If the money factor remained unsaid beyond the exclusivity of the cars and the depth of the surgically enhanced cleavages at Quail Lodge it was very much front and centre as RM Auctions took over a significant portion of Monterey's shopping district. And relayed inescapably on speakers wherever you went. "Do I hear 5.5 million? Six! Six it is sir, 6.5 anyone? 6.5, surely. Yes sir, yours for six currently but do I ... yes, 6.5!" And so on. What car was that anyway? Nobody seemed sure, or especially bothered. It was just numbers.
Design inspiration for future Jags ... possibly
Outside the sprawling Portola Hotel & Spa crowds lined the pedestrian shopping precinct as cars lined up in the holding area awaiting their moment in front of the waiting bidders, none of whom seemed especially whipped up despite the best efforts of RM's smooth talking auctioneer Max Girardo. I've seen Max in action before at RM's sale in London, where the atmosphere seemed a lot more fired up than here at Monterey. And his banter is good. But maybe he was just warming up because this was just the first of two nights of selling and the really juicy stuff like Steve McQueen's 275 GTB/4 is yet to come. Still, $10.5m for a 250LM is a fair sum of money by anyone's book. My two favourites - the Hakosuka GT-R and the Alfa Romeo GTA Junior - were lined up in the shopping precinct awaiting their turn. I'd best not turn up for day two for fear of doing something rash because both looked absolutely gorgeous.
For all the hype though the bidding currently seems on the reserved side, even $38,115,000 seemed to be taken with a pinch of cynicism despite Ferrari swiftly press releasing the fact it was the most ever paid for a car at an auction. Those in the know seem to think better ones have changed hands for more in the private market.
After all this exotica it was a relief to get back to the hotel and enjoy some of the cars rumbling about on the local streets. Knowing he has a bit of a thing for hot rods I dragged Jag designer Ian Callum from the bar to come and look at the slammed Model A parked up over the road and he spent a long time wandering round, staring thoughtfully at it and saying things like "I'm going to have to make one..." We then sneaked into the garage where the valets have been storing cars belonging to guests, where we found an ace early Ford Thunderbird with side pipes and some very smart mods (earlier I'd seen the owner chuck the keys to an unsuspecting valet with the words "good luck with that"), a GT3 RS 4.0 and a super cool 'bobber' Harley hardtail. Whatever your tastes there are petrol powered delights galore round here. Not all of them going for seven figure sums either.
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