Schumacher Benetton-Ford up for grabs

Ever wanted to buy a Formula 1 racecar? Whale here’s your chance as its been widely reported that Michael Schumacher’s 1994 title winning Benetton-Ford B194 is now being offered on eBay.

“The car is in condition as in the 1994 Formula 1 season with paddle shift and traction control," the advertising reads. The car is in racing condition, with the painting and sponsoring scheme as in 1994."
The engine was overhauled by Langford Performance Engineering/Wellingborough (UK) and was since then just running a few minutes for test and check reasons.”
(Source: Grandprix.com)

Good Luck!

Indy Cars sold in Arizona

Panther IndyRacing League chassis/close-up (PBM)

While the majority of the Indy Car teams are hightailing it back to their respective race shops after having just visited Homestead, and hopefully won’t suffer any Hi-jinx’s on there way back... I thought I’d take a moment and ramble on ‘bout a few Old IRL mounts that recently crossed the block at Barret Jackson this past January. As Miguel and I (mostly me) were rubber neckin’ over the few ‘Ol Timers IRL chassis on the West world grounds, I couldn’t discern any lot numbers or any other identifying features towards the history of these racecars. Since my trek to the Valley of the Sun, I’ve received my ’09 Barrett-Jackson catalog from AZ Bureau Chief Mary Jane, which ironically did NOT shed any clues upon the un-numbered Indy Cars up for sale either... Yet, fortunately she also grabbed a supplementary brochure titled The GM Offering which basically listed all of General Motor’s Heritage Collection offerings up for grabs and finally provided me with the clues towards the unknown Indy Car offerings, which I’ve been pestering Jeff about, since I’m not an Indy Racing League aficionado... Having been a CART/Champ Car guy instead and thus I know very little about the 1996-2007 era of Tony George’s Open Wheel circus...(Other then I’ll always think of that ominous era as the This is your Brain: CART vs. This is your Brain on Ovals: IRL!” as one feverish CART supporter’s T-Shirt proclaimed.)

Racing cars at Barrett Jackson

Lot No. # Team Engine Sponsor Description

1357 4 Panther Racing Chevrolet Pennzoil IRL Show Car*

1586 4 Panther Racing Chevrolet Pennzoil IRL Show Car

1588 - Unknown Oldsmobile Aurora None IRL Cut-away Car

1604 5 Unknown Oldsmobile Aurora None IRL Cut-away Car

1607 8 Cadillac Cadillac Northstar --- ALMS LMP1 Race Car

(* = Post 9/11 w/American Flag on engine cowling)

And here’s what Jeff of My Name is IRL had to say... (Lot#) “1604 Sunday Oldsmobile/Aurora IRL Cut-away car: $38,500. Holy smokes, I think this was Arie Luyendyk's Indy winner from '97. Possibly a different car from that year though.” Thanks for the help Jeff; as “Now its all clear as mud on a rainy day!” As the Chevy-esqe theme makes sense as all of the Chevy race cars were part of the GM Heritage Collection as noted above. And if any of you IRL soothsayers wish to chime in upon the aforementioned Indy Car chassis, please feel free to leave a comment...

Oldsmobile/Aurora IRL Cut-away chassis (PBM)

GM Racing Cars
Lot No. Day Chassis Description Total Price
1357 Saturday Panther/Chevy IRL Show car $53,900
1586 Sunday Panther/Chevy IRL Show car $18,700
1588 Sunday Oldsmobile/Aurora IRL Cut-away car $18,700
1604 Sunday Oldsmobile/Aurora IRL Cut-away car $38,500
1604 Sunday Cadillac ALMS LMP1 Race car $159,500
(Total Price includes 10% Buyer Commission)

Aye Karumba! As I sure don’t know what makes up the difference in prices between two equal looking show cars/cut-away chassis...

Hmm? Wonder if any of these were snapped up by any Indy Racing League teams as spare part mules? Or even better yet, conversion for this years upcoming Spectali? Nah, I doubt it...

Now back to the weather channel, eh? Where I hear it’s a toasty 80 degrees Fahrenheit in the Valley of the Sun, where some dude name Tiger’s hangin’ out this week...

Photographs courtesy of Blogmeister Miguel... Thanxs Dude!

(PBM = Photos By Miguel)

Barrett-Jackson ’09 (Con’t)

1948 Ford Cab-over truck (PBM)

After having spent an considerable amount of time perusing the upcoming vehicles for sale to the highest bidder, during the second Preview day (Monday) I was most curious to see the results via the Telescreen, and thus decided to drop-in both Friday & Saturday nights for extended viewing periods. (3.5+ Hours each night) Thus here’s what I jotted down as SPEED gave us an extra 30mins of coverage both nights, with the emphasis upon “Super Saturday” when all of the Really-really-Really Big sales occur, hence my notes are primarily from Saturday night...

Super Saturday’s Top 5 Sellers
No. Vehicle Price
1. 1929 Ford Tri-Motor Aeroplane $1.1m
2. 1955 Ford Thunderbird $600,000
3. 1970 Dodge Superbird $501,000
4. 2006 #24 Chevrolet racecar $500,000
5. 1996 Buick Blackhawk $475,000

NOTE:
The top two vehicles were sold to Arizona House builder Magnate Ron Pratt, while the ’70 Superbird was a re-creation built off of a Dodge Satellite body and finished in Richard Petty blue; selling for the extra $1k in order to beat Jeffery “Pretty Boy’s” Gordon’s race car, as both were sold for charity. The Dodge also garnered an additional $175,000 large in additional donations...


Friday; Jan. 16, 2009
My very loosely scribbled notes start off with one of my personal favourites, a 1969 BOSS 302 Mustang; Lot #979 which fell for a hammer price of $97,000. Then a 1959 Corvette “Fuelie;” (Fuel Injected) Lot #1019 was sold for a staggering $200,000!

Saturday; Jan. 17, 2009
Lot #1248, a beautifully restored Brittany Blue 1968 Shelby GT500KR was hammered away for the sum of $150,000, while Lot #1251, a 1929 Rolls Royce paled in comparison, rolling off stage for the tune of $87k,

Then there was the Dodge Superbird re-creation in “Petty Blue” and driven onstage by “The King” (Richard Petty) no less… And this was the first of several auctions which began to piss me off! As they kept stopping lead auctioneer Spanky in order to stall for time to stroke the bid higher… As now hold on Spanky, we’re even gonna throw in a Richard Petty “signature” hat; Blah-Blah-Blah! While Ron Pratt was quick to throw in an extra $100k large, as this rusted out ’70 Dodge Satellite was transformed into the killer Superbird stuffed with Ray Evernham power train and body massaged by Year One, finally rolling off stage for the amazing price of $501,000…

Next, Ron Pratt took center stage by laying down a staggering sum of $600,000 to obtain a very unique “Baby Bird.” As the Ford Thunderbird he won was the very first production 1955 T-Bird with serial #005. (The very first production Thunderbird created in late 1954)

A very small sampling of racing celebs in the house included “The R “N R Indy Car Bros.” Ryan “The Dude” Hunter-Reay and Ryan Dalziel; Err, better make that Sports Car drivers, since both are racing in the Daytona 24hrs… Hmm? Was Hunter-Reay hoping to find an Indy Car ride at the show, or simply commiserating with Buddy “Hot Rod” Rice over their potential Indy Car seats going up in smoke?

Also spotted were Gas Rhonda and John Force, as the two NHRA pilots actually raced each other for the honors of driving a Ford Mustang Comp Car on stage.

Then again, perhaps “The Dude” was checkin’ out Lot #1302, a late 1980’s Corvette, which had actually been built as a rolling test lab/prototype, featuring a built-in roll cage for high speed testing at the GM Proving Grounds, as the 1989 Corvette ZR1 “Snake skinner II” fetched a hammer price of $67,000.

A most interesting show car was up next, as Lot #1303 featured the 1996 Buick Blackhawk specifically created by GM to recognize Buick’s Centennial in 2003. And the Blackhawk went for big money, as the #5 top seller of the show at a whopping $475k! Has anybody driven a Buick lately?

Lot #1304 was a most unique automobile, as it was a rare 1947 Allard Hill Climb Special, which was the ’09 Barrett-Jackson auction catalog’s cover car, (Which will only set you back a mere $15...) Adding provenance to this eclectic vehicle was the fact that it was built specifically for Sidney Allard himself and featured “Dually” style rear wheels in order to gain extra traction, along with an Austrian built air cooled V-8. The Allard netted $185,000.

Then next up was a true modern Super car… A true beast, as this 2005 Saleen S7 was the only street (legal) car version of 15 racecars built along with 50 turbos for Homologation and this beast was a Narly 1,000bhp twin turbocharged version of the plain Jane “stock” 560bhp S7! This freakish Saleen boasts a 0-60mph time of 2.5 seconds along with a top speed of 250mph… Lot #1305 hammered away for $375,000.

And the hits just kept on rollin’ as Lot #1306.2 featured a ’67 Plymouth Barracuda, selling for charity and included lunch with some cat named Indiana Jones. (Harrison Ford)

And then the Barrett-Jackson show stopper, Lot #1307 wasn’t an automobile, nor in the building… As the pristine 1929 Ford Tri-motor Aeroplane replete with Pearl Harbor bullet holed parts was sold for $1.1m to you guessed it! Ron Pratt… And I thought the Housing bubble had burst?

Lot #1316 was another unique item, as GM was hoping to cause a stir by selling the number one production 2010 Camaro with the caveat of the winning bidder getting to deck out the car however they wished from the GM catalog. So it shouldn’t be surprising that “Mega” GM dealer Rick Hendrick won the bid with a price of $360,000 large.

Continuing with the re-creation/clone theme, Lot #1317 was a Shelby Eleanor Mustang, but not just any ‘Ol Eleanor ‘Stang. Nope this was 1 of 3 remaining Automatic Eleanor’s from the actual movie Gone in 60 Seconds, while it’s believed that a fleet of 11 Eleanor clones were produced for the movie. The ’67 Mustang Fastback sold for $97k.

Lot #1319 was the first 1969 BOSS 429 that I managed to notice crossing the block. As the SPEED talking heads duly noted, this BOSSes price was visibly lower then previous years, netting a paltry $190k.

Then for something different, a ’94 Porsche 911 Speedster entered the building. (Lot #1321) But this Porsche happened to formerly belong to someone by the name of Seinfeld, as in Jerry Seinfeld, who’s reportedly a hardcore Porsche-aphyle… And not content with the stock motor had Andial install a European RS-spec 911 lump in it. Also apparently Jerry didn’t have much time to drive his Porsche’s as the Speedster’s odometer noted only 9,800 miles upon it, as the ex-Seinfeld Porsche was sold for $98,000.

And it’s always funny how Barrett-Jackson gets the bulk of attention, with its massive 40hrs of live SPEED coverage, which portrays it as the ONLY auction going on... While there were three other auction companies in town: Russo & Steele, RN Auctions and Gooding & Company, with the latter selling two pristine exoticar’s for a staggering sum of $8.5 million...

’09 Gooding & Company Auction notes

Barrett-Jackson ‘09

Otay Race Fans! Bear with me just a little bit longer as I try to exorcise the 2009 Barrett-Jackson festiva outta my psyche... (And try to load this MONSTER file onto my "BLOB!")

But first...
Stealing the phrase out of the Saint Louis Rams playbook, I’m certain that the Barrett-Jackson folks would take kindly to being called “The Greatest Automobile Auction on Turf!”

After having seen the Auction via the Telescreen over the past several years, in which I scribbled about in Fast Cars, along with my Blogmeister Miguel having attended last year’s show... I told him; “I WANNA GO!” And thus, this was my excuse for going to Arizona this January, in order to finally see in person what all of the fuss was about.

Arriving mid-morning Monday, Miguel & I boarded the Greyhound like shuttle bus from the nearby parking lots of 10 soccer fields, which drove us towards the show after being instructed to remember; “You’re in the Offsite Red parking lot.” Offside-red light, Offside-red light, Offside-red light I repeated out loud.

Presenting our tickets we immediately entered the beginning of the massive vendor display tent, which stretches on for miles ‘N miles, as the very first display was an awesome gathering of six 2010 Ford Shelby GT500 Mustangs parked three abreast at 45 degree angles. And these are some BAD ASS looking mother’s! All adorned with the traditional twin stripes treatment, as a few were convertibles, with the rest being coupes. (Suggested retail price of $46,000 MINUS Dealer Mark-up!) And I even got to sit behind the wheel of one convertible...

Tomaso’s New Ride! (PBM)
But even wilder yet was the two Shelby Mustang’s on roller’s set up for a Mano E Mano (Stoplight) drag race... As the two participants both chirped the tires in their first trial run. Then it was time to rumble as the lights went green and more rubber could be heard being laid down as the winner from New York made a quarter mile pass of 13.86 seconds @ 101mph, while the loser cut a slow time of 16.20 seconds.

While I hung out briefly next to the Black Shelby nearest the racing stage, the traditional Odor ‘du burnt rubber wafted past me inside the tent as smartly the door was locked upon the black “Stang; DAMN! So, my day was totally made and we hadn’t even looked at a single car yet. Aye Carumba! This is gonna be fun as we made our way past the Ford booth and into a long cavernous room filled with even more automobiles, not to mention boats, planes and helicopters... As I was simply blown away by the staggering display of Hennessey Performance Vehicles, with a few showroom Beasts on deck! A Narly 1,000bhp Dodge Viper, a Killer twin turbocharged Ford GT with a top speed of 240mph, a Corvette ZR1, a Freakish 2010 Camaro with ZR1 power plant and a bad ass Nissan GTR. Opposite of this was a Koenigsegg CCX from Sweden and a bright yellow 2006 Gumpert Apollo, of which I’ve never heard of... As it looks more like a race car then street car, being extremely low and wide, thus I had to marvel at myself as I pronounced how extraordinarily “Plain” the bone stock rosso Ferrari parked in the middle of the aisle looked. Crikey’s when has a Ferrari ever looked dull?
Past that poor plain Jane Ferrari was the Chevrolet display, which I’d have to say that the brand new Corvette ZR1 looks Awesome, while alongside was the 2010 Camaro. Hmm? And I thought we were in a recession? So are we now paying for the “Big 3’s” R & D costs? Thus, after marveling over the new Camaro, (Can you say 21st Century Pony car Wars?) we elected to skip the rest of the never ending vendor tent and instead go look at some of the auction-mobiles outside

Koenigsegg CCX
We passed thru a row of Newell custom coaches and semi’s for sale, before running into the Roush/Superformance display booth. This was sweet, as a brace of Ford GT40 Replicar’s grabbed our attention. As not one but two Gulf Oil #6 winning 24 Heurs du Mans chassis stood parked, ready to race. As we got chatted up by a salesman trying to interest us in a Cobra replicar, I didn’t even notice the black #2 Ford GT40, as I was focusing upon the #98 Cobra Daytona Coupe re-creation with another cobra roadster parked alongside it.

There were five massive tents with four rows of cars parked underneath them... As it seemed quite funny that the 150-200 vehicles approx. per tent were parked upon either grass or dirt, with some owners trying to wipe away all of the dust particulates from their respective vehicles, most notably the owner of a custom 1973 De Tomaso Pantera with a gold plated 4 cam Mustang mod motor behind the firewall... Yeah, that’s right, solid gold plated! Not to mention the paintwork.

Superformance Daytona Coupe (PBM)
The first two tents up for perusal, were numbers 4 & 5, as we began with tent #4 which appeared to be a “Chevy-esqe” affair as the nearest row to the outside of the tent featured a plethora of past racing cars, with the very first two sightings being past IndyCars... These two bright Pennzoil yellow No. 4 chassis turned out to both be old Panther racing cars with one adorning the name of some past Indy 500 winner... Sam Hornish Jr. While the second vehicle sported both Hornish and Tomas “Rockem Sockem” Scheckter and sporting a large American flag decal on the engine cowling, as these IRL chassis both turned out to be ex-Show cars propelled by Chevrolet V-8 lumps.

Another really cool racecar was the Cadillac ALMS Prototype which was, you guessed it! Extremely low to the ground, as Miguel noted the 2-3 inch ground clearance of the front splitter... Looking quite striking in its silver body colour, while a third IRL Indy Car was parked alongside. This was a most interesting chassis as it claimed to be a cut-away car, although completely assembled and painted white/red/black... Hmm? That reminds me of an old Honda CART paint scheme; possibly Parker Johnstone/Mike Groff? (Woah Nellie! Way back machine, eh?) As this chassis didn’t sport any car number, etc. yet, the sidepod was resplendent with the word Oldsmobile... Thus I’m assuming this racer was powered by an Oldsmobile Aurora V-8 lump. (As we never did spot the second IRL Cut-away chassis up for grabs)

There was then a small smattering of ex-Trans Am, IMSA and Off Road racecar’s for sale, including a duo of Larry Raglan Desert vehicles... And this doesn’t even include the production based cars in the tent, as the hour of high-noon fast approached we decided it was lunchtime...

(Having received my ’09 Barrett-Jackson catalog from AZ Bureau Chief Mary Jane; it finally provided me with the clues towards the unnumbered Indy Cars up for auction...)

Cadillac LMP1 (PBM)
After some high priced sandwiches, no tenderloins here bubbah; as in “Where’s the Beef?” We set off for the final three tents which held a staggering number of “Muskel-carzs.” Actually the word stimulus overload (NO! NOT Stimulus package, eh?) came to both of our lips quite frequently, as I’d say about 60/70% of all vehicles up for auction fit this genre., intertwined with a heavy dosage of 1950’s Detroit Iron... Hey look, there’s another Corvette, Mustang, GTO, ‘Cuda, etc. But don’t get me wrong, the majority were the crème of their respective marque’s past offerings and many would once again obtain six figure prices, although I just DON’T get it!

24k Gold plated Ford “Mod: motor (PBM)
Some rarities included a small smattering of Porsche’s and Ferrari’s, although I’d guess that the Ferrari Mondial didn’t garner large dinero, while there was a beautiful 930 slant nose, along with another re-creation and a 928 on the grounds... Yet I was most entranced by a solitary 1948 Ford cab over pick-up stuffed with a 429 big block and a Boyd Coddington Quarter Midget on its flatbed. This gem would go for $75,000 on Friday night.

Then we stumbled upon the Park Place Motors Ltd booths which held sentimental value to me, since I’ve been in their store before which is located in Bellevue, WA. Walking inside the miniature showroom, a beautiful Lotus 211 was holding station alongside a trio of Spyker’s, which were all retailing for $235,000+. Outside a duo of Porsche Speedster replicar’s sat with a second Park Place display housing several top flight auto’s including another Spyker and beautiful metallic silver ’95 Ferrari 355 spider (Lot #1239.2) which sold for $88k on Saturday.

Gumpert Apollo (PBM)
Having finally looked at all five tents, we’d still not seen any of the top dollar “Super Saturday” cars, which I’m assuming were housed in the Showcase Pavilion, which houses a further 200 vehicles, that we never did manage to get too. Although we encountered a consignment tent while scouring the grounds for the Showcase Pavilion, where I’m still assuming the blue ribbon BOSS Mustang’s, Shelby’s, Cobra’s, Camaro’s, etc were hidden in... Yet, we managed to spot our very first Lambo, a Lamborghini Diablo VT roadster, while off in the distance was Robosaurus... But, while trying to work our way towards the Showcase Pavilion, we were told we couldn’t enter the tent... Why’s that? Because it’s a quarter to four! And the show closes in 15mins. Yikes! A full five hours had passed us by... And you already know about the rent-a-cop NAZI’S at the exit!

2009 Barrett Jackson Auction-Part 2

All photos courtesy of Blogmeister Miguel (Minus Koenigsegg CCX)
Kudos Miguel!

Pace Cars walk the plank

2008 Corvette Pace Car-Emerson Fittipaldi/IMS logo (Photo's courtesy of Miguel)

Just one small slice of the numerous activities at Barrett Jackson revolved around the considerable amount of past Indianapolis Motor Speedway Pace Cars on hand for this year’s auction held at Scottsdale, AZ. (Jan. 11-18) Yet, we only managed to spot two of the many up for grabs under the numerous tents filled with vehicles: A 2008 Emerson Fittipaldi Corvette and a 1969 Camaro...

Indy Pace Cars at Barrett-Jackson

Desert Oasis

(Superformance GT-40 Armada at 2009 Barrett-Jackson auction)

So in case you haven’t figured out my latest scribblin’s theme... I’ve been enjoying the above average climate of Arizona... Having trekked to the Valley of the Sun; My Gawd! What’s that bright yellow stuff was all I could vacillate as the Airbus A320 banked right on final approach as everybody on the left side of the Aeroplane quickly yanked their window shades down... Hey! Leave them up; I wanna see that bright stuff, you know? I believe that it’s most commonly known as the Sun! Something that is most fleeting up here in the Pacific Northwest... As we’re currently ensconced in dense fog with a low temp. of 32 deg. f, after having spent the past week in low 70’s; But I digress...

Thus my excuse for traveling to Arizona was to partake in the 38th Annual Barrett-Jackson auction, of which I’d never been too... And it was pretty damn cool! With an overly staggering display of automobiles awaiting their fate upon the auctioneering gang plank, as it seems pretty funny to see so many pristine vehicles sitting parked in either the dirt or grass of the mammoth grounds of Westworld...

With the only strike AGAINST the event being the ABSURDITY of the two F%%KING Rent-a-cops judiciously positioned in front of two large garbage cans and stopping everyone leaving the event and telling us it was VERBOTTEN to take our OVERPRICED water off of the premises that we’d all paid for from the show’s “Approved” vendors... Thus we were detained until throwing away our aqua which seems overly STUPID in such an arid state, eh?

And although perhaps some of you are growing a bit tired of my look upon the world of fendered vehicles; alas, I’ll provide a quick show report shortly... While also trying to play Ketsup upon the world of motor racing, as I see that The Captain has obtained the services of Will Power, while Ferrari and Toyota have launched their twenty-oh-nine challengers and Dakar Rally leader Carlos Sainz has thrown away his lead upon rolling over into a ravine, not to mention having missed the past weeks Open Wheel Word Butcherer’s question of the week...

What Economic crisis?

While Wall $treet has been routinely loosing 700+ points and BURNING thru One TRILLION Daily! There seemed to be little concern in “Los Wage$,” (Las Vegas, NV) during the inaugural Barrett Jackson auction, held at the Mandalay Bay casino, over the weekend of October 16-18; of which I decided to watch after lamenting those immortal Bruce Springsteen words; “57 channels and NOTHING on!” So, thus indeed, I decided to watch a few hours of the final night’s action, with it being Saturday night and NOT a BLOODY thing on the tellie...

And just like buying a car, a cursory look of the dreaded paperwork denotes the following;

“Hammer” prices do NOT include the mandatory Barrett Jackson commission fees: Seller, 8%; buyer, 10%. State/local taxes extra. (Prices include buyer’s commission fee/total auction price)

And being especially particular to Blue Oval products, my notes primarily jotted down the quick facts of various Ford Motor Co. sales, although typically the entire “Muscle Car” segment seemed to be still commanding top dollar, as a total of 40 vehicles were hammered for over $100,000.

Lot #798
1968 Shelby GT 500 Mustang
Hammer bid: $140,000 ($154,000)

Lot #801
1938 Packard
Hammer bid: $190,000 ($209,000)
This was a very nice restored two door Victoria convertible...

Lot #803.1
1969 Ford BOSS 429 Mustang
Hammer bid: $195,000 ($214,500)
First of two BAD ASS BOSSES to cross the stage, still bringing good money, but value has dropped...

Lot #804.1
1967 Shelby GT 500 “E Super Snake” Mustang
Hammer bid: $170,000 ($187,000)
These cars always amaze me, since the “E” suffix means that it’s an Eleanor re-creation, as in the movie; Gone in 60 Seconds (II) yet, I’m not sure what’s up with the “Super Snake” moniker, as perhaps this car had an all aluminum motor shoehorned inside it? Nevertheless, I’d rather plunk down that sorta dinero on a Ferrari, instead of a six cylinder donar Mustang...

Lot 805
1992 Jaguar XK220
Hammer bid: $137,000 ($150,700)
Car #91/280 built. These were amazing cars that simply got lost in the Supercar market downturn...

Lot #805.1
2003 Saleen S7
Hammer bid: $237,000 ($260,700)
This was fairly entertaining, as chief auctioneer Spanky was trying to bump the price up to $250k, a bidder said: “I DON’T care! $242,500!” To which apparently Spanky wasn’t to be pushed around and the car was gaveled for $237K instead...

Lot #806
1973 De Tomaso Pantera
Hammer bid: $100,000 ($110,000)
I’d have to guess this is a record hammer price for a Pantera? As this ’73 “plain Jane” De Tomaso, was rejuvenated by the styling cues of its original designer; Tom Tjaarda, who’d created brand new front & rear carbon fibre composite facia’s for it, also redesigning the interior, along with the requisite “bigger is better” aftermarket alloy wheels. But, I’d definitely have to say the car looked great, along with Mr. Tjaarda, who at 74 year’s young looked quite dapper...

Lot # Unknown
1966 Cobra 427 “E” (Replica)
Hammer bid: $100,000 ($110,000)
This car was being sold by a museum and has a somewhat interesting, albeit tarnished past, as the car was originally passed off as the real macoy. Only problem with this was that the original Cobra later surfaced and hence this car had to be re-licensed as a replica...

Lot #816
1970 Ford BOSS 429 Mustang
Hammer bid: $187,000 ($205,700)
Second of two BAD ASS BOSSES to cross the stage, which are still bringing good money, but below the hammer price listed on Barrett-Jackson’s website for BOSSES: with four cars being sold for a low of $245,000, (2) $300k & $325k at Scottsdale, AZ this past January, which pales in comparison to the “record” hammer price of $550,000 garnered in Scottsdale in 2007! (Which I’m guessing Ron Pratt was the bidder?)

Lot #817
1957 Ford Thunderbird
Hammer bid: $145,000 ($159,500)
This was SPEED TV’s final Fantasy bid car, which was a pretty cool T-bird. Setting the ’57 Thunderbird apart from the rest, was the fact that it was a rare “F” code; 1 of 211 supercharged chassis. Even better yet, was the fact that it was Robert McCulloch’s personal car. As in McCulloch/Paxton Supercharger’s, who made the cars blower...

Lot #819
1949 MG TC
Hammer bid: $285,000 ($313,500)
And while awaiting the start of the featured car’s auction, the telephone rang...

Alas, I didn’t get to see what Shelby’s racing car went for... Which seems a bit of a stretch, since although Carroll did indeed capture his very first victory in Norman, Oklahoma, in this very car back in 1952, when ‘Ol Shel’s good friend Ed Wilkins loaned it to him; but it’s a BLOODY MG after all!

Thus, I had to scoure the internets to learn that Carroll Shelby’s very first race car, a 1949 MG TC, was hammered for $285,000, minus the 10% commission fee.

Yet, this wasn’t to be the auction’s #1 high bid of the weekend, as a car that I missed seeing on the telescreen; a 2006 Ford Mustang GT customized by some cat named Funkmaster Flex pipped Shelby’s MG by a scant $15 grand. (With apparently no commission fees applied)

As seven cars were sold for various charities, totaling over $655,000, including $150,000 for the 2008 Barrett-Jackson Limited Edition Shelby GT; others included a 2006 Ford Mustang modified on the television show Car Wars with Funkmaster Flex that sold for $300,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, and a 2007 Dodge Charger raced by Kurt Busch for $85,000...

For a recap of the inaugural Los Wage$ spectacle, see; 2008 Barrett-Jackson las Vegas review.

And to check out all of the over-hyped, over-priced, showmanship, you may wish to check out the official website, (if you can stomach the long winded self promoting video, which has thankfully been shut off!) see; barret-Jacson.

More Roush trivia

So did anyone besides Marc figure out Jack Roush’s connection to Unlimited Hydroplanes?

And doesn’t March seem like a long time ago?: As somehow I stumbled into another riveting hour ‘O “Barute-Jacksoon HYPER-Auction...” Better known as the 409 hours of Barrett-Jackson Auction coverage Live on SPEED, whom must be getting a sizeable retainer to host the show, eh?

And thus, with somewhat peak-ed (NO Danicker jokes here...) curiosity, I had to watch the frenzied(?) action of a specialty prepared “Feurd” product, as it was a Ford Mustang on the block. But this weren’t NO plain Jane garden variety ‘Stang, NO! It was a limited edition Jack Roush P-51A Mustang...

Here’s my notes from the frenzied bidding’ way back when...

Barrett-Jackson; Palm Beach, Florida
March 29, 2008
2008 Roush P-51A Mustang: No. 151 of 151

I hadn’t even heard of these limited edition Mustang’s, of which Ford and Jack Roush teamed up to produce a very limited production of 151 copies. And I don’t know what the bidding started at, but the bidding Stalled at $110,000...

And then for good humour, the price vaulted to $111k,, to which chief Barrett-Jackson Auctioneer “Spanky” said; “CHEAPSKATE!” To the current high bidder, yet the bidding wasn’t quite over, as the Ford Motor Company and Jack Roush were teaming up to auction the very special Mustang for charity and bidding was enticed with the following caveat. We’re gonna throw in the opportunity to be the Grand Marshal and wave the Green Flag at this year’s Nationwide Cup race at Homestead this November, announced Ford VP Mark Field. To which a bid of $120,000 was quickly made and Spanky retorted: Now that’s NO Cheapskate!

Yet, the bidding continued upwards, as Spanky decreed; ““For 135 (large) I’ll call you whatever you like!” Grand Marshall, etc, while trying to entice a new high bidder, while in a final last minute effort, a la past Carroll Shelby shenanigan’s, Jack Roush throws in the hat off his head, trying to entice bidding to rise to $140,000 from $135k.

Of which Jack Roush had also thrown in a very special ride aboard his personal two seater P-51D vintage WWII Mustang war bird...

Also noted; “The Cat in the Hat” currently has P-51A chassis number 51 in his possession...

Yet, the bidding finally flamed out as Spanky dropped the hammer at a final auction price of $136,000, NOT including the 10% bidders fee, of which I believe went to mega-millionaire house builder Ron Pratte of Arizona, which was mere pocket change for him!

California Spyder climbs to record price

This was recently sent to me by AZ Bureau Chief Mary Jane and all I can say is that it must be ROUGH! Eh? Holy California Spyders, Batman…

Ferrari Nets Record Price at Auction
By Peter Valdes-Dapena,
CNNMoney
Posted: 2008-05-20 12:04:46
Filed Under: Business News, World News

NEW YORK (May 19) -- A 1961 Ferrari California Spyder sold for $10,894,900 at an auction in Maranello, Italy, Saturday. It was the highest price ever paid for a vintage car at auction, according to RM Auctions and Sotheby's, the companies that organized the sale.

It’s Alive!

There are reports coming out of Scottsdale, Arizona, that the Barrett-Jackson tent has gone up in flames… Apparently while the most outrageous piece ‘O iron was strutting towards the block…

Perhaps you’ve heard of it? Its name is Robosaurus and it’s a mere forty feet tall and is known as the king of all Transformers. Apparently it runs on a steady diet of Lincoln’s, Cadillac’s and Subaru’s too…

Yet, apparently when demonstrating its fire breathing abilities it caught one of the numerous dizzying chandelier disco balls on fire, which in turn set the big top’s roof ablaze…

Yet, the Scottsdale darkness was broken by the shooting star (afterburner) of Batmobile 1 that Craig Jackson & Steve Davis were spotted speeding to the Wells Fargo Bank across town in. As “Bat One” blew past Sherriff Joe in his Sherman tank while being clocked at 133mph on Scottsdale Boulevard…

Fast Cars

Once again its time for that meddlesome portion of SPEED TV broadcasting, otherwise known as the Barrett-Jackson “LUV-Fest!” You know when SPEED devotes about 40 hours of programming showcasing the Rich ‘N Famous overindulging in the purchasing of “rarefied automobiles.

Apparently the over hyping of countless numbers ‘O Detroit iron led me to NOT watch last year’s Barrett-Jackson money-thon. Then again perhaps this will be a nice break from PINKS ‘N Unique Whipes… Yet, I did indeed manage to catch snippets of three particular past auctions below and I suppose I’ll drop in to see how crazy the SUCKERS are getting drawn in. (Must be nice to have so much $pare change, eh?)

Barrett-Jackson (Part 1)
Towards the end of March, 2006 by shear luck I tuned into SPEED’S Barrett Jackson Palm Beach auction. “Just-in-Time” to see some ‘ole wily codger extricating his lanky frame from the confines of a Ford GT he’d just driven up onto the block… Yup, it was none other then 83 year old Texan Carroll Shelby.

Ford had donated chassis #003 to be auctioned off to benefit Shelby’s Children’s charity. Carroll dribbled some ‘O Snake Oil to try and invigorate the potential bidders… Let the games begin…
The bid for this pristine 2005 Ford GT quickly vaulted to $200,000, where it began to simmer.

“Spanky,” the chief auctioneer had ‘Shel speak a little more, and if you buy the car you’ll even get an autographed book signed by the entire Ford GT team, Shelby noted. Bidding then continued and the price quickly zoomed up to $400k, where the price stalled again.

Another break to wind-up the price occurred as Spanky said; I’ll give you the hat off ‘Shel’s head, plus you’ll be guaranteed the rights to buy 1 of the first 50 GT 500’s. The bidding continued and then stalled again, with Spanky stopping the bidding once again. This caused audible groaning from the pit workers and remaining bidders. Yet, Spanky further “stroked” the audience by saying; “I’ll give you the shirt off ‘ole “Shel’s back!” Bang, a bidder’s hand went up as the price climbed past $475k, before Shelby ceremoniously dropped the hammer: SOLD-SOLD-SOLD! For a whopping $575,000! (+ 8% Auction commission)

Trying not to be outdone, next onto the block… Pete Brock emerged from a Superformance Daytona Sebring tribute Coupe. The car was a “one-off” special to be listed in the Shelby registry, rekindling the scheme of the Daytona’s first win at Sebring… The car quickly vaulted to $150k. Brock then threw in an autographed poster signed by him and Shelby. The Daytona sold for a cool $250,000…

R & M Auction
In early June, 2006 while surfing the late night TV shows, I ran across an interesting Auction airing on TLC. The R & M auction from Monterey, CA billed as “The Million Dollar Auction.” Although I missed the beginning portion of the show-where a Ferrari California Special was the first million + vehicle crossing the block and I think it went for $1.9 Million?

Yet, the car that caught my initial attention was a medium blue with twin white stripes mid engine super car… This turned out to be the prototype Ford GT 40! Although the Lola derived Mark I chassis originally debuted in solid white with flat black nose. (GT101)

The car looked absolutely stunning in its Viking blue paint scheme. The bidding was unbelievable… As the car went to the Shelby American museum in Colorado for a cool $2.275 million…

Another interesting car was the Dragon-snake Cobra. The ’64 Cobra was campaigned as a “Privateer.” Legend has it that the owner hid the Dragon-snake in his basement, completely enclosing the car along with extra parts behind a brick wall... The car remained hidden for 15 yr’s before being “un-earthed.” The Dragon-snake (CSX 2161?) sold for $410,000…

Another interesting find was another white 289 Cobra. Affectionately known as “The Cobra in the Barn.” (Of which I’ve just purchased the book)
It was a lucky “find” in a Barn after 30 year’s of storage. The book’s author’s restored the car and it sold for $345,000…

Barrett-Jackson (Part 2)
“Fifty seven channels and NOTHING ON!”

(Nope, not Bruce Hornsby, the other Bruce… Springsteen) Once again while scouring the endless channels ‘O TV spam… I settled upon a rebroadcast of a Barrett Jackson Palm Beach auction…

What I found hard to follow was the amount ‘O “moohlah” being spent upon “replicas.” For some reason the “Eleanor” re-incarnations seemed to be extremely popular.

I watched two of these creations cross the auction block. The first up was a nice black ’67 Eleanor Mustang with NOS, fuel cell, 351 Winsor “crate” motor, (430bhp) selling for $93,000.

The second ’67 Mustang seemed even more “suspicious,” claiming to have Shelby plates attached-including ‘Shel’s signature. This car sold for $102,000…

Call me crazy, but I’d rather spend the money on a REAL Ferrari, eh?

Barrett-Jackson (2008)
And I have to say I’m NOT impressed with the number of “Muskle” cars crossing the block at this year’s Barrett-Jackson “GRAB-ATHON,” as the promoter tries hyping the crap outta the vehicle as the “Real Deal!” When the original motor most likely has been blown up since it’s got a different “Lump” in it, and yet people are paying extreme money to have the non-original chassis. Yet Barrett-Jackson has neatly covered itself by making the consigner responsible for noting the vehicle’s authenticity…

So it was funny watching a 1980 Hummer go across the block Wednesday night. Only problem with this, as the SPEED commentator caught on when they were looking over the motor, was that Hummer’s weren’t produced until 1985!

Yet, I’d have to say so far my best buy pick goes to the astute collector who paid $42,000 for a 2006 Hertz Shelby GT500, as it was car No. 8. This is the first year of ‘Ol Shel’s reincarnation of the original Hertz “Rent-a-Racer.” Of course realize that all sale prices don’t include the 8% Seller’s commission fee as well as the 10% Buyer’s commission fee that Barrett-Jackson collects for this mass hysteria! (With a 12% Buyer’s commission fee for telephone/internets sales)

Yet I simply do NOT understand the nature of the Bidder’s frenzy, as this auction appears to be more of eBay phenomena than true Connoisseur’s of collecting. Who most likely are attending the other various auctions taking place in the Valley of the Sun.

Thursday action saw some strange bidding occur, as a souped-up Land Cruiser CUSTOM with non-original 350cid Chevrolet V-8 complete with blower assembly went for MORE than a extremely RARE 1969 Ford Talladega, which was a real original car with the only option available… Wimbledon white paint. Ford homologated these street cars with a production run of 745 units in order to obliterate its RASSCAR rivals in 1969.

Yet, the Land Cruiser fetched $57,000, while the Talladega snuck away for $41K! Meanwhile I watched a 1969 Shelby GT350 sell for $70,000, while a Chevrolet Nomad commanded a stout $97,000 from its new owner. Another Blue Oval product, a 1971 Mustang Mach 1, 428 SCJ/4 speed garnered a hammer price of $70,000. And this is before we even get to the weekend’s “Heavy Hitters…”

And think Barmen ‘N Bailey has a “Big Top” circus event? The Barrett-Jackson tent has to be “Juan ‘O” the world’s largest, as it stretches 1,800’ long and peaks at 90’ high with a square footage of 350,000’, which is large enough to park a 747 underneath, as well as hold 10,000 warm bodies…

Auto Union on the Block

Contrary to popular belief, Christies Auction house will attempt to set the record price for an automobile sold shortly. For some strange reason I’ve been telling everybody for years that Nick Mason of Pink Floyd paid $12m for a Ferrari 250 GTO during the feeding frenzy of the late 1980’s when car collectors were snapping up anything with 4 wheels. Apparently this is an urban legend…

Making the much over-hyped Barrett Jackson auctioneers look like small fry, Christie’s will sell one of two remaining Auto Union D-Type Grand Prix cars next year expecting to fetch a record $11.7 million…