Worldwide Auctioneers not only posted a 90 percent sell-through rate for its annual hometown Auburn Auction, the sales total of more than $5 million was led by the two top sellers of the entire weekend, including those at the RM Auction taking place right on the other side of Interstate 69.
The auction, held annually during the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Festival weekend, was the first for Worldwide in its new headquarters, a former museum complex just across the highway from Auburn Auction Park, where RM Auctions stages its sales twice each year.
Topping the Worldwide sale was a 1948 Tucker Model 48 that sold for $990,000, with all proceeds earmarked to benefit cancer research at Mayo Clinic.
“The owner of this extraordinary historic automobile made the decision to donate it to Mayo Clinic in honor of his late wife and it was our absolute honor to be entrusted with its sale,” said John Kruse, Worldwide Auctioneers co-founder. “We thank everyone who shared in this incredible act of philanthropy and congratulate its new owner on joining the ranks of limited and prestigious Tucker custodianship.”
The second-high sale of the auction and of the weekend was the 1955 Quin Epperly “Fuel Injection Special,” and streamliner built for racing at Indianapolis. It sold for $385,000.
Worldwide did not provide a top-10 sales list for the auction.
Worldwide Auctioneer’s next sale is scheduled for October 4-5 when it will put the contents of the Corpus Christi Old Car Museum collection up for bidding. The docket includes more than 200 collector cars and 100 pedal cars.
