There were a few cars that caught my eye:

Gold Medal: Lot 59: 1953 Jaguar XK120 Drophead

This was the standout for me at the Auction.   The XK120 was one of Sir William Lyons best creations and the combination of black paint and red interior really shows it off.   The Drophead is the most desirable model and this car looked in excellent condition.   Guiding range is $120-$150k and I expect the car to do this or more.

Silver Medal: Lot 36: 1961 Mercedes-Benz 220SE Coupe

Regular readers will know how much I admire the W111 Coupe and Cabriolet models.   This 220se is one of the nicest early 220SE’s around.   The car was a common attendee at Mercedes car shows at one time and I got to talk to the long time owner a few times.   He had owned the car since the 70s and the condition was a credit to him.   The paint colour really sets off the lines of the car and it has a rare sunroof.    Guiding price is $60-$70k.   This seems a lot for a 220, but probably not for one in this condition.

Bronze Medal: Lot 33: BMW M635CSI

If I had a BMW in my garage, it would be one of these.   In exactly this spec.   The M6 might get the attention, but it is not 3x the car of the M635CSI.   This car is equipped with a manual transmission, black leather interior, low miles and only a few owners.  Guiding range is $32-$38k

Honorable mentions:

The Fiat 500 and the Mini cooper both looked like great fun cars and in great shape.   I would be happy to own both of them.   I am not normally a ute fan, but the Holden FX ute was in great condition and was a standout.    The Buick is a nice looking car, but it is disappointing the straight 8 was replaced by a V8.   I’m also normally a fan of Rolls Royce Silver clouds, but this one was the long wheelbase with division.   These are rare, but more set up for the owner and driver to be different people.   This particular car was bought for the Premier of Victoria, before it was electoral suicide to be driven around in such a car.

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They have some nice exhibits, covering the history of their motorbikes, the first car which was actually an Austin 7 under licence, and then a nice selection of their most famous models including some of their rare pre-war cars.

Some of the highlights for me included:

• The 3 Series display showing the lineage of the 3 series from the 1600 to the current model.
• The M room, showing the M1, original M3, original M5 and the M635csi compared to a current M3, plus all the engines
• A room that highlights some of their design cues they still use, including a 3.0CSi, an early race car, and some prototypes.
• The different 507 convertible variants.
• The streamlined room, showing an early 320 with a streamlined body

Of the big manufacturer museums in Germany, I’ve now been to the Mercedes Museum (both the old one and the new one), the Porsche Museum (the old one) and now the BMW Museum.

The new Mercedes Museum is probably the pick of the  bunch, but this BMW museum is very well done, just on a smaller scale.   I’ve heard the new Porsche museum is better, but the one I saw was an overpriced gift shop with a handful of Porsche’s parked in it.

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