The auction season is coming to a close, and events from Mecum, Bonhams Cars, Broad Arrow, Artcurial and more are behind us. A few smaller sales will close out the year, including RM Sotheby’s Munich Auction on November 23. In today’s Market Monday, I’m picking the 5 cars I consider the most interesting from this sale and they’re all from The Aumann Collection of cars.

RM Sotheby’s hasn’t provided a ton of background on this sale, but I’ll share what I’ve been able to discover. Apparently, this collection was amassed over time by an enthusiast named Dieter Aumann, who operated a very successful eponymous construction company in Germany. His children took over the company in 2013, and Dieter passed away late summer this year. RM Sotheby’s has secured the consignment of his collection and will be including it in their Munich auction later this month.

While small, his collection was highly curated and included iconic vehicles from Aston Martin, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Porsche and smaller marques. As usual, I’ve decided to highlight what I consider the most interesting cars from this sale. Yes, they are amazing but do you really need more articles on Mercedes 300SL Gullwings?

A pretty good place to start your car collection, if you have the scratch, is the first serial production car ever: the Benz Velo. Approximately 1,200 examples were built between 1894 and 1902. Being a later car, this one is likely powered by the 3hp engine pushing the car to blistering speeds of up to 12mph. A similar “car” sold 4 years ago for $186,973 and in today’s market I’m betting it struggles to reach the low estimate.

While the wheels may look BMW 328, the body on this one is anything but. Modified in the early 50’s by the DiGioia brothers with a new chassis and aluminum bodywork, the car was raced by its owner before being acquired by John Madden. Aumann purchased the car from him for $40,000 in 1990. The last 328 sale I found was for $500,000 back in 2021, so this estimate seems reasonable.

Another “special” bodied car, this 1940 Opel is a real looker with flavors of Riley and Morgan shining through its custom coachwork. Believed to have been an Olympia originally, this pre-war GM-German beauty has a body by coachbuilder Gläser. Its history is a little hazy, but its looks are stellar. I think it’s an awful lot of cool for under $32,000.

Here’s a very slick little special-bodied roadster called a Veritas RS. Built on BMW 3/15 chassis and lavished with swoopy body work and a 6-cylinder engine from a 328, this little racer has provenance including the 12 hours of Paris in 1948 and numerous SCCA races in the USA. While the car has been rebodied during restoration, the original body is included.

The older a Volkswagen gets the closer to the brand’s “problematic” history you get, I suppose. Personally, I say that stigma is erased starting in the 1950s. Here we have a 1951 Split Window Beetle with a lovely exterior patina and fresh interior upholstery. Split-window Bugs are rarer in than later cars, and therefore more prized by collectors. This could be a nice buy, given its condition.

Other amazing offerings from The Aumann Collection include a 1956 Porsche 356 Speedster, 1965 Aston Martin DB5, 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder, 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing and 1929 Mercedes-Benz 710 SSK Roadster. If you are looking to build your own collection, the Aumann Collection is an opportunity to add quite a few desirable blue chip cars to your garage in one fell swoop.

If you’re less financially endowed, consider one of the three cars in the catalog that are guided under €30,000. Assuming the house estimates are correct, you could be able to buy and import a car for under $40,000, all-in. Not too shabby!

Wolf and Mare provides car finding, appraisals, and auction services for buyers and sellers of collector European cars. If you’re interested in acquiring an overseas car, give us a call or drop a line!