XW GT Falcon tops one-off Shannons auction

Held at Shannons Melbourne auction rooms on October 14, the entire auction was a 'shed clean out' for Melbourne enthusiast, Ron Kirwan, with all the memorabilia and some of the cars offered at No Reserve.

The XW GT, a four-speed manual finished in the popular combination of Silver Fox with orange GT stripes, had been restored while in Kirwan's possession, and it's outstanding condition was reflected in the final hammer price of $130,000, exceeding its pre-auction estimate.

An award-winning RHD 1956 Chevrolet 'Hotrod' brought $48,000, a traffic-stopping left hand drive Studebaker 'Hotrod' pickup (built on a late model Chev chassis), finished in eye-watering Violet Kandy sold with no reserve for $29,000 and a Daihatsu 'Midget II' modified into a promotional tow truck and finished in a combination of orange pearl and burgundy brought $15,000 with no reserve.

One of the feature cars in the lead up to the auction, a custom-built FC Holden 'Crewman' four-door ute, failed to meet its reserve, as did a striking John D'Agostino customised 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Seville coupe. Both carried pre-auction estimates around the $70,000 to $90,000 mark.

Movie, Route 66, automotive and other related memorabilia, garagenalia and petroliana made up the bulk of the lots on offer, and amongst these, the older petrol pumps continued the trend of selling well at auction. Amongst the Kirwan offerings, a circa 1931 2.3 metre tall American Model 277 petrol pump in Johnson Gasoline Livery fetched the best price of $9,600.

Amongst other garagenalia highlights, a 'Mobilgas' neon sign sold for $4,600, a 'Budkin Wheels' neon made $5,000, a rare and restored triple oil pump in Gilmore livery made $4,400, an 'Energol' oil rack with 10 bottles sold for $2,450, while two pairs of late 1950s drive-in theatre speakers brought $1,400 and $1,650 respectively.

Amongst the bizarre movie and pop culture items to sell strongly were a life-size statue of Marilyn Munroe that brought $3,400, a 180cm tall statue of an American Indian gazing ($3,000), an adult-size Boxing Kangaroo suit with transport trunk ($2,500), a pair of chairs with legs, arms and back made from real Texan longhorn cattle horns ($1,000 the pair), while a huge wall-mounted moose head (yes, really!) sold for $4,700.

Full results and further details can be found at www.shannons.com.au