Slideshow: Full Metal G-Wagon Sells for $14k in the UK
Full Metal G-Wagon: Stanley Kubrick’s 280GE sells at Coys' Chiswick auction.
Lights, camera, Geländewagen!
It’s hard to believe, but it’s true; the man who wrote and directed some of the most game-changing and mind-bending films ever made, put off buying this 1987 Mercedes-Benz 280GE until his latest film was a success. Spoiler alert: It was, and he did. Now freshly-restored, the late director Stanley Kubrick’s G-Wagon went for $13,750.50 including 15 percent Buyers Premium (but without the Value Added Tax of up to 20 percent where applicable) at Coys of Kensington’s Chiswick House auction, held near its London HQ, on Saturday, May 24.
"If it can be written—or thought—it can be filmed"
I want you to imagine this scenario: You’re the screenwriter and director of "Dr. Strangelove" and "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" in 1964. You follow that up with “2001: A Space Odyssey” in ’68, “A Clockwork Orange” in ’71, and “The Shining” in 1980. You are nominated for the big-deal Academy Awards for every one of these—usually two or three at a time—and win one for Best Effects, Special Visual Effects, on “2001.” Today, a single nomination puts you in the “Bulgari and Bugatti” club—for a while, at least. Given your platinum-clad Golden-Ticket résumé, are you going to put off purchasing anything? Heck, Mercedes would probably have given him a half-dozen if he asked. And yet…
Director Kubrick makes a movie in the killing business
On July 10, 1987, Kubrick’s “Full Metal Jacket” opened in theaters. Given its subject matter—the brutality of the Vietnam War as seen through the experiences of a bookish U.S. Marine recruit—I could see a first- or second-time director’s reluctance to binge on big-ticket items before the arrival of rave reviews and revenue. But Kubrick wasn’t a skinflint—the Benz was delivered to his “private residence at Childwickbury Manor, St. Albans” according to Coys, after all—so why the hesitation? What does it mean? It’s like those damn Calumet cans and Room 237 and… crap. It’s Kubrick-ian! Mercedes is German, and that starts with “G,” as does Gelände, which means cross-country, so… the moon landing was faked! I knew it!
A devoted fan and a TV clan make it like-new—or better than
There’s certainly no mystery as to why a fan of Kubrick and classic cars would want to own one of the few things extant that could tick both boxes, and why that person would enlist a famous (on the Discovery Channel, anyway) firm like To-Ta Classics to perform an apparent cost-was-no-object complete restoration to Day One spec. One small thing: I ran the numbers—multiple times—and it turns out Kubrick’s “star power” isn’t what I thought it was. Nor was the value of a brand-new short-wheelbase right-hand drive ’87 G-Wagon. That redo ran to just $13,373, and Coys’ sales price spread was—no fooling—$8,033 to $10,710. That it sold for above high estimate may have been "star power" at work, but it's still the embodiment of the “pay for the restoration, get the car for free.” And that used-Camry-like price doesn't account for the accompanying provenance...
Like his films, there's more here than just a good story
There is no doubt that this vehicle was purchased new by Stanley Kubrick and retained—and maintained—by him (or his people). As Coys stated, “We understand the G-Wagon is offered with a virtually a complete history file of works completed over the years, its original order sheets, a copy of Mr. Kubrick’s DVLA [read: DMV] registration document, and a Stanley Kubrick ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ ceremony brochure.” I don’t know what that last item is worth, but its sale would recoup a little of the purchase price without losing any value. Either way, given what its worth as a conversation piece, you’re really buying the story alone and getting the G-Wagon for free.
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