1954 Chrisman Bonneville Coupe sold at last night's auction of Joe's Garage for...

...$660,000 - here a few pics I took of it at the preview earlier this week of the RM Auction of this great collection...


SoCalCarCulture


SoCalCarCulture


SoCalCarCulture


SoCalCarCulture


SoCalCarCulture


SoCalCarCulture


SoCalCarCulture

...the murals are painted directly on the walls and the building has been sold - what a shame to lose these works of art!


SoCalCarCulture


SoCalCarCulture


SoCalCarCulture

 

What was Joes Garage?

And as for the purchase price, not bad. A similar era Euro racer with pedigree would fetch a tad more. I think somebody did allright, it is not like they made 8-10 of these things!

 

Great pics

 

Tman........

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=246281

Dave, Check your PM's and thanks for posting pix.

I spoke with my pop's today and told him about the "hammer price" and he asked me if I would have paid that for the Chrisman coupe? And I told him that if I had the coin sitting around "Most definitely".
tly".

Chris Nelson
Kansas

I have not seen the photo #11 before.........

http://www.rmauctions.com/CarDetails.cfm?CarID=r235&SaleCode=JG08#

Also, if you click on the name on the RM lot number site, it will show a picture.

http://www.rmauctions.com/AuctionRe...&SortBy=LN&View=Normal&Category=All&Currency=

 

Joe Macpherson's Collection

Here's a write-up by Hot Rod

 

I figured it was a collection, thanks. I KNEW Sodbuster would chime in on this one

 

I wouldn't a paid that much, the tires are bald!

 

WOW! It looks like the only thing that brought more money was the
1923 Miller 122 supercharged at only $2,035,000. Seems like a bargain compared to the Pierce Arrow bicycle for $55,000!!

http://www.rmauctions.com/AuctionResults.cfm?SaleCode=JG08&CFID=793445&CFTOKEN=34902568#

 

With a history like that, i thought it would have brought more. I well bought car.

 

I agree.......I love the hell out of it.

Eric

 

thats a hell of a payday , but then again its one hell of a car..

 

that coupe is awesome

 

Great pics, that and the Pierson Bros. coupe are two of my all time favorites.

 

That was one heck of a nice collection, I've followed that 122 Miller for close to 40 years now. East Coasters will remember it as the Ed Roy Miller, in hornor of the first guy that restored it, and sold it for under $10,000. It was redone and won Pebble Beach last year.

 

I do love and appreciate the car.

But, anytime I see a car ( or an art piece etc...etc..) go for more than a couple hundred grand it just seems in excess and kind of gross.
If someone has $660,000 to blow, build a replica for $160,000, then do some good with all that money. There is a lot of good you can do in the world with the extra half million. Give back a little. Large sums of money are not made by individuals, but off the backs of many.
Maybe this is not a popular opinion, but prices like that seem kind off gross and icky to me.
There used to be a middle class in America?
Wil
www.sakowskimotors.com

 

The amount of $$$ some of these well-heeled individuals contribute on a regular basis is not normally made public. Your reply sounds envious and judgemental with a few sour grapes for flavor. I fucking hate that mindset. 1 of 1 with an undeniable pedigree. It was a good buy for future genrations. Everything is up. Nice to see that "our" icons are reaching the status of the heavy classics with regard to value. Charity be damnned, I'd have paid that too.

 

I couldn't have said it better myself...I totally agree with you...Mike

 

Geez... He owned "The Tamale Wagon"... another fabled race car...wow.

 

Any idea who the "high bidder" is? If someone knows and prefers for the name to not be on the web, could you PM me. Just wondering where the coupe is going.

Chris Nelson
Kansas

 

I bought it,....they're just waiting for my cheque to clear!

SoCalCarCulture, did you get any pics of the other cars in the auction,...the Miller or Eagle?

 

Great pics! Thanks for the post!

Spike

 

I heard some guy from Nigeria sent a check for $800,000 and a shipping company will pick up the car and wants the change sent to his Nigerian P.O . box......

 

A lot of these were simultaneously being Auctioned off on Ebay,and I was watching them all.By all I mean the McPherson Auto Collection...Stumbled across one of the cars doing a search for parts for my Merc,then clicked,and found the entire auto and bike auction listing through RM on Ebay..

 

During a visit to Chrisman's shop a few years ago, Chrisman allowed me to sit in it....I have a picture somewhere in some file. Incredible car-probably my all -time favorite race car. Chrisman did a lot of things for Joe McPherson who was a big Chevy dealer (and other brands I think-the SoCal guys would know). At that time, Chrisman was storing a bunch of Joe's car and I do not believe that the "Joe's Garage" building was even started. I am just surprised that the collection was sold so soon after Joe's passing...what a collection.

 

ditto... it's my favorite race car of all time and if I owned it I'd get it out on a dry lake or anywhere I could drive it as soon as humanly possible just to tool around in it with a huge shit eating grin covering my face.

Kinda like this---->

Congrats to the new owner.... the lucky basta...

 

That car is an Icon..What was purchased, in my opinion, wasn't a vehicle..It was a piece of history.
If i had the cash myself ( which i never will ) i would have stepped up as well..
I'd love to be the caretaker of it for a while, then pass it on to another to do the same and introduce new generation's to 'how it was'.
It sure as hell is an impressive piece.

Tony

 

I had a chance to meet Joe McPherson when he showed his Miller at Pebble Beach in 2006, and he won his class. Seemed like a real nice guy. Sorry to hear he's gone.

 

theres ALWAYS a smartass..hahahahahahaha I too would have paid the price had I had the money...

 

I might not have written that as well as I could have. But I stick by it. I am not envious at all. I have plenty of cars I like, and don't need anymore at all.
You might not agree with me, but just wanted to put it out there that my comments don't have anything to do with being envious of the car or owner at all. And I do think it is an insanely incredible car.

My comments don't have anything to do with me, but come from compassion for other people, and the direction the country is going in. I love cars, but just think a huge price tag for any type of car is ridiculous and gross, no matter how cool the car is. $660,000 far a car is plain dumb and greedy.
I would just rather do some great things for other people with that money, hey, that is just me.

That is it for my political rants on the Hamb, wrong venue, etc etc
I figured I would catch some flak, but I am not running for prom king.
Nothing but tech talk from here on out.
Wil