RM Auctions to sell world renown Michael Dingman Collection of Fords & Nostalgic Signage

The Dingman Ford Collection

Former Ford Motor Company Director and Racer Offers Collectors His Historic Ford Vehicles Plus Several Thousand Lots of Quality Auto Memorabilia.



BLENHEIM, Ontario, Canada (February 23, 2006) - One of the world’s most comprehensive Ford Flathead V8 vehicle collections will be offered for sale by RM Auctions, when The Dingman Ford Collection goes on the block June 9-11, 2006. This important sale represents the lifelong collecting passion of Michael Dingman, who served as a Ford Motor Company director for 21 years. Dingman, also an experienced race driver, personally competed in some of the vehicles now offered for sale, driving Roush-prepared Mustangs in the SCCA’s Trans-Am Series in the early 1990s.



Dingman, who served as chief executive officer of several companies, including Allied Signal and Fisher Scientific, as well as a member of the board of directors of Mellon Bank Corporation, Time, Inc., and Time Warner, Inc., has nurtured a lifelong passion for all things automotive. Through his close personal association with Ford’s racing mogul Jack Roush, Dingman was been able to acquire many of his collection’s premier pieces, as well as continuing his racing efforts in recent years in the vintage racing arena.



The Dingman Collection vehicles are exactly what collectors seek - high-point cars, many purchased right off the championship field, or restored by Dingman’s personal specialists, each representing quality of the highest standard. Nearly every year and every open or sporting body style is represented, including what must be one of the world’s finest collections of Ford woodie wagons.



"He set out to build the world’s best flathead Ford V8 collection, and most Ford enthusiasts feel he’s more than succeeded," says Mike Fairbairn, co-founder of RM Auctions. "Now Michael feels that it’s time to share his collection with others, to pare back a bit and make room for possibly one or two really interesting Fords that’s he has yet to own."



In addition to the cars, the assemblage also includes Dingman’s amazing porcelain and neon sign collection, which he amassed in less than four years, and which now totals nearly 4,000 pieces. Among the treasures is a perfectly restored Ford Jubilee neon sign, one of only a handful of surviving originals, and one of the most complete groupings of Route 66 highway signs. Every imaginable porcelain petroliana sign is represented among the lots for sale, and RM Auctions will be selling several thousand pieces of the amazing horde at No Reserve.



The three-day sale will take place at the Dingman Estate, in the picturesque town of Kensington, New Hampshire. In addition to the expansive building that houses his collections, Dingman’s estate has a full working diner that he opens on special occasions when he has friends visiting.

"We feel this collection will be one of the most interesting in recent memory, on par with the 2003 Carail Museum sale in terms of vehicle standards of excellence and the quality and breadth of the items offered," says Fairbairn. This collection certainly represents a high-water mark in automotive collecting and even more importantly magnificently illustrates the history of the Ford Motor Company."



Celebrating more than 25 years in the collector car industry, RM Auctions Inc. and its sister companies are responsible for acquiring, restoring and selling of the world’s rarest and most expensive vintage automobiles including Best of Show winning cars at the prestigious Meadow Brook and Pebble Beach Concours. For additional information on RM Auctions Inc., please call (800) 211-4371 or visit the corporate web site at >» www.rmauctions.com.



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