Jerry Seinfeld auctions off 17 cars for more than $22 million

Jerry Seinfeld woke up this weekend a few Porsches lighter -- and millions of dollars richer -- after selling 17 collectible cars he put up for sale Friday at auction.

The comedian’s cars -- 15 Porsches and two Volkswagens -- brought in $22,244,500, including $5,335,000 for just one of them, a 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder that was only slightly younger than 61-year-old Seinfeld.

Here’s the thing: Overall, it looks as if buyers got a bargain. The high-end estimate by the Gooding & Co. auction house for all the cars listed was about $10 million more than the final take, Jalopnik said.

The “Seinfeld� star showed up to help get the crowd pumped, according to the auction house, which said the ’55 Spyder sparked “a lengthy bidding battle� before the gavel finally came down. Hey, it takes some time to count that high, right?

Seinfeld had previously said in a statement that he loved owning the cars and if he had unlimited time, space and attention he never would have sold a single one.

“[T]he reason I wanted to bid these cars farewell in this way is really just to see the look of excitement on the faces of the next owners who I know will be out of their minds with joy that they are going to get to experience them,� he said in February.

Among the babies Seinfeld saw placed in loving homes were a 1959 Porsche 718 RSK, which sold for $2,860,000; a 1974 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.0 IROC RSR, $2,310,000; a 1990 Porsche 962C, $1,650,000; a 1958 Porsche 356 A 1500 GS/GT Carrera Speedster, $1,540,000; a 1994 Porsche 964 Turbo 3.6 S Flachbau, $1,017,500; a 1998 Porsche 993 3.8 Cup RSR, $935,000; and a 1963 Porsche 356 B 2000 GS/GT Carrera 2 Coupe, which went for a mere $825,000.

Seinfeld also had a 1960 VW Beetle on the block, and according to Jalopnik it went for $121,000, more than twice its estimated price prediction.

The lone leftover?

A non-drivable Carrera GT concept car, one of two in the world, which was tagged to go for $1,500,000 to $2,250,000 but didn’t make the minimum, despite being “a truly bespoke, hand-built concept car with racing roots� that was “purchased by Jerry Seinfeld directly from Porsche in 2007.�

Follow Christie D’Zurilla on Twitter @theCDZ. Follow the Ministry of Gossip @LATcelebs.

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FOR THE RECORD

March 14, 2:40 p.m.: An earlier version of this article gave Jerry Seinfeld’s age as 67.

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