Bruce Willis cars highight Bonham sale

Bonhams & Butterfields celebrated the sixth year of exceptional motorcycles, motorcars and automobilia on Saturday with an auction at the Petersen Automotive Museum. The auction was highlighted by The Bruce Willis Collection and memorabilia from Steve McQueen.

Led by a ‘68 Shelby Mustang from the Bruce Willis car collection, the sale featured a guest appearance by Neile McQueen Toffel (a.k.a. Neile Adams), Steve McQueen’s first wife. An at-capacity crowd of collectors paid out nearly $2 million before the event was finished.

Among the highlights:

The Bruce Willis cars inspired great interest among collectors, particularly the actor’s 1968 Shelby Mustang GT500 Convertible, selling for $161,000. His 1969 Dodge Charger Coupe sold for $86,580, and the 1957 Chevy Corvette given to him by Demi Moore sold for $79,500.
A 1974 Ducati 750SS, ranking on collectors’ “Top Ten Most-Desirable Bikes” lists for 20-years, sold for $81,900.
The diamond-studded Hot Wheels car, designed to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the brand and the production of its four billionth Hot Wheels car, brought $60,000, with proceeds benefiting Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles and the Inland Empire.
McQueen’s hardstone Asian seal, well-carved with a depiction of a dragon, sold for $27,600. His12-gauge shot gun, featured in the film “The Getaway,” sold for $22,800, and his U.S. passport brought $9,000.

“With our unique offerings of entire collections and individual items from the likes of Steve McQueen, Bruce Willis, Clark Gable, Charles Bronson and Von Dutch over recent years -- not to mention outstanding performance cars and bikes -- our annual ”Classic California” auction is consistently the best of its kind anywhere in the world," said Mark Osborne, VP of the Motoring Department at Bonhams & Butterfields. "Needless to say, we are very pleased with the results.”