Driven by the remarkable Drendel Collection of turbo Porsches, Gooding & Co yesterday amassed a remarkable $35 million for fewer than 80 classic cars at its Amelia Island, Florida sale yesterday.
The 18 Stuttgart machines, many of them racers, were headed by the 1973 917/30 CanAm Spyder that made $4.4million (main image).
The four other exceptional results for racers were the two times Daytona winning 1984 962 ($1.925 million) a well-campaigned 1974 RSR Turbo Carrera 2.14 ($3.245 million) and the first 935/76 built ($2.53 million), plus the $3.685 raised on a 550 Spyder.
Non-Porsches also fared well, but were clearly overshadowed by Drendel fever on the day, one marque expert exclaiming that only the sale of Stuttgart's factory collection could rival yesterday's Gooding auction.
A few highlights included the Ferrari 212 Inter that Mike Hawthorn used for practice in the 1953 Mille Miiglia. The car settled at what in the circumstances seemed a reasonable $1.375 million.
Gullwing prices also remained strong with $700k accrued for a red example, while on of the final lots of the sale – the 1948 Tucker Torpedo - sold for $1.32 million.
