Rick Potter
06-24-2012, 9:04 PM
Went to the Barrett Jackson car auction Saturday, with my wife and my brother. Forgot my camera, so none of this happened.
While they were parking a 2007 Bentley Continental GT Coupe that sold for $97K, I noticed that as it drove by slowly, the 'B' in the center of each wheel was wiggling, but remained upright. When the car stopped,all four 'B's were perfectly upright. Obviously weighted and on bearings. I touched one to see if it moved, but the mechanism was all in a clear plastic housing.
While looking at the Bentley, I met a man named Hennessey, a very nice man who considered buying it, but didn't. Turns out he is THE Mr. Hennessey from Hennessey motor sports. This is a first class shop that modifies your Ford GT, or Corvette if it isn't quick enough. His son holds, I believe, the record in the standing mile at over 200MPH. I was floating in rarified air for a while.
Chrysler is bringing out an all new Viper. It's beautiful, and they auctioned off the first one to be sold. Talk about a collector item ...first new style Viper, VIN# 1. It doesn't get any more collectible than that. All proceeds to cancer research. I thought it went cheap.......$300,000. My reasoning for thinking this was because my brother had just told me the first 1984 Corvette was auctioned for $1,000,000....in 1984.
A 1999 Ferrari F-355 Convertible (rare), which sold new for over $100K, and had low miles on it sold for $41K right after the auctioneer mentioned it had $67,000 in receipts for DEALER MAINTENANCE (not repairs). Apparantly, on that model the engine has to come out for some normal maintenance. I think that might have influenced some of the buyers. Reminds me of a guy I worked with in 1979-80. He had a Porsche with six carburetors on it, and it got a $1500 tune up every six months.
Sitting between a couple high dollar cars, waiting to be auctioned was a '66 Rambler station wagon, rat rodded, and artfully painted to look very rusty... oh, yeah, it had air bags too, and sat on the ground. Didn't see what it went for.
I fell in love with a beautiful 1964 Ford Falcon convertible, all upgraded and restored. Someone loved it more, as it went for $40K.
Other notable sales:
1961 Chrysler 300G convertible..........$105K
1958 Buick Limited convertible...........$110K
1970 Mustang Boss 302................... $100K
1948 Ford Custom Woody Wagon .... $100K
1970 Chevelle LS6 coupe ................ $100K
1969 Mustang Boss 429 fastback...... $230K
1968 Shelby Mustang GT500 fastback $125K
1954 Buick Skylark convertible.......... $110K
2005 Mercedes McLaren SLR............ $185K
1970 Chevelle SS LS6 convertible..... $160K....not sold..didn't meet reserve.
1970 Oldsmobile 442 convertible........ $140K
1971 Chevelle SS LS5 convertible...... $100K
By the way, it's a good thing I didn't have a bidder number. My wife went nuts over the Automobilia, like gas pumps, signs, neon signs, 20' highway billboards. She wanted them all.
Well, as requested, there is my man on the street report. Pics of these cars are all on line, just google Barrett Jackson Orange County auction.
Rick Potter
EDIT: Forgot. I actually met a guy who knew a guy who met Carrol Shelby.
While they were parking a 2007 Bentley Continental GT Coupe that sold for $97K, I noticed that as it drove by slowly, the 'B' in the center of each wheel was wiggling, but remained upright. When the car stopped,all four 'B's were perfectly upright. Obviously weighted and on bearings. I touched one to see if it moved, but the mechanism was all in a clear plastic housing.
While looking at the Bentley, I met a man named Hennessey, a very nice man who considered buying it, but didn't. Turns out he is THE Mr. Hennessey from Hennessey motor sports. This is a first class shop that modifies your Ford GT, or Corvette if it isn't quick enough. His son holds, I believe, the record in the standing mile at over 200MPH. I was floating in rarified air for a while.
Chrysler is bringing out an all new Viper. It's beautiful, and they auctioned off the first one to be sold. Talk about a collector item ...first new style Viper, VIN# 1. It doesn't get any more collectible than that. All proceeds to cancer research. I thought it went cheap.......$300,000. My reasoning for thinking this was because my brother had just told me the first 1984 Corvette was auctioned for $1,000,000....in 1984.
A 1999 Ferrari F-355 Convertible (rare), which sold new for over $100K, and had low miles on it sold for $41K right after the auctioneer mentioned it had $67,000 in receipts for DEALER MAINTENANCE (not repairs). Apparantly, on that model the engine has to come out for some normal maintenance. I think that might have influenced some of the buyers. Reminds me of a guy I worked with in 1979-80. He had a Porsche with six carburetors on it, and it got a $1500 tune up every six months.
Sitting between a couple high dollar cars, waiting to be auctioned was a '66 Rambler station wagon, rat rodded, and artfully painted to look very rusty... oh, yeah, it had air bags too, and sat on the ground. Didn't see what it went for.
I fell in love with a beautiful 1964 Ford Falcon convertible, all upgraded and restored. Someone loved it more, as it went for $40K.
Other notable sales:
1961 Chrysler 300G convertible..........$105K
1958 Buick Limited convertible...........$110K
1970 Mustang Boss 302................... $100K
1948 Ford Custom Woody Wagon .... $100K
1970 Chevelle LS6 coupe ................ $100K
1969 Mustang Boss 429 fastback...... $230K
1968 Shelby Mustang GT500 fastback $125K
1954 Buick Skylark convertible.......... $110K
2005 Mercedes McLaren SLR............ $185K
1970 Chevelle SS LS6 convertible..... $160K....not sold..didn't meet reserve.
1970 Oldsmobile 442 convertible........ $140K
1971 Chevelle SS LS5 convertible...... $100K
By the way, it's a good thing I didn't have a bidder number. My wife went nuts over the Automobilia, like gas pumps, signs, neon signs, 20' highway billboards. She wanted them all.
Well, as requested, there is my man on the street report. Pics of these cars are all on line, just google Barrett Jackson Orange County auction.
Rick Potter
EDIT: Forgot. I actually met a guy who knew a guy who met Carrol Shelby.