Why I hate the Barrett-Jackson auction...

That 57 went for $105,840.00. You can find out any results by going to the Barrett Jackson home page and click live auction results but here's the page anyway.

http://www.barrett-jackson.com/auctionresults/common/bj06results.asp

 

If only we could go back to the days when our cars were worth next to nothing. Back then we could spend every dime we could get our hands on and build a car that we had no hope of getting our money back out of.
Or, if your a pro builder you could go back to trying to sell a customer a 20 k build on a car that will only be worth 10 K when it's done.
You guys really don't get it.

 

Hot Rod Ron stumbled upon an ultra expensive car auction at the Biltmore last week, during a company function set up there. PM him for details, it was a pretty interesting experience as told from his perspective. That is, if you like Euro-race cars and Luxo-liners, which my group of friends definitely do.

 

I kinda understand when the Futurliner or the Bonneville concept goes for millions. I don't understand how a Pontiac Sunfire went for $70K. Maybe tuner cars are a good investment. Yuck. I think it's funny to see the muscle cars going for millions and I'm pretty sure they'll be worth a lot less in ten years. The Lamborghini and Ferrari market was real high a few years back and subsequently tanked. The muscle will do the same. But what really really kills me is that Corvette number 3 only went for a little over a million. And the Pontiac Banshee went for $210K. Those were good buys I gotta say. Corvette Number Three for Christ's sake! We're talking big pieces of history not just cool muscle cars that happened to have some silly option that nobody else wanted.

 

According to Hot Rod magazine a couple months back, the guy who sold the hemi cuda ragtop for 2 million has another on; a white one with black interior. He was offered 5 million for that one... and TURNED IT DOWN.

And what did he do after turning down that offer? Why, he took a few of the magazine editors for a top-down cruise through L.A. traffic with it, that's what he did.

Sounds like an OK guy in my book.

 

Precisely.

A few years ago when the rare muscle car market started taking off over $100k, it was clear that kind of money would start attracting the "investment" types. Now there's a ready market of goombahs who get a $ sign hard-on every time they hear the term "Hemi," convinced that there is no upper limit on the ludicrous money somebody will pay for a mid-sixties stock Mopar.

In the stock market, that's called "The Greater Fool Hypothesis" -- the theory that it's okay to pay a gazillionty bucks for shares of pets.com, because there's another idiot waiting around the corner who will pay a gazillionty point 5 tomorrow. Works out pretty good, unless you're the last idiot in line (See, e.g., Beanie Babies).

My guess is that we're near the end of the idiot line for muscle cars; the level of irrationality is almost astonishing when GTXs are fetching Duesenberg prices. The same thing happened to the Ferrari market in the mid-90s, and ten years later the final suckers in that gold rush still aren't anywhere near
recovering their "investment."

 

Been doin' the car thing for 30 years now and have the following thoughts:

1) to the folks that think the 'big dogs' are educ-ma-kated when it comes to investment decisions:

The car market has its ups and downs. the last caddy 'verts made it up to $50K+ shortly after the last one rolled off the line; they're a sub $10K car 30 years later.

Ferraris went ape-shit shortly after Enzo died; they've settled back to roughly 60% of their peak value.

These same edu-ma-kated folks bought IPO stocks during the internet bubble - ran the NASDAQ up to 4,000 in the process. Five years later, it's slightly more than half the peak value. They fall victim to mob mentality - if enough folks are doing it, well then it MUST be okay, right?

I've had every car geek I know ask me if I'm watchin' BJ. I'm not. BJ is entertainment value - the smart investors realize what they're doing is sucking the average joe into a vortex where bondoed-up, worn out '69 Chevelles are 'justifiable' $50K rides. Run the price up - sell yer stuff - make a profit. That's what BJ is doin' to the hobby right now. Don't get caught up in it; guaran-frickin-tee you there will be a downturn and folks WILL get stung - it's just a matter of when.

The 'proper' way to approach old cars is to index them off the price of a new car. in 1973, Pop bought a '29 Model A for $1500 - older resto showing wear. A 'new' car was about $3000. The same Model A is worth about $10K now - average new car is a skosh over $20K. The A's value tracked very closely over the past 33 years.

With the exception of stuff that is designated 'classic', anything that tracks OVER a comparable new-car price is investment-grade risky, meaning that it could crash at damned near any moment to a more sedate (read indexed) value.

I've made a good chunk of money over the years buyin' and sellin' cars, and I've never fallen victim to auction madness. Walk the car, set a value - if the owner wants something close - you negotiate. It's as simple as that.

 

Have to agree with most of what's being said here.

If you watch the auction, you have to do it with entertainment value in mind only. There is NO WAY this is an accurate barometer for vehicle prices!

The one thing that got to me above everything else was when the Pontiac Bonneville concept peaked at 2.8 million. They were about to drop the hammer and Craig got on the mic and asked if the high bidder at the time would like to up his own bid to three million just so that he could say he tied the record!!!!!

Of course the guy said no. That would be another 7% being paid just to say you could.

Then, of course, the 'Liner went for 4.1 million. Bet the guy was happy with his decision.

Just couldn't beleive Jackson had the brass ones to ask that.