Gallic delights from The Mullin Collection closure auction

On Friday, 26 April 2024, Gooding & Co presents 115 lots from the late Peter Mullin’s peerless collection of mostly pre-War cars at the great enthusiast’s museum in Oxnard, California. All are offered without reserve. Mick Walsh, who knew the much-missed connoisseur of French coachbuilding well, takes a look at the catalogue.

It’s always a sad day when a great museum closes and the collection is sold off. Peter Mullin’s celebration of Gallic automotive style and Art Deco design was a stunning display. But from the day it opened in 2011, its remote location in Ventura County on a characterless industrial estate surrounded by strawberry fields was an unlikely destination for car enthusiasts. Had it been in Paris, New York or even the Hollywood hills, the museum would have been high on the tourist map.

Previously the home of the Otis Chandler muscle car collection, Peter moved into the vacant 4,500sq ft unit and transformed it into a dazzling homage to pre-War Gallic automotive design. The amazingly diverse display from vintage cyclecars to coachbuilt wonders featured sets of Peter’s favourite marques including Delahaye, Bugatti and Voisins.

This weekend, after a no reserve auction by David Gooding’s team, the doors will finally close as the grand display is taken down and the space cleared. After selected lots were sold at Amelia Island, this is the second stage, with an entire catalogue focused on 115 fascinating lots including the famed Schlumpf Reserve Collection which Mullin purchased back in 2008 and displayed as an atmospheric unrestored group.

The diversity of the sale underlines Peter’s broad interests. From Ettore Bugatti’s prized horse-drawn transport to a hoard of 31 Citroëns including seven 2CVs, the range is wonderfully eclectic. For French dealers, Peter’s phone number must have been top of their client list for barn discoveries or quirky vehicles.

The no reserve auction is by no means a ‘leftover’ sale and includes several sensational concours coachbuilt greats which have garnered top awards up the coast at Pebble Beach. These include one of the most beautiful Bugattis, a Type 57C Aravis ‘Special Cabriolet’ (est. $2.5-3.5 million) which was previously centre stage in the museum before the arrival of the co-owned Atlantic. Working with foremost specialist Sargent Metal Works, Peter organized a superb restoration of the Gangloff design back to its original colours and even enlisted former owner Maurice Trintignant, the Grand Prix ace, as an adviser.

The range of Molsheim marvels offered is remarkable from a You-You Type 75 boat to a charming 1927 Type 40 pick up. Aside from the cars, the sale also includes a Railcar motor, a Hispano V8 aero engine and various French motorcycles.

Appropriately for a California auction, the sale includes two movie cars, a glorious Delage D8-120 Cabriolet by Chapron which featured in An American in Paris with Gene Kelly being chauffeured, and a Voisin C28 recreation with Jaguar power built for stunt shots in Sahara.

The museum was the dream project of Peter and his wife Merle who clearly had further plans to include the quirkier machines and popular French delights in future displays.

Peter enjoyed driving his cars on events and daily trips. The sale includes his much driven, matching number Mercedes 300 SL Roadster (est. $1-1.3 million) which was a familiar sight rasping up Highway One to Oxnard.

America, particularly the West, has a history of remarkable car collections and now Peter’s museum joins such much-missed displays as Briggs Cunningham’s and Bill Harrah’s. No doubt pre-War car enthusiasts will talk about visits to Oxnard for many years to come as it’s unlikely we’ll see such a magnificent display again, not even in France.

The Mullin Collection auction starts at 9.30am PDT on 26 April 2024. See goodingco.com

Photo by Gooding & Co, strictly copyright