For anyone who ever visited an autojumble and was enraptured by its dusty romance, the recent sale of the Lee Roy Hartung collection was possibly the ultimate expression of the form.
Chicago collector Hartung had carefully and dutifully assembled his treasure trove over half a century and when it went under the hammer in Glenview, Illinois, the response was electric.
As a result Auctions America by RM achieved over $3.95 million in total sales with 100% of lots sold in the no-reserve sale.
The catalogue included everything from general Americana to highly collectable classic cars and motorbikes, as well as one of the world’s largest and most complete licence plate collections, totalling nearly 5000 plates.
For the auction house it was a hugely labour-intensive process, Auctions America spending two months just preparing the 1600 lots for sale.
