This incredible collection of decaying classic cars is heading to auction

Every now and again, this little automotive world of ours manages to throw up a proper shock. And this is a big one, because RM Sotheby’s has announced a new sale for October 2024 that it’s calling ‘The Junkyard: The Rudi Klein Collection’.

Now, if you haven’t heard of Rudi Klein here’s a very brief introduction. He was a German immigrant who arrived in North America in the late 1950s. He started out as a butcher, but in 1967 he founded a scrapyard business in Los Angeles that’d become known as Porche (sic) Foreign Auto. He dealt in European classics and apparently amassed quite the collection, but the cars were kept behind barbed wire, and the place was never open to the public with very few people allowed to enter.

Even after Klein’s death in 2001 his two sons have kept prying eyes away. Until now.

Just look at those photos above. RM Sotheby’s describes this as “the largest secret automotive hoard in the world” and uses words like ‘legendary’ and ‘mythical’ to describe its contents. Those contents include the 1935 Mercedes-Benz 500K ‘Caracciola’ Special Coupe – one of the most famous pre-war Mercs and a car that was long thought to be lost.

It also includes a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL ‘Alloy’ Gullwing. One of just 29 ever built, we’re told this one was originally delivered in black and was once owned by legendary Ferrari importer Luigi Chinetti.

There’s also the only surviving Horch 855 – a 1939 Special Roadster – and the only factory-built Iso Grifo convertible. RM Sotheby’s is yet to confirm the full lot list, but we’re told there'll also be a 1961 Porsche 356 B 1600 ‘Twin-Grille’ Roadster by d’Ieteren with less than 600 miles on the clock, and from some of these early images it looks like more than one Lamborghini Miura could be up for grabs. Plenty of Porsches, too.

The complete catalogue will apparently be available for viewing in September, so we’ll bring you more as we have it. Best start saving now.