The estate of late Rush drummer Neil Peart have revealed that his classic cars collection is being put up for auction next month.
The vintage sports cars set, which Peart once collectively dubbed his ‘Silver Surfers’ are to be sold during California auction house Gooding & Company's two-day Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance on August 13/14.
The collection includes a 1964 Aston Martin DB5 (estimated to sell for between $650,00 and $725,000), a 1964 Shelby Cobra 289 ($900,000-$1 million), a 1970 Lamborghini Miura P400 S ($1.2 million-$1.5 million), a 1965 Maserati Mistral Spider ($575,000 and $650,000), a 1964 Jaguar E-Type Series I 3.8-Litre Coupe ($140,000-$160,000), a 1973 Maserati Ghibli 4.9 SS Coupe ($250,000-$300,000) and a 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Split-Window Coupe ($150,000-$180,000).
As stated on the company’s website, Peart’s love of cars was a lifelong passion, and upon purchasing his first classic car, the 1964 Aston Martin DB5, he explained that he had dreamed of owning the car since he was a boy. Finally in a position to purchase classic cars of this quality, he acquired each car until his dream collection, the Silver Surfers was complete.
On the naming of his collection, Peart wrote:
“The title ‘Silver Surfers’ for my collection of cars occurred to me while driving the DB5 up and down the Pacific Ocean. Because it felt right to me, I guess – the idea that I was just one of the wave riders.”
"I had moved from Toronto to Los Angeles in 2000 (cherchez la femme), and in search of natural peace I often drove out that way and up into the Santa Monica Mountains," recalled Peart. "Out past Malibu to Ventura County, I’d weave along barren ridges of rock and vegetation, the ocean always on one big side. Some days would be misted by the marine layer, while other days the sun blared through a clear sky. The waves were slow and gentle, or churned out a powerful, rolling rhythm ... . It was during one of these drives when out of nowhere, it just occurred to me that the color of the ocean had influenced the silver palette of the collection. What other color looks as good in a blue photo? Not black, not white – silver. And a fortunate risk for the framers’ art, too: silver frames.”
More information about the auction is available on the Gooding and Company website.
