Rush drummer Neil Peart was an icon in the musical world. He also was a major car buff, and soon car and music fans can experience the hot metal and oil of his car collection.
Seven of Peart’s sports cars from a better vanished time are heading to the Gooding & Company auction to be held during Monterey Car Week in Pebble Beach, California. Peart died of cancer in January 2020.
Peart called the cars his “Silver Surfers” for the riding-the-wave feeling he had while driving the cars on the California coast. All of the cars are silver with the exception of a black Shelby Cobra 289, and all were kept as new as in Peart’s dearest dream.
Estimated to sell between $900,000 and $1 million, the Cobra is chassis CXS224. It was restored in the mid-2000s, and bought by Peart in 2015. A very clean example, it features chrome wire wheels and a side exhaust.
The Cobra represented a collaboration between the British brand AC and the American tuner Shelby. The other American car is a 1963 Chevrolet Corvette split-window coupe, which is estimated to go for $150,000-$180,000. Chassis 30837S109652 is silver with a red interior and the 340-hp 327-cubic-inch V-8. It was restored in 2011 before Peart bought it.
The rest of the collection consists of classic European sports cars.
Estimated to be the most expensive car in the lineup at $1.2 to $1.5 million, the 1970 Lamborghini Miura P400 S features air conditioning and Campagnolo cast-alloy wheels. It is chassis number 4042.
Perhaps the most iconic car of the collection is the 1964 Aston Martin DB5, which is estimated to fetch $650,000-$725,000. Made famous as a James Bond car, just over 1,000 DB5s were ever built. This is chassis DB5/1690/R, and it features a navy blue leather interior, a ZF 5-speed manual transmission, and Borrani wire wheels.
The 1965 Maserati Mistral is one of only 125 Spiders built during the car’s eight-year run, and a total of only 953 Mistrals were ever built. Peart had the car restored by Ken Lovejoy in California. Chassis number AM109/S*049* has an oxblood leather interior, and Gooding & Company estimates it will sell for $575,000-$650,000.
The auction house says the 1973 Maserati Ghibli 4.9 SS Coupe will go for $250,000-$300,000. One of 425 produced, chassis AM 115 49 2428 has a tan leather interior and Campagnolo center-lock wheels. Peart bought it when it was imported from Europe in 2013.
The final offering is arguably the best looking. It’s a 1964 Jaguar E-Type Series I 3.8-liter Coupe, chassis 890630. It has a red leather interior and some modern parts, including a Tremec 5-speed manual transmission, Wilwood disc brakes, upgraded suspension components, and a lightweight flywheel. It’s estimated to command $140,000-$160,000.
Sadly, there’s no red Barchetta in the collection.
The adrenaline surge of bidding will take place at the Gooding & Company auction on Aug. 13-14. Buyers are welcome to go screaming through the valleys near their white-haired uncles’ farms.
This article was originally published by Motor Authority, an editorial partner of ClassicCars.com.
His uncle kept the Barchetta!