Gooding Announces Mullin Collection Auction Highlights

On Friday, April 26, Gooding & Company will host an auction of select lots from the Peter Mullin Collection at the Mullin Museum in Oxnard, CA.

Mullin, who died in September, was a prominent collector of French and European collector cars and automobilia. 

“Peter Mullin’s passing shook the automotive community, and he no doubt will go down in history as one of this world’s greatest visionaries, especially in the realm of French Classic and Art Deco cars,” said Gooding & Company President and Co-Founder David Gooding. “We are so honored to have the privilege of presenting this auction at the Mullin Automotive Museum, where we will all convene together one last time to honor the tremendous legacy of Peter and ensure that the automotive treasures he hand-picked with his wife Merle find their way to new and deserving homes.”

Featured lots include: 

1939 Bugatti Type 57C Aravis ‘Special Cabriolet’ (Estimate: $2,500,000 – $3,500,000, Without Reserve)

The Type 57, which launched in 1934, was Bugatti’s most successful road-going model. The Type 57C added additional performance thanks to a factory-fitted supercharged engine. 

French coachbuilder Gangloff offered a 2/3-seat Cabriolet body for the Type 57 called the Aravis. Only three examples of the Gangloff-bodied Aravis survive today, one of which is this example. 

This car was ordered new by Avignon agent Granat & Fils for Bugatti team driver Maurice Trintignant.  Chassis 57768 features ivory bodywork with dark blue fenders and trim. It was raced by Trintignant at the Grand Prix du Comminges in 1939. As part of the Mullin Collection, the Aravis was restored by Sargent Metal Works before being exhibited at various concours events. It took First in Class at the 2005 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Later, it was displayed at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, where it resided in the Peter and Merle Mullin Artistry Gallery.

1935 Hispano-Suiza J12 Cabriolet (Estimate: $2,500,000 – $3,500,000, Without Reserve)

Introduced in 1931, the Hispano-Suiza J12 offered exceptional performance, power, and ease of operation with a high-quality fit and finish. This was one of the most expensive cars of the day.

This car wears unusually attractive coachwork by Vanvooren, and has provenance that includes noted collectors Dr. Sam Scher, Richard Paine, and John Mozart.  

This J12 joined the Mullin Collection in 1992, where it has been a prominent fixture. The J12 has also been shown multiple times at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, where it has been the recipient of numerous Class Awards.

1937 Delage D8-120 Three-Position Cabriolet (Estimate: $800,000 – $1,000,000, Without Reserve) 

This is a second-series 1937 Delage D8-120 Three-Position Cabriolet wearing open-bodied coachwork by Chapron. The car was featured prominently in the 1951 film An American in Paris starring Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron, and achieved an award in the Chapron Coachwork class at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 2016.

Beyond those cars are several that were once part of the Schlumpf Collection.

In the 1950s, Swiss brothers and textile industrialists Hanz and Fritz Schlumpf formed one of the most significant automobile collections in the world. This collection now forms the Musée National Cité de l’Automobile in Alsace, France. 

The Schlumpf Reserve collection, offered here, consists of several cars that belonged to the Schlumpf brothers and had been hidden for decades in Malmerspach, France. The Mullin Automotive Museum acquired these cars, which makes this a rare chance to own something that was once part of the Brothers’ collection.

Highlights include a 1937 Auto Union-Wanderer W25K Roadster (Estimate: $120,000 – $150,000, Without Reserve), a 1927 Bugatti Type 40 ‘Break de Chasse’ (Estimate: $100,000 – $150,000, Without Reserve), and a pair of Bugatti Type 57 Ventoux with John Shakespeare provenance: a 1934 example (Estimate: $200,000 – $250,000, Without Reserve) and a 1936 example (Estimate: $125,000 – $175,000, Without Reserve).

The auction at the Mullin Automotive Museum will also feature French marques such as Citroën, Peugeot, Renault, and Delage, as well as others that are a bit more obscure. Automobilia will also be offered, including items from Bugatti and other French makers.

Learn more here.

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Jim Pickering

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