Rare classic cars auctioned off: This scrap treasure fetched millions

Rudi Klein is well known in the car scene. And a controversial personality. Because Klein, a trained butcher who emigrated to the USA in 1962 and opened the scrapyard “Porche Foreign Auto Wrecking” (sic!) in 1967, collected rare and expensive cars – and left them to decay (Rudi Klein bought the stars’ cars and left them they rot in his scrapyard).

Klein made no distinction between accident cars and roadworthy classics – whether Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwings or rare Lamborghinis, he simply left the cars to their fate, even if he sometimes drove them for a while shortly after purchasing them. A blessing in disguise: Even if Klein didn’t push the cars into a hall, they remained in comparatively good shape due to the climatic conditions in Southern California.

But actually the idea behind “Porche Foreign Auto Wrecking” was a trade. However, Rudi Klein obviously had a problem with parting with things, even though he naturally made one or two deals. Even when Klein hadn’t driven certain vehicles for forty years and the manufacturers came knocking to free the forgotten treasures from the clutches of dusty junkyards, the collector usually slammed the door in their face.

Such collaboration had great potential. If Rudi Klein allowed people to get a car from him and put it on display, people and material benefited. A great example is the Horch 855 Special Roadster, which Klein loaned on the condition that the car be properly restored before it was displayed in a museum. Today the car is a gem.

Unfortunately, things are different with other classics. By the time he died, most of the vehicles never left the scrapyard’s halls and collected centimeters of dust. Klein accidentally rammed the 300 SL Gullwing mentioned above with a forklift, so he didn’t seem to care about his treasures.

When Rudi Klein died in 2001, his family initially continued the tradition – no car left the halls and no one was allowed access. That only slowly changed. And now the collection went under the hammer.

It was very worth it for the heirs, as the auction with hundreds of lots brought in $29.7 million. The rammed 300 SL contributed $9.35 million. It is a very rare light alloy version – perfect condition is therefore of secondary importance for collectors.

Other vehicles, such as Rudolf Caracciola’s 1935 500K roadster limousine, also brought in millions. There were also a few surprises: For example, a barely recognizable wreck of a Ferrari 275 GTS, sold as a “work of art” for $25,200.

You can find these and more treasures from the collection of perhaps one of the strangest collectors in automobile history in the gallery.