CCCA cars in large collections

[1935Packard]

I saw from an advertisement in Keith Martin's Sports Car Market that RM Sotheby's January auction in Phoenix is auctioning off seven  V16 Cadillacs from the collection of John D. Groendyke . (See the descriptions and a picture below from the press release.)   It brings up a question, I think: What proportion of high-end pre-war cars, like Cadillac V16s, are in large collections these days?    When it comes to high-end cars like that, how many of the cars are owned by people with small collections versus those with large ones?  You can get a little bit of a sense of that from looking through the CCCA member directory, but I assume that a lot of the large-collection owners don't fill those out so I don't know how accurate that info is.

 

 

******************************

 

1) A 1930 Cadillac V-16 Sport Phaeton by Fleetwood. This genuine, exceptional example is restored in striking colors and is fully matching numbers complete with its original chassis, engine, axles, coachwork, and beyond. The Sport Phaeton was formerly owned for three decades by CCCA member Walden J. Schmitz, who purchased it from the estate of its original owner in the early 1960s. Schmitz restored the car and took it to CCCA meets through the early 1970s, after which he put it in his living room, until it was sold from his estate in 1998. The car has had a believed four private owners over the course of its nearly 90-year life (Est. $900,000 – $1,200,000).

2) a 1935 Cadillac V-16 Imperial Convertible Sedan by Fleetwood, formerly of the Richard Gold, Dr. Barbara Atwood, and Andrews Collections, wearing a well-maintained restoration by Steve Babinsky (Est. $600,000 – $750,000).

3) A 1933 Cadillac V-16 All-Weather Phaeton, restored with a correct Fleetwood body and formerly of the Fred Weber and Aaron Weiss collections (Est. $300,000 – $350,000);

4) A 1936 Cadillac V-16 Town Sedan by Fleetwood, the sole survivor in this style, sporting a well-preserved restoration by Fran Roxas and formerly of the noted William Ruger, Jr. Collection (Est. $250,000 – $300,000);

5)} 1939 Cadillac V-16 Convertible Coupe by Fleetwood, a very rare second-generation V-16, one of just seven built and formerly in the long-term ownership of Bob Hannay (Est. $225,000 – $275,000);

6) A 1931 Cadillac V-16 Seven-Passenger Imperial Sedan by Fleetwood, among the finest original, unrestored V-16s, beautifully preserved and with known history from new. The Imperial Sedan was formerly owned by noted restorer “Cadillac Jim” Pearson (Est. $100,000 – $150,000); and

7) A  1932 Cadillac V-16 Five-Passenger Sedan by Fleetwood, beautifully restored in the original color of Viceroy Maroon and an ideal CARavan and tour automobile (Est. $175,000 – $225,000).

 

 

Among the cars: 

 

 

[alsancle]

My WAG is that 75% of the really great cars are in large (10 cars or more) collections.

 

It looks like John is clearing out some of his lesser cars.

[trimacar]

Man, that's a lot of cylinders for one picture!

 

I agree, a lot of heavy hitting cars in large collections.

 

The CCCA directory is OK, but lots of cars not listed.  I was once good friends with a (late) member who had 50 Classics, and only 3 or 4 listed in directory.

[John_Mereness]

4 hours ago, alsancle said:

My WAG is that 75% of the really great cars are in large (10 cars or more) collections.

 

It looks like John is clearing out some of his lesser cars.

Seemed that way to me also - nice cars, but all now with older restorations and ....  

[alsancle]

59 minutes ago, John_Mereness said:

Seemed that way to me also - nice cars, but all now with older restorations and ....  

 

Everything is relative.   Using lesser in the context of the greatest collection of V16 cars in the world still means great stuff.

[Steve_Mack_CT]

On the other end it makes me think of gent working on rebodied 540K, Craig.  He notes it is his only car a few times.  One wonders if he ever considers more, lesser but still great cars.

Edited November 19, 2019 by Steve_Mack_CT (see edit history)

[alsancle]

3 minutes ago, Steve_Mack_CT said:

On the other end it makes me think of gent working on rebodied 540K, Craig.  He notes it is his only car a few times.  One wonders if he ever considers more, lesser but still great cars.

 

Craig is cleaning up at every show  not named Amelia or Pebble Beach.   He is living large.  

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Nice.  I know he was looking forward to finishing it, have to go back through the thread, did he post pics?

[alsancle]

The car looks better without him standing in front of it.  He gets the hero award if you know what he started with.

 

https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2019/apr/24/golden-restoring-1936-mercedes-benz-500k-special/

 

[1935Packard]

Thanks, all, for the replies.  Makes sense that the higher-end you go, the more cars are in large collections.  If you have a serious boatload of dough to spend on cars,  you're probably going to buy a bunch of cars rather than just one, or two (or three).