Big auto auction to be held in N.H. Babe Ruth’s 1940 Lincoln Zephyr among vintage cars on block this weekend

KENSINGTON, N.H. – Dozens of gleaming vintage cars including a 1940 Lincoln Zephyr Continental Cabriolet owned by Babe Ruth are going on the auction block this weekend at the farm of investor and philanthropist Michael Dingman.

The former Ford Motor Co. director’s collection, most of which dates from the 1930s and ’40s, includes 63 vehicles and about 1,500 neon, porcelain and tin signs from the bygone era.

Among those checking out the collection on Friday was Charles Chiarchiaro, executive director of the Owls Head Transportation Museum in Maine, who characterized the auction as a landmark event with special appeal for those older than 65.

“You’re going to get to see your dream car here. You’re going to see husbands and wives buy the cars they first went dating in,” Chiarchiaro said.

The estimated value of the items on the block Saturday and Sunday is $6 million, said Steve Wright of the RM Auctions Inc., a Canadian company an hour’s drive from Detroit that was enlisted to reduce the size of Dingman’s collection.

About 2,000 people from around the country were expected to attend the auction. Entry fees for two spectators was $80. The price goes up to $150 for the right to bid. Bids also will be accepted by phone, Wright said.

Dingman, who spends most of the year in the Bahamas but has a summer home in nearby Exeter, would not be interviewed.

But Jim Wilson, the caretaker of the collection, said Dingman faced the prospect of reducing his inventory or building a larger garage. “It’s basically Mr. Dingman’s toy box. I get to keep his toys all in order,” Wilson said.

Dingman, who served as chief executive officer of several companies, including Allied Signal and Fisher Scientific, and also was a member of the board of directors of Mellon Bank Corp. and Time Warner Inc., has long had a passion for cars.

He collected early Fords for years but the collection has swelled recently, Wilson said. Dingham had 11 cars a decade ago; now the collection numbers close to 100, Wilson said.

Wilson’s favorite, and perhaps the rarest in the collection, is a bright red 1934 Ford open cab pickup truck. There are only four known examples of the truck, known as an orchard truck because buyers would remove the fenders and canvas top and use them in fruit orchards.

But the crowd favorite is likely to be Babe Ruth’s vehicle. As legend has it, Ruth was given the car in 1940 by Yankees’ president Joe McCarthy.

Now painted black with white sidewall tires, the vehicle comes with a Louisville Slugger bat and a replica of a 1927 Yankees jersey, Wilson said.

The collection also included several wood-paneled station wagons, a 1928 dark-green fire truck with a wooden ladder on the side, and a handful of military vehicles including two World War II Jeeps and a 1945 Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

Eyeing the Jeeps was George Samara, a retired teacher and ex-Marine from Shrewsbury, Mass. He was thinking of putting in a bid on one of the Jeeps.

The Ford had a 50-caliber machine gun mounted, two other weapons and two radios, but he was leaning toward the Willys version with U.S.M.C. on the side. “I’m interested in the Marine Corps one … but it’s not as good a vehicle as the Ford,” he said.

The Willys Jeep is one of only a handful of non-Ford vehicles. Those included two 1970-era Volkswagen Beetles and a 1967 Amphicar, a German-made car with propellers that’s designed to travel on both land and water.

There were signs for Berliner beer, George W. Child five-cent cigars, Rochester root beer, Veedol motor oil, Hotpoint appliances and the fabled Route 66.

Chiarchiaro said the New England farm with scores of vintage signs evoked a sense of nostalgia and created the perfect backdrop. “The vehicles only come alive when you add a sense of humanity to them,” he said.

On the Net: RM Auctions Inc. www.rmauctions.com.