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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Auctioneer Revs Up Car Lot

If there is an extra $200,000 burning a hole in your pocket, then Auctions America has a deal for you. The auction house is offering up a well-running crème-colored 1949 Buick Roadmaster convertible with Dynaflow transmission, AM radio and power brakes. And if that isn’t enough to pry open your wallet, jog your memory a little: the car is believed to be one of the two Tom Cruise drove with Dustin Hoffman in the Academy Award-winning film “Rain Man.” It’s also among more than 400 classic and contemporary vehicles to be sold off July 31 through Aug. 2 at the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel and Convention Center. The vehicles will sell for as low as $10,000 up to $1 million by the Auburn, Ind. auction house. They range from a 1908 Ford Model R Runabout to a Porsche, Maserati and Lamborghini from last decade. In between are such distinctive models as the gull-winged DeLorean DMC-12 and a 1953 yellow Muntz Jet convertible sold by noted Los Angeles car dealer Earl “Mad Man” Muntz. In case you were wondering how significant the auction is, it will be broadcast over cable channel NBCSN. “We avoid dealer cars still on the market,” said Ian Kelleher, manager of Auction America’s Culver City office. “We want cars that are privately owned that will be attractive to enthusiasts because they are not widely found.” Some 60-plus vehicles on the auction block – including the DeLorean and Muntz Jet – are owned by the Zarabi family of Beverly Hills, who has been storing them in Chatsworth. Other vehicles in the family’s collection will be sold at auctions in Monterey and Auburn, Ind. later this summer, said Michael Zarabi, who plans to keep about 10 of the cars. The Zarabis purchased the collection in 2011 from the estate of Bob Pond, a multi-millionaire who went on to start the Palm Springs Air Museum. Zarabi said the collection was so large that he hasn’t been able to enjoy most of the cars and it made more sense to get them into the hands of collectors rather than cooped up in a warehouse in the Valley. “It’s time to start our own collection,” Zarabi added. “I will start to buy the kinds of vehicles I really like.” Kelleher also manages the Monterey auction, done Aug. 15 and 16 in conjunction with the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance automobile competition. While there is not a big difference between buyers in Monterey and Burbank, the latter tends to be first-time buyers who want to get into collecting without having to spend $500,000 or more – though they can if the desire strikes them. “The (lower) price point is more attractive to more people,” Kelleher added. – Mark R. Madler

Mark Madler
Mark Madler
Mark R. Madler covers aviation & aerospace, manufacturing, technology, automotive & transportation, media & entertainment and the Antelope Valley. He joined the company in February 2006. Madler previously worked as a reporter for the Burbank Leader. Before that, he was a reporter for the City News Bureau of Chicago and several daily newspapers in the suburban Chicago area. He has a bachelor’s of science degree in journalism from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

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