Palm Springs, California, is a prime location for vintage machinery — it’s part of the landscape here. The desert playground of Hollywood stars long since passed is far enough inland from the coast that most here haven’t heard of rust, and it’s a town populated with people who have the bank accounts to take care of their interesting classic cars properly. The twice-yearly McCormick’s Palm Springs Collector Car Auction is well-placed to take advantage of this happy convergence the weekend before Thanksgiving each November.
McCormick’s sold 207 of 362 lots for a 57.2 percent sell-through, and a $4.18 million event total at its Palm Springs auction, November 17-19, 2023. The top sale was a 1971 Mercedes-Benz 280 SL, finishing at $86,390. Other significant sales included a ’62 Divco 300 milk truck for $79,500, and a ’62 Porsche 356 Super for $69,960. The house’s most recent autumn auction in Palm Springs proved to offer the usual mix of later-model luxury machinery and a plethora of fun surprises. Also, Friday was a free preview day, meaning anyone could come in, look around, take photos, and not spend a penny to do it (beyond the on-site food and beverage vendors, of course). All sales included a six percent buyers’ premium.
While we see a lot of local folks here, Palm Springs airport receives a number of direct
