Art Astor Parts With 200 Cars at Auction

Art Astor, a Southern California native, renowned entrepreneur and broadcast veteran who started collecting classic cars 30 years ago when he began buying radio stations and building his Astor Broadcast Group, said goodbye to 200 of his cars this past weekend.

At 83, Astor wanted to down-size his personal collection which has been regarded as one of the country’s most impressive and diverse collections of its kind. When we reviewed this particular collection, we were pleased to see that many of them were good, solid and well preserved cars with either an older or partial restoration. Cars that you can drive, not a bunch of “trailer queens” that are only meant for show.

But cars that sell from a personal collection such as this will tend to fetch a higher price because it brings a bit more pedigree, perfect or not. Naturally we were anxious to see if this naughty economy put a damper on buyer’s willingness to keep raising their paddle.

Twenty two cars sold for under $20K, mostly in line with their estimate, but a few brought the hammer down at a bargain price like the 1969 Mercedes-Benz 280SE Sedan at $3672, 1925 Dodge Special Four-Passenger Coupe at $9900, and a 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow at $18,700.

But when Astor’s rarer cars with interesting lineage in the collection came on the block, bidders showed that they are still highly sought after and will continue to bring an impressive price.

• The 1941 Lincoln Continental Coupe given to Rita Hayworth by Orson Welles attracted enthusiastic bidding and sold for $209,000, well over its estimate.
• Astor’s 1941 Chrysler Town & Country Nine-Passenger Estate Wagon went for $330,000.
• Purchased new by the renowned silent film star and western movie actor Tom Mix, the 1927 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Playboy Roadster sold for $319,000.
• The 1933 Chrysler LeBaron CL Imperial Sport Phaeton, which was one of 36 cars built as that model year, sold over its estimate at $462,000.
• The top seller of the day at $616,000 was film legend Gary Cooper’s 1938 Cadillac V16 Convertible Coupe.

RM Auctions who conducted the sale in Anaheim, California, reported that Astor’s cars, along with 800 lots of pre and postwar memorabilia, sold for over $15.4 million. Our favorite car of the day, a 1936 Jenson-Ford Tourer.

For a full list of Art Astor's Auction results, visit RM Auctions website.