A 1949 Triumph 2000 Roadster on display at Klairmont Kollections Automotive Museum, 3117 N. Knox Ave. in Chicago, on Sept. 10, 2025. The entire collection of vehicles amassed by Larry Klairmont will be auctioned off. | Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune
By Nina Metz | Chicago Tribune
Though it’s not unusual to pursue hobbies or accumulate collections, personal wealth means those preoccupations can manifest in more eye-popping ways. Take cars, for instance. Before his death in 2021, Highland Park real estate business magnet Larry Klairmont spent the final two decades of his life amassing a fascinating array of more than 600 historical and unusual vehicles, and put them on display in a museum on Chicago’s Northwest Side. The building’s contents stood as an expression of one man’s eclectic tastes.
That comes to an end this weekend. The museum has closed and the entire Klairmont collection — which in recent years was winnowed down to 284 cars — will be sold by Mecum Auctions. The public can take one last look at the collection Friday (with a $20 entrance fee), then the auction takes place Saturday and Sunday and is strictly for bidders.
Selling off everything is apparently not unusual among auto collectors. It costs money to maintain facilities where cars are housed, and surviving family members may not be as engrossed in the pursuit as their departed loved one. And so, the cars are released back into the world to be collected by new enthusiasts with enough financial firepower to offer a winning bid.
We’re at an interesting inflection point for driving culture. The promise of convenience and practicality remains, while many people want to see more investment in public transit and safer bike lanes — a reduced reliance on cars, in other words — for safety and environmental reasons. The introduction of electric cars, which require different skills (and technology) to repair, has signaled yet another shift. Down the line, fewer amateur mechanics may be able to spend their weekends tinkering with a junker and bringing it back to its former glory.
Read more here.
Related: “Northwest side garage full of hidden-gem classic, muscle cars to go on auction block”
Leave a Reply