This professionally-restored circa 1940s Cushman Airborne Model 53 parascooter was consigned from a private Allentown, Penn., collection and came with a matching trailer and prop machine gun; it earned the highest price of the sale at $10,800 ($2,5/7,500).
Review by Kiersten Busch
VINELAND, N.J. — Automobilia from the collections of David Bausch of Allentown, Penn., and Steno Tonelli of Bologna, Italy, were the main focus of The Automobilia Sale, a 535-lot auction of all things vehicular conducted on August 22 by Bertoia Auctions. With a sell-through rate of 95 percent, the sale made $423,000. “The sale did great,” shared president Michael Bertoia. “We were very pleased with the number of new, first-time bidders who not only participated in the sale but came out successful with winning pieces.”
Bertoia also reported a strong international audience, as “The automobilia item from David Bausch and Steno in particular drew winning bids from all parts of the world.” Speaking of Bausch and Tonelli, Bertoia explained, “Both consignors have been very cordial and easy to work with. They have entrusted our expertise to handle the pieces as we see best fit for the best auction results.”
An unidentified private collection, also from Allentown, had the sale’s top lot, a circa 1940s Cushman Airborne Model 53 parascooter from a private Allentown, Penn., collection drove off with the highest price, earning $10,800. According to catalog notes, the scooter was “developed for WW2 to be dropped by parachute or carried by glider” and was “sold with a matching trailer and prop machine gun from when driven in Pennsylvania town parades in years past.” Although four other Cushman-related products sold, only one was a motor vehicle. A circa 1950-60 Cushman Pacemaker scooter from the same consignor sold within estimate for $960 ($800-$2,400).
Leading the Steno Tonelli collection was this tin advertising sign for Neu Pirelli tires marked “Metalgraf Milano 4111,” 30 by 23 inches, which zoomed past its $400/800 estimate to make $7,800.
The collection of Steno Tonelli was acquired by the team at Bertoia directly from Tonelli’s home country. According to a pre-sale press release, “In March, our team travelled to Italy and spent several days tasting exceptional food in Bologna, Italy, enjoying the beautiful landscape, and packaging up Steno’s immense toy and automobilia collection.” A Neu Pirelli Tires tin advertising sign raced to the top of the collection’s offerings, earning more than 10 times its $400/800 estimate at $7,800. Marked “Metalgraf-&-Milano-4111,” the sign featured “a motoring race car with [a] dressed driver at the wheel,” according to catalog notes. Five additional Pirelli signs sold from the collection, ranging in price from $1,440 for a lot of two Italian bicycle racing signs advertising Pirelli tires, to $3,000 for an embossed tin sign example featuring imagery of a motorcycle racing by.
Porcelain advertising signs were also of interest from Tonelli’s collection. A single-sided example from Vespa had some edgewear but surpassed its $400/600 estimate to make $1,200, while a lot of two Porsche signs, one featuring a vehicle with an orange ground and the other in the shape of the company’s logo, also surpassed expectations at $1,140 ($300/600). A contemporary porcelain example advertising Maserati was also in pristine condition and made $780.
The Automobilia Sale was the first auction to offer selections from the David Bausch collection, led by a circa 1930s revolving desk shade lamp advertising “Buy a Ford.” The 15-inch-high lamp had a spinner wheel on the top, which allowed the entire lampshade to revolve. It went out at $5,400.
Called a revolving shade desk lamp because of the spinner wheel on the top that caused the lampshade to revolve around the heat of the lightbulb, this example urged consumers to “Buy a Ford” and sold for $5,400 ($500-$1,000).
An all-original Columbia shaft-driven bicycle made in the 1890s also did well, pedaling its way to $4,200. Complete with its authentic worn tires, leather seat, bell, frame-hung pouch, oil lantern and cast-iron wheel lock, the bicycle more than doubled its $1/2,000 estimate.
Other high-earning prices in the Bausch collection included $3,000 for a Quimper pottery race car children’s bank, as well as $2,280 for a set of six engraved transportation-themed pocket watches, which included designs featuring early automobiles and planes. Two antique car racing trophies also did well, with a Brighton Beach first place silver plate trophy dated “October 19, 1912” scooping up a $2,160 finish, while a 1910 Vanderbilt Cup sterling silver example earned $1,920.
Motorcycle enthusiasts had much to indulge in, as 12 bikes raced across the block, ranging in price from $780 for a Harley Davidson M50 Aermacchi to $6,600 for a 1940s Excelsior British paratrooper welbike. The single-seat motorcycle was the smallest ever used by the British Armed Forces and was “designed for British airborne soldiers, able to fold into a tube to be parachuted to the ground.” This example came with an extra engine and was consigned from the same Allentown estate as the Cushman bikes. Other motorcycles that drove off with high prices included a Joseph Lenaerts amusement motorcycle ride-on ($4,500) and an original Indian Chief motorcycle frame from 1928 ($3,300).
Featuring an illustration of a motorcyclist soaring through the air, this Goodyear poster from 1928, 24½ by 36½ inches framed, captured “the excitement of early motorcycling” for $3,300 ($4/8,000).
What better to go with a motorcycle than its accompanying can of oil? Luckily, bidders were able to put their paddles up for nearly 20 lots of antique motor oil cans, with 13 finding new homes. A Valvoline Oil Company Indian Oil one gallon can topped off at $9,600 to lead the group. According to catalog notes, “This is a very difficult to find original can, but finding one in this strong of condition is extraordinary.” The can was complete with its authentic lid, maintained its vibrant green and red original colors and lithography and had the word “Winter” stamped on one side. The remaining 12 oil cans ranged in price from $60 for an empty two-liter can of Italian Avoil Motor Oil, to $270 for a lot of two three-liter cans, one Gargoyle Mobiloel and the other Shell Motor Oil; both lots were consigned from the Tonelli collection.
While porcelain and tin signs were popular with bidders, so were paper posters, with 13 lots sold to new homes. An original Goodyear Hillclimber motorcycle poster from 1928 drove to $3,300, the highest price of the group. Featuring an illustration of a motorcyclist soaring through the air over the word “Goodyear,” the poster captured “the excitement of early motorcycling and the brand’s iconic status in American industrial design.”
A “‘Lucky’ Teter and His Hell Drivers” poster from the Bausch collection came with bold original colors behind a glass frame for $1,440, while a Clement Cycles & Automobiles poster by Leverd earned a colorful $1,140. The latter featured an “outstanding scene” with a luxury limousine, an early motorcycle and two bicycles waiting at a railroad crossing.
The highest-priced of five Packard styling models, this dark blue 1940s example by Carl Schneider (Eureka, Calif.), 24 inches long, exceeded its $600-$1,200 estimate at $4,500.
It wouldn’t be a Bertoia auction without models and toys, of which there were plenty. Styling models — small scale versions of manufactured cars — from Packard numbered just five, but all earned top prices in the sale. The group was led by a model from the 1940s, made by Carl Schneider of Eureka, Calif. The hand-painted and resin-molded design had metal bumpers and a removeable roof. With provenance to the Ira Bernstein collection, it drove past its $600-$1,200 estimate to achieve $4,500. Also made by Schneider, a black 1952 example ($4,200), a green 1953 example ($3,900), a bright blue 1953 example ($3,300) and a silver 1930s example ($2,280) all sped off to new homes far above their estimates.
Buddy L trucks were in abundance, with nearly 40 lots of the cast iron toys realizing prices ranging from $210 for a chain drive dump truck, to $3,600 for a “scarce” stake bed truck with spoke wheels.
Bertoia shared that many of the winning bidders for top-performing lots “ran the spectrum of bidding styles and locations. American, European and Australian buyers. Private collectors as well as museums. They also covered all bases regarding bidding types; some were live in attendance, telephone bidding was strong for highlight items, and the internet bidding was consistent.”
Bertoia will have a European tin toy auction on September 19. Prices quoted include buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For more information, 856-692-1881 or www.bertoiaauctions.com.
