Pharrell's Rad-Era Car Auction Is Going On Right Now

Image: Joopiter

Some of the coolest and weirdest cars from the late-1900s are up for auction right now, but I can promise you won’t find a good deal among them. Multi-hyphenate music star Pharrell Williams started an auction company recently, called Joopiter, and has teamed up with New York high-end car collection business Morton Street Partners for a small-but-heavy-hitting auction of rare and exciting rad-era motors, called Joopiter Joy Ride. It’s equal parts incredible cars and insufferable celebrity bullshit.

“I love that Joopiter is a place where we can experiment and reflect on the way we view certain objects,” Williams told GQ. “When we decided to do a car auction, we wanted to bring together artifacts that appeal not only to car collectors but anyone interested in art, design and music.”

Jalopinions | Porsche 944

Williams, pictured here with artist Daniel Arsham, at the Joopiter Joy Ride launch partyImage: Joopiter

So what kinds of cars are included in this auction? Many of the period icons are featured here, like a Porsche 911 Turbo, a Nissan Skyline GT-R, and a Ferrari 550 Maranello. But there are many weirdos in the group, too; a Volkswagen Golf Country (the original safari-all-the-things car), a De Tomaso Guarà, or Michael Strahan’s BMW 850i tuned by Dinan. In total the auction is just ten cars, but each one has a weird and interesting story. The Porsche 911 Turbo, for example, was given scads of artistic touches by Cleveland, Ohio artist Daniel Arsham. The Lancia Delta Integrale was built by that Viva Bastardo guy for NYC pizza impresario Scarr Pimentel.

The auction started on May 1 and runs through May 8. If you want to bid, you’ll have to submit a financial reference. As of this writing, only one of the lots has received a bid.