The big kahuna, the January Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction in Scottsdale, Arizona. Probably the biggest auction of the year in terms of cars and notoriety. Ok, so why is there a picture of a merry-go-round in their ad for last week's auction. See, the thing with B-J, is that they try to stand out and not just with the cars that they offer for sale. Every so often they'll bring in a plane or a boat and last week it was this vintage carnival ride. Beautiful? Absolutely. Saleable? No so much. Bidding stopped at $450k. Keep in mind that it takes three days to set up this ride and not everyone has a handyman in the family who could do it.
So now to some other auction items........
The main attraction was this pair of very famous Hot Wheels funny car haulers. Pictured in dozens of car mags in the early '70's, these trucks complete with their cargo of the famous "Snake" and "Mongoose" funny cars were offered as one item. One bid takes all. By the way, if you happen to have these vintage Hot Wheels toy cars today, they alone are worth hundreds of dollars. Bidding stopped at $1 million, because the reserve wasn't met. Happily for the seller (Don Prudhomme - the Snake) a deal was made later, which saw this package go to multiple NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick. Fitting, since he already has a vast collection of cars and himself drag raced years ago.
Here is the most expense Corvette ever - a 1967 L88, which went for $3.85 million. And you thought that old Corvettes were just old cars. Think again friendo, you should have kept yours. But let's be realistic here, this one had the equipment and the provenance to bring the big bucks. $50k gets you a nice red '67, that isn't quite so special.
Always a strong contender for big money are the original Mercedes 300 SL gullwings (if you have to ask, you shouldn't be reading this blog).......
Want something extra special, that you may not even be able to drive? Ok, B-J had just that special car for you.........
........an F1 Ferrari from the 1998 season. Provenance? Michael Schumacher drove this car in tests several times. Special enough to bring the sale price to $1.7m. Don't mean to be macabre, but if this great driver dies from his recent head injury, this price will seem quite inexpensive. I'm just saying.
For a car guy, this auction is fun to watch, although the parade of old muscle Mustangs, Camaros and Mopars can get a bit boring, so these other bits of eye candy make for great watching. Fun to see how millionaires spend their weekends and their $. And to see how they don't buy merry-go-rounds!
Until next time......
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