$107,000 '65 Riviera GS just sold at Barrett Jackson

[60FlatTop]

A few times I have asked about forum member experiences buying and selling cars at collector car auctions. The response has been minimal, maybe one or two volunteered to share. And one was a dealer.

 

for as many cars as "appear" to go through auctions I doubt you will see many at car shows and cruise ins. Maybe this coming season I will put a business card signed tag under my wiper "This car was not purchased through collector auction." Maybe those who did can make a similar note so we can get a sense of the actual impact on the hobby. I don't have any.

 

Very few people I know have done auctions. Buyers "skimmed" a good deal and I don't know any who kept them long term. They were usually resold. Of the couple I know who sold cars, they were solicited in one way or another to list a really nice car with less dramatic value. They were coaxed to envision exceptional prices and ended up parting with their car at those low "filler" prices mentioned above. I felt bad about their mistake and got the idea that, even though it was free will, they had been misled. I think those instances left me with the negative feeling, that and a sense of pragmatism.

 

I have a spreadsheet with my old cars listed. It shows the high price I would sell them for if I had to and the extremely low price my Wife should ask if I die. I did not change any entry on the spreadsheet based on the auctioned Riviera. My hobby has not been affected.

Bernie

[Buffalowed Bill]

I don't want it to sound like I'm passing judgement on the auction process. I was just making a personal observation. I have never been to B-J, don't see my attendance ever happening, and certainly not ever going to be a buyer, but I have a couple of friends that have sold there, one of whom vary successfully, and the other, well he wasn't overjoyed with the outcome. Both of these guys were dealers, so on the grand scheme of things I doubt that a disappointing  sale, was anything other then, just  a part of doing business.

 

I own a 1963 and a 1965 Riviera, but I don't think that this $117k car is going to make much difference in its value. I certainly don't view it a benchmark. To me it's more of a marketplace anomaly. It's hard for me to envision an anomaly, by itself, setting a trend.  With maybe 15-20 thousand 1st gen Rivieras surviving, this is not a particularly rare car. There are plenty of nice cars available, I don't see any magical uptick in demand that's going overcome the supply. It's hard for me to envision that their prices are going to go meteoric. But what do I know, I never would have guessed what would happen to the 57 Chevrolet!  

[60FlatTop]

In the grand scheme of the universe, every step by mankind and incident in time is magical to the media. The anomaly will be reported.

Bernie