A rare coach built 1932 Packard headlined RM’s St John’s sale on 31 July when it changed hands for $1.1m.
The Dietrich-bodied Twin Six Individual Custom Convertible - one of just two made – was delivered new to American entertainer Al Jolson for $6600 and had been unseen for the last five decades.
That history helped propelled bidding on the Packard past the $704,000 and $506,000 results for a couple of Model J Duesenbergs: a 1929 Convertible Berline and a later, 1934, Boattail Speedster.
Also strong at the $7.6m St John’s fixture (formerly the Meadow Brook concours sale) was the $676,500 paid for a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing.
Other prestige ’30s models sold well too: a 1939 Lincoln Model K Convertible Sedan made $297,000 and a 1931 Cadillac V-12 Five-Passenger Phaeton, $200,750.
And there was more than just one Packard too, including a 1930 734 Speedster Runabout ($187,000) and a 1938 Twelve Convertible Coupe ($165,000) but talk of the auction was the 1939 Pontiac Plexiglas Deluxe Six ‘Ghost Car’ (below).
One of two transparent ‘plexiglass’ concept takes developed for the 1939-40 New York World’s Fair as a showcase for the new wonder material, the Pontiac sold for $308,000, comfortably within its $275-475,000 guide.
RM sold 60 of the 70 cars it offered at the sale, which was a precursor to the Concours d’Elegance of America.
See: www.rmauctions.com for more.
