Went to Barrett Jackson Wednesday
 

Howdy all,

Went to BJ Wednesday. Wow, did it rain!!! - all freekin day...

Had a good time anyway. Lots of cool rides. The most common cars were Camaros and 'Vettes. Saw an original 289 slab, black. Its in the main auction bldg. Saw a nice, blue SPF fill up with rain water since it was unfortunate enough to not be under a tent Saw a couple of shelby-built replicas, a 4000 and a 7000, as I recall.

Also saw the Kirkham tsunami car - very nice. Polished alum body with stainless frame and remote reservoir Penske shocks. They were giving away a pretty cool DVD Kirkham advertisement and I picked up one of those. It is a little wierd seeing the K brothers in half-shadowed, dramatic effect lighting, but cool anyway...

My favorite auction car? COPO 427 '69 Camaro (white) factory NHRA campaign car with 480 miles. I think it may go over $300000?

Also saw a couple of Troy Trepanier built hot rods. Those cars are so clean... Wow.

Prices? Well, with the rain I didn't often stand where I could see the big auction boards, so I have no idea. One Cobra did sell in the morning (red and the mfg was not noted, but I'll go out on a limb and show how little I know by guessing ERA or Contemporary - I do know it wasn't FFR or BDR!) and I didn't catch the sale price.

Anyhow, overall it was better than being in work.

Great report....keep 'em coming!

Let me know if you run into a very sinister looking mid '80's black Corvette. Has dual Magnuson superchargers poking through the hood (on a punched and stroked BB) and 335's in the back on custom billet rims. I followed the build on this car and the guy invested something like $250K in it. The best of everything and a lot of one-off customizing to make it all work. He was a big dude, because apparently he didn't "fit" in the car too well after it was all said and done! LOL. A lot of folks busted his chops on corvetteforum.com for it, but give the guy some credit for building something wildly outrageous and unique. I guess he finally decided to sell it after trying to justify hanging onto it for a couple years.

Anyway, keep those updates coming! As insane as some of the prices are, it's fun to watch and see what happens at these gatherings.

-Dean

Dean,

Saw the Vette you described. It is a roadster. Very nicely done and looks fast enough to be dangerous. I'd take it.

Barrett-Jackson
 

I, too was there most of the day Wednesday. Lots of Rain, mud, puddles - you get the picture. Also lots of cars. WOW! That SPF was #518 a 514 BB. Nice car. The red/white replica that sold went for about 32K but don't know which mfr. Not an everyday one. An average small block cobra. A Few Shelbys 4000 and 7000 series. 2 Series 1.
Several Cobra booths. SPF/Rousch/Anthem, Shelby, California (FFR & BDR), also a CAV GT-40 Booth (x-employee who took the molds when CAV closed).
Jeff - you should think of this next year!!!
All said a great show. I went Wed because entry was $20. Saturday the entry is $50!!!
More bidders that I can remember but there were some deals.
For the most part out of my wallet's league.

Bobster

It might have cost 250 to build but I doubt it will see 100k. Body style is a minus, as is the build quality. :JEKYLHYDE Crazy car. Who knows...its B-J. Some nut might give 125k for it but relative to the givens in the collector world it will be a loss leader at that price.

Re: Went to Barrett Jackson Wednesday
 

The Lamar Walden COPO is nice but the fit/finish is much to be desired. In the end, its a big block car with no pizzazz. It is a nice car but simply doesn't have that 'pop' for mega buck car. My prediction...no more than 170. all the best.

Wahoo,

Agreed on the lack of flash for the White COPO, but the provenance has to be worth something? 1 of 2 factory NHRA S/S cars. COPO 427 (but not ZL-1). and only 480 miles. Not just any old big block car... I certainly expect it to eclipse 200K. I guess we shall see.

Do the people that buy these high dollar restos (north of $100K) actually DRIVE them? Or are they collectors and display them like someone would a '52 Mickey Mantle rookie card? I would think that if you have the jack to pay for that level of quality, you darn well better have a temperature and humidity controlled garage to store it in. Just curious....these people breath the rare air that most of us will never see.

A scene I'd love to see. Some guy pays $200K for a 1 of X fully restored Hemi 'Cuda convertible. Pays Jackson in cash (hands over big suit case). Then hops in and leaves two black stripes 300 feet long as he exits the parking lot and disappears over the horizon. :D

-Dean

RB,

I can guarantee that Lamar never drives the White COPO car with 480 miles on it. 480 miles is just too low for a 36 year old car if it is ever driven, except onto and off of the trailer.

Many others are in this category. The Troy Trepanier built cars I saw could never be driven and still be in the shape they are in either...

How about this: Could you imagine the guilt involved if you drove and totaled a one or two of a kind piece of irreplaceable history?

This is why I think a replica Cobra is much cooler for actually driving than an original.

Hey Red

If you can find a Hemi 'Cuda Convertible for 200K you better grab it... One went for $2 million here not that long ago... There is a 71 Hemi Cuda hardtop, ugly beige with a vinyl top that shows up at the Pavillions regularly and I am told it is right at $325K. As you may recall 71 was the first year for low compression engines... it boggles me - they were not that quick when they were new... certainly not in the league with a Cobra... the prices are relative bargains for Cobras...

I should have kept my Renault Dauphine...

Steve

:LOL: Yeah, I should have kept my numbers-matching 70 1/2 Z-28 Camaro, too. That's okay...life is better with the Cobra anyway. :D

I went today. What a zoo. I got picture of Phil Hill, Shelby, Dan Gurney, Jo Ellen (wife) and I. Can't get picture to come up on new thread? Tried twice and it said can't send same picture but I have no idea where picture went. Message comes up saying it is in Shelby, Hill, and Gurney. I am confused....Oh well

My pics from the bidders area and fantasy area. http://supercarfreak.net/gallery/album1085?page=1

Owner's Bid
 

If/when , I receive a reply from B-J to the following e-mail inquiry sent to their Information address, I will post the response:

Please clarify, at a B-J NO RESERVE auction, is the owner allowed to be one of the bidders ?

not sure if it was accurate, as some of the commentary is not always correct..but the announcers on speedvision answered that question which had been emailed to them. they said: " yes, the owner can bid on his own car , but if he is the winning bidder he owes the auction house 16% of the hammer price : 8% as a buyer and 8% as a seller ".

It would be interesting to have that confirmed by them re your eamil request. bill.

Fitz..

The forum software prevents you from ATTACHING the same picture to posts on different threads. It keeps track of the pics you have used for attachments; if you try to put up the same picture, it reminds you that it already in use.

This is only for attachments; if you want to use the same pic on different threads, upload the pic to your Gallery and link to the pic in each post.

There were a good number of cars "bought back" that is the owners bid against other bidders to not have to sell.

Received the following reply from BJ regarding owners bidding on their own cars at a no reserve auction:


Hello and thank you for your interest in Barrett-Jackson.

In our auctions, we do not bar owners from bidding on their own cars, but are very cautious of owners raising the prices of their vehicles.

_Please let us know if you have any additional questions.

_Barrett-Jackson