Mythical LA car collection hidden for years is headed for auction

19 August 2024 - 17:23 By Motoring Staff
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Numerous Porsche 356 models form part of the collection.
Numerous Porsche 356 models form part of the collection.
Image: RM Sotheby's

One of the motoring world's most secretive and mythical car collections will come to auction with RM Sotheby's in October.

Based in Los Angeles, “The Junkyard” is a sizeable cache of exotic European classics (including super-rare models from the likes of Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Aston Martin and Lamborghini) amassed by a gentleman named Rudi Klein.

A German immigrant who started out as a butcher but moved on to open his own scrap yard business, Porsche Foreign Auto, in 1967, Klein kept his stash of automotive exotica concealed from the public eye with very few mortals granted entry inside its gates. Since his death in 2001 there has been much speculation about the vehicles Klein had hidden.

The one-of-a-kind 1935 Mercedes-Benz 500 K ‘Caracciola’ Special Coupe by Sindelfingen.
The one-of-a-kind 1935 Mercedes-Benz 500 K ‘Caracciola’ Special Coupe by Sindelfingen.
Image: RM Sotheby's

Well theorise no more as auction house RM Sotheby's has given us a tantalising preview of what the German had tucked away. Highlights include a one-of-a-kind 1935 Mercedes-Benz 500 K ‘Caracciola’ Special Coupe by Sindelfingen; one of 29 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL ‘Alloy’ Gullwings, a 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster, 1939 Horch 855 Special Roadster; 1967 Iso Grifo A3/L Spider Prototype by Bertone and 1961 Porsche 356 B 1600 ‘Twin-Grille’ Roadster by D’Ieteren. Other highlights include a trio of unloved Lamborghini Miuras and numerous Porsche 911 and 356 models in varying states of cosmetic disrepair. 

The full catalogue will be published in September, so watch this space for more details.


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