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LINDA BENSON
Special to The Jewish News
vit atch out Mo-
net, Renoir,
Degas and Ce-
zanne! Some
investors are
bypassing the
sluggish art,
bond and real estate market
these days for objects with
names like Bentley, Rolls,
Duesenberg, Mercedes, Cord
and Bugatti.
Consider these recent
events: One pre-World War II
prototype Mercedes recently
sold at an Arizona auction for
$1.7 million; a 1961 Ferrari
"belinetta" took the jackpot
and then some at another
automobile auction, held last
August at Pebble Beach, fet-
ching $2,200,000; and a 1930
Cadillac "Madam X" com-
manded $522,000 at the same
event.
In the past five years, vin-
tage automobiles — the right
automobiles — have made a
remarkable presence in that
rarified, international world
of collectors and collectibles.
Certain "great cars," those
that were custom built by in-
dependent craftsmen such as
A6
FRIDAY, JANUARY 4, 1991
Vintage automobile collections are part
sport, part investment, but mainly passion.
0
Fisher, LeBaron and Rollston,
during late 1920s to mid
1930s, or models that served
as prototypes for innovations
in design or engineering are
fetching prices of $500,000 on
up. What is more, they are
bringing up the values of all
the other categories of vin-
tage cars, from humble
Model-T's to snappy '50s
Belairs, in the process.
"You can't drive your stock
certificates, and paintings
just stay on the wall," says
Bernard Glieberman, ex-
plaining the attraction that
hooked him into classic car
collecting just four years ago.
A suburban Detroit builder
and developer, Mr. Glieber-
man had his timing right. His
collection took off faster than
one of his prized Mercedes
"Gullwings." It now numbers
60 vintage and classic cars,
with a heavy emphasis on
Mercedes, mainly because of
their world-wide appeal.
"There are many different
levels that a collector can get
started on but it is easier to
specialize," Mr. Glieberman
says.
"You trade stamps, you
trade cars," Mr. Glieberman
says, summing up his own
personal history of collecting.
Along with his Mercedes, he
has an ill-fated aqua blue
Classic cars are
maintained with
care and
reverence reserved
for museums and
galleries.
Tucker, "the next production
number after Francis Cop-
polla's," he notes; and a deep
blue aluminum Rolls Phan-
tom VI limousine that once
belonged to the Kuwait royal
family. For fun as well as pro-
fit, Mr. Glieberman now
spends many of his weekends
either participating in auto
shows or attending classic
automobile auctions around
the U.S., often trading for cars
of lower mileage or of more
limited edititons. Frequently,
he is bidding in the interna-
tional company of Japanese,
English, and, to a lesser
degree, Western European
collectors.
"They've fallen back a bit
now with the recession, but
nowhere near their rise.
They've been beating infla-
tion every time," adds Mr.
Glieberman, who augmented
his collection substantially
when he purchased several
cars from Detroit Tiger's
owner and Pizza magnate
Tom Monaghan who pulled
out of automobile collecting.
But the lure is much more
than money. Part sport, part
ego, and a lot of passion, vin-
tage automobile collections
are not a pastime for the cool
and cerebral. Every collector
is driven, literally as well as
figuratively, by some personal
nostalgia or inspiration and,
in fact, the expense and the
headaches become a kind of
exquisite agony as well.
"The more sophisticated the
car, the more difficult the
maintenance," says South-
field automobile dealer and
car collector Marvin
Tamaroff. "Model-T's could be
fixed with anything, even a
hairpin. That was the big sell-
ing point."
For Mr. Tamaroff, the in-
terest is in custom crafting.
His collection has its em-
phasis on cars that were built
in the 30s and 40s by custom
body builders, with names
such as Rollston, Brunn,
LeBaron and Fisher represen-
ting old-world craftsmanship
and innovative engineering.
For every collector, clubs
and organizations form an
important bond to service,
parts, new purchases and con-
versation. Mr. Tamaroff is a
charter member of the Classic
Car Club of America, an
organization that has
developed an approved list of
cars, either custom crafted or