- San Francisco’s Academy of Art University is auctioning off almost its entire collection of classic cars
- It’s letting go of 106 of the 150 or so cars it retains as inspiration for its car-design students
- The collection is made up largely of pre-war American and European models, but the sale is highlighted by a ’55 Mercedes-Benz 300SL is a rare pink-ish red hue
A renowned car collection owned by – believe it or not – a California art university is being almost entirely auctioned off mid-February as the institution aims to modernize the machines that make up its students’ muses. The Academy of Art University’s collection was comprised of over 150 or so of the world’s most iconic classics, its president, Dr. Elisa Stephens, told Driving.ca last year, and the Broad Arrow Auctions sale set for February 15, 2025 will see 106 of them sent to new homes.
None of the lots will come with a reserve price attached, meaning all will be sold regardless of how high, or low, the top bid is.
The AAU collection prided itself on its Packards and Pierce-Arrows (several of them, by coincidence, in shades of pink or purple) but the highlight of the sale will be its matching-numbers 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL “Gullwing,” finished in a factory-correct (albeit not necessarily original to the car) Strawberry Red.
“I do like purple, I do like lilac,” Stephens recounted to us in our 2024 interview. “But that Gullwing was [previously] owned by Jenny Craig—that was her colour.” Broad Arrow expects it to hammer for at least US$1.2 million (CDN$1.725 million) if not a few hundred thousand more.
A 1933 Chrysler Custom Imperial LeBaron is expected to approach or perhaps exceed seven figures as well (the Moon Glow blue car is a repeat Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance class winner); while a 1932 Marmon Sixteen Convertible Sedan bodied by LeBaron should come in around the $300,000 to $400,000 (CDN$430,000 to CDN$575,000) mark. Quite a few of the lots fall into that latter ballpark, in fact.
Also crossing the block will be marques many mainstream enthusiasts may not be as familiar with: a 1930 Isotta-Fraschini; a 1931 Invicta; a 1931 Minerva; a 1937 Squire; a 1928 Daimler; or a 1939 Lagonda. Those stunning examples will be complemented by nearly a dozen Packards, among them an 11th-series 1934 Convertible Victoria with a V12.
The sale of the hundred-plus cars will make room for more modern muses for the Academy of Art University’s car-design students. Think less pre-war Packard and Chrysler and more Camaro and Miata. (That said, one of the university’s more recent acquisitions, a ’63 split-window Corvette, is set to cross the docket, too, for somewhere around US$200,000 [CDN$285,000].)
“It’s difficult, because the cars are beautiful, but you kind of have to do it,” Stephens had said of prior auctions where just four, five, 15, or at most 30 cars from the once-250-car-strong collection were sold off. “[AAU Industrial Design executive director Tom Matano] and the instructors have ideas for some cars that would show designs relevant from the past to the present.”
The Academy of Art University Collection auction will take place February 15, 2025, in San Francisco, where the institution is based.
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