Clark Gable’s Duesenberg and Pebble Beach Best of Show Winners Lead Landmark Sam and Emily Mann Collection to RM Sotheby’s Monterey Auction

Led by Clark Gable’s 1935 Duesenberg Model JN Convertible Coupe by Rollston and Bohman & Schwartz, the one-off 1932 Chrysler CH Imperial Speedster, and the Pebble Beach Best of Show-winning 1937 Delage D8-120 S Aerodynamic Coupe by Pourtout.

• The Sam and Emily Mann Collection will headline RM Sotheby’s Monterey Auction this August, bringing Pebble Beach Best of Show winners and celebrated masterworks to Monterey Car Week.
• Led by Clark Gable’s bespoke 1935 Duesenberg Model JN Convertible Coupe, the one-off 1932 Chrysler CH Imperial Speedster, and Louis Delage’s personal 1937 Delage D8-120 S Aerodynamic Coupe.
• The 1932 Chrysler CH Imperial Speedster and Delage D8-120 S Aerodynamic Coupe each earned Pebble Beach Best of Show honors, with the Delage later receiving the inaugural Louis Vuitton Classic Best of the Best Award.
• Acquired and restored over four decades, the collection reflects Sam and Emily Mann’s pursuit of design, engineering, provenance, and concours-level presentation.
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BLENHEIM, ONTARIO, CANADA – June 4, 2026 – (Motor Sports NewsWire) – RM Sotheby’s announces The Sam and Emily Mann Collection for this year’s The Monterey Auction, returning August 13–15 to the Portola Hotel and Monterey Conference Center for its 29th year. Led by Clark Gable’s 1935 Duesenberg Model JN Convertible Coupe by Rollston and Bohman & Schwartz,  a 1932 Chrysler CH Imperial Speedster, and a 1937 Delage D8-120 S Aerodynamic Coupe by Pourtout, the collection represents one of the most accomplished groups of Classic Era automobiles assembled in recent memory.

Sam Mann, who gained his reputation through a highly successful career as an industrial designer and manufacturer, and is the recipient of over 80 U.S. and international patents for products as diverse as modern ear-piercing technologies, health and cosmetic appliances, and sailboat and skiing industry devices, began his car collection in the early 1980s.Together with his wife, Emily, each car was selected with careful consideration for its design, history, and engineering, then meticulously restored, some by in-house staff and others by leading outside specialists.

Offered this year at The Monterey Auction is the core of the Sam and Emily Mann Collection, a group representing their most cherished and highly celebrated automobiles, several of which have earned the highest honors on the concours lawn.

“Cars like these are the foundation of modern collecting,” said Gord Duff, President of RM Sotheby’s. “These great pre-war automobiles helped define the business we know today, and nearly a century later, they remain the classics, the greats, and among the first true masterpieces of automotive design. When you add provenance tied to names like Clark Gable, Pebble Beach Best of Show honors, and the stewardship of Sam and Emily Mann, you are looking at something far beyond a group of important cars. Sam and Emily are true visionaries with a remarkable eye for design, proportion, and history, and this collection reflects that at every level. To bring this kind of incredible collection to Monterey is exactly what this week is about.”

1935 Duesenberg Model JN Convertible Coupe by
Rollston and Bohman & Schwartz

“The great automobiles are in the end almost always the product of one man—not a team—with the ultimate goal being the creation of a beautiful object,” said Mann. “Every great piece of coachwork was one person creating for one person, and the Gable Duesenberg is the absolute embodiment of that.”

One of just four Rollston-bodied convertible coupes built on the final JN-series chassis, J-560 was ordered new by Clark Gable and extensively customized to his personal specifications in collaboration with Pasadena coachbuilder Bohman & Schwartz and designer W. Everett Miller. Retaining copies of Gable’s original design sketches, the car received numerous bespoke modifications, including an extended hoodline, sharply raked windshield, rear fender skirts, and dual rear-mounted spares. Closely associated with Gable throughout his ownership, it appeared in studio promotional photography and the 1938 film Merrily We Live, while also serving as the automobile in which he courted actress Carole Lombard. Acquired by Sam and Emily Mann in 2005, the car was comprehensively restored by Stone Barn to its original 1935 configuration and debuted at the 2007 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, where it received the Gwenn Graham Trophy for Most Elegant Convertible, later earning Best of Show honors at Meadow Brook and Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. (Estimate: $5,750,000–$8,000,000 USD).

1937 Delage D8-120 S Aerodynamic Coupe by Pourtout

“As a reflection of the hands that built it, everything about this car feels deeply intentional,” said Mann. “Stand about six feet back from a rear three-quarter view, and you begin to appreciate what they created. Those fenders taper into a razor-thin blade at the rear, something no machine of the era could have achieved. Even the glass blends seamlessly into the body without a frame or gasket. Of all the automobiles we have ever owned, this car is perfection in both line and form.”

Regarded as one of the most significant Delages ever built, chassis 51620 was commissioned as Louis Delage’s personal automobile and clothed by Marcel Pourtout to an advanced aerodynamic design by Georges Paulin, featuring wind tunnel-tested coachwork, frameless window glass, and sweeping aluminum body panels of remarkable technical sophistication for the era. Built on the lowered and performance-focused D8-120 S chassis, the car debuted outside the 1937 Paris Salon and was praised in period French press for its avant-garde design. Following ownership in France and the United States, including long-term stewardship by industrial designer Robert Muelke, the Delage was acquired by Sam and Emily Mann and meticulously restored by Stone Barn and Contour Metalshaping to its original configuration, preserving nearly all of its original bodywork and fitted luggage. Debuting at the 2005 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, it completed the Tour d’Elegance, won its class, earned a Best of Show nomination, and was ultimately awarded Best of Show. The Delage later received the inaugural Louis Vuitton Classic Best of the Best Award and has since appeared in major museum exhibitions including “Curves of Steel” and “Precious Metal” (Estimate: $5,000,000–$6,000,000 USD).

Among all the automobiles the Manns assembled over four decades, the Delage remains Sam Mann’s personal favorite, a car he views not only as the defining achievement of its builder and coachbuilder, but as the culmination of a lifelong pursuit shared with Emily.

1932 Chrysler CH Imperial Speedster

For Mann, the automobiles were never simply concours pieces, but cars to be experienced and enjoyed on the road. Reflecting on the Chrysler, he said, “It was great to drive in its original form, but since the restoration, it has become exceptional. I have loved every moment in the car.”

Built entirely by Chrysler Engineering for founder Walter P. Chrysler, this one-off experimental Speedster stands among the most advanced and dramatic American automobiles of the Classic Era. Inspired by a radical Chrysler rendering published in a 1929 Fortune magazine, the aluminum-bodied design featured streamlined pontoon-style fenders with integrated storage compartments, a sharply raked split windshield, and a tapered tail that anticipated the concept car era decades ahead of its time. Penned by Herbert Weissinger of Chrysler’s Art Department and constructed by Chrysler’s Custom Body Shop, the car incorporated numerous bespoke details and advanced engineering features throughout. Later acquired and meticulously restored by renowned collectors Sam and Emily Mann, the Speedster achieved Best of Show honors at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and remains one of the most celebrated American classics in existence (Estimate: $2,500,000 – $3,000,000 USD).

1934 Avions Voisin C23/C24 Roadster by Saliot

Sam Mann once described the Saliot Voisin as the purest expression of his personal philosophy on automotive beauty: “The formula for the most beautiful automobile is a two-passenger design where length is emphasized over height, and few cars have ever executed that philosophy better than the Saliot Voisin.”

Created by renowned French coachbuilder Raymond Saliot for the Baron de l’Ecluse and awarded the top honor, Primée, at the 1935 Grand Concours d’Elegance at Bagatelle, this singular Avions Voisin-based roadster is among the most dramatic and distinctive French coachbuilt automobiles of the era. Built on a lowered “surbaisse” chassis and powered by a later C24 six-cylinder engine with dual carburetors, the car’s sweeping proportions, elongated hoodline, and flowing coachwork reflected both Saliot’s craftsmanship and contemporary aerodynamic influences associated with Figoni et Falaschi. Later featured in the 1972 film Hellé, the car was acquired by Sam and Emily Mann in 1999 and subsequently restored by Stone Barn to its original configuration, finished in black with a genuine ostrich leather interior. Debuting at the 2002 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, it won its class and Best of Show, later adding Best of Show honors at Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. Still presented in exceptional condition, the Saliot Avions Voisin remains one of the most celebrated and visually striking coachbuilt French automobiles of its period (Estimate: $2,500,000–$3,000,000 USD).

The Sam and Emily Mann collection also includes:

• 1904 Oldsmobile Model 6C “Curved-Dash” Runabout
• 1913 Hispano-Suiza T15 Alfonso XIII Torpedo
• 1913 Mercer Model 35-J Raceabout
• 1914 American Underslung Model 642 Roadster
• 1914 Rolls-Royce 40/50 HP Silver Ghost Colonial London-to-Edinburgh Skiff
• 1924 Hispano-Suiza H6C Speedster
• 1927 Bentley 6½-Litre “Bob-Tail” Tourer
• 1929 Du Pont Model G Two-Passenger Speedster
• 1937 Cord 812 Supercharged Cabriolet
• 1937 Delahaye 135 Grand Prix
• 1937 Delahaye 145 Cabriolet
• 1938 Bugatti Type 57 Atalante
• 1947 Delahaye 135 M Cabriolet “Vedette”
• 1962 Porsche 356 B 1600 “Twin-Grille” Roadster
• 1910 Pierce Four
• 1915 Indian 8-Valve Twin Board Track Racer
• 1908 Indian Twin
• 1912 Marsh Metz
• 1919 Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Model 4-19 Bicycle

About RM Sotheby’s

RM Sotheby’s is the world’s largest collector car auction house by total sales. With over 45 years of proven results in the collector car industry, RM’s vertically integrated range of services, from auctions (live, online, and Sealed) and private sales to estate planning and financial services, coupled with an expert team of Car Specialists and an international footprint, provide an unsurpassed level of service to the global collector car market. RM Sotheby’s is currently responsible for five of the top ten most valuable motor cars ever sold at auction.

Source: RM Sotheby’s

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