Fans of rare American cars will want to keep an eye out for Gooding & Company’s upcoming Amelia Island sale. The auction house will offer a number of high-end classics, including the first of four AAR Gurney Eagle race cars produced and a 1935 Auburn 851 SC Boattail Speedster.
Dan Gurney made a name for himself as a pilot before he started building cars. I drive for FerrariBritish Racing Motors and Shelby, among other teams, and he competed in many big-name races including the 24 Hours of Le Mans. When the time came to build his own cars, he got funding from Goodyear and teamed up with none other than Carroll Shelby to create the All-American Racers (AARs) in 1965.
The company designed a Formula 1 car called Eagle that uses a 2.7-liter Coventry Climax engine. Four examples have been built, and one is geared towards Amelia Auctions (frame number 101) is the first one. It raced on both sides of the Atlantic and was driven by Bob Bondurant, Phil Hill and Gurney among others. It also raced in the 1967, 1968 and 1969 Canadian versions grand opening.
Entrepreneur and car collector Tom Wheatcroft later bought the 101 chassis and kept it in his collection for over 38 years, according to for Gooding & Company. The current owner and seller purchased it from Wheatcroft in 2009 and has since been restored by J&L Fabrication in Puyallup, Washington. His goal was to race it, so he asked the shop to install a copy engine to make sure the original engine wasn’t damaged. The original engine was included in the sale, and the anonymous owner entered the Eagle in the 2014 Monaco Classic Grand Prix.
Gooding & Company estimates that the AAR Gurney Eagle will sell for between $3 million and $4 million, and the numbers are completely believable: We’re talking about an extremely rare and historically significant race car with a history. recorded past.
If that’s too much, or if your automotive preference lies somewhere far from the track, there are a number of other interesting cars making their way through the auction area. One is a Duesenberg Model J 1931 convertible with a short wheelbase chassis and body built by California-based passenger car maker Murphy; it is expected to bring in between $2 and 2.4 million. said above 851 SC Super Sailboat – fully restored in 2010 – will cost between $800,000 and $1.1 million and a 1937 Cord 812 S/C Cabriolet ‘Sportsman’ can sell for up to $475,000.
If there’s a hole begging to be filled in your collection, the Gooding & Company’s Amelia Island sale begins March 2 at 3 p.m. ET.
