One reason why the price is high is that this car has run Monterey for a bunch of years, and it's THE vintage event in the US. They are very picky about who can enter but I think it's a little less so for pre-war cars and also this car is owned by Martin Swig who organizes the California Mille and has a lot of (well deserved) "pull.
Here's another car he owns
http://www.tamsoldracecarsite.net/PreWar1.html
