LOS ANGELES, Calif. – For the last few years, RM / Sotheby’s (RM/S) has held a very select, high-quality lot auction sale in Manhattan called Icons. These sales are very carefully curated, and not based on bigger-is-better in terms of volume; these events are very different than the environments you’ll find at Barrett-Jackson, Mecum’s or Russo-Steele. RM/S will most likely continue staging these “right crowd, no crowding” sales in New York, but is looking to take the show on the road every other year; 2017 was a New York year, and thus 2018’s equivalent of the Icons sale went to Los Angeles at the Petersen Automotive Museum.

Just 73 select cars, trucks, hot rods and motorcycles – plus around 70 lots of high-quality automobilia, artwork, engines and other ephemera – made up the field for this one-day event; with many of the more interesting and well-provenance lots being Fords or Ford-related properties.

By all measures this auction was a success, with RM/S achieving an 88% sell-through rate on all lots offered, and a total sale gross of approximately $40 million. Some lots were offered at no reserve, while others carried reserves, which of course aren’t disclosed publicly prior-to or post-sale. The top lot on its own generated about half the total revenue, that being Lot #241, a 1956 Ferrari 290 Mille Miglia V-12 race car, which earned several important podium finishes back in the day at the hands of many of the 1950’s most significant road racing drivers. The big gunner Ferrari clocked the block at a total of $22,005,000.

Choosing the top Ford offerings is somewhat a matter of taste. If you happen to like yellow, there were two – albeit very different – brilliantly yellow Fords to choose from. The first would be Lot #188, a fully optioned 2006 Ford GT in rare Speed Yellow with black stripes, showing a mere six miles on its fresh and barely broken-in odometer, which sold for $318,500 (validating RM/S’s pre-sale estimated price range of $300,000-350,000).  The day’s other Ford-powered screaming yellow zonker was a faithful recreation of Ed “Big Daddy” Roth’s famous Mysterion show rod.

Typical most of Roth’s legendary work where “too much is just about enough,” the Mysterion boasts not one but a pair of highly chromed, triple-carbed Ford FE 406 big-block V-8s, mounted side-by-side, with some exceptionally clever drivetrain work needed to get the engines to run together and power the car; funny – one single headlight, yet two motors! You’ll do a little double-take when you look at the dashboard and notice two tachs. This example is of one of two Mysterion rebuilds extant, as the original car was disassembled and/or otherwise lost decades ago. Of the two recreations, this is the only one said to run and drive. It sold for $246,400 – assuredly less than it would cost to build another authentic example today.

If more-traditional Ford hot rods are your thing, you’d have been a happy spectator (or bidder) at this event.  Two rods drew particular attention, both of them former HOT ROD magazine cover cars, and likely because they each enjoy long and well-known history. Plus they were in first-class, show-ready shape, each presented in spectacular condition.

One is the famous “Lloyd Bakan” chopped ’32 3-window fendered hot rod coupe in dazzling metallic copper paint running an old-school DeSoto hemi with four carbs. RMS’s pre-sale estimate for Lot #169 was $400,000-500,000 but it didn’t meet its reserve and ended the day a no sale. For T-rod fans, they didn’t get better than the “Jack Thompson” 1927 track-nosed Model T rod running a very full-house Ford flathead V-8. This turtle-decked roadster had all the proper, period-correct cues including red wire wheels, a matching red vinyl interior, and louver-punched hood. Lots of hot rod history and provenance for $145,600.

Dig smooth customs? A pair of winners was on offer here, they being an elegantly chopped, channeled and smoothed 1940 Mercury coupe, in perfect black paint that from the side looked for all the world like a big drop of Marvel Mystery Oil blown by the wind. It was lot #170, and on this day was also a no sale. The other was the famous “Stengel” 1941 Mercury custom featuring seriously sculpted body work, and a “targa” roof design with the rear part of the roof and sail panels in fixed metal, with a removable roof panel over the front seat area – something we got used to on Porsches and Corvettes of the 1960s, but pretty innovative and daring bodywork for customizers of the early 1950s. It was lot #172, ran a full-house chromed and polished flathead V-8, and rang the register large at $252,000.

Two Italo-American hybrid exotics were also of notable interest given their relative rarity, super condition and presentation, as well as solid pricing. You may not be familiar with the Intermeccanica Spyder of the early ’70s, but this elegant roadster wouldn’t surprise you at all if it wore a Ferrari or Maserati badge, as the styling and design are that elegant. These cars ran a variety of Ford V-8s over time, but this one, lot #232, a 1972 example packed a nicely detailed Ford 351 Cleveland V-8 up front, backed by a ZF 5-speed manual transmission. Resplendent in black, just off a fresh restoration, it brought $123,200.

Another, coincidentally Italian bodied and 351-Cleveland powered exotic was lot #240, a deeply original and immaculate ’74 deTomaso Pantera, being sold out of single-family ownership with just 14,000 miles on the clock, predicted by RM/S to sell between $120,000 and $160,000, sold at $134,000. Such is the price of “no stories” history, near-perfect original paint, interior, stickers, chalk marks, paperwork and tires.

If there was a disappointment on the day, it was likely Lot #191, a virtually perfect 1964 Shelby 289 Cobra; a mid-production rack-and-pinion steering car, it positively radiated in Olde English White paint over red interior, aboard correct knock-off wire wheels. RM/S predicted a sale in the range of $850,000-950,000, but it ended the day falling short of its reserve and was declared a no sale. It would have been exciting to see this desirable machine find a new home, and a meaningful update on the state of early Shelby Cobra prices.

A few of the automobilia lots also favored Fords; one being Lot #119, comprised of original Ed Big Daddy Roth Studios T-shirt art called “Comet and Cougar.” Each rendering well showed the outsized, fire-breathing art style of this legendary hot rodder; the two original drawings sold for $3,600. Also demonstrating Roth’s over-the-top, tire-burning, cartoonish illustration style was Lot #125, featuring two more pieces of original Roth Studios T-shirt art called “Ford Man and Ford Van;” the latter declaring that “To Love It is to Live in It!” This pair brought $12,000.

Everyone has their opinions about high-end collector-car auctions, but no matter your view, they certainly offer a display of top-quality, interesting and tantalizing cars, with real-time pricing. You can stand in the room and watch the bidding action, and often see who is bidding and instantly know what anyone is paying. If nothing else, these events are great car shows, and this one certainly demonstrated the ongoing demand and upward value trending of “pointy end of the stick” Fords and Ford-powered vehicles and artwork. (Note: All prices include buyer’s premium and all commissions and fees.)

FORD PERFORMANCE PHOTOS COURTESY INSPIRED COMMUNICATIONS / KIRK GERBRACHT