Indy 500 3-time champion Johnny Rutherford cleared out his lifetime collection at Kraft

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VALPARAISOInd. — Kraft Auction Service is marking 47 years in business in 2024 with a string of themed sales, all identified as being part of the ’47th Anniversary’ series. Its February 2 auction was packed with racing memorabilia, drawn from some of the most famous names in motorsports. Complete results are available at LiveAuctioneers.

Johnny Rutherford (b. 1938-) started his career like most, racing stock cars on dirt tracks on Saturday nights. But his talent delivered him to heights not imaginable, ultimately leading to a career with three Indianapolis 500 victories, a CART championship, and 27 total wins across more than 300 starts. Rutherford chose Kraft to bring many items from his lifetime collection to market, and two key lots wildly overperformed.

Rutherford’s third and final Indy 500 win came in 1980, and as was the tradition, as part of his victory, he was awarded that year’s pace car. For 1980, it was the Pontiac Firebird Turbo Trans-Am, decorated with Indy 500 year-specific decals and other visual differentiators from stock Trans-Ams. Since that time, the Pontiac has covered only 2,400 miles, making it essentially fresh off the lot. It was sold with the understanding that extensive work would be required to make it roadworthy, but bidders did not care. The car hammered at $80,000 ($96,000 with buyer’s premium) after dozens of bids.

More spectacular still were Rutherford’s Gasoline Alley wooden garage doors from stall #84-86 — which he used for all three of his Indianapolis 500 victories. Rutherford joined the McLaren racing team in 1973 using this garage and got immediate results, finishing 9th overall. In 1974, he notched his first victory, then again in 1976, and in 1980 for his third and final win. Each time, his car would pass through these doors, so when the Indianapolis Motor Speedway decided to demolish the old garages in 1985, Rutherford stepped up and asked for the doors from #84-86, and here they are. They hammered for an amazing $33,000 ($39,600 with buyer’s premium) and will be a legendary feature in some racing fan’s collection.
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Johnny Rutherford’s 1980 Indianapolis 500 Trans-Am pace car, which sold for $80,000 ($96,000 with buyer’s premium) at Kraft.
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Team McLaren Indianapolis Motor Speedway Gasoline Alley #84-86 garage doors used by Johnny Rutherford in three victories, which sold for $33,000 ($39,600 with buyer’s premium) at Kraft.
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Henry Ford Museum unveils ‘Driven to Win’ exhibit

Driven to Win: Racing in America presented by General Motors covers various forms of American auto racing including stock car, sports car, drag racing, Indy car, hill climb and land-speed racing. Photo credit Wes Duenkel Motorsport Photography
Driven to Win: Racing in America presented by General Motors covers various forms of American auto racing including stock car, sports car, drag racing, Indy car, hill climb and land-speed racing. Photo credit Wes Duenkel Motorsport Photography
Driven to Win: Racing in America, presented by General Motors, covers American auto racing, including stock car, sports car, drag racing, Indy car, hill climb and land-speed racing. Photo credit Wes Duenkel Motorsport Photography

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) – The first stop on Romain Grosjean’s monthlong tour of the United States with his family was the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation, where his wife had arranged a tour for the race car driver and their three children.

On the day The Associated Press visited, IndyCar rookie Scott McLaughlin happened to be in the parking lot waiting for the doors to open.

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Vroom! Collectors race to bid on vintage Grand Prix posters

This French poster for the October 8, 1939 Grand Prix race in Zurich brought $19,000 plus the buyer’s premium in January 2019 at Kamelot Auctions.
This French poster for the October 8, 1939 Grand Prix race in Zurich brought $19,000 plus the buyer’s premium in January 2019 at Kamelot Auctions.
This French poster for the October 8, 1939 Grand Prix race in Zurich brought $19,000 plus the buyer’s premium in January 2019 at Kamelot Auctions.

NEW YORK — Auto racing has riveted the public’s attention since the first auto races took place in the late 1880s. Closed tracks didn’t exist then, so drivers raced on regular roads from one town to another. An 1895 round-trip trek from Paris to Bordeaux and back, credited as the first true auto race, covered more than 1,100 kilometers (roughly 683 miles) with the winner notching an average speed of 24 kph. Modern speeds, of course, are much higher. In 2013, the Indy 500 witnessed a record average race speed of 187 mph. While most of us will never get behind the wheel of a competitive race car, we can vicariously experience the thrill by collecting automotive racing posters.

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