Motor Mania

It was a scene to satisfy any SoCal auto aficionado: sports cars, hot rods and custom rides, all parked at the Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort. It’s what the car enthusiasts (10,000 of them, to be exact) enjoyed at O.C.’s first Russo and Steele Collector Automobile Auction. But what really revved our engines was the kickoff bash benefiting CHOC Children’s. A select crowd of attendees got a first look at the vehicles hitting the block throughout the three-day event, including the auction’s top moneymakers, a Bugatti Veyron and an Aston Martin DB6. Caught eyeing the autos: Kathryn Cenci, Addison and Walt Brown, and Anton and Jennifer Segerstrom, who also mingled with Russo and Steele co-owners Drew and Josephine Alcazar. For a bit more fuel, they sampled cocktails and nibbles from area chefs, then grooved to the tunes of Le Jazz Hot. Oh, and about those autos… by the weekend’s close, total sales tallied $6.5 million. We’re sold. Photography by Reza Allah-Bakhshi