The successful bid was substantially over what the RM Catalog expected the car to bring.
Chrysler must be on a role.
First Sergio Marchionne indicates Chrysler succeeded in making a profit during the second quarter and then a 1952 Chrysler “Thomas Special” goes for $780,000 during some spirited bidding at the RM Auctions annual auction at Meadowbrook Hall in Rochester Hills, Michigan.
The successful bid was substantially over what the RM Catalog expected the car would fetch. The successful bid came in via phone, RM officials said.
However, the Chrysler had a unique “provenance,” noted RM spokeswoman Amy Christie. It is one of the most stylistically important designs of in American automotive history.
For one thing it was designed under the watchful eye of the legendary Virgil Exner specifically for the Paris Auto Show and featured a long hood and short-deck profile as knife edge fenders, trapezoidal grille and fully exposed wheels.
The “Thomas Special,” which seems to ooze the American power, style and opulence of the Mad Men era, enjoyed a long life on the show circuit. Once its show duties were over it was basically gifted to C.B. Thomas, then president of the export division. Since then the car has been owned by some noted collectors including Fran Roxas, who watched over two separate restorations of the car as well as Joe Bortz of Chicago, who sold it in 2005, according to RM.