San Francisco Academy of Art Car Collection Auction
Published on . Event was held at Academy of Art University Automobile Museum on .
#auction #California #cars #event #historic cars #museum #San Francisco
The permanent closure of car museums becomes a sign of time. Last February Mullin Automotive Collection in Oxnard closed its doors following the death of its founder. This February the Academy of Art University Automobile Museum collection was auctioned off with the help of Broad Arrow Auctions.
Richard A. Stephens, son of the Academy of Art College founder Richard S. Stephens, started acquiring cars around 2005 (other sources mention the 1990s) and at its peak accumulated over 250 vehicles.
He passed away in 2017, and the next year the Academy started to sell cars from its collection — first, just a few, then a few dozen, and this, probably the last and the largest sale included 105 vehicles.
The publicized reason for letting collection cars go is the renovation of the University collection. I.e. replacing pre-war cars with a modern Ford GT and split-window 1963 C2 Corvette. Which also was sold by the way.
A brief googling exposed a few issues the University faces — from high tuition costs and falling enrollment numbers to a 450 million-dollar lawsuit and declining graduation rates. Some say that the college is the facade for the real estate operation run by a wealthy Stephens family. With astronomical real estate prices in San Francisco, I won’t be surprised if the vacated garage on Van Ness will be sold.
Diverse and vibrant collection was used by the university’s industrial design program, which includes the Automotive Restoration Associate Degree track. You can tell inspiration and showcasing the design for students influenced the curation — many cars stand out in their visual form, color, and unique engineering.
For example, the Volvo 1800 S in Cherry Red — an exquisite, delicate, and almost hovering-in-the-air coupe designed by Pelle Petterson, under the supervision of Pietro Frua.
1939 Graham Supercharged(!) Combination Coupe with its “Spirit of Motion” design with striking grill and uniquely shaped Art Deco headlights integrated into smooth fenders, immediately transported me to the New York City of 1930th, right in front of the Chrysler building.
1933 Lincoln KB Custom Convertible Sedan Coachwork by Dietrich is enormous and grandeur. It’s a top-of-the-luxury line Lincoln with V12 and a custom-built Dietrich body with a striking two-tone blue color.
The 1958 Mercedes-Benz 220 S Cabriolet is the ultimate jewelry box. Luxurious, curvacious, reasonably small, finished in medium blue over light metallic with a bright red leather interior. Chrome-trimmed headlights and amber-colored and elegant turn lights complement the playful image.
Other noteworthy examples were the 1938 Pierce-Arrow Model 1801, 1937 Squire 1½-Liter Drophead Coupe Coachwork by Corsica, 1941 Packard Super Eight 1907 Custom One-Eighty Sport Brougham Coachwork By LeBaron 1931 Invicta S-Type 4½-Litre Low Chassis Fixed Head Coupe “Sea-Bear”.
The jewel of the collection was the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing Coupe in a beautiful Strawberry Red Metallic coming with a matching set of custom-crafted luggage. Sold at the top of the estimated range for 1.49 million.
The condition of cars is exceptional. They look freshly restored or very well preserved. About half of the collection was pre-war, and I know very little about pre-war automobiles, manufacturers, or coachbuilders.
Among unique, significant, distinguished, and undeniably beautiful cars, there were a few small, bright, peppy ones — two sparkling VW Beetles — 1963 Gulf Blue Cabriolet and 1955 De Luxe Sunroof, 1957 BMW Isetta 300, 1959 Autobianchi Bianchina Trasformabile in French blue, 1964 Amphicar Model 770 in Lagoon Blue (only 4000 cars were made), 1954 Messerschmitt KR175 microcar — a scooter with a plastic canopy produced by in an aircraft manufacturing plant.
Broad Arrow Auction House presented the collection at two locations: a former museum location at 1849 Washington Street and a three-story garage at 950 Van Ness Avenue. The garage had a genuine automotive restoration and craftsman vibe, including the car exhaust smell and spiral ramp onto the second floor.
There were a few relatively affordable MG cars I was tempted to bet on. My pick is a like-new 1967 MG MGB/GT Special, sold for $47,600, and its sister car — the 1965 MG MGB Roadster, sold for as little as $24,640. Both were restored by prior owners, but the MGB GT was a concourse-condition car. Both weren’t driven after 2012 and 2014 based on their registration stickers.
The aforementioned Volvo 1800S is a dream car for a weekend drive in a classic, and the 1957 AC Aceca looks fantastic and quite modern too. A couple of VW Beetles looked like they were just taken out of a jewelry box.
This is the second auction I attended and thoroughly enjoyed. Aside from the amazing selection of cars, you can sit inside, open the hood, evaluate the seating position, push the clutch pedal, and shift gears. And I do fit comfortably in an MGB GT.
I wish I had learned about this museum earlier, but I am thankful for the last-minute opportunity to see these rare and outstanding cars in person.