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Alfa Romeo 8C 2900
These car owners tend to think of their prize possessions as works of art. Many were hand crafted, one off or limited editions of special models that were designed by and built by artisans. A small Van Gogh or Monet is worth a lot more than any car, but you can’t take a painting out for a spin around the block.
“There's something about the fact that this is rolling art work. That people actually sat in them and they drove them around and they were on the streets. So it's a hands on thing,” said Haggerty.
While the notion of risking tooling around in a multi-million dollar car might give the faint of heart pause, to collectors like Peter Mullin, being able to drive his collection of French cars from the 1930s is one of the main reasons to collect. “Since they're mechanical animals that have engines made to turn over and move people from one place to another, seems only right to me that you can continue to use them the way they were built as opposed to sticking them in a trophy room or putting them up on a pedestal or wrapping them up in some garage where noboby'll ever get to see them again,” said Mullin.
Driving the cars is fun but the siren call of their next acquisition is the real appeal for some like Don Williams who hunts mechanical prey for the Blackhawk Collection in Northern California.
“I always considered collecting to be terminal. It's a disease that you're stuck with for the rest of your life. I think a search, y'know, the chase finding something different, is what most collectors, I find, enjoy the most,” said Williams.
Mullin agrees that the chase is part of the fun. “A kind of Sherlock Holmesian aspect of the search and identification and then the negotiation and then the restoration, it really is at least half the thrill,” said Mullin.
Merceds Benz 500K
One of the prevailing myths is finding a car that’s been stored away and forgotten in a barn. Collectors hope they’ll get the call one day from a widow asking them to come take away a derelict heap that they can transform into a regal coach.
“Every rumor you ever hear about somebody saying, "oh there are a bunch of old cars out in a barn." You gotta go look,” said Haggerty.
“I think that's the dream, that I hope to have for the rest of my life and I think there's an awful lot of collectors like that,” said Williams.
There probably are lost cars, valuable cars out there, that are hiding, waiting for someone to discover. It sure beats walking on the beach with a metal detector.
--Michael Rose
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Ferrari 375 Mille Miglia
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