Few can rival the automotive inventory at Rudi Klein’s Los Angeles junkyard.
After decades of collecting ill-fated examples of some of the rarest vehicles on the planet, RM Sotheby's is selling off this truly unique and well-weathered collection.
A junkyard isn’t typically the place you'd expect to find near-priceless examples of automotive history, but Rudi Klein’s waste yard looks more like a post-apocalyptic Pebble Beach Concours. The lot is packed with lots of vintage Porsches in various states of knackeredness. There’s even a pair of rusty Ferrari 330 GTCs, as well as a 365 2+2, and a 275 GTS for the Ferrari fanatics. Other Italian offerings include a trio of dilapidated Lamborghini Miura P400s, and a rare Iso Grifo Spyder.
Almost all of these machines could represent the pinnacle of someone's garage, but they’ll need quite a bit of work. Most of the cars are in pretty poor condition, which does make sense given that this was a junkyard after all.
The real highlights of the collection are, however, a number of rare Mercedes-Benz machines. In amongst the stunning (but mostly dilapidated) automobiles, this remarkable collection also houses a largely complete 1957 300 SL Roadster (expected to fetch $1 million), and a 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Alloy Gullwing (expected to achieve $5 million).
The Rudi Klein Collection is set to be auctioned by R M Sotheby's on 26 October, with a preview available the day before. It will likely be the most profitable day at any given junkyard in history.