RM Auctions, in association with Sotheby’s, announced a new auction in New York City, to be held November 21, 2013 at Sotheby’s headquarters in Manhattan.
The RM Auctions New York City 2013 sale, the first major collector car auction staged in Manhattan in over a decade, will feature approximately 35 automobiles from around the world. With an emphasis on bespoke design and ‘best of category’ examples, the sale will feature one of the most significant collections of motor cars offered in auction history.
As a prelude to the sale, an exhibition showcasing the vehicles on offer will be held November 19-20 on the 10th floor galleries at Sotheby’s New York — a setting customarily reserved for the display of works of art offered at Sotheby’s.
“In recent years, collector cars have enjoyed phenomenal interest from enthusiasts and experts who value their historic importance and rarity alongside the achievements of their creators, coachbuilders, engineers and designers, who must be counted amongst the world’s great artistic visionaries,” says Rob Myers, Chairman and Founder, RM Auctions. “Our upcoming New York sale will celebrate the historic importance of the automobile—a singular achievement at the crossroads of art, technology and innovation—at the same time paying tribute to the creativity, styling and imagination of the world’s leading coachbuilders. We are delighted to be working with the team at Sotheby’s for this exclusive event. From the exhibition on their 10th floor galleries to the incredible caliber of the consignments on offer, it will certainly be a sale like no other.”
Maarten ten Holder, Sotheby’s Managing Director, Americas, commented, “We are thrilled that this autumn Sotheby’s will host the first ever automobile exhibition in our 10th floor galleries when 35 of the world’s finest and most important cars will be shown ahead of the RM sale on November 21. As the first car auction in Manhattan for over 10 years and one of the most significant ever held, this is set to be an unprecedented and historic event.”
Leading early highlights for the RM Manhattan sale is the 1956 Aston Martin DB 2/4 MkII ‘Supersonic’, chassis AM300/1/1132. A one-off creation, ‘1132’ received its bodywork from Ghia coachworks of Turin, Italy. It is the only Supersonic built on an Aston Martin chassis, was first displayed at the 1956 Turin Auto Salon and was driven by American grand prix racing driver Harry Schell. The car’s first registered owners were newlywed New Yorkers Gail Whitney Vanderbilt and her husband, the record-setting water skier Richard C. Cowell, who took delivery directly from David Brown and were photographed with this car by Life magazine whilst living in the South of France. It was then acquired in the late 1950s by noted American collector Robert Lee and benefits from known ownership history through the present day. Offered for sale from the James Patterson Collection, it is the recipient of a recent, thorough, no-expense-spared, Pebble Beach award-winning restoration.
“A completely bespoke creation, “1132” is unlike any other Aston Martin of its era,” adds Myers. “From the oval egg-crate grille and covered headlamps to the arrow-like spear running along its sides, Supersonic tailfins and Jet Age tail lamps, it is truly a masterpiece of the automotive designer’s art and emblematic of the most advanced postwar alloy coachwork. Considered alongside what the automotive industry offered the public in 1956, this Aston Martin was not only fast and exclusive, it was downright wild! It’s pop art on wheels!”
The Aston Martin, which carries a pre-sale estimate of $1,500,000 – $2,000,000, will be on display in Sotheby’s York Avenue lobby, New York, from April 30 through May 7, 2013.
Further information on the sale will be provided in the summer.
[Source: RM Auctions]
