The Old And The Beautiful Compete For New Money At RM Sotheby’s

The car positively radiates Jay Gatsby charm, from its stately stance to its glittering chromework.

Expected to sell for between $3 million and $3.5 million, the car was originally purchased by the son of a wise Santa Barbara investor who had decided, a few decades earlier, to pop $10,000 into a new company started by one Henry Ford (the family cashed out in 1919 for a handsome $26 million).

This Duesey spent a few decades banging around Hollywood, even appearing in a period movie, before then making its way to the collection of an Ohio-based railroad magnate, who considered it among his most prized Duesenbergs.

In the ‘90s, the car underwent a thorough restoration included hand-hammered fenders, a chromed radiator shell and side exhaust. One of only four Disappearing Top Convertible Coupes to retain its original Murphy coachwork, it is also the only one to hit the auction block in recent memory.

“This car is quite simply among the best of the best in American classics,” says Duff, pointing out the unique machines boattail design which hid a rumble seat built for one. “It’s hard to imagine a more beautiful example of the breed.”

Another breathtaking show stopper on the RM Sotheby’s docket is a 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster. Expected to sell for between $10 and $13 million, the vehicle represents the “pinnacle of European classics, think of it as the Ferrari GTO of its day,” says Duff.

Mercedes had already found success among what remained of the world’s Depression Era-wealthy with its 500K and 540K chariots, but the truly elite iteration of the model was the Special Roadster.

Sitting on an elongated chassis that measured nearly 18 feet in length and stuffed with a 5.4-liter supercharged straight eight producing 180 bhp, this machine combined pure muscle with sculpted lines that have come to define the pre-war automotive artwork from the Stuttgart marque.

Although more than 400 540Ks were built, only a few dozen were Special Roadsters, which explains this vehicle’s price tag. “It’s streamlined elegance at its best,” says Duff.

Last but hardly least on Duff’s special list is a 1911 Lozier Model 51 Seven-Passenger Touring, one of 10 cars that make up the Craig McCaw Collection. McCaw, an early cellular telephone pioneer from the Pacific Northwest, is a longtime automotive aficionado who “is just making room for some new cars” and is steering the proceeds from this sale to a range of charities.

The Lozier “is truly rare as it’s hard these days to find such a pure, genuine car of this era with big horsepower,” says Duff. By big horsepower he means 51. That might not sound like much, but more than 100 years ago that was more than enough muscle to rule the roads.

In fact, these stately cruisers cost roughly what a house did (around $6,000) and boasted meticulous engineering for everything from its roller-bearing crankshaft to its massive canvas top.

Two years ago, RM put a pristine Model 51 on the block for around $600,000, and it sold for $1.1 million. Duff expects this Lozier to at least fetch that much, though it could well top that mark. “You’re talking about a vanishing part of automotive history here,” he says. “For someone, this will be an incredibly special car.”