A 1935 Auburn Eight Supercharged Speedster and a 1936 Duesenberg Model J Tourster were announced for the RM Sotheby’s Auburn Fall 2020 auction.
RM Sotheby’s announced a 1935 Auburn Eight Supercharged Speedster (Est. $700,000 – $800,000) and a 1936 Duesenberg Model J Tourster (Est. $550,000 – $650,000) as early highlights for the Auburn Fall sale in early September 2020. The current planning is for a traditional live auction, although it may change at short notice to an online format if necessary, as RM Sotheby’s had done with the European online sale in place of Essen and Driving into Summer sale in the USA in May 2020.
RM Auctions Auburn Fall 2020 Sale
RM Auctions is gearing up for its 50th anniversary Auburn Fall sale, an annual Labor Day weekend tradition for collector car enthusiasts across the country, set for 3-6 September 2020 at the historic Auburn Auction Park. The highly regarded event will see a wide range of cars on offer, ranging from American classics to European sports cars, muscle, hot rods, customs, and modern collectibles with early motor car highlights led by an iconic pair of American classics—a 1935 Auburn Eight Supercharged Speedster and a 1936 Duesenberg Model J Tourster.
1935 Auburn Eight Supercharged Speedster
Widely considered one of the most beautiful American automobiles, the genuine and fully restored 1935 Auburn Eight Supercharged Speedster (Est. $700,000 – $800,000) comes to Auburn Fall from long-term enthusiast ownership. The Speedster wears a striking, period-correct finish of Nassau Orange and has been properly sorted, with a rebuilt carburetor and work to the clutch ensuring that it runs and drives extremely well. It is an exceptionally correct, authentic, and beautiful Speedster, now offered publicly for the first time in over two decades.
RM Sotheby’s sold a 1936 Auburn Eight Supercharged Speedster for $1,017,500 at Monterey 2017. The Auburn 851 SC Boattail Speedster models are more likely to exceed a million dollars.
1936 Duesenberg Model J Tourster
One of only ten “JN” cars produced for Duesenberg by Rollston, the 1936 Duesenberg Model J Tourster in the style of Derham, engine no. J-575, (Est. $550,000 – $650,000) joins the Speedster in Auburn as one of the finest “modern” Toursters. J -575 retains its original engine, drivetrain, frame, and firewall, as well as the original fenders of the attractive skirted design made optional on later Model Js.
In the 1960s, the Rollston body of the Duesenberg was removed from the chassis, in preparation for restoration; while the chassis and drivetrain were being restored, the body was put into storage in a building that subsequently caught fire and the body was lost. The complete chassis and drivetrain survived intact and, in 1969, the Tourster body in the style of Derham was built by Carl Amsley of Pennsylvania. Recently, J-575 has undergone a detailed mechanical and cosmetic preparation and presents wonderfully today in an elegant and unusual chocolate hue finish.
Major Online Classic Car Auctions in 2020
Some of the major classic car online-only sales by major auctioneers in 2020 include:
- May: RM Sotheby’s Driving into Summer – Results
- June: RM Sotheby’s European – Results
- July: RM Sotheby’s Open Roads: European & North American
- August:
- RM Sotheby’s Shift/Monterey
- Bonhams California Streamin — Results
- Gooding Geared Online — Results
- September: Gooding London — Results, Bonhams Brussels Sale, RM Sotheby’s Auburn Fall (Sales from September onwards may be traditional auctions if conditions allow.)
- October: Gooding (Geared Online)