Value of Juan Manual Fangio's signature?

Morry can comment if it's an original poster, but a number of reprints were made and Fangio signed them by the dozens, in Monterrey when he was featured....

A poster collector in Arlington, Texas sold them for a number of years after his passing away.....the signature was legitimate.

 

Morry can comment if it's an original poster, but a number of reprints were made and Fangio signed them by the dozens, in Monterrey when he was featured....

A poster collector in Arlington, Texas sold them for a number of years after his passing away.....the signature was legitimate.

 

I do not believe the poster was an original. Fangio signed alot of these posters and they are still readily available. Morry at Collectors Studio sells these exact signed posters for $1500 approx. The RM auction price for this was a complete outlier and does not indicate the true market value of these. That being said it does show you what can happen at an auction when big ego's go up against each other, I mean if you are droping a few mill on a car at maranello whats another 16k on a poster.

A very nice poster BTW and if I can bargain Morry down I might even spring for one Did I mention www.collectorstudio.com is the best place on the net for racing memorabilia. plug plug

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If I'm not mistaken, Morry also supplies a pic of Fangio signing, and one of his actual business cards from Mercedes-Benz of Argentina....I saw a framed set of these at his shop a while back....It really is a cool item, and there is a really intertesting story about Fangio at that race....something about being kidnapped ? IIRC....?


hps

 

He was kidnapped by Castro supporters and did not race...but in retrospect thought it Divine Intervention as there was a huge accident in the event...

Excellent article in R&T interviewed one of the kidnappers, who became fast friends with The Great One and was one of the last to travel and see him alive...

Need to find that article, if you are interested........

The kidnappers became very worried they'd ALL be killed, Fangio included, in attempting to return him! And they took time to go by and introduce Fangio to their momma! Hilarious details, in retrospect, but Fangio's description of the taking in the Hotel Lobby at gunpoint was no joke......

 

G-d bless auctions! This seems to have been a case of either two guys with no regard for market values or no care for that amount of money (both entirely plausible at an auction where multi-million dollar cars were being sold). The poster sold in that auction was one of roughly 75 reprints made back in 1995. I bought the majority of them, and still have them for sale for about US$1395 - complete with signing photo and original business card. I have not raised my price since the auction but have sold quite a few at the normal retail since!

As with all signed items the value depends upon the content and medium signed. A signed piece of paper or 'cut' from Fangio is only about $150, or $300 for a photo depending upon size, etc. A vintage program would be alot more, as would a poster.

The original 1958 Cuban GP poster, (unsigned - to my knowledge none were ever signed), is relatively 'unobtanium' but worth about US$5-US$48K easily, there are simply none out there.

 

whoops.....that was a typo on my behalf an original Cuba poster from this event is valued at US$5K - US$8K (not $48k!!!)

 

Morry you can never price 'unobtanium' too high...
CH

 

I bought one a few years back and it's one of my favorite items. By the way, of the 75, one of them fell into the hands of some street urchin here in Chicago and was probably destroyed. I ordered mine from Texas and it was shipped USPS, meaning it sat at my front door until someone took it. As it contained no drugs or precious metals, the guy probably dumped it. The seller had insured it, so he sent me another.