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What do you think of classic auto auctions?


MarkV

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NOT MUCH!!

Maybe it's because I was brought up believing that an ostentatious show of wealth was the epitome of bad taste and poor upbringing.

My Grandma often said money didn't necessarily account for taste. She also commented about white trash with money long before Roseanne Barr made the phrase popular. She was a floor manager for a regional department store chain, and she often used the phrase when referring to the owners privately- specifically the owners' wives and children. That crowd wanted everybody to know how much money they had.

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Not sure were the question is coming from, or what you're desired reply is. If there were no auctions, large, small on TV or not unloading a lot of cars would take longer. Bottom line, once you deside to part with a vehicle the romance is over and getting the most of the POS is the top goal. Only bought one car at auction in my life back in the 1970's, took it apart and made a killing selling one part at a time.

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You can go here for a similar, recent discussion of this content http://forums.aaca.org/ubbthreads.php?ub...true#Post477154

Obviously NADA.com is leaning heavily on auctions or whatever they smoke. I had occassion to look up 57 Bel Air 2dr. HT there and at http://www.vmrintl.com/ and NADA. The difference is ridiculous.

The cars that are shown on TV auctions are unrealistic relative to the vast number of vehicles out there. After they turn off the cameras and roll out the normal #2-#4 cars would I even bother to be interested.

The rest, like almost everything else on TV is for ratings.

We all know there is a finite number of of absolutely perfect #1 or 100 pointer 58 Mercurys. The vast majority are less than perfect yet via the warped TV eye all we see are those #1 cars. The fact that they get the high $ #s when sold invades the regular market since everybody begins pricing their rollin wrecks at concours quality too.

TV auctions are bogus!

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With TiVo, it's a lot of fun to watch it on TV.

However, if you're looking for a muscle car, Barrett-Jackson is the wrong place to go--you'll definitely overpay for an average car and look like a bozo doing it.

However, that '37 Lincoln K V12 cabriolet was a great example of the right car selling in the wrong place--I think the $135,000 final price on it was about half what it is worth. And $375K for a Ruxton roadster is a bargain, too (if a $375,000 car can be a bargain). Even a freshly-restored Dusenberg J dual-cowl phaeton could be considered a good buy at $1 million.

Want a heavy Classic? Barrett-Jackson might be the place to buy it...

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Well the 37 Victoria convert shows a $120,000 value from NADA which is higher than all other evaluators so let's assume the additional 20K premium was justified.

The Ruxton is one of those intangables really in the Duesenberg neighborhood to when one is available at any price its a bargain.

The one big auction house - can't think of the name right now- was closing up- Christies, was it? They used to handle the pricey autos quite a bit.

So if you're selling off your exotic cars don't go with B&J if you want the best price.

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I have to admit that watching Barrett-Jackson is entertaining sometimes, and I can admire the planning and business-like aspect of the operation. It's like the stock market; the value of what you're selling is debatable, but you get to charge both the sellers and the buyers a fee.

Sometimes I see negatives to these auctions, though. I wish that there was a "Barrett-Jackson 1940-And-Earlier Auction" format, instead of the type they just showed { more of a "Chevy-Shelby-Cuda Performance Car Auction" }. At this year's event, there were a couple of things that were odd. I heard one of the commentators say the Ruxton had a Ford straight-eight motor(?). Also, they kept referring to the Model J Duesenberg as a 1928, when the model run is generally considered to be '29 to '37.

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I smiled in agreement with Glenn's take on the bad taste, but obviously he and I are WAY off the map thinking of genteel ways at such an event. Here in the midwest no one has ever heard of Hershey, but everyone knows of Barrett & Jackson's vulgar, gold-chain-wearing, cigar-chomping, trophy-wife-and-big-money extravaganza of greed.

IMO Barrett & Jackson has done much harm to the hobby. To say the positive first, they have exposed some old car history and interest to lots of people, especially children, who may not have been otherwise. My own mother and young nephew asked me over the weekend about the grilles used on 1969 GTOs, an odd topic that never would have surfaced if not for their watching Barrett Jackson. No doubt thousands of mainstream children and adults now recognize Shelby Mustangs and Hemi Cudas who would never have before. I have studied automotive history for 30 years with little interest from anyone, but the Speed Channel has opened their eyes. Granted, to attract interest the vehicle must be flashy, fast and expensive, but at least it is being discovered by a new generation and that is better than we conventional hobbyists are doing ourselves.

BUT they also have discovered factual mistakes by the breathless commentators hyping the show, and since a guy on TV said it it must be correct. They also have met "personalities" like Boyd Coddington and their attitudes toward cars, and most of all they see the money, all the money. Some co-workers asked me Friday about my old cars. Not surprisingly they had no interest in automotive history, correct restoration or preservation, or anything except the question on their lips of "how much is it worth?"

Now my background in the old car world tells me that money has always been a major issue, but at least it was not the only thing. I worked in the business in the late 1980's on big Classics, and was discouraged then by what I saw as owner's snooty materialism, but at least they appreciated the cars' histories beyond "my car is the only documented (by whom?)numbers-matching lime-green Chevelle SS with a blue bench seat so it must be worth $100,000". Oh well, what can you do.

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Agreed. I criticized the errors in facts, but I give them credit that they do try to have interesting trivia and details about the cars as they show them, and I like that. I just wish they would research and present better facts and not so much with the breathless hype.

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Poci1957 anyone who collects anything usually gets the question from curious onlookers of "how much is it worth," whether its Barbies or beer cans. It's the only thing most people can relate to if they have no idea of rarity or uniqueness. I think like you and when I see some guy who collects like Batman toys or beer steins I never think of the evaluation, just that the guy's having fun!

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<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Twitch</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Poci1957 anyone who collects anything usually gets the question from curious onlookers of "how much is it worth," </div></div>

I here this probably 50 times a year from kids to adults and it is a truly annoying question. I try and remain civil in the answer since it is none of their business.

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I no longer watch the Barrett-Jackson auctions. All you see is a bunch of people with more money than brains. In the end they overpay and will never get their money back if they sell.

I've always felt that people who are REAL antique car people will deal faily when either buying or selling a vintage car.

My opinion.

Rog

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<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> here this probably 50 times a year from kids to adults and it is a truly annoying question. I try and remain civil in the answer since it is none of their business.</div></div>We've had that on several ocassions as well as people wanting to buy our cars. The people wanting to puchase our vehicles was getting equally annoying.

What we found that has worked for us is to tell them to "make an offer." Usually that blows these people totally out of the water, and then they shut up and walk away. If someone is really that persistent, then we tell them what the highest price that we've turned down.

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The televised auctions introduce people to our hobby that never would have been interested or exposed to it otherwise.

However, the big auctions cater to flashy loudmouths with too much money and bad taste. Most of the cars that are sold sell for ridiculous amounts because two loudmouths get into a pissing match. If they were actually serious car people, they would take the time to search out the right car for way less money. But they just want it now. I am tired of being nearly run over by golf carts at the auctions, and being treated like I know nothing, and my opinion doesn't matter because I can't write blank checks on a whim. Hopefully the trend will end soon so that the auctions can go back to people seriously interested in cars and parts. Until then I'll hang out in the car corall or swap meet section and avoid the auction building.

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<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">However, the big auctions cater to flashy loudmouths with too much money and bad taste. Most of the cars that are sold sell for ridiculous amounts because two loudmouths get into a pissing match. If they were actually serious car people, they would take the time to search out the right car for way less money.</div></div>I don't know about that. I think there comes a time to where you have people that become so obesessed with a vehicle that they'll do whatever it takes to get it, and have the money to make sure that they get it.

I saw a real nice looking '39? Hudson pickup go for $32,000. If the truck was actually as nice as it looked on TV, you couldn't pay someone to restore that vehicle for that kind of money.

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I am talking about the cars that go for megabucks. Hudsons, Pierce Arrows, Nashes, etc. are generally ignored at these auctions. And there are cases where if you want a GM Futureliner or Olds F-88 concept, you either pay the price or you don't get it. But with '57 Chevys, muscle cars, etc. It just seems to be a match of "I want it now and I have more money and a bigger mouth." If they really wanted that specific car so badly, they would have done enough research to see how rare or common it was, and wouldn't be paying triple the value. And when they lose, they are immediately bidding on something totally different that has now caught their eye, and they've forgotten about the first one.

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These auctions are just another manifestation of programers grabbing at "something" to fill time slots that just maybe will receive some viewership to justify sponsor's money. It's the same with the big networks. Throw enough on the wall and some will stick. And anything that is remotely "reality" must be good, right?

nono2.gif

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