Opportunity to Buy Audi Tradition, NSU, Pininfarina and Horch Automotive History in RM Sotheby’s Rudi Klein Junkyard Auction
RM Sotheby’s next automotive auction will be held Friday and Saturday in Los Angeles, with a truly eclectic mix of cars and parts up for sale including three historic Horch roadsters (one with classic Hollywood history) and an NSU concept car. It also includes two junkyard dogs in the form of an Audi ur quattro and Treser long-wheelbase 5000.
L.A.-based collector Rudi Klein was a fixture in the collecting world, and over the years had amassed a remarkable collection of automobiles and rarities at his unassuming junkyard in Southern Los Angeles. Klein’s collection was a well-kept secret, with rumors of its contents and even its existence whispered about in enthusiast circles.
Within this collection are four cars with notable place in Audi history. We’re going to separate out each of these four cars and run them with their RM Sotheby’s lot description and photos in other posts today, and we’ll also link those posts here. The cars include:
1971 NSU ro80 2 Porte +2 Concept by Pininfarina
1939 Horch 855 Special Roadster by Gläser
1933 Horch 780 Sport Cabriolet
We recognize some of these cars, particularly the NSU by Pininfarina and the 855 Special Roadster with Hollywood film history, as they’d been displayed at the Audi museum mobile in Ingolstadt or had been spotted in Audi Tradition’s Ingolstadt warehouse. So, we reached out to Audi Tradition to get a little more information since they were believed to be in Audi’s own collection.
A representative of Audi Tradition shared, “The Horch 855, 853, 780 and NSU Pininfarina were cars which were in Ingolstadt until two months ago as (part of) a loan agreement from Klein. We had to ship them back because the family wants to sell (them).”
Whether or not Audi plans to acquire them for themselves remains to be seen, but collectors will want to take note of the significance of these cars. It’s a rare opportunity to purchase one car of this historic relevance to Audi in the USA, much less three.
Beyond the trio of Horch convertibles and the Pininfarina NSU concept, there are also two very rough yet desirable early 80s Audi models. These include an 1983 ur quattro and also a long-wheelbase Treser Largo based on the extended chassis of an Audi 5000.
Now, that collection is set to go to auction and the contents of Rudi’s junkyard have taken a place in the spotlight. Lots in the sale include rare automobiles, parts and memorabilia. Each are to go in a series of auctions, and even if you don’t plan on bidding it’s totally worth checking out on the RM Sotheby’s website.
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