Gooding & Company had a strong Friday showing at the 2021 Pebble Beach Auction. Throngs of interested attendees loaded the company’s prestigious event at this year’s return of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and what has broadly become a peninsula-wide Monterey Car Week. Half of the show is the very long lines of traffic to get to the event, with buyers and sellers driving a fantastic rolling supercar and classic vintage show quite literally.
The auction is headlined by more than a few stunners, including a 250 mile 1995 McLaren F1 that could fetch $15,000,000, and a 1959 Ferrari 250 GT estimated to bring over $10,000,000. One that caught my eye was the 9th of 25 total 1998 Mercedes-Benz AMG CLK GTR, a strassenversion done in silver, also with a possible 8-figure price tag once the gavel slams. Note, the buyer is under obligation to not drive this more than 2,500 miles a year, and only if NHTSA allows that, which might be easier said than done.
My first day back at Pebble was topped with a cherry, made up in Ferrari red, as the 1992 US-spec Ferrari F40 blew way past what was thought possible and brought in $2,625,000. The wall to wall packed crowd loved every moment of it.
With emotions and pocketbooks running deep, free-flowing bubbly, a beautiful peninsula night really had a strong showing after the unfortunate interruptions this corner of our fascination with automobiles has endured. If you are within driving distance of Monterey, it would be a very memorable next two days to witness as this first day has shown, and in particular, Gooding & Company hosted one heck of a fine showing today.
James grew up in an Indiana community where the auto industry was at its heart. His first car was an Olds 442, and many of his classmates had their father’s hand-me-down muscle cars. Met his wife in college. They have three children. Survived esophageal cancer. Is passionate about enjoying his second chance and his automotive interests further that goal.