Incredible. The one word summary that just about covers it all. From the expanded tent, to the enlarged wallets of the bidders, it was a spectacle, a one ring circus under the biggest big top in the world.
You can find all the statistics in other places, (watch for my work, as well as many of my friends and colleagues work, in a future issue of Sports Car Market Magazine, www.sportscarmarket.com ) but suffice it to say, no one who went will forget the experience anytime soon.
Is this a good thing?
Has our car hobby grown too big? Is bigger better? These are all legitimate questions to ask about classic, antique and special interest cars.
Unlike some, I don’t agree with those who say Barrett Jackson or others are destroying the hobby by bringing commerce to a forefront. It is we, as buyers and sellers of cars that have brought this on.
I have seen many changes in the collector car world. I became aware of antique cars when I was just a kid, and in those days it was all about Fords, as the Hershey, Pennsylvania based Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA) meets would be armpit to armpit full of Model A’s and Model T’s.
The Carlisle events started because two men named Miller saw a need to address those “younger” collectors who wanted a place to show and swap cars, as sell as parts for “newer” cars – those built after 1946! The first Carlisle event was called “Post War 74”
I saw the shift to include European classics, and remember just a few years ago when pre war classics were the Big Dogs at every show and auction. Then came the time for the Ferraris, Maserati’s and Lamborghini’s.

Thursday and Friday, Barrett Jackson Scottsdale 2006. It seems that if your not in Scottsdale, your watching the sale on SPEED TV, at home in an armchair, without a doubt your mouth is wide open. A 1973 BMW 2002 glides across the block, selling for a cool $17,280 (including the 8% Barrett Jackson commission) a price that seems twice the normal retail figure. A few minutes later, a 1952 MG TD sells for $19,440, no surprise there. Later in the day, a Chevrolet Corvair sideload pickup sells for $31,320, Corvair fans around the country feel vindicated in there choice of classic cars (or trucks). A Willys Jeep with a Surry top brings an otherworldly $51,300, and, the ultimate Italian beach car, the Fiat Jolly, reaches a new high at $43,200.
Retail, twice retail, wholesale (but not often….) and then three and four times retail. Such are the days in Scottsdale.
It looks to be another record weekend as sale prices continue to be strong.
Dave Kinney

This week, I’m attending the classic car auctions in Arizona, including Barrett Jackson, RM and Kruse. This is the first in a series of blogs from Scottsdale.
Wednesday
Fellow car appraisers might not agree on everything, (Okay, they don’t agree on much…) but one thing that has become universal in automobile appraisal is what I’ll call “the Barrett Jackson effect”
The Barrett Jackson effect happens when anyone anywhere decides to sell an antique, classic, special interest or exotic car. Something in his mind snaps and the seller decides that his car is –
1. Just as nice as the one on TV, and
2. Should be worth as much to anyone locally as with the feeding frenzy of 5,000 pre-qualified bidders chasing after 1,500 cars.
Reality check – even if your car is a nice as the one you saw sell on SPEED last night, you likely don’t have the marketing skills nor the numbers of interested buyers that a powerhouse auction organization such as Barrett Jackson does.
Barrett Jackson is to be congratulated in doing the good job that they do. But don’t forget some of the basics. Barrett Jackson Scottsdale 2006 is an all no reserve auction. The final bidder with their hand in the air goes home with the car. It costs money, often big money, to take a car to a sale. Trailering, lost work time, entrance fees and commissions added to a few nights in a hotel, tickets home and a rental car all enter into the final equation.
Dave Kinney

Dave Kinney
Today marks trip number 1 of 2006 to Fort Lauderdale, FL. Formerly “Spring Break Town, USA” Fort Lauderdale is now all grown up. Not many of the landmarks familiar to teens and college age students of 1956, 66 or 76 remain, in there places are high rise condos and hotels.

I’m on assignment for Sports Car Market, covering the Kruse Fort Lauderdale auction. Featuring the “Muscle Car shootout’ midday on Saturday, lot’s of American iron is on display, a surfeit of Detroit and not much Coventry or Stuttgart. (Or Modena or Stoke-on-Trent, for that matter).

It’s time to get some work done. This time, another job for the New York Times, this one is about the Chevrolet Super Sport models. Today, you can purchase a full line of Chevy SS products, cars and trucks, in short, every offering but Corvettes. Hey, wait, that not so much different than 30 years ago, when the nameplates were Impala and Camaro and not Cobalt and Silverado.