Rudi Klein’s secret supercar junkyard sold for a whopping $29.6m
And Top Gear has had a look inside this mysterious tomb where classics lie
A man many of you had probably never heard of hoarded a collection of classic cars you didn’t know about, and this mystery wrapped in an enigma was only recently brought into the light… and promptly sold. For millions.
Yes folks, the secret supercar junkyard owned by the late Rudi Klein has been auctioned off by RM Sotheby’s, with total sales topping a whopping $29.6 million. That’s… a lot of money for a collection of old biffers.
Of course, these aren’t any old biffers, but some of the most sought-after classic cars on planet Earth. Rudi famously never let anyone onto his southern Los Angeles lot, and the collection was subject to rumour and intrigue for decades.
Not least because he hoarded stuff like a 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL ‘Alloy’ Gullwing. That just happened to be the only ever Gullwing to leave the factory in black (though it was crudely repainted silver at some point in its life). That car eventually sold for $9,355,000.
And stuff like a 1935 Mercedes 500 K built for famous hotshoe Rudolf Caracciola. This one sold for $4.1m. And stuff like a 1939 Horch 855 Special Roadster that sold for $3.3m. Or an old Iso Grifo Spider prototype that went for $1.8m. Or a 1968 Lamborghini Miura that went for $1.3m.
“We knew we had something truly special when we first announced this sale,” said RM Sotheby’s specialist Cary Ahl. “The Rudi Klein collection has been a source of intrigue for decades, and when the story finally broke, the global response was immediate and overwhelming.”
Indeed, RM Sotheby’s spent hours painstakingly uncovering and documenting Klein’s treasure trove of not just cars, but a wealth of parts too.
Want some idea of just how much treasure lay in this abandoned lot? Top Gear’s Jack Rix took a little trip out to California ahead of the auction to check it out…
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