It’s been quite a while since I posted any blog news to this site, and many of you who know me are aware why. I have been working on a price guide for post-war car for a number of years, and we finally have it printed and for sale. We also have set up an entirly new website — Carsthatmatter.com. I hope you take a minute and go take a look. Issue one of CarsThatMatter is for sale through the website ($20.00 plus $2.25 S&H, but a one year, three issue subscription is just $40.00.)
I was asked to write an article for the Westport Concours about my experience starting a new price guide “from scratch” I am including that article in this blog. Enjoy!
Four years ago, I began the process of creating what has become CARS THAT MATTER, a different kind of price guide that would cover post war collectible cars, the cars that I grew up with and the ones that are the current ”objects of desire” of so many of us.
Since 1990 I have owned and operated USAppraisal, a professional automobile appraisal company located in Great Falls, VA. When evaluating and valuing automobiles, price guides have been both an enormous help as well as a source of endless frustration. Many guides seemed to have been compiled by committee while others list vehicles that were never produced, ignoring some of those that were. Other guides, while well intentioned, have not been keeping up with changes in the marketplace, choosing to publish again and again with the same outdated information.
Any project born of frustration becomes a passion for those whose goal is to make improvements. Such was the case for CARS THAT MATTER. If the goal was simple, getting there was anything but.
For the first two years of the project, I made phone calls and inquiries about purchasing an already established price guide. Despite multiple attempts and some negotiating, it appeared that no purchase could be made. I was led to the inevitable decision of building a database, using manufacturers’ data as well as a myriad of hobbyist publications.
With the hiring of an editor our team grew. The task of disassembling and reassembling the base data was necessary before even a single price could be entered. We quickly learned that a one-word change on the part of a manufacturer could result in as many as two hours of additional research. Body styles would morph from coupes to two door sedans and back to coupes with the manufacturer’s whim, and occasionally without any changes at all to the body. In some cases, roadsters became spyders that became convertibles which begat dropheads, all because of an advertising executive’s need for copy to fit. In other cases, roadsters and dropheads were completely separate lines in the same model range. We became automotive detectives, chasing leads that were forty or fifty years old.
With the database complete, the next phase was the most sensitive, pricing. For this we assembled a team of experts across the country, and in some cases, across the world. Our goal was to find accurate and complete valuations from all sources — collectors and dealers, appraisers, financial institutions, auction houses and reported sales. Data that was circumspect was noted but not used; “bullet-proof” data was dissected to see just how accurate it was.
Market anomalies are the bane of all appraisers’ and valuers’ professional lives. Explaining to a client why a vehicle sold for an exceptionally high or low price, how it could be the result of a hundred different factors, is always a challenging process. The phenomenon of the one-time sale has happened throughout history and with instant communications is now magnified many times. When a Triumph TR-3 sells for close to six figures, the information is disseminated around the world within a matter of hours or days. Understanding that the sale was a one-time event, and that the circumstances are unlikely to repeat themselves, takes a little more explanation.
Competing interests make valuation difficult for those who choose to only look at one side of the market. For every buy there is a sale, for every offering price there is a final transaction price. Dealers occasionally perceive it to be in their best interest to report all sales as full retail, where private owners tend to downplay their full costs of purchase. Working from both sides, the sales information can seem convoluted.
The auction process would seem to be the most open and transparent way to view a sale. The buyer and seller are both present; the auctioneer’s only interest is in selling the car. In most cases, the sale is transparent and what you are witnessing is the actual transaction. In the rare case, however, the potential for market manipulation at auctions remains high.
The goal of CARS THAT MATTER is to provide accurate pricing information without bias or prejudice toward one vehicle and away from another. As we are not in the business of buying or selling, we remain wary witnesses to the market.
As I said before, I had no idea of the work involved in building a team to assemble what was needed. Thousands of hours of research, writing, exploring and interviewing have gone into the creation of CARS THAT MATTER. I had no idea the process of creating a price guide would be this complicated when the project was started. But our results speak for themselves…we have a price guide unlike any others on the market, well researched, easy to use and understand
I think you’ll find CARS THAT MATTER to be the most convenient, comprehensive and accurate guide available. Our process is one of constant improvement as well as constant updating. In future issues, we will be adding more cars, more models, and more information. We hope you will join us for the ride!

What makes a car special? Is it age, heritage, limited production or build quality? Perhaps it is design, horsepower, rarity, or desirability when new. Maybe it’s all of the above and more.
Antique cars, classic cars, special interest cars. Exotic cars, one-offs, production cars. In the average year, we see all of the above in our appraisal business. Each car is different, as are many owners’ needs. An all stock 1965 Ford Mustang convertible shares little in common with a ’32 Ford based street rod with a Chevy small block motor. When both are presented for an appraisal, the same level of care is used in preparing an appraisal document.
All of our client’s cars are important to us. Not everyone is fortunate enough to own a 1967 Corvette convertible or a Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona. A four door 1965 Buick is still a cool car and deserving of our attention and admiration.
If your idea of a special car is a Volkswagen Beetle, or if it is a Type 57 Bugatti, we want to hear from you to help address your appraisal needs.
Dave Kinney

Automobile and truck appraisal is our business at USAppraisal. We serve customers for a variety of reasons, including insurance appraisals, loan verification, divorce and property settlements, diminished value appraisals (also known as loss of value appraisals).
February is here. Winter is our slow season, as many of our clients still have their collector cars in winter storage. Appraising collector cars is not all of what our clients call us for, however, as we find ourselves increasingly busy with diminished value work on newer cars. We also get calls to schedule work with smaller collections this time of year, clients with perhaps 4 or 5 vehicles who wish to have vehicles valued for a variety of reasons including trusts, donation, estate, insurance or just to see where to place their collection on the balance sheet.
After the first few warm days of spring, the phone starts ringing for the owners who want their car appraised as they get ready for car shows, pleasure use, cruise nights, or just clearing out the cobwebs (for both the cars and their owners)!
I welcome your phone calls at any time to discuss your appraisal needs or to schedule an appointment for your car, be it a Dodge, a Delage or a Duesenberg.
Dave Kinney

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.

Loading CD’s into iTunes, a potentially mindless job yet a fun way to reflect what different songs have meaning to you at mileposts in your life. I now own not one but two iPods, perhaps a reflection on what music means to this tone deaf and untrained ear. Lots of songs that marked a milestone in my life, High School, College, bachelor years, married life. Cars, like music, mark a passage. I guess that accounts for some of the popularity of cars that were a part of our lives at certain points, the one we had (or the one we wanted) when we were on our first date, learned to drive, drove off to college, bought with money from our first job.
This past weekend took me to Raleigh, North Carolina for the Worldwide Group auction. What a sale – prices like I have never seen on a number of cars, and some new ideas about how an auction should be run (you have to wait to read the details in Sports Car Market magazine, I assume the February or March 2006 issue). Dinner at the Angus Barn restaurant with my friends Charlie and Rob. I had the best chateaubriand ever – as tender as any beef ever, better than the Kobe that I had in Las Vegas last summer. Five stars from this beefeater – worth the trip out of the way, even if it means, oh say100 miles. A less than productive day in the office, my new notebook computer has developed a virus, a very disconcerting (as well as expensive) development. I do not understand what would cause a person to write a virus – I guess it’s the same gene that would make someone take a key to the side of a car just to create havoc. As a small office, I am my own “it guy” a scary thought if there ever was one. I am now officially glad I bought the extended warranty with the Vaio, the first time I have ever done so. Yesterday, a trip to Richmond Va. for a diminished value appraisal, a Jeep that took a hit on both ends in one accident. I have put my new truck into service, a 2006 Ford F-150. loaded to the gills with equipment, my first vehicle with satellite radio. So far, I’m in heaven. My drug of choice is and has always been new car smell, I admit, I’ll follow it anywhere. It’s nice when I get to take it with me…

Welcome to what I do. It’s Sunday morning, December 4th, 2005 and I am in a hotel room in London. The weather is typical December London, a hint of sunshine trying to break through, but the clouds are winning the battle. Chilly, but not cold, Dry, but not for long, according to the news reader on the BBC.
I’m heading just a few steps away to Olympia, a large venue where the Bonham’s auction is having a preview of tomorrows event. The catalog is a thick tome of perhaps 500 pieces of automobilia combined with perhaps 75 cars for sale. The potential “stars’ of the show are a beautiful Mercedes 540 and a one-off Lamborghini known as the Lamborghini Monza. It’s styling is a bit controversial, I like it but some don’t. It reminds me of a Bizzarini, long hood, quite low, with a bit of a cam tail look to the rear end.
My assignment is not the Bonham’s auction (SCM other senior auction analyst and friend Richard Hudson Evans will be covering this) but rather the Christie’s auction across town at the Jack Barclays showroom at Nine Elms, near Vauxhall and next door to New Covent Gardens, the flower market for London. The Christies sale is smaller, perhaps 20 cars, some of them Vintage and what the Brits call Veterans. I’ve already been out with some friends enjoying some room temperature Guinness, something I must say I have a bit of a taste for. Guinness tastes great in the UK, let’s leave the stuff they sell in the US alone, however. It just does not do well after an Atlantic voyage, I guess. Time to head out and make the rounds, this time by Tube throughout the day. It looks to be a great day of friends old and new.