Hidden for more than 50 years, this remarkable collection of rare and sought-after cars could well be thought of as a “rust fund”…
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Like the scene from a movie where a group of children would sooner head home than recover a ball that’s flown over the wall of a “no-go” neighbouring plot, for more than 50 years, the gates to Los Angeles-based car scrap dealer Rudi Klein’s yard were known to have been kept strictly locked to avoid unwelcome attention.
An immigrant who initially worked as a butcher in LA, Klein eventually combined his knowledge and contacts within his native German auto industry to found Porsche Foreign Auto in 1967. With the name of his European automobile trading and scrap business deliberately misspelt to avoid the ire of a certain Stuttgart-based sportscar maker, Klein slowly began filling his South Los Angeles yard with countless high-end cars, spare parts, components, and memorabilia.
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While rumours of what was hidden behind its walls swirled unabated, it wasn’t until Klein’s passing in 2002 that the family eventually decided to hand the keys to this non-functioning yard to auctioneers RM Sotheby’s. What was uncovered was nothing short of an automotive hidden treasure chest: one the largest collections of abandoned, neglected and, in some cases, unrecognisable exotic vehicles and components ever recorded.
It didn’t take RM Sotheby’s long to establish that one of the highlights of the so-called Junkyard Collection was a 1956 alloy-bodied Mercedes-Benz 300 SL. One of only 29 examples created, these lightweight versions of the brand’s famous “Gullwing” sportscar weighed around 100 kg less than their steel-bodied W198 stablemates. This was also the only car from the limited run to feature “Schwarz” black exterior paintwork with a contrasting red interior.
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Originally owned and imported into the US by multiple Le Mans-winning Ferrari driver Luigi Chinetti to learn more about the then-newest rival to his beloved Scuderia, Chinetti would eventually sell the Benz with 77 000 km on the clock to Klein in 1977 for $30 000. At the yard, the resprayed car’s original bumpers, gear lever knob, tool kit, jack and spare wheel were sold. Indeed, the only time this otherwise prized piece of automotive history would move again was when Klein mistakenly backed his forklift into it in 1988, the damage from which was still evident when the car fetched $9 355 000 (around R165 million) at auction.
Of the more than 50 Porsche models housed in the yard, the rarest was a 1962 356 B 1600 “Twin-Grille” Roadster by D’Ieteren. With only 600 miles on the clock, the soft top is the penultimate “twin grille” (referencing the twin air vents in the car’s engine cover) produced by Belgium coachbuilder D’Ieteren. It fetched $1 160 000 (around R20 million). Other cars from this brand that hadn’t moved out of the hot California sun for more than 50 years were altogether less recognisable…
The “neatest” of four Bertone-designed Lamborghini Miura P400s uncovered was an aqua-green 1968 example with its matching-number V12 engine. Selling for $1 325 000 (around R23 million), if chassis number 159 of the 298 cars built is likely destined for a satisfying full restoration, an altogether more challenging rebuild lies ahead of the new owners of the front chassis section from a late-production Miura P400 sold while still loaded onto the back of a VW Type 2 single-cab pick-up.
The second most expensive vehicle sold on the day of the auction was another Mercedes-Benz in the squared-off shape of a once-off 1935 500 K ‘Caracciola’ Special Coupé by Sindelfingen. Built to celebrate the man who in 1926, “showed the Italians” by becoming the first non-Italian driver to win the legendary Mille Miglia. Dubbed the Regenmeister (rain master) after his winning exploits in particularly treacherous conditions, Rudolf Caracciola, would accumulate six German Grand Prix trophies as part of the famed “silver arrows”; three European Driving Championships and three European Hillclimb titles.
Arguably the most sought-after Classic Era Mercedes-Benz models of the last half-century, the presence of the 500 K within Kleins’ collection was only uncovered once the photo shoot for the auction had begun. It fetched $ 4 130 000 (around R73 million).
Another one-of-a-kind vehicle that, by all accounts, wasn’t even supposed to be on US soil was the NSU ro80 2 Porte + 2 by Pininfarina, a concept car that appeared at the 1971 Turin Motor Show. Featuring a Wankel rotary engine and three-speed semi-automatic transmission, this futuristic-looking creation that was never acknowledged as having left Europe sports a unique 2+2 seating arrangement and novel sliding roof panel that lifts to rest on the car’s boot lid during wind-in-the-hair motoring moments.
The footnote below the lot no. 297, a 1978 Aston Martin V8 Vantage ‘Molded Fliptail’ finished below its current layer of dust in British Racing Green read, “Please note that due to California emissions, this vehicle must be sold to a dealer or out-of-state resident.” Selling for $50 400 (just over R882 000), this quintessential grand tourer was purchased by Klein in 1985 and features an all-alloy 5.3-litre V8 engine and a five-speed manual gearbox.
Via a series of online and live auctions hosted between 26 and 28 October 2024, more than 350 individual lots, including vehicles in various states of disrepair, engines, transmissions, seats, roof panels and wheel rims found new homes. In total, the auction raised $29.6 million or R522 million.
Find the full feature in the February issue of CAR Magazine.
