Automobilia Feeds Fascination and Fantasy

Collecting automobilia has fascinated enthusiasts for as long as the motor car has existed. From the racetrack to the road, automobilia is the medium through which we can dream of often unobtainable cars. Nostalgia plays a significant role; childhood memories of slot car sets, Hotwheels, and the family car your parent’s owned persist throughout the years, feeding the intrigue and desire to collect.

Acquiring a scale model of a car of a great, obscure or exceptional vehicle is an accessible way to appreciate the marque’s craftsmanship and aesthetic. The intricate detail and accuracy of scale models, often built out of hundreds of individual parts, are evidence of the passion the brand, racing team, or enthusiasts have for cars.

Aotearoa has a rich history of producing winning drivers and engineers. Our country’s passion for collectors’ cars and automobilia is exemplified in the incredible collections that Webb’s brings to auction. Earlier this year, Webb’s brought The Ian Pinkerton Collection: Car Models and Books to market, seeing collectors flock to the online portal to snap up pieces. Ian Pinkerton was a New Zealand rally driver and avid automobilia collector. The sale achieved a 94% sell-through rate with McLaren, Porsche, Ferrari, Ford, Mercedes and other contemporary and historic models acquired by now proud owners.

The print selection from The Ian Pinkerton Collection: Car Models and Books was comprehensive. For example, Purdy and Baumann’s The New Matadors presented a mediated experience of motor racing as a sport, a spectacle, and an art. Automobilia books allow entry to the world of cars through period photographs, inside accounts of driving some of the finest racing vehicles ever built, racing statistics, vehicle specifications, and more. Many historical automobile books are only available in print, in some cases being

the only resource for studying uncommon The Ian Pinkerton Collection: Car Models and Books, May 2022

marques and vehicles.

Posters and prints also offer a connected experience and fantasy. They are a window into the famous races of the past. They are a surveyor for nostalgia and a way for those who were present to connect to the memory, historising the past events individually and collectively. An official poster from the race can be a worthy substitute for the memory of a watershed moment like seeing the remarkable Porsche 917 take first and second positions at the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans 52 years later.

In December, Webb’s will present The Grant Ranby Collection of Automobilia. Grant has been a follower of motorsport from a young age. “On Sunday afternoons, TV1 would show F1 highlights. No matter what I was doing with my friends, I would always rush home to watch them.” This fuelled a lifelong passion for collecting. A highlight of the collection is Ralph Watson: Special Engineer. This is a rare and out-of-print publication detailing the life and work of Ralph Watson, who designed racing cars such as the Lycoming Special that was raced by both Jim Clark and Bruce McLaren. Ranby’s “books were collated mainly for reference purposes. I built a database of results that supported my collection of models”. He often created information cards that went with them.

The collection has something for everyone at a wide range of price points. For the emerging and established collector, standouts not to be missed include Stirling Moss’s biography All But My Life and the highly coveted CMC models McLaren Mercedes SLR, presented here in 1:18 scale with original packaging. This could be one of the most comprehensive collections of McLaren models offered at auction.

For condition reports or further information about the Grant Ranby Collection of Automobilia please contact our specialist team. We would love to hear from you.

The Grant Ranby Collection of Automobilia, coming December 2022

Caolán McAleer Head of Collectors’ Cars caolan@webbs.co.nz +64 27 929 5603

Ian Nott Consultant, Collectors’ Cars ian@webbs.co.nz +64 21 610 911

Thomas Shaw-Owens Administrator, Collectors’ Cars cars@webbs.co.nz +64 21 188 2527