Bonhams’ to sell fleet from Bothwell Collection

LOS ANGELES _ Bonhams will be auctioning a 50-car group of vehicles from noted collectors Lindley and Ann Bothwell of Southern California. The Bothwell Collection will be auctioned on site, at the Bothwell Ranch in Woodland Hills, Nov. 11.

Lindley Bothwell was a charter member of the Horseless Carriage Club of America and, by the mid-1950s, the owner of one of the largest private collections of automobiles in the country. Among the 50 automobiles up for bids is a 1913 Indianapolis Peugeot that raced in the Indy 500 and set a speed record in 1916, a 1908 Prinz Heinrich Benz, and 1908 Mercedes Simplex originally owned by William K. Vanderbilt. All three cars were on display at Bonhams’ Quail Lodge auction during the Monterey/Pebble Beach Car Week.

The 1913 Peugeot 4.5-Liter L45 is not only regarded by many as the father of all racing engines, but this specific car ran in the 1916 Indianapolis 500. Decades later when Bothwell took the Peugeot back to Indianapolis to compete in the Veteran Class, he beat Dario Resta’s 85mph lap record at over 103mph – a record that had stood for 30 years.

The 1908 Mercedes Simplex 60hp, said to have been originally owned by Vanderbilt, a prominent racing enthusiast and driver who himself set several speed records in earlier Mercedes cars.

Among the other dozens of fascinating automobiles in the collection are examples from Austro-Daimler, Buick, Cadillac, Ford, Hudson, National, Packard, and Pope-Hartford, among others.

Bothwell was also a fan of horse-drawn streetcars and even installed over a mile of track on his property to entertain guests while keeping the streetcars in working condition. Five of these restored icons, originally from the city of Los Angeles, will be included in the sale.

More information will be posted in the coming weeks at Bonhams.com/Bothwell.