The car, owned by Joseph Cassini III and his wife, Margie, of West Orange, N.J., was judged last Sunday to be the top entry in a field of 248 antique and classic automotive masterpieces, representing 36 states and 12 countries, at the prestigious annual classic car competition here.
The field included the first two Duesenbergs sold to private owners as well as landmark Lincolns, fabulous Ferraris, history-making racing cars and century-old relics from the auto industry’s infancy. Nominees for the top honor included a 1934 Hispano-Suiza J12 Coupe, a 1914 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Torpedo and a 1932 Lincoln KB Murphy Roadster.
The concours capped a weeklong celebration of the automobile as art. Highlights included the 88-mile Tour d’Élégance that tested the roadworthiness of the concours entrants and five major auctions, where $302 million of cars were sold, a record.
The world’s automakers flocked to the Monterey Peninsula to introduce new models and design concepts, hoping to bask in some of Pebble’s reflected glory. Hollywood stars were spotted, vintage cars raced at the Laguna Seca road course, and the largest collection of Italian cars this side of Milan gathered.
Even the tongue-in-cheek Concours d’LeMons, which pokes fun at some of the industry’s bigger blunders, was a success, with a homely little Voisin Biscooter prototype from 1949 feted as Worst of Show.
At times, it appeared to be a six-ring automotive circus with the Pebble Beach concours at its center.
“This is the Olympics of car shows,” Mr. Cassini, who also owned the 1938 Horch that won Best of Show here in 2004, said. Mr. Cassini said it took three years — 10,000 hours of shop labor — to restore the Packard to its original glory. His concours-winning Horch was sold here last year — it brought $5.2 million — to help move the project forward.
What made this car so special? It is believed to be the only one exactly like it ever made.
“The buyer selected it from a catalog of special-order models offered by Packard that year,” Rob Myers, founder of RM Auctions and RM Auto Restoration, where the Packard was rebuilt, said in a telephone interview.
At that time, a buyer could walk into a Packard dealership, select a factory-prepared model and drive away with it. But this buyer lived in Puerto Rico and had no local dealer, so he ordered it in the United States. When the car was ready, the buyer picked it up in New York and had it shipped home.
“It was in his ownership, and then his family’s ownership for many years,” Mr. Cassini, a New Jersey Superior Court judge, said, adding that at some point it had been painted red and orange and used as a taxi. An American serviceman stationed in Puerto Rico had it shipped home.
More than three decades in Puerto Rico’s sun, sand and salt had nearly destroyed everything. “It was almost ready to fall apart,” Mr. Cassini said.
Still, this Packard had a following among collectors.
“I’ve been aware of the car for 30 years,” Mr. Myers said. “I kept trying to buy it on behalf of customers, but I never thought the last owner would sell it.”
When an opportunity to buy it came up four years ago, the client Mr. Myers had thought was interested backed out.
“He didn’t think a Packard could win Best of Show, and he only wanted to deal in Best of Show cars,” Mr. Myers said. “So I bought it.”
Mr. Cassini stepped forward to buy it from Mr. Myers.
Mr. Myers said that he is already deep into restorations of cars that may be contenders for next year’s Best of Show prize.
“This one, though, will be tough to top,” he said.
In addition to having restored the Best of Show winner, Mr. Myers’s auction house had its best results here, with $125 million in sales, including $27.5 million for a 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB Spider, the highest price ever paid at auction for a road car.
“It was like winning horse racing’s Triple Crown,” Mr. Myers said. “All in the same weekend.”
The field included the first two Duesenbergs sold to private owners as well as landmark Lincolns, fabulous Ferraris, history-making racing cars and century-old relics from the auto industry’s infancy. Nominees for the top honor included a 1934 Hispano-Suiza J12 Coupe, a 1914 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Torpedo and a 1932 Lincoln KB Murphy Roadster.
The concours capped a weeklong celebration of the automobile as art. Highlights included the 88-mile Tour d’Élégance that tested the roadworthiness of the concours entrants and five major auctions, where $302 million of cars were sold, a record.
The world’s automakers flocked to the Monterey Peninsula to introduce new models and design concepts, hoping to bask in some of Pebble’s reflected glory. Hollywood stars were spotted, vintage cars raced at the Laguna Seca road course, and the largest collection of Italian cars this side of Milan gathered.
Even the tongue-in-cheek Concours d’LeMons, which pokes fun at some of the industry’s bigger blunders, was a success, with a homely little Voisin Biscooter prototype from 1949 feted as Worst of Show.
At times, it appeared to be a six-ring automotive circus with the Pebble Beach concours at its center.
“This is the Olympics of car shows,” Mr. Cassini, who also owned the 1938 Horch that won Best of Show here in 2004, said. Mr. Cassini said it took three years — 10,000 hours of shop labor — to restore the Packard to its original glory. His concours-winning Horch was sold here last year — it brought $5.2 million — to help move the project forward.
What made this car so special? It is believed to be the only one exactly like it ever made.
“The buyer selected it from a catalog of special-order models offered by Packard that year,” Rob Myers, founder of RM Auctions and RM Auto Restoration, where the Packard was rebuilt, said in a telephone interview.
At that time, a buyer could walk into a Packard dealership, select a factory-prepared model and drive away with it. But this buyer lived in Puerto Rico and had no local dealer, so he ordered it in the United States. When the car was ready, the buyer picked it up in New York and had it shipped home.
“It was in his ownership, and then his family’s ownership for many years,” Mr. Cassini, a New Jersey Superior Court judge, said, adding that at some point it had been painted red and orange and used as a taxi. An American serviceman stationed in Puerto Rico had it shipped home.
More than three decades in Puerto Rico’s sun, sand and salt had nearly destroyed everything. “It was almost ready to fall apart,” Mr. Cassini said.
Still, this Packard had a following among collectors.
“I’ve been aware of the car for 30 years,” Mr. Myers said. “I kept trying to buy it on behalf of customers, but I never thought the last owner would sell it.”
When an opportunity to buy it came up four years ago, the client Mr. Myers had thought was interested backed out.
“He didn’t think a Packard could win Best of Show, and he only wanted to deal in Best of Show cars,” Mr. Myers said. “So I bought it.”
Mr. Cassini stepped forward to buy it from Mr. Myers.
Mr. Myers said that he is already deep into restorations of cars that may be contenders for next year’s Best of Show prize.
“This one, though, will be tough to top,” he said.
In addition to having restored the Best of Show winner, Mr. Myers’s auction house had its best results here, with $125 million in sales, including $27.5 million for a 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB Spider, the highest price ever paid at auction for a road car.
“It was like winning horse racing’s Triple Crown,” Mr. Myers said. “All in the same weekend.”
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