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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