Worldwide Auctioneers will sell Hollywood star Rita Hayworth’s iconic 1941 Lincoln Continental Coupe without reserve at The Enthusiast Auction in Indiana on April 23rd
Worldwide Auctioneers will offer an impeccably documented 1941 Lincoln Continental Coupe at The Enthusiast Auction in Auburn, Indiana this Saturday, April 23rd, gifted to Hollywood star Rita Hayworth by Orson Welles in 1941 and owned by the actress for some 30 years.
Auburn, Indiana - Worldwide Auctioneers, responsible for the sale of some of the world’s finest collector cars has confirmed that an impeccably documented 1941 Lincoln Continental Coupe, gifted to Hollywood star Rita Hayworth by Orson Welles in 1941 and owned by the actress for some 30 years, will sell without reserve at The Enthusiast Auction in Auburn, Indiana on April 23rd.
“Auburn is the birthplace of the classic car auction industry in America and plenty of celebrity-owned vehicles have changed hands here over the decades”, said John Kruse, Principal and Auctioneer. “We’re delighted to honor that tradition once again and offer this luxuriously appointed and beautifully restored motorcar, owned and enjoyed by Rita Hayworth herself, the most celebrated Hollywood actress of the day.”
Rita Hayworth was indeed the biggest star in Hollywood before WWII, starring in movies like “The Lady from Shanghai” and “My Gal Sal”. During her courtship with Orson Welles, he bought the Lincoln for her in California and had it delivered for her 24th birthday on a movie set in Georgia; they were married soon after. Its classic styling reflected her star quality, and she would go on to delight in this car for some 30 years. Iconic images of Rita and her Lincoln abound, perhaps most famously an image of the actress sitting on the back deck of the vehicle minus its bumpers, having donated them to America’s WWII scrap metal recycling campaign. She eventually gifted the car to her secretary, Frita Wolfe, who later sold it to Aspen Pittman for $2,000. Aspen was starting a new music business called Groove Tubes, and eventually sold the Continental to the Art Astor Collection, where it was correctly restored in the proper Paradise Green livery and refitted with what are believed to be the original Georgia license plates. The Lincoln will sell at no reserve to the highest bidder on Saturday, April 23rd. Full details are available online here.
The Enthusiast Auction will offer collectors a choice offering of fine pre-war automobiles, select muscle cars, sportscars and classics, as well as another great no-reserve collection and an exceptional selection of the best memorabilia to be found. The event will also welcome aficionados back for the second annual Enthusiast Tour, a truly one-of-a-kind, three-day classic car tour tailored to the Midwest, that takes in multiple invitation-only private collections and specialist automotive and dining stops in Indiana, before rolling right back into Auburn for The Enthusiast Auction itself.
Other highlights in this year’s sale include an exceedingly rare 1933 Chrysler Imperial CL Close Coupled Sedan, 1 of just 5 remaining examples built with custom LeBaron coachwork, a winner of multiple awards including the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, and a fabulously restored 1930 Cadillac Series 452 V-16 Roadster, ordered new by Atwater Kent, one of the richest men in America and the recipient of over 50 awards including Pebble Beach, Villa d’Este and the 21-Gun Salute in India. Also slated to cross the block in Auburn is a highly optioned 1989 Porsche 930 Turbo Slantnose Coupe, 1 of just 34 Slantnose Turbo Coupes built in 1989, with just 37,568 original miles and verified with Porsche Certificate of Authenticity, and an outstanding 1968 Shelby GT500KR Convertible, 1 of only 318 GT500KR Convertibles built and one-of-one configured per the Elite Marti Report. Augmenting its reputation for presenting outstanding no-reserve collections, Worldwide will also offer The Bill Sipko Estate Collection, an eclectic selection of carefully curated cars acquired over a lifetime by an archetypal collector car devotee. The catalogue can be viewed online at worldwideauctioneers.com
The Enthusiast Auction will take place at Kruse Plaza, Worldwide’s expansive Auburn, Indiana headquarters, on April 22nd and 23rd, to be staged as a live event with alternative online and telephone bidding options also available to pre-registered bidders. Full details are available online at worldwideauctioneers.com or by calling 1.260.925.6789. General spectator admission is also available. The Enthusiast Tour runs from April 19-21 , starting and ending at Kruse Plaza. For convenience, cars can be shipped in advance to the secure, climate-controlled facility. Full details on the itinerary and tour registration are available here. Kruse Plaza is a 30-acre campus with a 200,000 square-foot, climate-controlled auction facility that offers ample space for both RV and vehicle parking, as well as housing the company’s dedicated private sales division, The Salon. Worldwide confirmed in January that its long-standing Labor Day Weekend sale, The Auburn Auction, will run as a massively expanded, three-day automotive event in September 2022, open to spectators and the wider community, with a curated marketplace of automotive lifestyle vendors as well as a hugely increased auction offering. Look for ongoing updates at worldwideauctioneers.com.
About Worldwide Auctioneers. Worldwide Auctioneers is a US-based, boutique catalogue auction company that is unique in having principals who are owner auctioneers, wholly invested in seamlessly delivering the optimal result for every client. In addition to the acquisition and sale of classic automobiles at auction, it offers an extensive range of personalized services to the serious collector, including appraisal, collection direction and consultancy, estate planning and asset management. For those seeking to sell a car or collection privately, the company’s private sales division incorporates
The Salon showroom, housed within a 200,000-square-foot, climate-controlled facility at its Auburn headquarters, along with a dedicated memorabilia division. Worldwide’s normal annual schedule includes The Scottsdale Auction in January, The Enthusiast Auction in April in Auburn, Indiana, The Auburn Auction, held over Labor Day Weekend in Indiana, and stand-alone auctions of significant private collections.
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