Pebble Beach: Bidder up

So many including John Steinbeck have described the Monterey coastline, its rocky beaches that blunt against rolling hills.

But this time of year during Monterey Car Week its beauty must be heard with the windows down and radio off.

The crisp metallic tone of air-cooled 911s mixes with the deep throaty rumble of American V8s and the smooth mid-tones of the many Ferraris and Lamborghinis.

Supposedly a quiet day of auctions and wine tasting, Friday saw buyers from around the world arrive to bid on and maybe own something far more impressive than a tailored suit or a pair of leather shoes.

The Bonhams auction at Quail Lodge last year turned up a couple of eight-figure Ferraris. This year, the selection is noticeably less red and more varied. Hollywood has stayed home and the buyers are far less famous and more realistic.

A few Ferraris pulled multi-million-dollar bids but even they fell shallow of their estimated values.

A 1959 Ferrari 250 GT Competizione Alloy Berlinetta with an impressive pedigree sold for $US8,525,000 (including buyer’s premium) while a 1951 Ferrari 212 Inter Cabriolet perfectly restored stubbornly reached $US2.2million.

After last year’s spending spree, many investors were looking to Lamborghini for value, and a well-worn Lamborghini Miura had many seeing bargain. The hammer fell at $US945K – and with a 10 per cent buyer’s premium added on – the final price reached $US1,039,500.

An immaculate and perfect 1971 Toyota LandCruiser FJ43 sold for $US115,500 and everyone said “what?”. Since when is a Japanese Jeep worth more than a classic 1937 Cord Phaeton? The Cord sold for $US94,600.

A clean 1967 Mazda Cosmo with a 10A rotary and four-speed manual managed to reach $US159,500 in quick bidding after opening at $US80,000. The past few years have seen the rise in values of early Japanese sports cars, as evidenced by a couple of Toyota 2000GTs and a 1980s vintage Nissan Skyline in attendance this year.

An unrestored 1950 Hudson Commodore Six convertible once owned by Steve McQueen combined the man’s passion for cool and quirky. Bullitt famous it wasn’t but McQueen once owned it and pumped fuel into it and that was enough to lift the sale price to $US71,500.

This Hudson packs a 308ci flathead six-cylinder engine producing 127kW, so it combined McQueens’ talents for cool with straight-line quickness not often equalled in the 50s.

Perhaps cooler than McQueen was one of only a few 1953 Fiat 8V Supersonics built, and three previous owners were there to see it find a new owner and regret ever selling it. It sold for $US1.85million after being totally restored including its 2.0-litre V8.