Welcome to a very fat – well, long – September issue of Road Scholars Magazine. The post-Monterey coverage always gives us plenty to talk about and we are happy to start with our regular commentator Kevin Watts giving us his observations and opinions on the auctions.
Next we move into the feature content, going first to Sean Smith’s entertaining second installment telling of Joel Rosenblatt’s Targa tales crossing the U.S. on the way to his band gigs. Please see RSM for August 2018 if you missed the first part of this story.
Our regular contributors Sean Cridland and Bruce Sweetman kept their eyes and ears on Monterey car week Porsche events for us. Cridland walked up and down Ocean Avenue for Carmel’s annual Concours on the Avenue. Then at the other end of the week, Sweetman strolled and prowled the fairways to show us the Werks Reunion. The two images at the top of this note give you hints. Sometimes stories are in the details – vintage license plates provide a hint of the age of the car. But sometimes the details are in the details and on these two automobiles, the license plate frames are even more interesting than the licenses themselves. The Daytona Beach holder was on a Ferrari at the Concours, the Hoffmann Motors frame was on a Typ 356 at Werks.
Lastly, we provide the evidence that supports Kevin Watts’ observations about prices and values at Monterey. Our detailed list – as we always try to do – gives you pre-sale estimates (if they were published) and either sale prices or the figure at which the car did not sell. These are hammer prices, before each house added its commission.
In just two short weeks we reconvene in Monterey for Rennsport Reunion VI. Each time these wonderful Porsche celebrations have grown bigger and better, and Porsche A.G. and Porsche Cars North America have invited a who’s who A-list of significant racers, engineers, designers, and corporate officials to Monterey, along with an eye-popping inventory of automobiles for display and to race. We’ve heard that available rooms are few and far between so, hopefully, if you have planned to attend, you’re booked and you are packing your sunscreen and your comfortable walking shoes.
We will cover the long weekend and try to bring you the best sense of it we can in our October issue. We also will preview the auction sale that RMSotheby’s will run at the Porsche Experience Center in Atlanta late next month. And then, who knows? One or two other interesting stories might come our way.
Enjoy Rennsport! And thanks for reading us,
Randy Leffingwell
Editor