Early brass cars are trending upward, like this 1903 Cadillac, the 13th Cadillac built, which was the New York auto show display car in 1903 and owned by the original purchasers for 70 years. Another RM Auctions car to watch closely is Joe Bortz’s unique Hemi-powered Dodge Charger concept roadster, a ghost ship that somehow escaped the crusher. If you’re wondering if there are really enough well-heeled enthusiasts to buy every car on the peninsula auction blocks for top dollar this year, consider that Barrett-Jackson and RM alone sold more cars than this — and for more money — at the Scottsdale, Arizona, auctions last January. If you want to get your money’s worth at Monterey, look at dream cars of any major make that escaped factory collections; former celebrity-owned autos; 1904-and-earlier brass cars that can run (however slowly) in the London-to-Brighton re-creation; big pre-WWI American brass like Locomobile, Simplex, Stutz Bearcat and Mercer Raceabout; Mille Miglia Storica-eligible GT cars, 1957 or earlier; unrestored original cars that are FIVA-eligible; Indy roadsters with genuine provenance; and historic hot rods, especially dry lakes and old Bonneville racers. read more

Just about 30 years ago a fellow named Don Sommer wrote a letter to the folks who manage the beautiful stone mansion called Meadow Brook Hall, home of Matilda Dodge Wilson (widow of auto pioneer John Dodge) and her lumber baron second husband, in the northern suburbs of Detroit. The beautifully restored 110-room Tudor-revival mansion is part of Oakland University and Sommer, a classic car collector and manufacturer of replica hood ornaments, thought it would be the ideal venue for a premier car show to rival Pebble Beach or any other show in the world. The 2007 Meadow Brook Concours d’Elegance, the 29th show, traditionally the first Sunday in August, has become arguably the second most prestigious Concour event in the county, perhaps the world – second only the one in Pebble Beach, California. More than 200 cars, along with a first-ever group of 4-cylinder motorcycles, special exhibits like the “Class of ‘57” honoring cars of that notable year, and a tent-full of the best automotive fine artists in the world will be strewn across the 17th and 18th fairways of the lush Oakland University golf course in the shadow of the mansion. Inside the pavilion will be the dozen or more automotive fine artists to be featured at the Sunday show offering a preview and competing with one another for art show honors. The collector car auction folks from RM Auctions will be on hand Saturday for an all-day sale of wonderful old cars like Packard, Marmon, Rolls Royce and a 1948 Flathead Ford Shreve Special race car. read more

AUCOR will put 80 sports cars — including a Mercedes-Benz SL55 with 26,000km on the clock — up for auction tomorrow at its premises in Midrand. Other cars in this “Saturday Sensational Super Car” auction include a 2007 ML320 CDi 4-Matic automatic with sunroof, a 2005 Mercedes CLK 350, and a 2005 Chrysler Crossfire coupe. An alternative car auction tomorrow will be held at Burchmore’s Sandton branch where vehicles repossessed by Standard Bank will be on offer from 10. Burchmore’s Sandton is running two McCarthy trade-ins auctions on Tuesday and Thursday evening, starting at 7pm. Two residential property auctions tomorrow include a house at 904 Wexford Road in Dainfern, and Unit 1, Madison Palms, 107 Greystone Drive, Sandton. On Sunday, houses on Segal Road in Halfway Gardens in Midrand, Honeydew Manor on Beretta Road in Honeydew, and 1091 Regatta Road, Henley-on-Klip, go up for auction. read more