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Not Too Shabby!

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XK4

Jedi Hopeful
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Having seen the car up close and personal I can say it was in immaculate condition.
Dark Green 1965 Austin Healey 3000 MARK III 2+2 went for $65000. today. Not too shabby, I say! Parked one car away was an equally nice Red 3000. I don't know what it will go for but I would think it may be about the same.
Also there were several MG TDs one TF, several MGAs a Lotus Elan 26R, a TR6, MGBGT and Lots of Jaguars from a flawless White 1953 XK120 Drophead thru scores of XKEs.

What am I talking about? I went to the Barret/Jackson Classic Car Auction today. Lots of neat cars, but most of them were American muscle cars (which, having grown up with them, I like too).
If you have access to Speed Channel Sat. take the time to watch (and dream).
 
Your right -- Good price.

From what I understand, the seller, Kurt Tanner, builds a few cars a year to sell at B.J. He knows what to do to them to get the most money & has built up a good reputation with the well financed folks. I would be hard put to get half the price by selling the same car in my local newspaper.

In watching the B.J. auctions I come to the conclusion that Americans are truly car crazy & always have been.
D
 
There was an ultra nice '67 Camero S/S, I think that was the year anyway, that went for $112,000.

Shows what happens at an auction when 2 people with gobs of money to throw at it want THAT car.
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It was kinda neet to see the totally origonal cars, and the cars restored to factory specs, going for big bucks.

The people selling very nice, but modified, cars, and the street rods at no reserve were pulling thier hair out though.
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Heh, it would be kinda neet of my aunts '70 Olds 442 convertable and my grandmothers Firbird Formula 400 were still in the family somewhere needing restoration. Better yet, the 56 T-Bird my mother had in college....it was that cool sea green with matching interior too....bought used in 1964 for like $1800 or something like that.
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These auctions are great fun to watch. You have to wonder what kind of cars that we drive today will bring big bucks in 20 years?
 
The results of the auction continue to show that if you pay someone to restore your car you better plan on keeping it and enjoy it. How can someone spend 120K and then sell for 40K? Guess its not my worry.
 
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by XK4:
Having seen the car up close and personal I can say it was in immaculate condition.
Dark Green 1965 Austin Healey 3000 MARK III 2+2 went for $65000. today.<hr></blockquote>

What a price! Incredible that it was higher than a beautifully restored '59 XK-150S FHC and a '57 T-Bird. Boy are those Jag guys getting put down in this year's auction.

That '56 Chevy convertible for $103K was, to me, much more surprising than that Camaro for $112K. At least the CAmaro was a Z-28; nothing about the '56 was particularly unusual. Makes me kick myself (again!) for selling the '56 Chevy Powerpack, overdrive, 2-door hardtop I had in high school.
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But then if we had all kept all the great cars we had 40 years ago, the auction prices wouldn't be that high!
 
WOW, today is a good day for vintage American street rods! $400,000 for a '38 Mercury Zephyr street rod with a period V12 dressed up with period accessories.
 
Yes, lads, there are big bucks floating around Arizona this weekend. Unfortunately, I already emptied my wallet buying and fixing up my 100M 18 months ago.
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To me, one of the greatest things about such auctions is the appearance of "emotional" buyers -- folks with lots of disposable income who don't care about the price. I call it the "gotta have it" syndrome.

I saw a guy pay $20,000 for a '70 MGB last summer without blinking an eye. The market value of this car was $10,000, maximum.

Maybe the LBC market is ratcheting up nowadays. Sounds good to me, because I'm getting dangerously near spending more on my GT6 restoration than it's worth. I'd love to see its value increase about 50% this year!

Uh-oh, I believe I've caught the "gotta have it" disease, for which there's no known cure.
 
I personally believe that these high-end auctions aren't a realistic gauge for prices, that they tend to inflate the prices of collector cars and even "collector" cars.

There aren't any big name classic car auctions in Calgary, but when I was back in Ontario I always went to the Toronto Classic Car Auction run by RM Restorations/Auctions twice a year (probably a medium-level auction). But I was amazed at what I saw even there. I think many of the sellers were dealers, and many of them tend to inflate prices, there is one particular dealer in Toronto (who shall remain un-named) who trys to sell their cars for way more than they're worth and this dealer has a prominent spot in the Special Parking area.

The other trend I saw was people trying to sell what were essentially up-scale used cars of non-classic age - 1990's Jaguars, Mercedes-Benz's, etc... Not to say these cars aren't nice, but the auctioneer would wax poetic about a "desireable" 1995 Mercedes-Benz S-Series sedan in "gorgeous" condition. I could easily find 50 similar examples aside from the auction, and probably for less money. And they were always bandying around the term "future collectible" quite liberally, it'll take years for a 1995 Mercedes-Benz to be that status.

Another thing I've noticed is that these auctions and the people around them are an industry unto themselves. I suspect many of the cars coming through these auctions haven't been on a public road for years, constantly passing through various dealers and "collectors".

Maybe I'm being too cynical, I did enjoy attending those auctions just to see neat cars and take some photographs, but in general I read between the lines on many of the cars.

However, there are some cars in the auctions being listed by real-life car owners. One year a guy ran a 1965 Jensen C-V8 (very non-pristine... not that there is anything wrong with that) through the Toronto Auction. The auctioneer almost didn't know what to do with it, he never sold it there. When the Jensen owner was talking to a friend of mine later he said he would never sell a car through that auction ever again, a few months later he sold that Jensen to a guy passing through his small town in the Muskoka region of Ontario.
 
I tend to agree with Sherlock on this. E-bay really pulled a coup with telling people they "win" the auction. That makes the purchasing process a competetion with the fellow buyers and that plays a big part in the auction atmosphere. IMO.
 
I only attended one car auction in my life. It was held in Branson Missouri last year. I walked away thinking, who would ever buy a car without driving it, or even in some cases even hearing the motor run? Then again, I felt a lot of the bidders knew each other and sort of started competing against each other. Thinking I suppose that if so..so is bidding on it it must be a good car regardless of the quality of the car. Branson has 2 auctions per year, one in the Spring, the other in the Fall. I was intriqued to hear the auctioneer comment on a pretty little 62' impala convertible, "buy now, enjoy this summer and return this Fall and get your money back." Oh, BTW the car sold for $12,000.
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Well, it does indeed seem that LBCs are making a run up. Of course it's good to be a little skeptical but the truth is Healeys have been moving up at auction for the past few years.

In an earlier post to this thread there was a comment that Jags were taking a bit of a drubbing this year. That's just not the case. Well sorted E-types and XKs did very, very well. Several E-Types in non-concourse cond. went for well over $70k. Top cars over $100k. Average drivers were soaring as well. I think it's safe to say that we're headed into a period of '60s classic car fever. I don't know how many of you read the latest (March) issue of Classic Motorsports Mag. In it, the Healey 3000 is listed as one of their top 6 collector's cars for 2004. It's listed as one of their "Last Chance To Buy" cars. I agree with them 100%.

It's anecdotal for me but telling none the less. Every time I take the Healey or the Jag out for a spin, I am bombarded by fellow boomers lusting. Remember, most of us are empty nesters now, anxious to spend newfound tme and wealth. Baby Boomers with more money than brains are out there buying up their life's dream for one last shot at eternal youth - price is secondary. At least that's what's happening here in No. California.

Randy

[ 01-28-2004: Message edited by: Randy Harris ]</p>
 
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr> Johnny said: I only attended one car auction in my life. It was held in Branson Missouri last year. I walked away thinking, who would ever buy a car without driving it, or even in some cases even hearing the motor run? Then again, I felt a lot of the bidders knew each other and sort of started competing against each other. Thinking I suppose that if so..so is bidding on it it must be a good car regardless of the quality of the car. Branson has 2 auctions per year, one in the Spring, the other in the Fall. I was intriqued to hear the auctioneer comment on a pretty little 62' impala convertible, "buy now, enjoy this summer and return this Fall and get your money back." Oh, BTW the car sold for $12,000. <hr></blockquote>

Up here in Calgary we actually have a couple reasonably-decent classic car auctions, but bouncing off your remarks... many of them view it as strictly business only (and I suppose for some it is their business period!). Anyway several comments I heard once at one Calgary auction went something like this... "Come on guys, bid now! This is a steal! Cars like this are selling for three times this amount at big-name American auctions. Buy it now and make your money later!"

When I heard this it kind of disturbed me a little, like I said earlier, I have a funny feeling that many of the cars going through these auctions have hardly ever seen the road. And likely won't with the new owner who's buying it. Many cars will just keep flipping owners every year for many years to come.
 
I think the announcers hit on it a couple of times but the reason Barrett Jackson has so many cars which go for the really big bucks is their reputation. They have always been real picky about what they will allow in their auction.
Cars which are not really what they seem to be are just flat rejected. I think it has only been in the last 2 years they would even allow replicars there and then(and now) they had to be clearly marked as such. If you say you have a super special Camaro, you better have the paperwork to prove it along with the Serial Numbers etc or you won't be in the BJ show.
As for buying without driving, IMO BJ is about the only place you can do that without much fear of being burned. Although they don't test drive the cars if it looks like it's in poor condition they won't permit it to be shown (or at least that's what I've been told by some who should know). Thats how they got their reputation.
 
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by XK4:
Having seen the car up close and personal I can say it was in immaculate condition.
Dark Green 1965 Austin Healey 3000 MARK III 2+2 went for $65000. today. Not too shabby, I say! Parked one car away was an equally nice Red 3000.
.<hr></blockquote>

Been a lot of emails sent concerning the Kurt Tanner red car. Was it damaged at auction? The story goes a Lamborghini equipped with a remote starter, was left in gear and started remotely. Plunged into the red Healey and damaged. Any truth in that?
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<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Johnny:
The story goes a Lamborghini equipped with a remote starter, was left in gear and started remotely. Plunged into the red Healey and damaged. Any truth in that?<hr></blockquote>

A couple of Healey owners from our local club were standing a few feet away when this happened, in fact they had just moved from in front of the subject car or it would have been a real tragedy.

They said some young guy was sitting in the Lambo revving the engine when his foot slipped off the clutch.

The Lamborghini hit the Healey head-on and went under it. Yes, the Healey was pulled from the auction. A short, expensive ride for someone.
 
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