Mecum Auction - 550A #141

[Bill Sargent]

550A 141 was auctioned on day 3 of the Mecum Monterey 2018 auction. This is the YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKfgGfxDOGQ Auction starts at 3 hours and 12 minutes into the video. Bid up to $2 MM and appeared to be a no sale.

Sad result for such a great car.

[Adam Wright]

The opinion of the 550 guy, Andrew Hosking, was,
"Many spyders are rebodied but retain the original engine and parts. This is all fabricated."

Maybe the market agreed with him. When 0116 sold the same weekend for $4,895,000, the market for Spyders is not weak.

[Ned Hamlin]

Adam is right. That 550 was all new fabricated panels.

[C J Murray]

For those of you attending the ECH and going to the Simeone Museum, you will see quite a few very significant race winning cars that have been carefully preserved. Fred Simeone has made it his life's work to not "restore" these important racing icons. When my friend Harry Tidmarsh repaired Fred's LeMans winning C-Type Jaguar he was adamant that Harry work with the original aluminum and not replace the panels. The body remains a little lumpy but the body is the actual body that crossed the finish line first. My understanding is that the Collier collection is undergoing an un-restoration where body filler and highly polished paint is being removed. Look closely at the factory photos and you will see brand new bodies that are lumpy and dull.

[Rusty Ferrell]

Cliff, in the early 80s my wife and I drove up to Bear Lake, Idaho to look at t his car. The owner at that time wanted to trade it for my 65 Cab. The car had a Devin body and was buried in a snow bank. There was also 3 or 4 55 gallon drums with 4Cam engine parts. I passed but told Jim Wellington about the car and gave him contact info. The rest you know. No way to straighten that Devin to look like the car it is today.
Wishing all my brothers good health,

[Olivier Auvray]

For those of you attending the ECH and going to the Simeone Museum, you will see quite a few very significant race winning cars that have been carefully preserved. Fred Simeone has made it his life's work to not "restore" these important racing icons. When my friend Harry Tidmarsh repaired Fred's LeMans winning C-Type Jaguar he was adamant that Harry work with the original aluminum and not replace the panels. The body remains a little lumpy but the body is the actual body that crossed the finish line first. My understanding is that the Collier collection is undergoing an un-restoration where body filler and highly polished paint is being removed. Look closely at the factory photos and you will see brand new bodies that are lumpy and dull.

+10000

I've seen too many "over restored" or "recreated" cars in my life (including awards winners) and my heart beats only for original cars or restored as your Harry did!
Sometimes, only the chassis number is original, everything else is new!
In France, an antique piece of furniture is called "original" when minimum 60% of parts/panels are there from day 1......... it's not easy to prove, but I like the idea!

[Adam Wright]

For those of you attending the ECH and going to the Simeone Museum, you will see quite a few very significant race winning cars that have been carefully preserved. Fred Simeone has made it his life's work to not "restore" these important racing icons. When my friend Harry Tidmarsh repaired Fred's LeMans winning C-Type Jaguar he was adamant that Harry work with the original aluminum and not replace the panels. The body remains a little lumpy but the body is the actual body that crossed the finish line first. My understanding is that the Collier collection is undergoing an un-restoration where body filler and highly polished paint is being removed. Look closely at the factory photos and you will see brand new bodies that are lumpy and dull.

+10000

I've seen too many "over restored" or "recreated" cars in my life (including awards winners) and my heart beats only for original cars or restored as your Harry did!
Sometimes, only the chassis number is original, everything else is new!
In France, an antique piece of furniture is called "original" when minimum 60% of parts/panels are there from day 1......... it's not easy to prove, but I like the idea!

Like 550-0001, how much is original?

[C J Murray]

Olivier, we agree! Some of the most important competition cars with history have been ruined during restoration. They don't need to be perfect. They have made their mark on the world and people have stood up and noticed. The imperfections they acquired through life are what made them famous and beloved by racing fans. Why do people think it is smart to erase the history that makes their car special? Didn't they buy it because it is special?

[Steve Proctor]

Steve Terrien told me that he bought the car as a rolling chassis and that being the case, would have had no option other than to rebody. Tim Herman verified, as he was a previous owner.

STP

[Craig Richter]

I like over-restored cars. They're beautiful. Often the only choice is between total re-make or scrap heap. The issue some people have comes down to worth. That well re-created Spyder is apparently worth around 2 Million, no matter what the builder or kibitzers without a paddle think. The real deal, the one that actually crossed the finish line first (as Cliff put it) is worth 5 Million to the guy with the paddle. The Market speaks. And I LOVE seeing the bumpy old winners!