A collection of classic cars belonging to the late Neil Peart will be put up for auction next month, according to his estate. The collection of vintage sports cars, once collectively dubbed by Neil as his ‘Silver Surfers’, will be sold during Gooding & Company’s two-day Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, on August 13th/14th.
Neil’s collection includes a 1964 Aston Martin DB5, which is estimated to sell for between $650,000 and $725,000 (€607,991.89), a 1964 Shelby Cobra 289 – $900,000-$1 million (€836,820), a 1970 Lamborghini Miura P400 S – $1.2 million-$1.5 million (€1,256,700), a 1965 Maserati Mistral Spider – $575,000 and $650,000 (€545,090), a 1964 Jaguar E-Type Series I 3.8-Litre Coupe – $140,000-$160,000 (€134,170.22), a 1973 Maserati Ghibli 4.9 SS Coupe – $250,000-$300,000 (€251,569.17) and a 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Split-Window Coupe – $150,000-$180,000 (€150,949.71).
His love for cars was a lifelong passion, according to a statement released on the company’s website. When buying a 1964 Aston Martin DB5, the first of his collection, Neil revealed how he had dreamed of owning the model since he was a little boy.
Following his vast wealth from huge success, Neil was finally in a position to acquire classic cars of this quality. The former drummer bought many classic cars and purchased each car until his dream collection was complete.
In writing about naming his collection, Neil said: “The title ‘Silver Surfers’ for my collection of cars occurred to me while driving the DB5 up and down the Pacific Ocean. Because it felt right to me, I guess – the idea that I was just one of the wave riders.
“I had moved from Toronto to Los Angeles in 2000, and in search of natural peace I often drove out that way and up into the Santa Monica Mountains,” recalled Neil. “Out past Malibu to Ventura County, I’d weave along barren ridges of rock and vegetation, the ocean always on one big side. Some days would be misted by the marine layer, while other days the sun blared through a clear sky.
“The waves were slow and gentle, or churned out a powerful, rolling rhythm,” Neil beautifully described. “It was during one of these drives when out of nowhere, it just occurred to me that the colour of the ocean had influenced the silver palette of the collection. What other colour looks as good in a blue photo? Not black, not white – silver. And a fortunate risk for the framers’ art, too: silver frames.”
