“Thank you, crazy car people!” exclaimed Jerry Seinfeld as he walked on stage at today’s Gooding & Company auction. Next to Sunday’s Amelia Island Concours, the Seinfeld show was the weekend’s most eagerly anticipated event. The “Show” was a lot of 18 cars — mostly Porsches — that the comedian was selling from his collection.
By 1 p.m. on Friday, the large Gooding tent held a standing-room-only crowd. The portable air conditioners were incapable of overcoming the human heat load, so people stood there, fanning themselves and waiting for the celebrity. Seinfeld did not disappoint. His opening line drew applause as did the follow up explanation. “I wanted to be with here with you,” he said, with the people who enjoy these cars. I want to see joy on the faces of the winning bidders.” If it could have, the crowd would have hugged him and then kissed him when he said, “I’m not a collector to make money.”