Auction Block

From the rides of kings to a king of rock 'n' roll, auction house Gooding & Co. has scored a couple of notable entries for its annual auction at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in August. The Santa Monica seller of high-end collector cars will put up for auction a 1938 Bugatti Type 57C Stelvio once owned by Prince Louis Napoleon, the grandson of the nephew of Emperor Napoleon I of France and noted World War II resistance fighter. Although the prince was forbidden to live in France for much of his life because of former laws banning the top heirs of French dynasties from living in the nation, he was fond of French vehicles, especially Bugattis.

From the rides of kings to a king of rock 'n' roll, auction house Gooding & Co. has scored a couple of notable entries for its annual auction at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in August. The Santa Monica seller of high-end collector cars will put up for auction a 1938 Bugatti Type 57C Stelvio once owned by Prince Louis Napoleon, the grandson of the nephew of Emperor Napoleon I of France and noted World War II resistance fighter. Although the prince was forbidden to live in France for much of his life because of former laws banning the top heirs of French dynasties from living in the nation, he was fond of French vehicles, especially Bugattis.

The Orange County Fairgrounds was placed on the auction block Thursday in an attempt to cut into the state deficit. The state Department of General Services issued a request for proposals for the 150-acre property in Costa Mesa, giving bidders until Jan. 8 to make offers. Earlier this year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed liquidating state properties -- including the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, San Quentin State Prison and three state-owned fairgrounds -- to raise cash to help balance the state budget.

A Chicken McNugget bearing a striking resemblance to founding father George Washington is still on the auction block and can be yours -- assuming you have about $8,000 lying around. Rebekah Speight of Dakota City, Neb., made headlines this week when she nearly sold the McDonald's favorite for $8,100 on Ebay . But the winning bidder -- who is either a devoted fan of the country's first president, a devotee of chicken McNuggets, or both -- chickened out.  Perhaps more surprising?

The world's first known piece of printed pornography is expected to fetch up to $65,000 when it is auctioned next month. "Sodom," penned in the mid-1670s, has been attributed to John Wilmot, the second Earl of Rochester, and is described by auction house Sotheby's as a "closet drama rather than for the stage" with pornography "in almost every line."

Sharper Image Corp. put itself up for sale, two months after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The retailer of high-end gadgets and appliances said a sale was the best route, in light of the weak U.S. economy and credit crunch. The company said it wanted to complete the sale by the end of May and would prepare for an auction as soon as possible.

About 200 people showed up Tuesday at Wedtech Corp. to bid on items ranging from snow blowers to steel-working machinery at an auction designed to raise money for the scandal-plagued and financially squeezed military contractor. "The vast majority are businessmen, not curiosity seekers," said Joseph Hodkin, co-owner of Daley-Hodkin Corp. of Melville, which ran the court-advised auction. "They're not buying a memento that says 'Wedtech' on it."

The auctioneer gazed out at the audience, knowing this was the moment they'd waited for. Next up, he said, was lot No. 23 -- a "wonderful, exceptional, 66-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton known as Samson." He gestured to the ferocious-looking skull sitting on a stand to his left. "There she is," he said. The people who had gathered in the elegant gallery at the Venetian hotel gasped. Samson is one of the three most complete T. rex specimens ever discovered, possessing the most intact skull in existence.

After more than 300 bidders headed for the hills of Orange County Saturday morning to attend an auction such as few local residents had seen before, the doors of the lavish Villa Imperiali closed that night without a buyer. The contents of the 16,000-square-foot mansion were sold piece by piece for an undisclosed amount "well into the six figures," said Sharron Stockman, a partner in Land Auction Unlimited, the company that is selling the house. "We're pleased with that."

Hunched over a workbench in the back of his ski shop, trimming a pair of boot inserts, Scott Humby says he has read all the newspaper articles and heard the rumors. He is talking about the ultimate Olympic irony: Whistler Blackcomb, a jewel among North American ski resorts, home to the Alpine competition at the 2010 Vancouver Games, could be on the auction block. Creditors have set a Friday deadline for a foreclosure auction, according to numerous media reports. That's the same day the women race down the hill in the slalom.

Several times a week, a group of investors gathers in Norwalk to bid on homes that have been foreclosed. The midmorning auction outside the Los Angeles County Superior Court building is a high-stakes, but usually low-key affair. On Friday, bidders sat in the sun in lawn chairs, and the auctioneer looked relaxed in a pair of baggy sweat pants. But just as the auction was getting started, a commotion erupted from across the lawn. It was a group of protesters, marching with posters and howling an angry chant.

It worked for lions, so why not for Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd too? Sony announced Thursday that it is bringing back 1984's "Ghostbusters" for a weekly engagement in theaters in October, continuing the revival theme embodied by last week's re-release of the box office hit "The Lion King. " For three consecutive Thursdays beginning Oct. 13, director Ivan Reitman's action-comedy will play in about 500 theaters around the country, the studio said. The Los Angeles-area venues have not been disclosed.

A Utah man lionized by environmentalists for crashing a 2008 government auction of energy leases near two national parks was sentenced to two years in prison and fined $10,000 on Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Dee Benson in Salt Lake City ordered Tim DeChristopher taken into custody immediately. "I'm not saying there isn't a place for civil disobedience," Benson said. "But it can't be the order of the day. " In a roughly 35-minute address to the court, DeChristopher, 29, said his actions were necessary to highlight the threat that climate change poses to the planet.

ART Art-A-Fair 2011 Two- and three-dimensional art created by Laguna Beach and national artists abounds at Art-A-Fair 2011. View works in every medium, including oil paintings, watercolors, acrylics, drawings, photography, digital art, mixed media, sculpture, jewelry, ceramics, glass and wood, and watch the artists as they create. 777 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach. 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Sat. 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Sun.-Thu. through Aug. 28. $7. (949) 494-4514. http://www.art-a-fair.com.

Bidders won't find fancy hybrids or electric vehicles on the auction block at the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Event, just throaty hot rods, polished classic cars and updated models. The event also features vendors, demonstrations, seminars and a kids zone. OC Fair & Event Center, 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa. 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Sun. $10 Fri. or Sun. $15 Sat. (480) 663-6255. http://www.barrett-jackson.com.

Want a fur pouch messenger bag from Weird Al Yankovich or a briefcase signed by Donald Trump? Celebrity luggage and baggage went on the auction block Tuesday in a special sale aimed at raising money for charity and sponsored by JetBlue Airways . More than 50 celebrities, from actors to athletes and designers, donated items for the airline to sell. Two round-trip tickets on JetBlue come tucked inside the luggage too. Bidding on items in the Celebrity Baggage Auction started Tuesday on Ebay and will continue until Monday.

For the past year, Dennis and Carol Anderson had been eyeing a property in Idyllwild, thinking it would make a great retirement home. On Sunday, the Cypress couple was ready to make an offer. The three-bedroom, 3,000-square-foot mountain house, which was on the market for about $700,000 a year ago, was being sold at a foreclosure auction. The starting bid: $235,000. "I'm a nervous wreck," said Dennis Anderson, 62, as he waited for the property to be called. As the housing market continues to slump and mortgage defaults mount, public auctions of foreclosed properties are luring buyers with the promise of bargains.

Leonardo DiCaprio, Harrison Ford and Elizabeth Taylor are hanging around a Newbury Park warehouse today, waiting for the hammer to drop on their careers as a Hollywood attraction. They are among more than 200 hand-sculpted figures that will be auctioned off tonight by the Hollywood Wax Museum as part of a celebrity look-alike shake-up. Some of the life-size replicas made of oil-painted wax are being permanently removed from the Hollywood Boulevard tourist attraction.

'Judge Judy' tops 'Oprah' "Judge Judy" won a ratings verdict over "Oprah" last season to rank No. 1 among daytime series. According to Nielsen figures, Judy Sheindlin's courtroom show averaged 6.3 million daily viewers, compared with 5.7 million for Oprah Winfrey's talk show. "Judge Judy" became the first show to knock "Oprah" out of the top spot in a decade — and it was "Judge Judy" that did it the last time too. Winfrey relied on more reruns than usual last season, which affected her ratings.