The Super Bowl of Car Auctions Is Rolling : Collectors: More than 350 vintage automobiles are displayed in Newport. Up to $3.5 million in sales are expected to take place.

Sunny blue skies shimmered on the highly polished hoods and bumpers of more than 350 vintage automobiles Saturday as thousands of car enthusiasts pondered the vehicle of their dreams at the 14th annual Rick Cole Collector Car Auction.

Billed as the oldest and largest auto auction in Southern California, the list of American classics for sale from the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s included long-finned Cadillacs, big-block Chevrolet Corvettes and Bel-Airs and Ford Thunderbirds and Mustangs. Among the imports displayed at the Hyatt Newporter hotel were some of the world’s most prestigious sport and luxury cars by Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, Rolls-Royce and Ferrari.

Whether serious investors, beginning collectors or dreamers hoping to snatch a glimpse of their dream car, all had come to take part in what organizers call the Super Bowl of car auctions, driven by the love affair Southern Californians have with automobiles.

“There’s a mystique about Newport Beach,” auction spokesman Joseph Molina said. “Not only do collectors come, but they bring their families along. It’s a whole social thing . . . who’s around the pool, what type of car is across the street. . . . It’s also a multimillion-dollar business.”

Collector Noel Blanc, a car enthusiast who owns a 14-car collection, agreed.

“It’s just a really beautiful setting,” said the Hollywood resident, who has stood in for his late father Mel Blanc as the cartoon voice for Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny.

“Cars are a symbol of our youth,” he said. “You remember your first kiss and the first time you climbed into the back seat. It really brings you in tune with another time and another place.”

Several nervous owners wiped their vehicles continually to make sure that their prize possessions were spotless before making their way to the auction block. Others waited patiently for their turn on the block.

One who waited was collector Nathan Tenerelli, who sat in a lounge chair near his mint-condition 1937 yellow Packard as he answered questions from passers-by who said they were interested in buying the giant, 9,000-pound, 22-foot-long car.

“This was supposed to be Dick Tracy’s car” in the new movie, he said proudly.

“But they wanted to crash it, so I told them, ‘No thank you.’ It would have been in the movie, but I wouldn’t have gotten it back.”

Tenerelli, who owns Showcase Limousine Service in Riverside, said he has 25 other cars and has decided to sell the Packard because he is interested in buying a 16-cylinder, 1931 Cadillac limousine.

Prime auction hours are 1 to 4 p.m., “because everyone who is going to be here is here,” Molina said, noting that he expects the auction will produce $1 million to $3.5 million in sales before it concludes today. During Saturday’s auction, prices ranged from $1,100 for a 1953 Bel-Air Sedan, $50,000 for a 1957 Ford Thunderbird and up to the high $70,000 range for several Jaguar XKEs.

Admission is $10 for adults and $2 for children younger than 12 and senior citizens. Public preview hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., with the auction lasting until 6 p.m.

Organizers expect two Rolls-Royces, owned by Bobby Vinton and Brigitte Bardot, to be among the cars to bring in the top-dollar bids today.