20 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY august 15-21, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com The 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Lungo Spider is described in terms such as “incomparable” and “unequivocally the finest sports car built prior to WWII.” As a young enthusiast, David Gooding, president of the auction house Gooding & Company made a trek just to look at the car, chassis number 412027, one of five known to exist. At the time it was in the possession of a Philadelphia collector. “I was mesmerized by it,” he recalls. In July of 2022 the glamorous vehicle, valued at $23 million, was stolen— from the parking lot of a Holiday Inn Express along I-95 outside of the small town of Dillon, South Carolina. The Alfa’s story doesn’t start there, of course. Records related to its first decade of existence were lost to the Suez Crisis of 1956. About the same time, the car surfaced in Iowa, where a man named Jack Albert reportedly woke up, still bleary-eyed from a night of chaotic revelry, to find its registration papers in his pocket. Yet the theft was the Alfa’s most unusual turn. As Gooding explains, “You just don’t worry about world-famous, trackable cars being stolen.” But the coveted classic was not the victim of a thoroughly planned, whitegloved heist. At the time of its disappearance, the car sat in a trailer hooked behind a Ford F350 pickup truck. On its way for some restoration work, the multimillion-dollar car could, unseen in its hauler, be any run-of-the-mill sedan. Criminals had already taken three other vehicles—trucks, trailers and all—from that hotel. Dillon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sara Albarri told reporters at the time that those involved simply hot-wired the pickup truck and drove off. A story about the incident in Forbes made the culprits’ predicament clear: “Trying to unload a pre-WWII exotic isn’t like getting rid of a stolen Acura Integra.” “I would love to see the expression on the thieves’ faces when they opened the door,” Gooding says—although that is speaking retrospectively. When he first heard the news, Gooding was stunned, along with the rest of the collector car world. “Our thought was, ‘I hope the car is OK.’” The story has a happy ending. The prized ’38 Alfa Romeo, in pristine condition, will roll across the block at the Gooding & Company auction in Pebble Beach, which this year takes place Aug. 16-17. Gooding compares the car to famous pieces of art—“Mona Lisa” and “The Scream,” both of which were stolen and recovered. “That’s part of their story,” he explains. “I think it makes it distinctive, adds another layer.” But Gooding is quick to point out that this particular model doesn’t need a rich or lurid background. Streamlined and rakish in style, the 2900B was also technologically on the cutting edge— supercharged, with twin overhead cams, independent suspension and more. In competition trim, these cars were still winning road races into the 1950s, including at Pebble Beach. “The great thing about these cars is they are among the most beautiful and they are the most advanced and sophisticated of their era,” he adds. “It’s the best car you could get at the time and one of the best cars ever created.” After the car was reported stolen, the FBI joined the search. The insurance company AIG paid the $23 million claim and took ownership of the missing vehicle. Investigators had determined the Alfa was likely still somewhere in the Carolinas. Personal items of the truck driver—who at the time of the heist was presumably sleeping in the Holiday Inn—had been discovered dumped in a ditch in back of a Lumberton, North Carolina convenience store. “I honestly don’t think they knew what was inside the trailer,” deputy Albarri told reporters in November of 2022, when AIG tried to spur the search by offering a $50,000 reward for information about the car’s whereabouts. Just over a year later, AIG received good news. Agents from the FBI and ATF traced the car to a remote North Carolina garage. It was stored— unharmed—with 15 other vehicles a theft ring had plucked from hotel parking lots. “It was right after we learned it was recovered that we started chasing the car,” Gooding says. The insurance company was looking to recover the money invested in the Alfa. “We found each other,” Gooding adds. “I jumped at the chance.” And with that, the one-of-akind 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Lungo Spider makes the trek to the Gooding & Company auction block, its first time under the gavel. “It’s super wild,” Gooding says. “It’s a spectacular car, even without the story.” between 1997-2012) combined were approaching boomers, with 30 percent of the share compared to 32 percent. In July, Hagerty released the results of its “Future of Driving” survey, which showed that 60 percent of Gen Z respondents said they were interested in owning a classic car, compared to only 31 percent of boomers. The Mazda Miata from 19901998, a zippy little roadster made in Japan, is the most common car GenZers request insurance quotes for from Hagerty. These cars are ubiquitous, affordable, simple and reliable. “The answer is always Miata” is a popular saying among enthusiasts looking for a fun car to own. Across any generation, buying a collector car is based on emotion. Nostalgia is a big part of that. For millennials who grew up in the ’80s and ’90s, they are drawn to that era as a reminder of their childhood years. Events such as RADwood, held throughout the country, capitalize on that, a celebration of the lifestyle from those decades—all the way down to the fashion (flannel abounds) and, of course, the vehicles. Gordon McCall is the director of motorsports at The Quail in Carmel, which has been putting on The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering during Car Week for more than 20 years. He says the generational shift among the collector world is well underway. But how younger collectors enter the market is different from their predecessors, he notes. You probably won’t see too many millennials or Gen-Zers sitting in the front row of a live auction bidding on cars, McCall says. Rather, the internet is where many are buying, such as through Craigslist, eBay, Facebook Marketplace and other websites. Most auctions now devote a team to accept internet bidding. As values increase, younger collectors are faced with a higher cost of entry into the market, McCall says, and the cars that they are interested in are newer and more complicated due to government regulations, therefore difficult to work on themselves. McCall echoes Malcolm on the importance of usability when it comes to collections—younger people want something practical and capable of going places on and off Wild Ride A rare Alfa Romeo brings an unusual tale to the Pebble Beach auction block. By Dave Faries Car Week Courtesy of Gooding & Company, photo by Brian Henniker In addition to being stolen and other intriguing tales, the 1938 Alfa Romeo up for auction at Gooding & Company is featured in the book Immortal 2.9: Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 A&B by Simon Moore. Gen continued from pg. 18 Gen continued on pg. 22 “You just don’t worry about world-famous, trackable cars being stolen.”
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjAzNjQ1NQ==