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Seeing a Mercedes 300SL Gullwing is an event. I remember the first time I did, in the parking lot of a restaurant at the Greenwich Concours d’Elegance, and it dropped my jaw. Seeing another covered in dust, clearly having been abandoned for decades in a junkyard in California is just as jaw-dropping, but for different reasons. However, a classic Gullwing is far from the only million-dollar classic sitting in Rudi Klein’s junkyard, and his derelict collection is heading to auction with RM Sotheby’s in October.
The auction is called “The Junkyard: The Rudi Klein Collection” and it’s quite possibly the most remarkable auction lot I’ve ever seen. It’s not uncommon to find a few surprising classics in a junkyard, but Klein’s consists of too many Porsche 356s to count, several Lamborghini Miuras, and multiple prewar Mercedes. It’s like striking oil while dumpster diving. There’s even a one-of-one 1935 Mercedes-Benz 500K ‘Caracciola’ Special Coupe in there, said to be worth over $10 million, just hanging out among walls of rusty wheels and torn seats. Oh, and that aforementioned 300SL Gullwing is rumored to be one of 29 lightweight “alloy” Gullwings ever made.
As the story goes, Rudi Klein was an incredibly private, secretive man who kept his secret stash of automotive treasures hidden from the world for decades behind the gated walls of his scrapyard, Porsche Foreign Auto. Klein was a German butcher who moved to America in the 1950s but started his scrapyard business in Los Angeles in 1967. Alongside that business, he also dealt with European classics, many of which he clearly hoarded for himself. I’m imagining Klein as the Daniel Plainview of abandoned collector cars.
LA-based enthusiasts have known Klein had goodies stored in his vault, but no one knew the extent. There were rumors of the Gullwing, and word got out about the Mercedes 500K, but the rest were kept secret—until now. Klein’s two sons took over his business in 2001 following their father’s death, and they’ve finally decided to auction the collection off.
Did I mention that the only factory-built Iso Grifo convertible is in this collection? What about the only known surviving 1939 Horch 855 Roadster? RM Sotheby’s hasn’t published many images yet, nor a full list of what’s in this lot. But even in the state of disrepair that most of these cars are in, they’re bound to be worth eye-watering, life-changing money, each. These vehicles were thought to be lost to time, and many were the fixations of collectors around the world. Don’t be surprised if one claims top honors at Pebble Beach next year.
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