By Simon Dahboss 
Very Clean Huge ‘junkyard’ classic car collection you can find cheaply
Top-end collections of expensive, rarified classic cars often lead sheltered lives, these immaculate automobiles kept away from prying eyes and the harsh realities of the outside world.
Not the late Rudi Klein’s huge stash, though. This well-known collector did indeed have a colossal, clandestine cache, but his passion for rare and sometimes unusual cars didn’t always include examples in pristine condition.
His Los Angeles ‘junkyard’ was home to everything from dust-covered Porsche engines and Ferrari body panels, to an unrestored Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing and a one-off NSU prototype.
Since 1967, this California-based collection has been kept mostly under wraps, but now it’s for sale with RM Sotheby’s in a no-reserve auction.
Virtually all the lots in this two-part sale will need to be restored before they’re ready to be used.
Here, presented in chronological order, we’re focusing on 18 of the classic cars for sale at the in-person auction on 26 October 2024. And what we’re showing you is just the beginning, given there are 208 lots.
In addition, an online sale of more vehicles, spare parts and memorabilia, with a massive 359 lots in total, will take place from 26-28 October.
There is certainly plenty of intrigue and, with sufficient time and money invested, serious potential, too. Take a look.
1. 1931 Mercedes-Benz 370S Mannheim Sport Cabriolet (est: $100-150,000)
The short-wheelbase 370S has a 74bhp straight-six engine and a three-speed manual gearbox.
Partially restored in the 1970s, this classic Mercedes has spent the past 40-plus years in storage, most recently at Klein’s Los Angeles site.
2. 1933 Horch 780 Sport Cabriolet (est: $90-120,000)
Here is an eight-cylinder German great which became part of this collection in 1982, but this Horch hasn’t been in the US throughout Klein’s custodianship.
In 1992, the elegant drop-top was transported to Audi’s museum in Ingolstadt, Germany, but spent most of its time there in storage.
The seller believes that many of the details on this 91-year-old car are original.
3. 1935 Mercedes-Benz 500K ‘Caracciola’ Special Coupé (est: $4-6m)
As if the Mercedes-Benz 500K wasn’t desirable enough, this one-off example was built for legendary Silver Arrows racer Rudi Caracciola.
The German driver sold the car in the late 1930s and it later became a regular on the concours circuit after it was restored in the 1960s.
It topped its class at the 1977 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, following a second-place finish at the 1966 edition.
One of the jewels of Klein’s collection, it’s been hidden from the outside world since 1980.
4. 1937 Horch 853 Cabriolet (est: $200-300,000)
Late General Motors vice-president Alexander Cunningham apparently bought this two-door cabriolet while working for Opel in Germany.
Restored during his ownership, it joined Klein’s massive collection in 1979.
In 1992 it was transported to the Audi Forum Ingolstadt, along with the Horch 780 on slide four and the 855 coming up on slide eight.
5. 1938 Maybach SW38 Sport Cabriolet (est: $150-200,000)
Roll up, roll up! Finished in Adriatic Blue, this Maybach SW38 first belonged to German circus impresario Carl Krone.
It was shipped to America and eventually became part of Rudi Klein’s collection.
Most of the paintwork is believed to be original, however its 4.2-litre engine and Becker Nürburg radio were later additions.
6. 1939 Horch 855 Special Roadster (est: $3-4m)
This Horch 855 is tipped to sell for a lot more money than its 780 and 853 siblings, and that’s because this Gläser-bodied roadster is the sole-surviving 855 production car.
It featured in a 1954 issue of Road & Track magazine and later starred in the 1959 film The World Is Ours.
In 1992, when this Horch returned to its home country to go on display in Ingolstadt, Audi instigated a 36-month restoration.
This Maybach SW38 was delivered new to a Frankfurt-based wine company.
It remained in Germany after WW2, when it was rebodied by Wendler in Stuttgart, and repainted bright-green and grey.
In the 1960s, the Maybach was shipped to America’s East Coast.
An attempt to restore the car in the ’80s ran out of steam, and the beaten-up SW38 eventually joined Klein’s Los Angeles collection.
Ordered new by US-based Ferrari importer and racing driver Luigi Chinetti, the special-edition 300SL features lightweight bodywork, a more powerful engine and uprated suspension.
Klein bought it from Chinetti in the late 1970s.
There’s some damage to the 45,600-mile car’s rear bodywork, which apparently happened when the Los Angeles-based collector accidentally reversed a forklift into it.
Just 78 aluminium-bodied BMW 503 Series I Cabriolets were built, including this example which was imported to the US in the 1970s or ’80s.
The sale includes old photographs showing the car on a previous owner’s driveway in California, before Klein acquired it in 1984.
The V8-engined convertible’s white paintwork and blue-and-white interior are ripe for restoration.
The alloy-bodied Gullwing was not the only 300SL unearthed at Klein’s automotive sanctum.
This Roadster, originally finished in Fire Engine Red, is one of just 30 examples factory fitted with competition-derived Rudge wheels.
Other than the gearbox, most of the mechanicals are original and the odometer shows an entirely plausible 11,106 miles.