The Andrews Collection sale organized by acclaimed automotive specialist Rob Myer’s Auction house was organized in Fort Worth, Texas on Saturday 2nd of May, 2015. And frankly I was skeptic of this sale. Not due to the cars themselves, as all 78 car lots were truely impressive, but more because I couldn’t understand what would push a man to sell 78 of his most precious jewels. Paul Andrews, the father, a successful entrepreneur behind the TTI empire, one of the most biggest electronic components retailers worlwide, started this collection in the 1970s, but it is his son, Chris, who justifies why the two of them are selling these cars, “to get down to a smaller number of cars”. But let me explain why I don’t believe much of that. Imagine. Imagine you had spent over 40 years of your life collecting cars. Some very historically significant cars, for which you surely must have waited years to buy them from their previous owners. I would bet you wouldn’t sell them if you could keep them. So after Sam Pack, another successful entrepreneur of the region, who decided to offer through RM Auctions 130 of his cars, mostly american if I recall correctly, it was the turn of the Andrews. Nevertheless, as we are not here to discuss what would push a man to sell 78 of his most precious jewels (although it might be an interesting debate for a future article), let’s start to look at theses beauties, shall we ? Text : Mickaël B., Images : Romain D. ©
Part 1
I had very little time during the preview to shoot all the cars, around two hours in fact on Thursday, April 30th, 2015 before the end of the preview, scheduled at 6 PM. Thus I decided to start from the end of the collection, on the opposite of the entry, fearing that I would get pushed by the security if I had no time remaining. On my walk to the end of the very nice place were the Andrews family kept its jewels, the first car to get my attention was the 1934 Packard Twelve Coupé Roadster, perfectly placed in front of a matching Packard painted garage door. Still retaining its original – and probably one of the most desirable – body, chassis and engine, it was estimated between 450’000 and 550’000 $, and finally sold at 528’000 $.The line-up leading to the Packard is quite impressive too, with the Lamborghini Countach 25th Anniversary and the 2005 Ford GT at the forefront, the Cunningham and the Lister-Chevrolet in the background.
On the right of the Packard was … another Packard. This 1941 Custom Super Eight One Eighty Sport Brougham with its body by Lebaron was featured in the great movie the Godfather and was left in its original condition. Facing the Brougham was a 1948 Cadillac Series 62 Coupé Club Custom by Charlie Brewer and Bobby Griffey and was estimated between 130’000 and 160’000 $. And then I turned around. And I saw the rest, the remaining cars of the Andrews collection. The two first cars immediately were a shock, as they were completely unexpected : an Aston Martin DB4 GT and a Ferrari 250 GT Short Wheel Base Berlinetta Competizione “Passo Corto”, chassis 2033 GT. From what I could gladly see, another Aston Martin DB2/4 was undergoing serious work, and I was sure by now that both father and son would still have some nice toys to play with even after selling the 78 lots offered by Rob Myer’s auction house.
“Little Nailhead” was the original nickname of this 1958 Flying Garage Dragster, built by Mike Guffrey, under the surveillance of the Big Boy. Amazing to look at a 250 Passo Corto an instant, and a moment later to be in front of a fifties typical dragster isn’t it ? Chris Andrews, the son, is a great enthusiast of hot rods and customs, whilst his father is more a classic car passionate, which has lead to the high diversity I encountered in this collection, and it is a true privilege to find such different cars in a single collection. But why have two of the same car ? Because two cars are actually never identical, and even more if they have been customised. So there was actually a second Cadillac Club Coupé custom by Austin Speed Shop, from 1949 and showing its bare metal bodywork.
The only “barn finds” from the sale, although they weren’t proper barn finds but looked like ones, were a pair of two Marmon Sixteen chassis from the 1930s. Marmon was an american automotive manufacturer in Indianapolis from 1902 to 1933 which then switched to building buses and trucks until 1997 when it went under bankruptcy. The Sixteen was produced for less than three years at around 400 units, which would make these two chassis some very valuables parts for anyone who would need. I got a quick second look at the 1941 Packard Customer Super Eight, admiring its wonderful patina, and the Cadillac Series 62. The Packard finally sold for 27’500 $, under its low estimation, and the Club Coupé Custom for a very honorable 121’000 $. Part of the sale was as well composed of a considerable number of automobilia lots, including some period lights which you might have noticed on some of our photographs, and some automated animated organs.
Next up was the 1954 Buick Skylarck, probably one of the most desirable examples, which was estimated between 180’000 and 260’000 $, and a similarly light blue coloured 1953 Cadillac Eldorado, one of the very best still in existence. I had never seen, if I recall well, one of these early fifties Eldorado and was actually surprised how elegant and compact it looked compares to its late fifties and sixties much more famous versions in Europe. In fact, one of the prototypes of these Biarritz “Raindrop” Eldorados was offered as well for sale by the Andrews family during this auction. The Buick was sold for a hammer price of 187’000 $, whilst the 1953 Eldorado was awarded for 291’500 $. The most surprising, deceiving performance was the 1958 Raindrop Eldorado, lot 216 which for a prototype should have achieved a much better price but was sold for “only” 324’500 $. In the background the custom racing Porsche Cayman was waiting for its turn to get some attention…
Lot 252 was a 1939 Ford Deluxe Tudor Custom, which RM Auctions said to be “Subtle, powerful, and a lot of fun”, thanks to its modern mechanics and vintage body style. Often considered understated here in the United States, this Deluxe Tudor Custom was estimated between 50’000 and 75’000 $. Switching to the next car, which was a 1955 MG TF-1500, I was surprised to see it here alone from its small British roadster sisters offered during the sale, but still charming from its typical British green colour. Whilst the custom Tudor was sold for 41’250 $, the MG was awarded to its next owner for 33’000 $.
From the different automobilia lots offered during this sale, not much of them really caught my attention, as I was more interested in the cars themselves of course, but this Ford V8 Neon sign would surely find a very suitable place near an old 1968 Mustang Fastback Coupé… This lot 144 was sold for 27’600 $. Facing each other were two typical american fifties convertibles. First on the left, a 1949 Mercury Convertible, which had just overcome a complete restoration with custom features, estimated between 100’000 and 140’000 $ who went under the hammer for “just” 77’000 $. Then, on the right, the “holy grail” upon my opinion of these big american convertibles, a 1953 Chevrolet Bel-Air Convertible, lot 253, sold for 74’250 $. Although the Bel-Air sedans are already fantastic cars to look at the convertible adds all the refinement you might want for a nice cruise on the eastern or west coast of the United States.
Since my arrival in the United States I had seen a few outrageous swaps. A big block Chevrolet V8 in a Jaguar E Type almost got me fainted so I wasn’t so surprised to see that the race-prepared 2008 Porsche Cayman S of the Andrews family had as well undergone an engine swap. It had changed its standard 3.4 litre flat-six engine for one of its 911 stepsister engine, the 3.8 litre X 51 flat-six from the Carrera 997 S. With the different lightweight features it had, no doubt that this Cayman would have been a beast on the track. The only thing I didn’t really like was the colour and vinyls on the car. With only 26’000 miles on its odometer, the Ferrari 328 GTS from 1989 offered by the Andrews was surely an amazing piece. But still, given its very standard Rosso over Nero livery I was completely stunned that RM Auctions had estimated this car from 75’000 to 125’000 $, especially when I think of the price of these cars a few years ago… The Porsche was finally sold for 71’500 $, and its eternal Italian rival for 93’500 $.
Only two Porsche were up for sale, on Saturday 2nd of May, 2015. The first one being the Cayman we talked about above and the second one was this gorgeous 1989 Porsche 911 Turbo Coupé. 1989 was the last year of the first generation Porsche 911 Turbo, the very desirable – and brutal – 930, making this car actually much more interesting than its younger Cayman sister. In a full black over black configuration it was one of my personal’s picks of the sale. Lot 243 achieved a final price of 126’500 $, a proof that there are still growing interests in the Porsche 930 Turbos, and more generally even in 911 classics.
Next was another custom car, but even more special indeed than the other, because this custom had been ordered by General Motors themselves in 2000 in order to celebrate the 100th birthday of Buick. Called the Blackhawk, this factory custom was built using the best of these first 100 years of Buick, and has been one of the most famous modern show cars, bought by the Andrews to the General Motors Heritage Collection. Given its very privileged history, it was estimated between 300’000 and 450’000 $, and sold for 363’000 $.
I have always loved the first generation Pontiac GTO. For its historical significance of course, as it is considered as the very first american muscle car, and for its looks too. So when I encountered this particular model offered by Rob Myer’s auction house, a 1966 Hardtop Coupé, with the 389 cubic inches Tri-Power and the four speed manual gearbox, I was really pleased, although a high-output 400 cubic inches with the 4 speed manual would have been even more desirable upon my opinion. Its final achieved price was just shy over its high estimation at a good 60’500 $.
Lot 207 was this 1950 Oldsmobile 88 Deluxe Holiday Coupé, estimated between 70’000 and 90’000 $. It had had a long term ownership during its lifetime and was in a very pristine condition. Alongside was the 1961 Pontiac Ventura Super Duty 421 Sport Coupé, one of the cars that was born thanks to the GTO’s legacy in Pontiac sports model range. This particular model was presented in a unique colour combination, and sold for a honorable 112’750 $, and the Oldsmobile for 60’500 $. Turning over, I faced the 2005 Ford GT which has now become a collector car since the presentation of the new Ford GT and we have discussed before this interesting matter about contemporary car design. And whilst it was alongside the Countach 25th Anniversary of the collection it became an evidence for me. Like the original Countach, the LP400 Periscopio, the Ford GT’s design is very simple, and although it did not revolution the design of modern supercars unlike its italian older sister, it was just the perfect reinterpretation of Ford’s legend. Both cars sold very well, the Ford achieving a final price of 330’000 $, whilst the very low mileage and pristine of the Countach allowed the Lamborghini to reach 451’000 $.
One of the highlight lots of this sale was of course the 1955 Lincoln Indianapolis, a unique show car made by Boano for the 1955 Turin Motorshow, and a multiple Pebble Beach Award winner. With its bright orange beautiful colour to enlighten its several details, all of them which are remarkable, it was a fantastic opportunity to meet this car. Interestingly though and despite its unique history and status, lot 235 only reached a final price of 1’210’000 $, just 40’000 $ shy under its low estimation.
Lister has always made fast and reliable racing cars, no matter the era, and this 1959 Lister-Chevrolet was no exception. British engineering associated with america’s best engines could only make a great car. This particular model did win in fact several races in its time and I am pretty sure it will still allow some chances to win classic races with its next owner. Estimated between 500’000 and 650’000 $, lot 249 was awarded under a hammer price of 412’500 $.
Next up was another of the greatly awaited lots of this sale, lot 219, the Cunningham C3 Coupé by Vignale. Designed and crafted after Briggs Cunningham, a famous american entrepreneur who decided to build his own sports cars, he eventually even made it up to the front cover of the Times magazine with his cars in 1954. Upon being very rare machines, and I don’t recall actually seeing any of these in Europe, the C3 in question, chassis 5206 was simply the first Vignale bodied prototype, making it even more than special, and the factory brochure car.
Powered by a 392 cubic inches Hemi V8 from Chrysler, the C3 offered around 350 horsepower, and with such a beautiful italian crafted body by Vignale it was and is still probably the hottest american car in existence. Production was stopped after the 25 road going cars were made for Briggs and his team to finally enter their car for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with 20 coupé and five convertibles produced. This particularly important C3 thus sold finally for 869’000 $.
