what looks like a monsterous winged racecar pooping out the rear end of a modest 911 street car. It’s an endearing quality and one that makes me smile every time I have the opportunity to be in the presence of such an amazing racecar.

The 001 led the way for Porsche motorsport into the 80s, and was competitive for nine seasons. Successor cars in the 935 model line went on to win over 150 races including an overall victory at the Le Mans 24 (despite not being in the top prototype class!), and six victories each at the 24 hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring. As of this draft, the car is still on offer through Gooding.

and….

My second choice is the absolutely fantastical 2007 Maserati MC12 Versione Corsa. This 1 of 12, customer aimed car, not officially sanctioned for use in competition, kicked me right in the feels. I really can’t think of the last modern racecar that both delivered on track, but also brought sexy back. Though the model is based on the Ferrari Enzo, Maserati did to that platform things Ferrari never did. It’s longer and curvier than the Enzo ever was and this larger canvas allowed Maserati to re-enter big time motorsports after a decades long hiatus in true flamboyant Italian style...and that roof scoop! The Victory Blue paint on this car is the same (I think) that was on the factory competition cars we saw race at both Sears Point and Laguna Seca raceways way back in 2005. I’ve been following motorsport for a few decades now I think the cars of this era (the ALMS series in the US) are be all end all of automobile racing for me. Standing next to this example instantly took me back to a really hot July afternoon in 2005 when I saw my first MC12 racer and got to talk about it with Ferrari and Maserati development and competition driver Andrea Bertolini. That was a long time ago, but to me this car looks at least as good today as it did back then. I would love to have heard this example fire up, but oh well. Now that cars from this era are starting to pop up at “vintage” racing events, we may get to see them in action some time soon.

This example sold for $2,480,000, just under the pre-auction estimate of $2,500,000 - $3,000,000.

Mark’s choices…

When we drafted this post, Andrew had already put in his choices which was great because I immediately said to myself, those are great choices and I find it hard to argue with either. Alas, rather than write “ditto,” I thought it would be best to offer some alternatives so the reader can see the full spectrum of what Gooding & Co had to offer.

Just outside the main auction tent, in the open air, are typically the more rough cut automobiles…the so called, survivors. That’s not to say they are not worthy of the cover of the tent, but rather they are not in a state where the weather is going to do them any more harm. It caught my eye immediately standing out amongst the other European classics in need of some restoration. No idea what it was at first glance, but would later learn it was a 1953 Studebaker land speed coupe. It had the look of a terrifying thrill ride across the Bonneville salt flats and that is exactly what it was. In 1953 the Studebaker Coupe was absconded by Belmont Sanchez from his family’s used car lot and turned into land speed machine, campaigning at Bonneville with various partners and drivers. In 1958 it was the first car of its type to exceed 200 mph which sounds utterly terrifying. That’s the other thing that stood out is typically looking at cars I filled with a desire to be behind the driver’s seat but not this. I believe I commented to Andrew at the time that you couldn’t pay me enough to be in that thing at speed.

In 1966 it achieved a 265.131 mph performance at Bonneville emerging as the fastest coupe that year. Further recognition came when the Studebaker was the cover car for the official Bonneville event program in 1967. The faded paint remains essentially as photographed for a feature in the February 1971 issue of Hi-Performance Cars magazine.

It was aged, scary and somewhat out of place compared to many of the cars around it. It was perfect. It didn’t sell that weekend but it is still available.

and…

My second choice was the result of a tortured internal debate. The Pebble Beach auctions featured several stunning cars of the Italian variety and it was difficult to make a decision when reviewing everything in the catalog. I also wanted to be original and not pick one of the, if not the hottest car in the auction lineup. Couldn’t do it. The factor that pushed me over the line to make this call was the fact this pick is one of the few of its name that hasn’t been restored and is in original condition…stunning original condition. Of course, Im talking about the 1962 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta. A 250 SWB is an easy call for anyone that has a thing for Ferraris and classic European sports cars. It’s a no-brainer pick. Yes, I chose the event crown jewel.

It covered 33,000 miles from new and had only four owners over the last 61 years, three of them all just few hundred kilometers from where it was originally delivered in Italy. It was born from the golden age of the storied Ferrari brand and to this day maintains its original beige leather upholstery, original glass, period Irvin seat belts, and Borrani wire wheels. No records exist of it having mechanical components swapped or of it being involved in an accident.

The car sold for $9,465,000 and included its original keys, tool roll and documentation including the original invoice from Ferrari’s service department dated April 23, 1963.

The consensus choice…

This 1972 Miura P400 SV had us at HELLO!

Our consensus choice wasn’t a struggle at all. It was among the first cars we saw when the doors opened, and it took only about two minutes to agree that there probably weren’t going to be any other cars in the field that were going to do the proverbial, “It,” for us.

There’s nothing we can add to the public record about the Lamborghin Miura that hasn’t been written or said already. In some way, that very fact actually befits this car. The provenance of this particular car and the relevance of the Miura in the world of we know of as “the supercar,” is pretty irrlelvant when you’re in its presence. If the Maserati MC12 from above brought the sexy back, we simply propose that this Tahitian Blue beauty with gold complements would have to be the car from which the sexy came originally. It’s long and low and sleek and peppered with all the little wings and ducts louvers and little chrome bits we go crazy about. The lusterous blue paint, poured over the Bertone bodywork, seemed to absorb it’s display’s less than flattering lighting, and reflect it back to the viewer with an etherial and magical warm radience. If the Lamborghini Miura is the first supercar, then this simply has to be the best Miura.

And in conclusion…..

Our conclusion is the same as it always is. The best way to start a Car Week adventure is over coffee at the Gooding Pebble Beach Auctions. We plan to keep it as part of our tradition as long as the good folks at Gooding will have us.

If you’ve never been to an auction, let alone a prestigeous car auction, this should be your first. You’re probably going to spend a little money if you’re also on a Car Week adventure, so take it from us, the $50 for admission to the preview and auctions is great value considering the entertainment value and the ability to see so many exceptional vehicles in one place. (for another $150 you can register and possibly spend a whole lot more than $200!) If you don’t find our words or recommendations convincing, please take a look at our gallery below for more evidence.

Enjoy.

-The Loud Pedal