THINK Cezanne’s Mont Sainte-Victoire, the Parthenon sculptures, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
Now you’re ready to think about Curt Lincoln’s 1955 Jaguar D-type, which RM Auctions is giving an art lover the opportunity to own when Rob Myers and his gang hold their sale on Amelia Island, Florida next Saturday.
Look, any old Paul Cezanne painting is going to cost you about $250 million. I reckon you could pop down to the Ritz Carlton and steal this Jag for $5m.
As you know, I normally pop down to Amelia Island myself in May for the Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival. Yup, there’s the crowning of Miss Shrimp, the always popular pirate parade featuring some well known Melbourne car dealers and more white shrimp — more ways than the Kama Sutra has positions.
Of course this year I’m going early because it’s going to be a big few days. Government required OHS warning here: get your liver ready, there are lots of free drinking opportunities.
For instance, on Thursday we have the Guardians of Porsche Winemakers Dinner (an excuse to meet some old Porsche star drivers and drink heaps of red paired with the food, or in my case just heaps of red).
By Friday arvo you’re ready for the RM Auctions reception (ie, free drinks on Rob Myers). On Saturday the RM Auction cars will be on show, on the front lawn of the local Ritz Carlton ($400 a night with free WiFi) while the auction itself will be in the grand ballroom.
After the auction, watchmaker Breitling is putting on free cocktails (go straight for the espresso martinis) and then head into the ballroom for free drinks and food with Mercedes.
The dinner honours Stirling Moss, who is very partial to a few glasses of the laughing liquid himself. By the time you crawl out of the cot on Sunday it’s the Concours D’Elegance on the golf course (10th and 18th fairways).
Anyway back to Curt’s extraordinarily exquisite D-type. Curt Lincoln is not the most Scandinavian of names but he was born in Stockholm and represented both Sweden and Finland in various sports.
The usually correct RM catalogue says Curt was a Finnish tennis player. He was the Swedish and Finnish racquet champ but he was better known for 200 wins in 400 fast car races and a stint in hydroplanes.
Curt raced D-types, Ferraris, Formula Junior and his last win was in a Brabham BT 21 aged 50.
His car is one of only 54 D-types made for private customers. Not known as the last of the big spenders, Curt asked the factory to make the Jag look used when they sent it over to Helsinki so he could avoid import duty.
Regular readers will know that my youngest son, Tom, and I are Finnish ice-racing fiends, so it was good to learn Curt took the Jag on the ice for many comps up north. We didn’t see him there last year.
Read on at http://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/motoring/rm-auctions-d-type-jaguar-is-high-art-on-wheels/story-fngmee2f-1227251514622?sv=7b589be114d8b13b30066da737b9d321
