Saleroom MECUM AUCTION USA Gar Wood dragster stalls at $700,000 BY DAVE SELBY
At $700,000 and counting, the bidding goes on for Gar Wood’s Miss America VIII, the monstrous water-borne racing dragster that powered to a controversial victory in the 1931 Harmsworth Trophy. The 30ft-long Miss America VIII won the international race series with a sensational average speed of 85.86mph. Renowned engineer and race-boat builder Garfi eld Wood had already won the trophy in the same boat in 1929, but this time it was his brother George at the wheel, and he
beat Gar aboard his new Miss America IX in a race series marred by disqualifi cations, acrimony and the high-speed fl ip of Kaye Don’s Miss England II.
The mahogany-planked Miss America VIII crossed the block at a Mecum auction in Kissimmee, Florida, in restored condition with about 75 per cent original timber, and – after a separation of 70 years – now reunited with her two prodigious V16 engines, custom-built by legendary
BONHAMS PARIS Amphicar market buoyant
Amphicars, which not long ago were treading water in classic car markets, are now riding the crest of a wave. This German-built amphibian, designed by Hans Trippel, creator of the military Schwimmwagen, never achieved the hoped-for uptake, selling fewer than 3,000 between 1961 and 67, rather than the 20,000 a year hoped for. With its 1147cc Triumph Herald engine driving twin props, it is
capable of around six knots in the water, helmed rather imprecisely by turning the front wheels. On land, some critics say, it was all at sea. This smartly restored 1964 example made €46,000 (£38,200) when it came up in Paris at a Bonhams classic car auction where a 1961 Aston Martin DB4GT, which doesn’t even fl oat or have propellers, sold for €1,012,000 (£840,000).
BONHAMS UPCOMING AUCTION... Farewell letter written by Captain Scott
A poignant farewell letter written by Polar explorer Captain Scott exactly 100 years ago is expected to make £100,000- 150,000 in a Scott and Amundsen Centenary Polar auction. Scott wrote to expedition sponsor Sir Edgar Speyer on
March 16 1912: “We very nearly came through and it’s a pity to have missed it but lately I have felt that we have overshot our mark.” The letter was discovered in Scott’s diary, which
recorded his last entry on March 29, 2012. The Bonhams auction takes place in Knightsbridge, London, on March 30.
The Amphicar, as good on land as it was in the water – but only 3,000 were sold CLASSIC BOAT APRIL 2012 27
Above: Million- dollar baby? Miss America VIII restored and (left) racing in 1929
race-car engine builder Harry Miller. However, at the end of the mega six-day auction, which featured 2,000 classic cars and a small selection of classic boats, Miss America VIII remained unsold. With bidding stalled at $700,000 (£448,000) Mecum is inviting interest above that level – $1 million is the fi gure that’s thought to be sought.
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