A strong endorsement by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger -- shown here with Bentley CEO Franz-Josef Paefgen and Jay Leno -- helped pump up the winning bid for the new Mulsanne at one of several strong auctions during the long Pebble Beach weekend.

Though it will be nearly half a year before the first 2011 Bentley Mulsanne rolls down the assembly line, it’s already been sold.  An unnamed buyer at the Gooding Auction placed the winning bid of $500,000, late Sunday, to help wrap up what turned out to be an unexpectedly strong performance at the many auctions accompanying the weekend’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

The classic car show attracts some of the world’s most elegant and exclusive automobiles to the Monterey Peninsula, each August – along with a Who’s Who of the collector world.  Hoping to take advantage of that, major auction houses like RM, and Gooding, among others, stage elaborate events that, in the past, routinely broke records, year after year after year.

The automotive auction market is often seen as an early indicator of the broader U.S. economy, according to industry experts, reflecting not just the ability but willingness of collectors large and small to shell out cash for their dream cars.  A number of auctions held earlier this year underscored that link, with sales frequently falling well below prior year levels.

A preliminary tally of the half-dozen auctions at Pebble Beach, however, suggest that pocketbooks may be loosening back up, says McKeel Haggerty, CEO of Haggerty Insurance, which specializes in the collector auto industry and tracks auction data.  In all, he noted, about $117 million in vehicles were sold during the long weekend, a modest dip from 2008.

The biggest event, the Gooding Auction, gaveled in $52.890 million in sales, compared to $61 million, last year, but Dave McKinney, who oversees Haggerty’s classic car price guide, said a few additional deals have yet to be completed, and could add several million more to the Gooding tally.

And there were even some records set, over the weekend, notably the $7.685 million paid for a 1965 Shelby Daytona Coupe, said McKinney, “the most ever at auction for an American-made car.  That’s a very strong figure.”

A Ferrari California Spyder, meanwhile, drew a winning bid of $5.1 million, and a 1935 Duesenberg SJ was gaveled in at $3.3 million, while a Jaguar C-Type race car once manned by the legendary Phil Hill commanded $2.7 million.

There were some bargains, said McKinney, but none of the half-off sales some skeptics were expecting to see over the weekend.

For his part, McKeel Haggerty contended that the American love affair with automobiles is strong enough to push through the current crisis.  “Absolutely no market has been unaffected by the economy,” he said, “but we’ve hit bottom and it wasn’t so bad.”

As for the Mulsanne, the sales proceeds will go to charity, according to auction and Bentley officials.  The new ultra-luxury “saloon car” was formally introduced during the Pebble Beach Concours, on Sunday – the first time the show has ever allowed such an unveiling.  Bentley received a particular endorsement when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger took to the stage to hail the Mulsanne as a “green car,” and the right luxury car for environmentally-sensitive California, because it will be able to run on flex fuel that could reduce by as much as 20% its CO2 emissions.