Provenance, some say, is everything in a collector car. If indeed that is true, RM Auctions will make a very noteworthy offering at its Paris Auction of February 3-4, 2015. A 1939 Alfa Romeo 8c 2500 Sport Berlinetta by Touring (chassis no. 915033), once presented by Benito Mussolini to his mistress Claretta Petacci, is surely such a car, and it will roll across RM’s Parisian auction block as part of an extensive offering of Italian exotics. The auction will be further spiced by a pair of early Porsche 911s. One, a two-liter “S” model (chassis no.119300932), was a factory rally car that won the 1969 Acropolis Rally driven by Pauli Toivonen and Martti Colari, while the other is a 1973 911 Carrera RS 2.7 Sports Lightweight (chassis no. 9113600619), one of only 500 built to meet FIA homologation requirements.
The Alfa Romeo was set aside for the exclusive use of Ms. Petacci during the war years, driven by her chauffeur Franz Spögler, who has been vital in establishing the car’s identity. It was, after all, the vehicle used by Petacci in her attempt to escape Italy late in the war when she was stopped by partisans and sent to meet her fate along with the dictator. After being brought to America after the war by a military officer, the car languished for decades on a farm in New York state. Upon being discovered and rescued it was restored by famed marque expert Francesco Bonfanti and has since earned multiple Best in Class and Best of Show awards.
