The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance celebrated 66 years of charitable giving by distributing more than $1.7 million in donations from the 2016 Concours to local charitable organizations at its charity luncheon in early December. Since 2006 alone, annual donations from the concours have averaged $1.4 million annually, and nearing the $2 million mark in recent years. The Concours has generated substantial funds for charity since its earliest years, but donations in recent years have greatly accelerated.
The RM group of companies, incorporating RM Sotheby’s and Auctions America, continued to build its foothold on the global collector car market in 2016, posting $450 million in global auction sales. This number was generated by the sale of 2,697 vehicles and select memorabilia at 15 events on two continents.
Winning bids totaled more than $8 million when Mecum Auctions returned to Kansas City in December for its biannual collector-car auction. Over the course of the three-day auction, bidders took home 357 vehicles and 124 pieces of Road Art. Proving that they are still “America’s Favorite Sports Cars,” Corvettes dominated the top-sellers list at the auction, with seven 1960s Corvettes landing among the top-10 sales, led by a 1967 Corvette coupe that brought $130,000. Other top-sellers included a 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 Fastback with a 428 CI Super Cobra Jet engine and a 2004 Lamborghini Gallardo.
The Concours of America has announced that the event’s 2017 Collectors of the Year will be Arturo and Deborah Keller of Petaluma, California. The couple will be sharing vehicles from their award winning collection (in a non-judged circle) at the 39th annual Concours, on Sunday, July 30, 2017 at the Inn at St. John’s in Plymouth, Michigan.