5/17/07 Why Did Warhol's ‘Green Car Crash’ Sell? Andy Warhol's Green Car Crash . Photo by AFP / Getty Images When Andy Warhol's Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car I) hit the block at Christie's, experts thought the auction house's estimate — $25 to $35 million — was optimistic. Warhol's previous auction record was $17.38 million, but more to the point, would buyers want such a grisly image on their living-room wall? As art consultant Sandy Heller told ABC News, "It's hard to put an image of an impaled figure in a burning car in a home where you have little kids." So what drove the price to $71.72 million, after a heated bidding war? Why is Warhol's "Death and Disaster" series, which included auto wrecks, plane crashes, and even race riots and suicides, suddenly so sought after? Cynics will say that it's all about exploiting unexplored corners of the Warhol market. The more interesting answer, however, is that collectors are beginn