GAA Classic Cars, Greensboro, NC, November 7–9, 2019
Barrett-Jackson, Scottsdale, AZ, January 15–19, 2020
Worldwide Auctioneers, Tempe, AZ, January 15, 2020
Russo and Steele, Scottsdale, AZ, January 15–19, 2020
Mecum Auctions, Kissimmee, FL, January 2–12, 2020
Leake Auctions, Scottsdale, AZ, January 16–19, 2020
Gooding & Company, Scottdale, AZ, January 17–18, 2020
RM Sotheby’s, Phoenix, AZ, January 16–17, 2020
Bonhams, Scottsdale, AZ, January 16, 2020
MAG Auctions, Peoria, AZ, January 10–12, 2020
Mecum Auctions, Kansas City, MO, December 5–7, 2019
RM Auctions, Hershey, PA, October 10–11, 2019
Search This Issue
Page -1
CAR COLLECTOR
Number One
with a
AMERICAN
Bullitt
BEHIND THE CURTAIN: How Barrett-Jackson Evaluates Its Vehicles
March–April 2020
Issue No. 50
www.AmericanCarCollector.com
McQueen’s $3.7m Mustang, Plus Chart Toppers
from Arizona’s $250m Auction Week
Page 6
Eight Sales That Define the Market
Volume 9 • Issue 50 • March–April 2020
CAR COLLECTOR
The Scoop
CORVETTE
1966 CHEVROLET CORVETTE
427/450 CONVERTIBLE
$120k / RM Sotheby’s
An expensive decal adds
to a nice presentation
— John L. Stein
Page 46
GM
1970 BUICK GS 455
STAGE 1
$50k / RM Sotheby’s
A good buy on an
up-and-coming GM A-body
— Patrick Smith
Page 48
FoMoCo
1968 FORD MUSTANG
“BULLITT” FASTBACK
$3.7m / Mecum
Nostalgia fuels the most
expensive Mustang in the world
— Brad Bowling
Page 50
AMERICAN
MOPAR
1969 DODGE SUPER BEE
A12
$118k / Barrett-Jackson
A Mr. Norm Six Pack brings
the cash
— John L. Stein
Page 52
8 AmericanCarCollector.com
Page 7
CUSTOM
1936 FORD DELUXE
ROADSTER CUSTOM
$168k / RM Sotheby’s
A great buy, if you know
what to look for
— Ken Gross
Page 54
AMERICANA
1954 TAYLOR
AEROCAR
$275k / Barrett-Jackson
What’s the value of yesterday’s
future?
— Jeff Zurschmeide
Page 56
RACE
1965 DODGE CORONET
SUPER STOCK HEMI
$55k / Barrett-Jackson
Serious buy on a Funny Car,
but where do you use it?
— Elana Scherr
Page 58
TRUCK
1976 GMC SIERRA GRANDE
CUSTOM PICKUP
$165k / Barrett-Jackson
The Squarebody Syndicate
sets a new record
— Jim Pickering
Page 60
COVER PHOTO: 1968 Ford Mustang
“Bullitt” fastback
David Newhardt, courtesy of Mecum Auctions
1976 GMC Sierra Grande custom pickup, p. 60
Courtesy of Barrett-Jackson
March–April 2020 9
Page 8
COLUMNS
The Rundown
12 Torque: The car world is evolving, but the market is strong
— Jim Pickering
40 Cheap Thrills: Light-money deals in the Arizona desert
— B. Mitchell Carlson
42 Horsepower: Why aren’t the Big ’80s cars selling for
bigger money? — Jay Harden
44 On the Road: Choosing adventure in a Turbo Trans Am
restoration — Elana Scherr
138 Surfing Around: Gotta-have automobilia on eBay and
beyond — Carl Bomstead
FEATURES
20 Your Turn: A real Motion car, and counting the ports on
a Buick
22 Good Reads: The Last Shelby Cobra, Lost Muscle Car
Dealerships, Mickey Thompson — Mark Wigginton
28 Snapshots: Photos from Arizona Auction Week
38 Readers’ Forum: The $50k challenge
72 Market Moment 1: 1978 Ford Bronco Custom
— Chad Taylor
126 Market Moment 2: 1967 Chevrolet Corvette 327/350
convertible — Chad Taylor
130 Junkyard Treasures: Purdin’s Auto Parts, Hillsboro, OH
— Phil Skinner
USEFUL STUFF
14 What’s Happening: Pacific Northwest swapmeets,
Goodguys, and Spring Carlisle
16 Crossing the Block: Upcoming auctions
24 Parts Time: Aftermarket pieces for your vehicles
26 Cool Stuff: Car items for car people
30 Wrenching: Learn what goes into the process for
checking in — and on — vehicles at Barrett-Jackson
64 Buy It Now: 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.9 Limited SUV
— Chad Tyson
10 AmericanCarCollector.com
90 One to Watch: 1967 Shelby GT500 “Eleanor”
— Chad Taylor
128 The Parts Hunter: Rare grille, Quadrajet and that Hurst
smell — Patrick Smith
132 Showcase Gallery: Sell your car in ACC’s
classifieds section
133 Advertiser Index
134 Resource Directory: Get to know our advertisers
AUCTIONS
62 Market Overview
Top 10 auction sales, best buys — and were the Arizona
Auction Week totals up or down? — Chad Tyson
66 Barrett-Jackson — Scottsdale, AZ
Arizona’s mega-event sets a new high-water mark at $137.4m
on 1,929 of 1,930 cars selling — John Boyle
76 Mecum — Kissimmee, FL
A best-ever $94.7m total on 2,015 of 2,946 cars changing
hands in Central Florida — John Hoshstrasser
84 Leake — Scottsdale, AZ
For their first auction in the Arizona desert, Leake sold 384 of
638 cars for a bottom-line total of $18.5m — Brett Hatfield
92 GAA Classic Cars — Greensboro, NC
A $12.3m haul from selling 456 of 646 — Mark Moskowitz
100 Russo and Steele — Scottsdale, AZ
281 of 512 lots sell at Russo and Steele’s first auction of the
year, totaling $10.7m — Andy Staugaard
108 Worldwide — Tempe, AZ
The fourth-year sale sold 39 of 55 cars for just under $5.6m
— B. Mitchell Carlson
116 Roundup
Highlights from RM Auctions in Hershey, PA; Mecum in Kansas
City, MO; MAG Auctions in Peoria, AZ; Bonhams in Scottsdale,
AZ; RM Sotheby’s in Phoenix, AZ; and Gooding & Company in
Scottsdale, AZ
Page 10
TORQUE
Jim Pickering
Keeping the Change
Stock C2 Corvettes may be on the wane, but their resto-mod counterparts are driving a bigger chunk of the market
Chad Taylor
Courtesy of Barrett-Jackson
The car world is continually evolving, but the market is as strong as ever
C
hange is a constant in the collectorcar
world. From what car people
are buying and selling through how
much those cars and trucks achieve
when they sell, the market is always
in flux.
This is ACC’s 50th issue. The magazine
has come a long way since our first issue
back in the late summer of 2011, but measuring
change in the market has always been
our core mission. What’s interesting, however,
is where that change pops up — and
where it doesn’t.
Scottsdale’s numbers are in. This year’s
overall total out of the desert was $249.7m,
compared to last year’s $247.5m. Add in
Mecum Kissimmee to that total — another
$94.7m in cars sold in January — and you
get $344.2m in cars sold in the American
market in the first month of the new year.
That’s a big number, but last year’s total,
including Mecum and the Arizona sales,
was $341.2m. The difference? A lot more
cars sold, and one Steve McQueen “Bullitt”
Mustang.
At first glance, the market in January
2020 seemed like a repeat of January 2019
all over again. Business as usual, right?
Buy, sell, hold
ACC’s annual Scottsdale seminar at
Barrett-Jackson was on Wednesday of auction
week. This year, ACC panelists Elana
Scherr, Carl Bomstead, B. Mitchell Carlson
and Ken Lingenfelter joined me for a
conversation on what to buy, sell and hold in
12 AmericanCarCollector.com
2020. We talked about muscle cars, trucks,
hot rods and more — you can see the entire
seminar on our Facebook page. The most
interesting part of the seminar for me was
one of Ken’s “sell” picks for 2020.
Ken runs one of the country’s top GM
performance companies — Lingenfelter
Performance Engineering — and he has one
of the world’s coolest car collections as well.
It’s filled with everything from exotics to
rare top-level Corvettes. As he’s always buying
and selling, he has a lot to say about it.
His pick to sell for 2020? C2 Corvettes
— those iconic market-topping mid-year
missiles. Cue the record scratch.
“There’s a dynamic in place, a changing
demographic” said Ken, “that’s placing
downward pressure on values here.
Numbers-matching, perfect cars aren’t doing
as well as they used to, and the C2s that are
still doing well are resto-mods. I think it
might be time to think about selling.”
Is he right? You can argue it either
way, but there’s no arguing that it’s a
well-founded opinion from a self-described
Corvette guy. And as an opinion, it’s indicative
of a major change we’ve been seeing
in what comes to auction, as well as what
is just over the horizon for the market, the
media and car culture in general.
Younger cars and trucks are taking the
spotlight at auction, car content is increasingly
moving away from print media to
serve a digital future, and the C8 has more
in common with a Ferrari than it does a C3.
Sales numbers aside, it’s clearly not just
business as usual in the car world anymore.
Evolution
That might seem like a troubling pros-
pect, especially when some of the traditions
we hold most dear in our hobby appear to be
changing so drastically. But in all honesty,
it’s not a bad sign, and the proof is in the
metrics.
Yes, newer cars and trucks are still flow-
ing into the market, and yes, they’re growing
in value at the same rate that some of our old
favorites are slowing. And yet, here we have
some of the largest sales of the year by both
car count and dollar volume turning in very
similar sales numbers year-over-year.
That means that while the market may be
adjusting to changing interests, it’s thriving
in the process, and great cars — even those
C2s — are still bringing good money. The
proof is in the printed pages that follow —
and in every issue of ACC.
If the notion of change is too much for
you, do something about it. Let a kid drive
that C2 Corvette in your garage — even a
small-block ’64 is enough to turn someone
into a true believer for life.
Markets live on enthusiasm, and enthu-
siasm is about the experience. A car like
that can make you a force of change in the
market, and that can very directly have an
impact on the market later, when that kid
enters the market and waves a hand in the air
for a Corvette of his or her own.
When that happens, ACC will be there to
report on it. A
Page 12
WHAT’S HAPPENING
Let Us Know About Your Events
Do you know of American-car-related events or happenings that we should publicize?
Contact us at American Car Collector, P.O. Box 4797, Portland, OR 97208 or online at
comments@americancarcollector.com.
Chad Taylor
All the Parts You Need
The Portland Swap Meet is an annual tradition in the Pacific Northwest, and it’s the largest event of its kind on the West Coast. Hosted by
six antique car clubs, the meet sprawls out over the Portland Expo Center grounds, including all the buildings and the parking lots. This year’s
event takes place April 3–5. www.portlandswapmeet.com (OR)
Of course, one swapmeet isn’t enough, and the PIR Auto Swap Meet takes place just up the street at Portland International Raceway April
2–4. Bring your best walking shoes, a sturdy wagon to haul parts, and a handful of $20 bills. Both meets operate at the same time, with regular
bus service running between them. If you can’t find what you need here, it’s probably not available. www.portlandraceway.com (OR)
Courtesy of Goodguys
Goodguys in the Spring
It wouldn’t be spring without the Goodguys Spring Nationals,
which takes place at Westworld in Scottsdale, AZ, from March 20 to
22. This is the place to be to see some of the best customs, hot rods,
classics, muscle cars and trucks — at least those built before 1987. In
addition, the LMC Truck Spring Lone Star Nationals take place at
Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, TX, from March 13 to 15, and
the All American Get-Together in Pleasanton, CA, is March 28 and
29. If you’re still looking for more, the Meguiar’s Del Mar Nationals
take place in Del Mar, CA, from April 3 to 5, and the North Carolina
Nationals in Raleigh, NC, is April 24–26. Learn more at www.goodguys.com.
14 AmericanCarCollector.com
Even More Cars and Parts
Spring Carlisle roars to life April 22 and runs through April 26
at the Carlisle Fairgrounds in PA. There are more than 8,000 vendor
spaces at this annual automotive flea market, as well as a car corral,
Manufacturers Midway and, of course, the Spring Carlisle Auction
across the street on April 23 and 24. It’s a great place to find the parts,
memorabilia or complete cars you’ve been thinking of all winter.
Learn more at www.carlisleevents.com. (PA)
Page 14
CROSSING THE BLOCK
UPCOMING AUCTIONS—Compiled by Chad Tyson
APRIL
Mecum
Where: Houston, TX
When: April 2–4
Web: www.mecum.com
Last year: 725/1030 cars sold / $18.6m
Featured cars:
• 1969 Dodge Hemi Charger R/T
• 1966 Pontiac GTO convertible
• 1941 Ford custom pickup
STAR CAR: 1965 Shelby GT350 at RM Sotheby’s auction in Amelia Island, FL
MARCH
Russo and Steele
Where: Amelia Island, FL
When: March 4–6
Web: www.russoandsteele.com
Last year: 38/137 cars sold / $3.5m
Bonhams
Where: Amelia Island, FL
When: March 5
Web: www.bonhams.com
Last year: 92/108 cars sold / $15.9m
Featured cars:
• 1909 Cadillac Model 30
• 1967 Meyers Manx dune buggy
Gooding & Co.
Where: Amelia Island, FL
When: March 6
Web: www.gooding.com
Last year: 78/89 cars sold / $22m
RM Sotheby’s
Where: Amelia Island, FL
When: March 6–7
Web: www.rmsothebys.com
Last year: 117/141 cars sold / $38.1m
Featured cars:
STAR CAR: 1965 Shelby GT350
• 1969 Chevrolet Corvette L88 coupe
• 1953 Nash-Healey Le Mans coupe
Mecum
Where: Glendale, AZ
When: March 11–14
16 AmericanCarCollector.com
Web: www.mecum.com
Last year: 731/1,256 cars sold / $30.9m
Featured cars:
• 2017 Ford GT Competition Series
• 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle COPO
• 1967 Dodge Charger resto-mod
Smith Auctions LLC
Where: Cape Girardeau, MO
When: March 14
Web: www.smithauctionsllc.com
RM Auctions
Where: Palm Beach, FL
When: March 20–21
Web: www.rmsothebys.com
Last year: 274/368 cars sold / $23.1m
Featured cars:
• 1993 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra
• 1953 Cadillac Eldorado
• 1969 Mercury Cougar Eliminator 428 CJ
Premier Auction Group
Where: Punta Gorda, FL
When: March 20–21
Web: www.premierauctiongroup.com
Mecum
Where: Davenport, IA
When: March 25–28
Web: www.mecum.com
Southern Classic
Where: Murfreesboro, TN
When: March 28
Web: www.southernclassicauctions.com
Barrett-Jackson
Where: West Palm Beach, FL
When: April 16–18
Web: www.barrett-jackson.com
Last year: 640/643 cars sold / $30.9m
Featured cars:
• 2018 Ford GT ’67 Heritage Edition
• 1953 Buick Skylark
STAR CAR: 1957 Dodge D100
Sweptside pickup
(Images are courtesy of the respective auction houses unless otherwise noted)
Vicari
Where: Biloxi, MS
When: April 17–18
Web: www.vicari.com
Branson
Where: Branson, MO
When: April 17–18
Web: www.bransonauction.com
Last year: 142/200 cars sold / $2.9m
Carlisle
Where: Carlisle, PA
When: April 23–24
Web: www.carlisleauctions.com
MAG Auctions
Where: Peoria, AZ
When: April 24–25
Web: www.motorsportauctiongroup.com A
YOUR TURN
Tell Us What’s On Your Mind
Contact us at American Car Collector, P.O. Box 4797, Portland, OR 97208 or online at
comments@americancarcollector.com
David Newhardt, courtesy of Mecum Auctions
Still a deal at $90k, but it’s a tribute, not an authentic Baldwin-Motion
History in Motion
I couldn’t help but notice the November/
December 2019 issue’s cover car, “1972
Chevrolet Camaro Baldwin-Motion Phase
III, Last Of Its Breed” and comment in your
newsletter, “The last Baldwin-Motion Phase
III Camaro was well bought at $90k.”
First off, while this is a very nice modi-
fied Camaro, it is not a Baldwin-Motion
Camaro. It probably was well bought, and
the buyer knows exactly what he has.
At the Mecum Auction where this car
was recently sold, it was headlined as a
Baldwin-Motion Camaro and referenced in
the small text as a “Motion Camaro” and
pretty much indicated that it was built by a
Motion mechanic! I had tried to get Mecum
to change the headline to no avail!
Real Baldwin-Motion Camaros, built
through 1974, were brand-new vehicles sold
by Baldwin Chevrolet and converted by
Motion Performance into Baldwin-Motion
Chevys, and carried warranties. They also
change hands, often privately, for considerably
more money.
Toward the end of Baldwin-Motion pro-
duction, Baldwin Chevrolet changed hands
and names. The cover Camaro was built
by a mechanic for himself while employed
by Motion Performance. It is a stunning
Baldwin-Motion Camaro tribute that would
probably be hard to duplicate for $90,000.
For the record, the Baldwin-Motion
brand was co-founded by Joel Rosen and
myself in 1967, and I created all the advertising
and marketing materials until production
ended in 1974. The same held true when
we, working with Larry Jaworske and Joel
Ehrenpreis, relaunched the brand in 2005
20 AmericanCarCollector.com
with the record-setting 2-seat BaldwinMotion
SuperCoupe.
My book, Motion Performance, Tales of
a Muscle Car Builder, covers the brand from
inception to relaunching Baldwin-Motion in
2005.
Thanks for a great magazine — Marty
Schorr, Sarasota, FL
Which Buick?
American Car Collector’s January/
February 2020 issue shows a ’53 Buick
wagon on pages 108 and 110. It is described
as a ’53 Buick Ionia wagon under the picture
on page 108, and again at the right bottom of
page 109. It is referred to as a Roadmaster,
which it is not.
Although the body is the same as the
Roadmaster 70 series, I believe that this car
is a Super 50 series. I base this on the three
“ventiports” in the front fenders. The lower
two series had three “ventiports” while the
Roadmaster 70 series had four. The Skylark,
basically a ’53 Roadmaster frame and modified
body, had none.
This looks like one offered for sale in
the June 2018 Raleigh auction, which sold
for almost $90k. The color is different, but
otherwise it’s the same car.
I have been a subscriber for over seven
years and see few errors, but this one, as a
Buick enthusiast, I had to bring to your attention.
— Howard Shaw, Smyrna, DE
Auction Editor Chad Tyson responds:
Thanks for the note, Howard.
You’re right; that isn’t a Roadmaster,
and the ventiports are the dead giveaway. I
appreciate the hawk-eye reading and correction.
A
It looks like a Roadmaster 70, but the three ventiports give it away
Page 20
GOOD READS
Mark Wigginton
The Last Shelby Cobra: My Times With Carroll
Shelby by Chris Theodore, Veloce, 160 pages, $40.74, Amazon
Chris Theodore isn’t a household name, but he was almost
Zelig-like in his career, being involved at both Ford and Chrysler as
Engineering Vice
President at times
when Carroll
Shelby was working
his automotive
and sales magic at
both companies.
The Last
Shelby Cobra
tells his story as it
relates to Shelby,
where he worked
on the Dodge
Viper, the Ford
GT, the Shelby
GT500 and more.
Along the
way he became
a friend and coconspirator
with
Shelby, both in
the design world
and helping
navigate corporate politics.
He went on to buy what is known as the last Cobra, a Ford V10-
powered 2004 prototype known affectionately as Daisy, at an auction
after Shelby’s death. That auction, and that purchase, closed the loop
for Theodore as a friend and co-conspirator with one of the giants of
racing and car building. It’s a fun journey.
Lineage:
(
Fit and finish:
is best)
Drivability:
Lost Muscle Car Dealerships: The Rise & Fall
of America’s Greatest High-Performance
Automobile Dealers
by Duncan Brown, CarTech, 192 pages, $33.85, Amazon
Duncan Brown
has created a history
of car dealerships in
the ’60s and ’70s that
specialized or made
their reputation providing
go-fast cars
for a market far from
the grocery-getters
they normally sold.
He describes
some of the most
famous dealerships
and the people (or,
often, person) who
turned that individual
lot into a mecca
for enthusiasts in
the know. Some of
the dealerships have
recognizable names,
often from their
drag-race sponsorship
origins: Yenko
Chevrolet is a prime example.
But unless you are deep into the motoring arcane, the sort of per-
son who feels the need to know minor executives and sub-designers
who worked on classic cars, you might want to avoid this one.
However, if you care, it’s well researched and well presented. As
they say, your mileage may vary.
Lineage:
Fit and finish:
Drivability:
by Tom Madigan, Motorbooks, 299 pages, $20.83, Amazon
Mickey Thompson: The Lost Story of the Original Speed King
in His Own Words
Tom Madigan, who died early in 2019, was one of those automotive writers who found
his muse in the stories of racing, fascinated by the characters and the arcs of their lives in
the world of fast machines, champions and danger.
Mickey Thompson was such a character, and in the early 1970s Madigan and Thompson
came together to write Thompson’s story. It was on assignment, and the result was for
Thompson to do with what he wanted, when he wanted.
Madigan spend long hours interviewing Thompson, then doing follow-up research
and sourcing. It turned out to be an experience as mercurial as Thompson himself, who
resisted being led or going places in his memory that weren’t comfortable on one occasion,
then proved effusive and open the next.
The resulting manuscript, finished in the ’70s, was delivered to Thompson and
dropped into a desk drawer, only to resurface upon his death in 1988. Madigan finally got
a chance to finish the book in 2018, months before his own death.
It’s a terrific look at Mickey Thompson, from his early days running the famous Long
Beach Drag Strip (know as Lions for the owners, a group of Lions clubs) through drag
racing himself, land-speed cars and off-road racing. A great read.
Lineage:
22 AmericanCarCollector.com
Fit and finish:
Drivability:
Page 22
New Products to Modernize Your Street Machine
PARTS TIME
Jim Pickering
Fresh Quarters
Sourcing the proper, high-quality replacement sheet metal for your restoration can be a challenge, especially when you have something other
than a Camaro. For those of you with a 1964–65 Tempest, LeMans or GTO coupe or convertible in need of quarter panels, NPD has the solution
for you. Modeled off of NOS GM pieces, these units feature crisp, well-defined character lines, OE fit, and are stamped in 20-gauge steel. They
come finished in electro-deposit primer for corrosion resistance. Coupe units are $599.95 each and convertible pieces are $549.95 each. Get them
at www.npdlink.com.
Noise Now
Muscle car
things: power
noise. Upping t
factor isn’t tou
custom exhau
early morning C
Coffee startup
won’t win you
or your
purple
Mopar any
friends in you
neighborhood. That’s where Granatelli
comes in — their electronic exhaust
cutouts are some of the best in the business. These units don’t leak
when closed and offer a full roar at the touch of a button. They use a
special controller with an internal processor, utilized to prevent overextension
of the valve gearing. They come complete with everything
needed for installation. Prices vary by size, but a dual 2.5-inch slip-fit
kit in aluminized steel is $313.50 at www.summitracing.com.
Stainless-steel weld-in options are available as well.
24 AmericanCarCollector.com
Juice Clutch
If you’re
building a 1967
or 1968 Mustang
with a modern
manual overdrive
transmission
— or you’d just
like less pedal
effort with your
factory 4-speed
— Modern
Driveline has
you covered
with its 1967–68
Mustang/Cougar
Hydraulic Clutch Master Conversion Kit. This kit uses your stock
pedal — and its full factory swing — and uses the stock clutch
rod hole in the firewall. The benefit? Much easier clutch operation
when paired with a hydraulic slave and your factory gearbox,
and the ability to swap over to a modern hydraulically actuated
5- or 6-speed overdrive using the OE pedal box. Other makes and
models are available, too. Get the Mustang unit for $235 at www.
moderndriveline.com.
Page 24
COOL STUFF
Chad Taylor
Axle Adaptation
An engine stand is an invaluable tool when you are rebuilding that
small block for your Camaro. But once you’re done, it becomes a coat
rack, taking up precious space in the garage. Give that stand another
life with a set of Auto Dolly Engine Stand Axle Adapters. They are
made from ¼-inch steel and have a hefty 500-pound limit. Bolt them right to an engine stand and work on an axle safely at any angle or level.
Get one at www.summitracing.com for $54.99.
The Ultimate Sheen
It’s not easy to find time to
hand-wash your car and apply a
fresh coat of wax. When you do
make the time, make it count using
the best wax you can. Meguiar’s
Ultimate Liquid Wax is a pure
synthetic hydrophobic wax that
provides maximum depth of color
and shine while keeping your paint
protected. Using Meguiar’s thinfilm
technology, Ultimate Liquid
Wax is easy to apply and remove,
even in the sun. Also included is
one of Meguiar’s soft foam applicators
and a microfiber towel. Get
it now at www.meguiarsdirect.
com for $22.99.
Hand-Crafted Cruiser
Box up that cardboard puzzle of a cute kitten, grab your tools and start assembling the Royal Voyager metal mechanical model from Time for
Machine. The model kit comes with 123 pieces of polished stainless steel that, once assembled, become a miniature 1970s luxury cruiser. The
doors, hood and trunk lid open, and with a wind-up mechanism instead of a thirsty V8, the model even moves under its own power. Check out
all of Time for Machines’ products and find the Royal Voyager for $79.95 at www.timeformachine.com.
26 AmericanCarCollector.com
Page 26
SNAPSHOTS: Arizona Auction Week
Desert Dreams
American Highlights from Scottsdale
The colorful desert sky casts a warm glow
on a Pontiac GTO at Russo and Steele
Photos by Jim Pickering
Page 27
The auction assembly line at the biggest
show in Arizona: Barrett-Jackson
Finned classics like this ’59 Chevrolet Impala brought big money
at Leake
Resto-mod Corvettes are seeing serious interest in the market in
2020
March–April 2020 29
Page 28
WRENCHING: HOW TO
REALITY CHECK
What’s the process like for evaluating a car before it’s auctioned?
The pros at Barrett-Jackson show us how they do it
by Kevin Whipps
L
et’s say that you’re in the market for a new vehicle and you go
to an auction to pick one up. You want it to be 100% original,
numbers matching, the whole enchilada. If one comes across
the block, how do you know it’s authentic? Is it the real deal, or
did someone build it up from a lesser example?
This is the problem facing buyers and sellers at every collector-car
auction.
Barrett-Jackson has come up with a way to solve this issue. They
don’t offer a verification service with their sales. Instead, they confirm
that the vehicle in question is, in fact, what the consignor claims
it is in their description. This way, before the car even crosses the
block, bidders know that what they see listed on the car card is what’s
actually out in front of them. And for good reason, too.
On the one hand, it’s about liability. Say you bought your dream
vehicle and you find out it’s not what it was purported to be. In that
scenario, Barrett-Jackson has a problem to deal with, and they don’t
want that at all. What if Barrett-Jackson makes up a tag for the window
and makes a claim about something that the car doesn’t have?
Then they’re not representing what’s actually for sale, and that’s not
good for business, either.
Ultimately, they want to make sure that both the buyer and seller
30 AmericanCarCollector.com
are happy. And to do that, they have to make sure that what’s coming
in is what it says it is, and that it’s the same coming out.
This is not an easy process to do with a small amount of cars, but
the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale event had more than 1,900 in January,
and that makes things a lot more difficult. Fortunately, they’ve been
doing this for almost 50 years now, so they have a good handle on
how it goes down.
The folks at Barrett-Jackson took us behind the scenes to see
exactly what it’s like going through the lanes, from initial inspection
all the way to parking. Then they also showed us their verification
area, where vehicles are checked out by experts such as David Wise
(Mopar), Jason Billups (Ford), Jim and JB Mattison (GM), John
Ballard (Corvette), Jerry MacNeish (GM), Mark Schwartz (RestoMod)
and others in an effort to make sure the cars are what the sellers
claim they are. It’s a fascinating deep dive into what makes this
powerful auction tick.
But there’s one important thing to take away from this process: If
you want to do this type of thing yourself, you either need to become
an expert on the type of vehicle you want to buy or hire one to do the
work for you. That encyclopedic knowledge of the model is critical to
making sure that what’s in front of you is what it’s claiming to be.
Page 29
HERE IT IS: The spot where every car that goes over the block starts. Vehicles are unloaded here, put through a basic inspection, and then passed on to
the more thorough parts of the process.
2
1
Things run fast right out of the gate, and the car I’m introduced to is a 1966 Chevrolet
Corvette 427/390 coupe. The very first step is an initial inspection, and that begins with
looking under the passenger’s side of the dash to verify the VIN.
Each inspector has a tablet to use for
the process. As they go through and
make sure everything is up to par,
they check it off the list until everything is done.
4
3
Once the initial inspection is complete, a sticker is printed and stuck on the top of the driv-
er’s side of the windshield. This is a surface inspection at this point, so all they’re looking for
is the basics. The big stuff comes next.
A matching windshield sticker is also
printed out and put onto the key bag.
This will stay with the car and the driver
until it’s parked. Then it will be put into the Key
Control Room, where it’s secured and properly
sorted.
March–April 2020 31
Page 30
WRENCHING: HOW TO
5
Any additional notes that are necessary for the next step are put
down on the key bag itself. This way, nobody has to hunt for
things such as the VIN location.
6
The car is then carefully driven by a designated driver to the next
stop. It’s not a long stretch to drive, but with lots of cross traffic, it
can be stressful.
9
7
Now at the next leg of the journey, the car is given a good once-over. If there are documents
that come with it, they’re presented here, then turned over to the Property Room. The idea
is to make sure that everything that’s on the window sticker (Barrett-Jackson calls it a car
card) is actually on the car.
The check-in slip and all necessary
paperwork are also verified.
10
8
Another thing that happens here is that every bit of the car is captured on video using a
tablet. This way if there’s a dispute about the condition of the car later, there’s proof of how
it was delivered to the auction.
32 AmericanCarCollector.com
Now the car card is gone through as
well. The goal is to make sure that
what’s printed here is actually on the
car. If it’s not? Well, then they have to make a
determination: Is it simple enough to just
change the listing details? Or is it a big enough
deal that it needs to go through a more thorough
examination?
Page 32
WRENCHING: HOW TO
11
In this case, there was a problem: The
listing said it had a side exhaust, but
the car didn’t. The solution? Scratch
out that detail on the listing and send it off for
correction.
12
The car is then driven by the same driver to its designated park-
ing spot, which in this case was in Tent 9. The driver is guided
into a parking space, and — this is the tricky part — has to
look only at the guide while driving in reverse. It’s how all the cars get
parked so perfectly, but it goes against your instincts as a driver.
15
14
Of course, we’re not quite done yet. The
next stop is one tent that holds two key
spots: the Key Control Room and the
Property Room.
34 AmericanCarCollector.com
All key bags
are placed
in the ap-
propriately named
Key Return Box.
13
And there it is: Lot 1021 parked and ready for the show. A few days
later, it crossed the Barrett-Jackson auction block and sold for
$85,800.
Page 33
16
Any property
for the
vehicle is
now put into the
system, and that
starts by filling out
the Property
Check-In Sheet.
Anything that comes
with the car — extra
wheels, paperwork,
etc. — is all logged
in here.
19
17
If it’s small enough to fit into a manila envelope, it’s placed in
one, tagged, and sorted by day. Then it’s put into the other half
of the tent, which looks like it also might hide the Ark of the
Covenant.
Inside are four four-post lifts and a few experts divided up by
brand: Chevy, Pontiac, Ford, etc. These teams are there to do
deeper dives into as many vehicles as possible, with the goal
being to confirm whether the car is as authentic as the paperwork and
owner claim it to be.
20
18
Tucked away from all the main action is this nondescript tent.
Turns out this is where a lot of the real action is.
Inside, I meet two of those experts: Jerry MacNeish and Norm
Meads, who walk me through an inspection of Lot 1004.1, a 1968
Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 RS. (It ended up selling for $72,600.) The
first thing they check is the VIN, which is also stamped on the body under
the cowl. If it’s not there, or it doesn’t match the one on the dash, it could
be a body swap, and the appropriate actions are taken.
March–April 2020 35
Page 34
WRENCHING: HOW TO
21
The underside of the car is inspected as well, with the numbers
verified on the transmission and, moving back under the hood,
the engine. The cool thing is that if they need to unbolt a part or
move something to do their job, they will. It’s just another way to make
sure they’ve got the right vehicle in front of them.
22
Even the numbers on the axle are checked. If the paperwork says
it was built at a certain time but the axle says otherwise, they’ll
also make adjustments to the ticket. This is particularly important
in claims of having a numbers-matching vehicle. If anything isn’t what it’s
claimed to be, Barrett-Jackson makes sure the car card is adjusted accordingly.
If everything matches, the car is off to the auction. A
Sold! Sold! Sold! — that’s the goal when all’s said and done
Courtesy of Barrett-Jackson
36 AmericanCarCollector.com
Page 36
READERS’ FORUM
Crowdsourcing Answers to Your Car Questions
Contact us at: American Car Collector, P.O. Box 4797, Portland, OR 97208 or online at comments@americancarcollector.com
The $50k
Challenge
Jim Pickering
This month’s Readers’ Forum question:
In honor of our 50th issue, let’s say you have $50k to spend in the market right now. You can buy whatever car you want — but only
one car.
Justify it however you want: return on investment, fun factor, etc. Is it a glossy C10 resto-mod? A needy LS6 Chevelle? A driver-
level Road Runner? The best low-miles 5.0 Mustang you can find? A used Hellcat?
Maybe a project truck makes the most sense. Or maybe an older restoration on a Tri-Five is where the money is for you. What do
you buy and why?
Readers respond:
In the last 10 years, I have bought and sold three different high-
cost muscle cars, including a mint 1966 427/425 Corvette coupe for
$95,000. My buy would be an excellent-condition 1969 Chevelle SS.
It would have to be the “396” 375-hp L78 motor. It would have to have
the M21 4-speed and I would want it to have a bench seat. In the next
10 years, that car would give me the best return on my investment. —
Donald Donadio Jr., Butler, NJ
n n n
I would buy whatever light blue ’63–67 Corvette Sting Ray I could
38 AmericanCarCollector.com
find. No need for a big engine, and certainly one I could drive every
day. It’s the car I’ve dreamed about since I was 7. — Timothy Scott,
Jackson, NH
n n n
For me, simple: 1969–71 Lincoln Mark III. Distinctive, great build
quality, mechanically accessible, not plentiful, but not rare, either.
Back in 1982, I was a teenager trying to keep my AMC Pacer on the
road. As I entered my favorite salvage yard, sitting in the front row
was a triple-white behemoth: a Mark III. Why junk such a lovely car?
It hurt that I could not save it. And I still want one. Super-nice ones
Page 37
are well under $50k, most under $20k, leaving room for minor fixes
and an addition to my garage. — Andy Bogus, San Pedro, CA
n n n
I will be buying a low-mileage 1987 Buick Grand National. I
would purchase it to help diversify my investment portfolio for retirement.
This particular Turbo Buick model is rising in price daily in the
collector-car market because they only made a little over 20,740 units
in 1987 — the last production year. I would also occasionally cruise it
on the weekend, though, to a car show or two. — J. Wesley, via email
n n n
The best ’70–72 Chevy Blazer or GMC Jimmy I could find. —
Michael Thoele, via email
n n n
I’d spend most of the $50k on a #2-quality 4-speed 1970 Trans Am
with just enough left over to get the title changed and fill up the tank
for a nice, long, fun drive! — Ric Pratt, via email
n n n
I would buy a 1968 or 1969 Plymouth GTX 440. My favorite color
would be B5 blue. My stepfather bought one brand new and I drove
that car. Loved the power of that motor — can’t beat the big-block
Mopars. I currently own a 1971 Demon 340. All I need now is a bigblock.
— Frank Fernandez, via email
n n n
Best buy for under $50k is a 1970 Cougar XR-7 convertible, 351-
4V M-code Cleveland. A super sleeper car! — Bob Bassett, via email
n n n
I would restore my 1968 Ford Bronco wagon that I purchased 30
years ago for $3,500 and give it to my grandson Cody. I promised it to
him when he was only 4 years old. He is now 26 and he has promised
to hand it down to his son or grandson when his days of caring for
it are done. It has the original 289 V8, which needs to be rebuilt.
Everything is original except it has Showa dual-shock suspension and
the wheelwells were cut out. It has been repainted in its original color.
It is rust-free, so the project should be doable for less than the $50k.
I also belong to the Automobile Restoration Club in Sun City West,
AZ. I know the guys would love to strip it down and do a frame-off
I will be buying a low-mileage 1987 Buick Grand
National. I would purchase it to help diversify my
investment portfolio for retirement. This particular
Turbo Buick model is rising in price daily in the
collector-car market because they only made a little
over 20,740 units in 1987 — the last production
year.
restoration. It has always been garaged since I purchased it and has
been used on several hunting trips in the Pacific Northwest. — Norm
Knesal, via email
n n n
The best bang for your buck is a 2008 or ’09 Z06 Corvette.
They’re less than $50k if you shop wisely.
I’m on my ninth Corvette and am ordering a 2021, but I am keep-
ing my C6 Anniversary 427 Collector Edition.
My 2008 black-on-black Z06 was my best ’Vette. My only sugges-
tion is put on real tires. Sorry, boys, the C7 never did it for me, and
they are taking a tumble value-wise with the C8 hitting the streets.
— Les Hastey, via email
n n n
Without any question, it would be a 1965 Pontiac GTO 2-door
hard top in Nightwatch Blue with a medium blue interior. As original
as possible, 389 and a 4-speed.
Factory Rally wheels and Goodyear Blue Streak tires. Splitter
exhaust tips. My reasons? Not only beautifully styled, but also
nostalgic, since a very good friend had one before I could have ever
dreamed of being able to afford one of my own. — Jerry, via email
n n n
This is a loaded question for me, since my tastes have grown into
Jim Pickering
I have seen a noticeable uptick in pricing for Chevy
Blazers over the past few years. This uptick has
created quiet a buzz in the Blazer world, and I have
seen numerous owners sink good money in their
Blazers in hopes for that big payday.
more-unique, less-expensive models. However, when watching Car
Month (Mecum and Barrett-Jackson), I notice that there were some
good deals on Chevy Blazers (including some 1970–72). Owning
one myself, I have seen a noticeable uptick in pricing for them over
the past few years. This uptick has created quiet a buzz in the Blazer
world, and I have seen numerous owners sink good money in their
Blazers in hopes for that big payday.
The Blazers at Barrett-Jackson seemed to stand out more, but that
could be the simple fact that there seemed to be a noticeable increase
on the docket. I saw some great examples (Lot 695 and 834) cross the
block in the mid-$40ks, and with buyer’s premium, that would take
us to the $50k benchmark. A great versatile vehicle with room for
the whole family and a removable top. Who could ask for anything
more? — Jay Parrish, via emailA
March–April 2020 39
Page 38
CHEAP THRILLS
B. Mitchell Carlson
Arizona’s CHEAPEST
Y
You decide.
GOODING & COMPANY
Part of the Portland-based Tonkin Collection, this Kaiser
Vagabond was done at $10,080. It has “two doors too many” for most
folks — it’s only us cheapos who really value a 4-door. Not quite a
wagon but more than a sedan, these unique Vagabonds are usually
high on the hit list for Kaiser-Frazer fans — but those guys are getting
to be few and far between. For those who like frumpy, odd 1950s
sedans, this was a good buy.
WORLDWIDE AUCTIONEERS
Lot 62: 1927 Ford Model T Custom Dry-Lakes Roadster
VIN T14884116. Sold at $11,200
This one took a lot of folks by surprise. The auction house guess-
timate was $20k to $25k. It was a good-quality build, even if it was
in off-the-shelf project-leftovers territory. With a fuel-injected Chevy
305 small block, 700R4, and modern 4-wheel disc brakes, it would
take that $20k estimate to build one.
It may not be the most practical hot rod out there, but if you want
practicality, get a new half-ton pickup. Well bought.
RM SOTHEBY’S
For every high auction-week sale, there’s a low-price counterpart
ou might 2020’s Arizona Auction Week reflected a down year. But those of us at the entry level of the market might have been caught
whistling “Happy days are here again.”
The baseline of the hobby is doing well, as was seen at all eight of the venues around Phoenix in January. But “Cheap Thrills” isn’t
about high sales and record-breakers. It’s about inexpensive fun.
On that note, here are the cheapest domestic consignments from the Arizona sales, from most expensive to least. Cheap? Thrilling?
Lot 56: 1972 Ford Thunderbird
VIN 2Y87N129498. Sold at $9,350
I have a soft spot for big 1970s FoMoCo products, especially
Mark-series Lincolns. From this year through 1976, Big Bird was a
mechanical clone of the Continental Mark IV. The 429-ci base engine
and different trim are the biggest differences from the 460-ci-powered
Mark IV. This one only had one owner from new, with 55,783
miles on the clock — although the tin worm was living under that
vinyl roof. The only thing putting me off about the car was the color
combination. At $9,350, it sold a bit rich compared to the market.
BONHAMS
Lot 205: 1949 Kaiser Vagabond sedan
VIN K492038169. Sold at $10,080
40 AmericanCarCollector.com
Lot 85: 1926 Ford Model T roadster
VIN 3986126. Sold at $5,600
Page 39
Model Ts are seeing something of a renaissance, but don’t go sell-
ing your Hemi ’Cuda to buy every one you can get at estate sales. It’s
more a case of demand finally starting to catch up with oversupply,
with younger folks (read that as anyone who doesn’t have Medicare)
deciding to see what all the oldsters had been making a fuss about. Sold
cheap enough to modify, but I say leave it as-is and teach your kids how
to drive it. It’s expendable enough and they’ll thank you later.
BARRETT-JACKSON
LEAKE AUCTIONS
Lot 303: 1979 Mercury Cougar 2-door coupe
VIN 9H93H701834. Sold at $550
As the new kid on the block in Maricopa County, Leake had a
Lot 13: 1993 Chevrolet Caprice 4-door wagon
VIN 1G1BL83EXPW109443. Sold at $3,520
Once you get away from minty virgin 1994–96 Roadmasters, GM
B-body wagons start to get cheap (despite still having a cult following,
mostly among you, my “Cheap Thrills” brethren). Revamped
with a repaint, custom DiNoc wood trim (Caprice wagons could be
had with plastic lumber as an option), retro-look 17-inch Rally wheels
and an obligatory surfboard, you could do a whole lot worse for the
cheapest car at the biggest auction in Arizona.
MAG AUCTIONS
docket that had something for everyone — even “Cheap Thrills”
seekers. The winner here was this unassuming Cougar.
Granted, I’ve had unassuming Cougars surprise me
in the past, but she now lives on the East Coast with
a new boyfriend.
Granted, I’ve had unassuming Cougars surprise me in the past, but
she now lives on the East Coast with a new boyfriend. This Merc with
the optional 351M engine, air conditioning, snooze control, tilt steering
column and Quadrasonic 8-track tape deck should’ve really been trading
for $1,500 or $2k on a bad day. It was one of the first cars to sell on
Friday. This was a great deal. I hope a FoMoCo fan got it.
RUSSO AND STEELE
Lot 314: 1938 Chevrolet Master 2-door sedan
VIN 5HB127842. Sold at $2,970
And this is how you can do worse. This small-block 350-powered
half-baked street rod took the low honors at MAG. Speaking of
half-baked, you could have spent more time waiting for a pizza to
cook than was spent working this one’s body filler. They say you can
hide a refrigerator in a white paint job, but how about a 53-foot reefer
trailer? Hopefully bought as a parts donor for another ’38 Chevy.
You could have spent more time waiting for a pizza
to cook than was spent working this one’s body
filler.
Lot TH220: 2000 Chrysler 300M 4-door sedan
VIN 2C3HE66G8YH137405. Sold at $330
Cheapest-sale honors go to Russo this year. I had a 1999 (first
year of the 300M) as a trusty winter beater a few years ago. That one
cost more than double what this one did, ran great, but had more rust
and every single panel was dented, dinged or creased in one way or
another. I didn’t buy it as a future collectible, and neither should you.
Even at used-appliance money, this was well sold. A
March–April 2020 41
Page 40
HORSEPOWER
Jay Harden
SPOTTING the NEW WAVE
Have we already seen peak demand for vehicles from the ’80s?
Total Number of Lots by Decade — Three Key Sales
Numbers compiled from Barrett-Jackson in Scottsdale, AZ; Mecum in Kissimmee, FL; and RM Sotheby’s in Monterey, CA, 2015–20
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
7,000
8,000
1920s
0
R
ecently, Editor Pickering and I discussed a simple question
that I think may have far-reaching market implications.
We’re constantly scouring market results in an effort to create
a high-level view of the American collector-car market
as a whole, and we got on the topic of cars from the 1980s
and 1990s. That led to a big question — have we already seen peak
demand for vehicles from the ’80s?
To take this on, I knew we’d need some hard and fast numbers to
analyze. Auction Editor Chad Tyson knew just where to look, and he
pulled all the sales data from the past five years for three of the most
influential auctions in the country.
We chose Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale sale because it’s the highest
profile, Mecum’s Kissimmee sale because it has the highest volume,
and RM Sotheby’s Monterey sale because it’s the highest grossing.
What we found when dissecting the numbers may surprise you — it
certainly surprised me.
Generational shift
Now, before we talk about lots from the 1980s, let’s first talk about
42 AmericanCarCollector.com
expectations by decade at these three auctions. The first thing to note
is that sales of vehicles built before 1950 are drying up here — that’s
a fact.
Lots dating from 1900 to 1920 are virtually nonexistent in
this data — the sample set isn’t even sizeable enough to evaluate.
Lumping all lots representing the ’20s, ’30s and ’40s together accounts
for barely 10% of the total lots across the three auctions, and
each decade is exhibiting sporadic and scattered results. Put simply,
buyers, at least at these auctions, are moving on.
For some time now, the bread and butter of our selected auctions
have been cars built between 1950 and 1972. Over the past five years,
over 61% of all B-J Scottsdale lots and just over 50% of all lots for
both Mecum and RM Sotheby’s have fallen into that 22-year window.
You shouldn’t expect those numbers to change dramatically in the
next few years, but we are starting to see signs that lots representing
the 1950s are losing steam both in terms of number sold and in average
sale prices.
Pickering and I have been discussing this trend for some time
now, and I anticipate we’ll see the decline accelerate dramatically in
1930s
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970–72
1973–80
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
Page 41
five years’ time. Aside from a handful of iconic models, cars from
the 1950s simply do not seem to resonate with the younger buyers in
today’s markets the way that vehicles from 1960 onward do.
What about the 1980s?
Now, let’s dig into the meat and potatoes of this effort. The first
thing that jumped out at me was that the numbers didn’t exactly align
with my hypothesis.
For example, let’s start with the B-J results. The buckets repre-
senting 1973–79, the 1980s and the 1990s are much more comparable
to one another than I had anticipated. Note that I elected to exclude
1970–72 from the first bucket in an effort to avoid skewing the results
with sales that I think we can all agree belong in a different era.
The total number of lots in each bucket accounted for around the
same percentage of the sale total (about 5%), and the average sale
prices were within a whisker of each other. I had expected to see a
wave of interest moving across the late ’70s and into the ’80s and/or
’90s, but there really was no wave. The numbers slowly crept up from
2015 until last year, but this year’s results saw all three decades drop
in interest.
I eventually found the wave I was looking for, but it was not
where I expected it to be. Vehicles built between 2000 and 2009 have
outpaced each of the prior three decades by about 2-to-1 at two of our
three sample auctions.
In fact, if we throw the results from all three auctions into one
big pile and combine everything built between 1973 and 1999 into
one bucket, they account for about 20% of the total lots offered at the
three auctions over the past five years. Cars built between 2000 and
2009 represent about 13%. If we look at total dollars, the gap closes
even more. As the number of lots from the 1950s has waned, the
2000s have waxed — particularly at B-J and RM Sotheby’s. Should
we be surprised?
A new story
It’s a common notion that there should always be a strong market seg-
ment made up of buyers chasing vehicles that influenced their formative
years. We expect to see buyers moving into the market in earnest around
the age of 40, with the 50- to 60-year-old market holding the most sway.
So the current market’s most formidable buyers should be turning the
heat up on anything built between the mid-’70s and early-’90s.
Why aren’t the market results telling that same story?
If we’re being honest, I think we can count the collectible
American vehicles built between 1973 and 1999 on two hands. You
could also argue that vehicles from the 2000s are still new enough
as to not really be collectible yet, but they do represent a golden age
of automobile manufacturing where technology, functionality and
performance really began to come together. That’s key.
So where do we go from here? Trucks and SUVs from the ’70s,
’80s and ’90s are going to continue to sell strong for the foreseeable
future, but I think the number of high-demand models across manufacturers
is going to remain much lower than what we’ve seen with
’60s and early-’70s cars. I’ll also be surprised if we don’t see some
sort of uptick in vehicles from the ’90s, but we may need to get used
to the ’80s trading at a simmer rather than a boil.
As for the 2000s, I’m still trying to make up my mind. Are sales
up because new cars have turned outrageously expensive and earlymillennium
rides are still affordable, reliable, and comfortable? Are
they being traded for their service or for collectibility? Seems too
early to know for sure, but the surge makes sense to me even if I
wasn’t fully expecting it yet. A
March–April 2020 43
Page 42
ON THE ROAD
Elana Scherr
CHOOSE WISELY
A Turbo T/A resto is like a Choose Your Own Adventure book.
Each new chapter brings a choice to make
Go in the spooky castle or cross the spooky field first?
D
oing an exact restoration on a classic car is like reading a
novel. There may be twists and turns along the way, but
someone has done the work of plotting it out for you. You
can’t change the ending, nor, for a proper resto, do you want
to.
Working on our ’81 Turbo Trans Am — no, we haven’t given up
on it — is more like a Choose Your Own Adventure story. At the
end of each chapter, you have a choice to make: Do you go in the
spooky castle? Turn around and call for help? Try your luck across
the spooky field?
The point is, when you are working on a car that nobody ever
thought would be worthy of restoration, the story arc gets a bit
tangled. At each new chapter, you have a choice to make.
Poncho power
In chapter one, Tom and I decided against engine-swapping our
T/A. First off, we live in California, so plopping a nice, big Ram
Air 400 in the ’bird isn’t a smog-friendly option. It is possible to
legally upgrade to a more modern powerplant, but it requires a lot of
paperwork.
44 AmericanCarCollector.com
The coolest part of an ’81 Trans Am — if it works
Also, I respect LS engines, but I don’t love them, and I’m not so
much of a heretic as to put a Hellcat or a diesel in a Pontiac. I mean,
I would support you doing it, but the ’81 Trans Am is the last year of
Pontiac V8s in a Pontiac. I want to maintain that. Thus we made our
first choice: Enter the spooky draw-through turbo 301 castle.
Subsequent chapters were fairly easy to navigate. The wiring
harnesses were trashed, and replacement computer-control harnesses
aren’t available, so there was no choice other than repairing the
ones we had with a mix of soldered-in wires and delicately rescued
connectors off used harnesses. If you have never crawled around
your garage looking for the silicone seal of a Weather Pack connector
that launched itself skyward like Icarus aiming for glory, well then,
friend, you have never truly lived.
Lessons learned
While we had the engine stripped down, we had the option of
pulling the whole mill and going through it. Instead, we chose to
mask off the bay and paint the top end in place and then reassemble
the labyrinth of turbo pipes that locks it into place.
Did we regret this? Not at first, but when a mysterious coolant
Page 43
leak became a small lake under the Trans Am and it turned out to be
a rotten fitting all the way at the back of the engine underneath all the
recently reinstalled plumbing, it turned out to be a good lesson. Just
because the mechanic before you installed a new hose doesn’t mean
that hose is fitted to a solid piece of metal. I mean, you’d think, right?
Sigh.
Our carburetor chapter was another one where we didn’t have a lot
of choice. The computer-controlled Quadrajet for the ’81 California
It all blurs together in a haze of yellowed
trouble-shooting schematics and bizarre molded
hoses. Three rounds of ECM-swapping later and the
“check engine” codes fixed themselves, which finally
led us to realize that our vintage scan tool was
causing the problem.
cars was a one-year-only set-up, and peppered with tamper-proof
plugs intended to make adjusting the calibrations impossible. Of
course, that hadn’t stopped the previous mechanic, so Tom took a
deep dive into the Internet in search of base setting instructions for
settings that weren’t supposed to have been changed.
You know you’re in uncharted waters when the only way to adjust
your carb is by knocking a piece off it with a chisel. On the plus side,
we now own some very obscure gauges and float measurement scales
that should be big hits next time I play “Guess the Weird Tool” on
Instagram.
Turbo boost
What else? It all blurs together in a haze of yellowed trouble-
shooting schematics and bizarre molded hoses. Three rounds of
ECM-swapping later and the “check engine” codes fixed themselves,
which finally led us to realize that our vintage scan tool was causing
the problem. That chapter was like being caught in a loop and constantly
sent back to the beginning of the story until we finally made
all the other choices and had none left but the correct one.
Then we came to the turbo-boost light panel. If you’ve never seen
an ’81 Turbo Trans-Am, the boost light panel is the coolest part of the
whole car. It’s cooler than the long, lean hood, cooler than the engineturned
dash, and even cooler than the Screaming Chicken graphics.
The boost lights are three rectangular amber lenses in an offset
scoop on the driver’s side. As you step on the throttle, they light up in
succession from Normal to High. It is the most ridiculous and delightful
boost gauge in the world, and ours wasn’t working. More than not
working, someone had filled the scoop with a blank panel, and the
wiring for the gauges was a lump of melted goo. Oh, and that wiring
is no normal copper strand, it’s a twisted resistance wire that runs all
the way into the console and is both unobtainable and unspliceable.
There is a work-around. TTA Performance in Kenosha, WI, makes
a modernized LED panel that bypasses the need for the resistance
harness. “But it doesn’t look exactly like the original,” said Tom. “But
it will actually work,” I countered. We went to bed mad at each other.
The next day I ordered both the repro kit and an original panel.
As it turns out, Tom had done the same thing, so now we have more
turbo light panels than we know what to do with. But at least we
know we have a choice. A
March–April 2020 45
Rarity wins again
Clearly, with plenty of L72
coupes and convertibles built for
1966 (5,258, to be exact, among
a total ’66 production run of
27,720 units — a new record for
Corvette), the seller and/or auction
house might have felt they
needed a hook to hang their hat
on for this auction lot. And thus,
it was entirely logical to advertise
it as a “425/450” car — even
though the early “450-hp” L72
and later “425-hp” L72 engines
were essentially identical.
Regardless of motive or
method, though, judging by
the price paid, this was a good
call, as the sale price landed an
impressive 50% above the ACC
Pocket Price Guide’s median value for ’66 L72 convertibles.
The result also proved that even though the
market is softer now than in recent years, real jewels
can still shine onstage.
Perfectly ordinary
Besides offering the top engine for 1966 in a desir-
able early-production car (with a mint julip of intrigue
surrounding the “450/425” issue), this lot is actually a
fairly ordinary L72 Corvette — just done to perfection.
The Milano Maroon paint was the second-most-
popular for the year (with 3,799 cars so painted,
compared with 6,100 Nassau Blue units); and likewise,
there were nearly twice as many convertibles as
coupes made for ’66 (17,762 and 9,958, respectively).
Popular options on this car include a Positraction
axle, an AM/FM radio, aluminum knockoff wheels,
Goldline tires and an auxiliary hard top.
The paint, chrome, panel fit, sidepipes, wheels
and tires, interior, engine and engine bay all look
outstanding. Better than as-delivered in late 1965?
Likely, but there’s little doubt this is a Condition 1
car — or maybe a 1- due to a few small blemishes. As
long as the mechanicals were as closely nurtured as
the cosmetics, this would be a complete blast to drive,
with its close-ratio Muncie 4-speed transmission and
all that torque packed under the domed hood.
Where’s the beef?
Unfortunately, little history was given for this car.
Is it numbers matching? Has it always been together
as one car, or have such parts as the aluminum
wheels, exhaust, doors and hood, seats and instruments,
transmission and differential been replaced?
And where’s the window sticker or Protect-O-Plate?
We don’t know.
Another question is the authenticity and originality
of all the replacement components, from seat belts to
fan belts, and from hose clamps to headlights.
The National Corvette Restorers Society (NCRS)
publishes technical information manuals that make
A feather in this car’s cap would’ve been
to submit it for NCRS judging prior
to sale. A car having earned chapter,
regional or national Top Flight honors
gives bidders confidence that they are
purchasing a high-fidelity ’Vette.
purifying Corvettes a relatively straightforward
process. A feather in this car’s cap would’ve been to
submit it for NCRS judging prior to sale. A car having
earned chapter, regional or national Top Flight honors
gives bidders confidence that they are purchasing
a high-fidelity ’Vette.
All of the above considered, the sale price of
$120,400 for this car seemed very strong indeed. In
today’s new collector-car reality, the seller should be
pleased. Well done to whoever found, restored and
offered this car. A
(Introductory description courtesy of RM
Sotheby’s.)
DETAILING
Year produced: 1966
Number produced: 17,762
Original list price: $4,084
Current ACC Median
Valuation: $80,500
Tune-up/major service:
$500 (estimated)
VIN location: Cross brace
under glovebox
Engine # location: On
block in front of right
cylinder head
Alternatives: 1958–60
Corvette 283/290 FI; 1965
Corvette 396 L84 convertible;
1967 Corvette 427
L71 convertible
ACC Investment Grade: A
Comps
1966 Chevrolet Corvette
427/450 convertible
(subject car)
Lot 144, VIN: 194676S102228
Condition: 1Sold
at $109,200
Gooding & Company,
Scottsdale, AZ, 1/18/2019
ACC# 6890963
1966 Chevrolet Corvette
427/450 convertible
Lot 561, VIN: 194676S103313
Condition: 2Sold
at $80,300
The Branson Auction, Branson,
MO, 4/15/2016
ACC# 6799564
1966 Chevrolet Corvette
427/450 convertible
Lot 658.2, VIN:
194676S103666
Condition: 2Sold
at $85,800
Barrett-Jackson, Palm Beach,
FL, 4/7/2011
ACC# 176667
March–April 2020 47
A-body muscle without shelling out
long green for a GTO or Chevelle SS.
While prices on fine examples have
risen steadily, they rival the best of
the intermediate muscle-car competition.
It takes a heavyweight to tackle
a Stage 1 — think Chevelle LS6,
Plymouth Hemi ’Cuda or Mustang
428 SCJ. The rise of F.A.S.T.
(Factory Appearing Stock Tire) has
helped, too. Buick owners have won a
lot of races, and they did it with less
money than a Hemi or L88 owner.
The picture’s changing, however,
and it looks like Buick’s best is closing
in on the competition at the traps
and on the auction block.
A great example
This all leads us to our subject
car: a fine-looking coupe finished in Burnished Brown
with Saddle vinyl roof. It’s a 4-speed with console and
factory air conditioning, so you’re cool and dry while
the competition’s sweating to keep up.
This one has power steering, power disc brakes,
Major trends have altered the
muscle-car market over the past few
years. Even more-obscure models like
the GS are reflecting those changes.
road wheels, tilt steering, tinted glass, custom sport
wheel, floor mats and body side moldings.
It was restored to a very high standard, with good
detail work and superb panel gaps. The fiddly bits
such as battery cables seem to be excellent reproductions,
and doorsills are factory original, complete with
Schutz gun overspray mist. These kinds of flaws aren’t
seen on a lot of restored cars.
A look at recent auctions shows there’s demand
for good examples and very steep prices. You have to
spend over $50k to get a nice Stage 1 car today, which
may not be numbers matching.
A gorgeous red hard top was high-bid to $120,000
at Mecum Indy (Lot F177) in May 2018. A stripper
Stage 1 hard top finished in white with only a console,
buckets, sports wheel and radio commanded a staggering
$135,000 before bidding closed. That car was
numbers matching, restored and had enough paperwork
to justify the national debt.
A stunning blue Stage 1 hard top with just a bench
seat, stick shift and dog dishes sold for an aggressive
$70,200 at Mecum Indy Classic a few years ago. A
nicely restored 4-speed, double green hard top made
$47,080 in 2013. At Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale venue
this year, a nice Stage 1 (Lot 770.1) with matching
numbers, factory a/c and an automatic finished in
similar colors sold for $88,000.
New trends, great opportunities
Major trends have altered the muscle-car market
over the past few years. Even more-obscure models
like the GS are reflecting those changes.
Ten years ago you could buy a solid, numbers-
matching driver GS for $25,000 to $30,000. That
changed by late 2016, when the same money could
only get a base-trim A-body hard top. Real numbersmatching
cars started to sell for upwards of $50k,
depending on options and body style.
The catalog description doesn’t say whether this car
is numbers matching. If it is, the price was a steal. If
it’s a replacement engine, it’s still a good deal because
the car’s really sharp and a 4-gear to boot. You can’t
take a driver car to this level for the price paid here,
so the buyer can’t lose with this one.
The new owner either got a restored numbers-
matching jewel and wore a mask doing it or owns an
excellent no-worries driver ready to hit the road at a
fair price. This was well bought either way. A
(Introductory description courtesy of RM
Sotheby’s.)
1970 Buick GS 455 Stage 1
Lot F203.1, VIN:
446370H165996
Condition: 2
Sold at $70,200
Mecum Auctions, Indianapolis,
IN, 5/15/2015
ACC# 265295
1970 Buick GS 455 Stage 1
Lot ST0115, VIN:
446370H192267
Condition: 1Sold
at $83,460
GAA Classic Cars, Greensboro,
NC, 3/2/2017
ACC# 6827708
DETAILING
Year produced: 1970
Number produced: 8,732 (664
4-speed Stage 1 hard tops)
Original list price: $3,283
Current ACC Median
Valuation: $45,000
Tune up/major service: $300
VIN location: Metal tag,
driver’s side windshield
Engine # location: Between
two front spark plugs and left
exhaust manifold
Alternatives: 1970 Chevrolet
Chevelle SS 454 LS6, 1970
Dodge Challenger R/T, 1970
Ford Torino 429 CJ
ACC Investment Grade: B
Comps
1970 Buick GS 455 Stage 1
Lot F177, VIN: 446370H121924
Condition: 2-
Not sold at $120,000
Mecum Auctions, Indianapolis,
IN, 5/15/2018
ACC# 6869975
March–April 2020 49
Page 48
FOMOCO PROFILE
1968 FORD MUSTANG “BULLITT”
Selling With a Bang
David Newhardt, courtesy of Mecum Auctions
The
excitement
of the
muscle-car
era, Mustang
mania and
the turbulent
1960s, all
in one loud,
banged-up
package
50 AmericanCarCollector.com
VIN: 8R02S125559
by Brad Bowling
• The hero car driven by Steve McQueen in the
1968 Warner Bros. film “Bullitt”
• Featured in the majority of scenes from the
legendary car chase through San Francisco
• Sold to Warner Bros. employee Robert Ross
following the film debut
ACC Analysis This car, Lot F150, sold for
$3,740,000, including buyer’s
premium, at Mecum Auctions’ Kissimmee, FL, auction
on January 10, 2020.
The sale set a record for Mustangs. Considering
the car’s pedigree and history, was anyone really
surprised?
American icon
The car that Steve McQueen drove through the
streets of San Francisco as Frank Bullitt is one of the
few vehicles that can accurately be described as an
icon. The green fastback represents the excitement of
the muscle-car era, Mustang mania and the turbulent
1960s, all in one loud, banged-up package. The
10-minute chase scene is a cornerstone of America’s
car culture.
McQueen, an accomplished car and motorcycle
racer in real life, was Hollywood’s top box-office
action star in 1968. In “Bullitt,” he played a police
detective in charge of protecting a mob trial witness.
The actor and his Solar Productions company
wanted the story to be untainted by studio polishing
and backlot filming. McQueen’s character was not a
typical, clean-cut hero who followed the rules. San
Francisco in the late 1960s had a gritty, grimy side
he wanted to show. Frank Bullitt’s affordable daily
driver was already banged up when it appeared on
the screen, like a lot of cars that have to deal with
big-city traffic. The chase scene used the latest camera
technology and editing techniques — not soundstage
trickery — to make audiences experience every jump.
Everything about “Bullitt” felt real, which helped sell
the story to the viewer.
McQueen never would have dreamed that his
Mustang would become as big a star as he.
Page 49
What’s the fuss?
A typical 1967–68 Mustang GT 390 in number 1
condition sells for far less than McQueen’s hero car.
A recent comparison would be a ’67 4-speed car with
mild cosmetic modifications that GAA Classic Cars
sold on Nov. 7, 2019, for $64,200 (ACC# 6919687).
Prices quickly rise if there is a racing pedigree, such
as the $245,000 sale of the ’68 lightweight drag car
“Daddy Warbucks” that went across the block at
Mecum’s Kissimmee 2017 event. Even replicas of the
McQueen car have broken into six-figure territory,
such as the resto-modded Highland Green 1967
fastback Barrett-Jackson sold for $170,500 at its 2019
Palm Beach sale (ACC# 6901932).
For men and women of a certain generation, Steve
McQueen was the “King of Cool.” In his films, the
former Marine knew how to enter every room with
body language that said, “I’m not here for trouble, but
you don’t want to mess with me.” The characters he
played were always strong but vulnerable, conflicted
but levelheaded. On screen and in person, McQueen
was the guy you wanted as your wingman in a bar, the
driver of your race car, or your cellmate in a World
War II prisoner-of-war camp.
After we lost the 50-year-old actor to cancer in
1980, the public briefly forgot about McQueen,
his legacy, and the Mustang from that old movie.
Fortunately, the video-rental market revived interest
What went across the block in Kissimmee
is a car whose “life” is on full display
— very little has been done to hide
the blemishes it accrued in the hands
of Steve McQueen, Robert Ross, Frank
Marranca and the Kiernan family. The
48-year absence is as much a compelling
part of its history as the 10 minutes it
spent chasing a Charger through San
Francisco.
in his body of work, which eventually added a
substantial premium to absolutely anything he had
once owned or worn. For example, a pair of his Persol
sunglasses sold for $70,200 in 2006. The Porsche 911S
he drove in “Le Mans” went for $1.4m in 2011.
Educated guesses in advance of this car’s sale
estimated it could bring anywhere from $2m to $10m.
On January 31, 2019, ACC’s own Jim Pickering
posted his thoughts about the “McQueen factor”
when it applies to a car sale. A 1949 Chevrolet 3100
pickup once owned by the actor sold last year for
$95,200 (three times its comps) at Bonhams. His 1953
Hudson Hornet brought $165,000 (or five times its
comparables) at RM Auctions’ Fort Lauderdale sale.
At the time, who could have predicted the “Bullitt”
Mustang would go for more than 50 times a “normal”
1967–68 390 fastback?
Layers of history
The “Bullitt” car was not locked away in a time
capsule the day Steve McQueen stepped out of it in
1968. Its movie damage was repaired as inexpensively
DETAILING
Year produced: 1968
Number produced: 6,016*
(1968 Mustang 390 2+2s)
Original list price: $3,250
Current ACC Median
Valuation: $48,500
VIN location: Driver’s side
inner-fender apron, passenger’s
side top of dash
Engine # location: Back of
engine block, passenger’s
side
Alternatives: 1968 Chevrolet
Camaro SS 396, 1968
Pontiac Firebird 400 HO,
1970 Dodge Challenger
R/T 383
ACC Investment Grade: A
(this car)
as possible by the studio before it was sold as a used
car to Robert Ross.
Ross told me in a 1989 interview that he did not
treat it like a valuable treasure; he drove it like most
of us drove muscle cars in the 1960s, and it picked up
a few fresh dents. Frank Marranca bought it in 1970
and enjoyed it for its McQueen halo (which he says
absolutely no one else cared about at that time), as
well as Max Balchowsky’s high-performance engine
and chassis modifications.
After Robert Kiernan bought it in 1974, it spent six
years as a daily driver, during which time it sustained
body damage in an accident. The family’s Great
Danes often rode in the car. It was parked in 1980
and would not move again under its own power until
shortly before its 2018 reveal in Detroit.
What went across the block in Kissimmee is a car
whose “life” is on full display — very little has been
done to hide the blemishes it accrued in the hands of
Steve McQueen, Robert Ross, Frank Marranca and
the Kiernan family. The 48-year absence is as much a
compelling part of its history as the 10 minutes it spent
chasing a Charger through San Francisco.
No Mustang can top it
Some have called this car the “Mona Lisa” of the
Mustang world and the holy grail of movie cars. It is
true that this car had a stunt twin, but that Mustang
(whose VIN ends in 558) was nothing more than
a stripped wreck when it was found in a Mexican
junkyard in 2016. Its on-set destruction, complete
rebuild, and utter lack of connecting history means it
will never be as valuable as McQueen’s hero car, 559.
Carroll Shelby’s 1967 GT500 Super Snake,
the previous high-dollar Mustang record holder
at $2.2m (ACC# 6896510) and the most obvious
“Bullitt” Mustang comparison, is an amazing piece
of American automotive history, of course, but only
a small community of enthusiasts had even heard of
it before it was restored and started showing up in
magazines.
“Bullitt,” on the other hand, has been responsible
for more car-culture converts than any single
automobile on the planet. With that, it’s hard to call it
anything other than well bought. A
(Introductory description courtesy of Mecum
Auctions.)
March–April 2020 51
1967 Ford Mustang GT500
“Eleanor”
Lot S135, VIN: 7R02C179710
Condition: 3
Sold at $1,070,000
Mecum Auctions, Indianapolis,
IN, 5/18/2013
ACC# 216486
*Statistics provided are copyright Ford
Motor Company and Marti Auto
Works. More information can be
obtained at www.martiauto.com.
Comps
1967 Shelby GT500 “Super
Snake” fastback
Lot F124, VIN: 67402F4A00544
Condition: 1
Sold at $2,200,000
Mecum Auctions, Kissimmee,
FL, 1/10/2019
ACC# 6896510
1966 Batmobile (original
George Barris)
Lot 5037, VIN: X150A07365G
Condition: 3
Sold at $4,620,000
Barrett-Jackson, Scottsdale, AZ,
1/15/2013
ACC# 214858
Page 50
MOPAR PROFILE
1969 DODGE SUPER BEE A12
The Right Stuff
This car was
sold at “Mr.
Norm’s”
GrandSpaulding
Dodge. That’s
a real plus
for the right
Mopar-crazy
buyer
VIN: WM23M9A261769
by John L. Stein
• Real “Mr. Norm’s” Super Bee A12 Six Pack
• Sold at Grand-Spaulding Dodge in Chicago
• Period-correct 440-ci Magnum Six Pack
• Edelbrock aluminum manifold
• Triple Holley carburetors
• Matching-numbers 4-speed manual transmission
• Super Trak Pak Dana 60 axle
• Lift-off fiberglass hood
• Hubcap, power steering and power brakes delete
• Correct H-code wheels
• Original broadcast sheet
• Original fender tag
• Original radiator-support stampings
• Signed by Norm Krause
ACC Analysis This car, Lot 789, sold for
$117,700, including buyer’s pre-
mium, at Barrett-Jackson’s auction in Scottsdale, AZ,
on January 16, 2020.
San Francisco may have been full of music, love
and flower power in 1969, but on the mean streets of
Chicago, near Grand-Spaulding Dodge, an entirely
different kind of social evolution was under way: racing
on the streets.
Each year during the 1960s, Detroit automakers
kicked out ever-more-exciting products to entice new
customers. And of course, the boardroom executives
were driven to dominate the sales charts. They did it in
the most innovative way — by helping their customers
feel like they were dominating the streets.
52 AmericanCarCollector.com
A rare Bee
The Super Bee Six Pack was a bare-bones machine
designed to win, which is evident in its details, such
as NASCAR-style hood pins. The invention probably
granted owners a sore back from lifting that big
ping-pong-table-sized hood off the car whenever they
wanted to check the oil. But the point was to show that
this car’s only job was to shut the other guy down,
whether on street or strip.
The inconvenience of having to remove the hood
for inspection or service, plus the intentional lack of
hubcaps, power brakes and power steering in the Six
Pack (also known as the “A12 package” or “M code,”
per the VIN plate), meant that this car was all about
business. When this is your car, you’re the boss.
In reality, such minor mods would only incrementally
help performance. Eliminating the power losses
Courtesy of Barrett-Jackson
Page 51
associated with driving a power steering pump via
pulleys and V-belt would result in only fractionally
more vroom going to the rear wheels (via 4.10:1 gears
in this case), and the weight loss from the missing
hubcaps, steering pump and brake booster assembly
would likewise improve the power-to-weight ratio
only slightly. And so, quite likely, omitting these components
had more to do with making the Super Bee
affordable during the peak muscle-car years, and to
give it the right image. “Super Bee can lower your E.T.
and your payments at the same time,” said a period
Dodge ad.
Deep, dark secrets
Just 1,907 Super Bee A12 Six Pack cars were built
as special orders in mid-1969 only. The Super Bee Six
Pack included an Edelbrock aluminum intake manifold
supporting three 2-barrel Holleys on top of the 440-ci
Magnum V8 — hence the “Six Pack” name. The 440
While quick, this isn’t a small or nimble
car by today’s standards. It’s over 17 feet
long with a 117-inch wheelbase, and
weighs some 3,435 pounds. It may shut
your buddy down on the way to Dead
Man’s Curve, but after that it would be
all over against any Sting Ray or XKE
that you encountered.
also boasted a special camshaft, 10.5:1 pistons, magnafluxed
connecting rods, and a dual-point distributor.
Rated output was 390 hp and 490 ft-lb of torque.
Other Six Pack ingredients included the customer’s
choice of a heavy-duty TorqueFlite automatic or a
4-speed manual gearbox with a Hurst Competition/
Plus shifter, a Dana 60 Sure Grip axle, the aforementioned
matte-black lift-off fiberglass hood with its
cavernous scoop, heavy-duty 11-inch drum brakes,
and bare black 15-by-6-inch steel wheels wrapped in
G70-15 Polyglas Redline tires.
One thing’s for sure — the Hemi Orange paint on
this particular lot was just about as wild as you could
get in period. It’s right in there with Plum Crazy, Top
Banana and Panther Pink, also offered by Mopar.
Done to the nines
This restoration looks superb, with nary a misfitted
piece of carpet nor a wayward wrinkle in the upholstery.
Non-original, date-coded blocks are broadly
accepted in show judging today, which is a good
thing, because this car lost its original engine and has
instead a “period-correct” date-coded unit. However,
the original manual transmission remains.
While quick, this isn’t a small or nimble car by
today’s standards. It’s over 17 feet long with a 117-inch
wheelbase, and weighs some 3,435 pounds. It may shut
your buddy down on the way to Dead Man’s Curve,
but after that it would be all over against any Sting
Ray or XKE that you encountered.
However, unlike such relatively smaller coupes, the
Super Bee could also make a viable highway ride (if not
for its 4.10 gears — but a bolt-on change to 3.70 or so
wouldn’t tank the car’s value). But that steep ratio brings
us back full circle, to the intent of this car from the getgo:
short bursts of brutal acceleration on street or strip.
This car started life at Grand-Spaulding Dodge,
home of the well-known “Mr. Norm’s” drag-racing
efforts, which can be a real plus for the right Moparcrazy
buyer. That Mr. Norm sticker, mounted to the
side glass, brings another level of street cred to a car
that wasn’t missing any to start with.
Mr. Norm provenance does add value on top of this
car’s condition, too. All things considered, I think this
was a good buy, even at 49% above the ACC Pocket
Price Guide’s current median value. Call this one
beautifully restored and brilliantly sold. A
(Introductory description courtesy of Barrett-
Jackson.)
DETAILING
Year produced: 1969
Number produced: 1,907
Original list price: $3,539
Current ACC Median
Valuation: $79,000
Tune-up/major service: $600
(estimated)
VIN # location: Plate at base
of windshield
Engine # location: On upper
left front area of block
Alternatives: 1968 Dodge
Hemi Super Bee, 1970
Dodge Challenger R/T 440
Six Pack, 1966–67 Plymouth
Hemi Belvedere
ACC Investment Grade: B
Comps
1969 Dodge Super Bee A12
Lot S125, VIN:
WM21M9A302870
Condition: 2Sold
at $56,160
ACC# 265680
Mecum Auctions, Seattle, WA,
6/6/2015
1969 Dodge Super Bee A12
Lot S119, VIN:
WM23M9A255790
Condition: 1Sold
at $80,250
Mecum Auctions, Anaheim, CA,
11/23/2013
ACC# 231758
1969 Dodge Super Bee A12
Lot 677, VIN: WM23M9A284056
Condition: 2Sold
at $81,400
Barrett-Jackson, Palm Beach,
FL, 4/4/2012
ACC# 197614
March–April 2020 53
DETAILING
Year produced: 1936
Number produced: 3,862
DeLuxe Roadsters
Original list price: $560
Current ACC Median
Valuation: $55,000
Tune-up/major service: $300
VIN location: Stamped on
frame rail near the firewall,
driver’s side (for OE frame)
Engine # location: Pad on
front of block, below passenger’s
cylinder head (SBC)
Alternatives: Other ’30sto-’40s-era
period custom
rods
It was dynoed at 420 hp.
The car has hidden transmission and oil coolers,
too. The custom valve covers have engine-turned surfaces,
and White used aircraft–grade stainless-steel
tubing throughout the car in lieu of rubber hoses.
A labor of love
“I put 5,000 hours into this car,” Joe White told me.
“I even learned to use a sewing machine so I could
do the leather interior and the rumble seat.” An older
craftsman in Texas built the top — it’s chopped two
inches and carefully crafted to fold flat.
The windshield features tinted glass, while the
rear window glass is from a Jaguar cabriolet. White
adapted rare, original Ford Spyder hubcaps by carefully
modifying a set of later 15-inch steel wheels to
accept ’36 Ford centers. The running boards came
from original molds, while the bumpers are stainless
steel repops. Advance Plating did the all the shiny
bits.
Inside, a cut-down banjo steering wheel comple-
ments a stock dash that’s been faux-burled-wood
finished. Modern electric instruments resemble the
’36 Ford originals. The overall appearance is that of a
mildly modified car, but a closer look shows there’s so
much more.
This car has really been under the radar. The
original owner took it to a Goodguys event in Phoenix,
where the late Boyd Coddington gave it one of his coveted
“Boyd’s Pick” awards. It has never been featured
in a magazine.
Behind the headlights
The high bidder was Ed Chirgwin of La Quinta, CA.
Ed told me he had to outbid Wayne Carini (Host of
“Chasing Classic Cars”) for the ’36. “When I heard
Wayne was interested in this car,” he said, “I knew
it was special. I was born in 1936,” Ed adds, “and I
already own two other ’36 Fords, so I had to have it.”
Joe White says the roadster was appraised at
This car has really been under the radar.
... It has never been featured
in a magazine.
$245,000 some years ago. The sale price was $168,000
with the buyer’s commission, which I think makes this
a screaming deal. You couldn’t build this car for what
it cost to buy it.
Of course, that’s pretty typical. You can’t expect to
make your money back on a hot rod or a custom car
that you had built from scratch. As an example, the
radical, Ridler Award-winning 1959 Cadillac shooting
brake called “CadMad” reportedly cost over $2.5
million to build. But at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale
2020, it sold for “just” $302,500.
What’s the lesson here? If you’re looking for a high-
quality hot rod or custom, shop carefully, do your
homework, and you may walk away with the car of
your dreams for less than it cost to build it. A
(Introductory description courtesy of RM
Sotheby’s.)
1936 Ford Model 68 coupe,
ex-Jack Calori
Lot S116, VIN: 182636987
Condition: 1Sold
at $318,000
Mecum Auctions, Anaheim, CA,
11/14/2012
ACC# 213968
ACC Investment Grade: C
Comps
1936 Ford Model 68 DeLuxe
roadster
Lot 804, VIN: 182906380
Condition: 2+
Sold at $192,500
RM Auctions, Boca Raton, FL,
2/15/2012
ACC# 192770
1936 Ford Custom roadster
Lot 216, VIN: 181671177
Condition: 1Sold
at $132,000
RM Auctions, Phoenix, AZ,
1/21/2010
ACC# 155066
March–April 2020 55
Page 54
AMERICANA PROFILE
1954 TAYLOR AEROCAR
High Flyer?
Courtesy of Barrett-Jackson
The vehicle
works, even
if it’s not the
greatest road
car or the best
airplane one
could buy
VIN: S66103W
by Jeff Zurschmeide
• One of six built
• The only vehicle in the U.S. that is both air- and
roadworthy
• Full FAA certification
• Lycoming 0-320 engine
• Wings, propeller and fuselage may be towed
behind and can be attached in under 30 minutes
• 15,254 miles
• 781 flight hours
ACC Analysis This car, Lot 1354, sold for
$275,000, including buyer’s pre-
mium, at Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale, AZ, auction on
January 18, 2020.
Henry Ford founded the Ford Motor Company in
1903, the same year that Orville and Wilbur Wright
made the first flight in an engine-powered aircraft. In
an era of invention and boundless ambition, it’s no
surprise that the notion of combining aircraft and automobiles
took hold early. The more astonishing fact is
that the dream of a flying car has persisted to this day.
The Curtiss Autoplane of 1917 is generally con-
sidered the first attempt at a flying car, though the
term “roadable aircraft” is preferred by those who
build such things. That name is really more accurate,
because the rigorous demands of aviation must be met
before the much-less-stringent requirements of making
a working automobile.
56 AmericanCarCollector.com
Over the 103 years that have passed since the
Curtiss project, there have been more than 30 designs
produced in an effort to make a functional flying car.
Most never passed the prototype stage. Development
seems to come in waves, with several examples in the
’20s and ’30s, then a resurgence following the Second
World War.
A few more prototypes were created in the 1970s
including the AVE Mizar, which attached the rear half
of a Cessna to a Ford Pinto. Yes, really.
Post-war boom
After World War II, there was a surge of interest
in flying cars. We had conquered the atom, and the
future was clearly coming fast. Convair Corporation,
which had produced the B-24 and the PBY Catalina
Page 55
aircraft during the war, looked to
civilian aviation and produced two
prototype flying cars in 1946 and 1947.
These models attached a wing and tail
assembly with an aircraft engine to
the roof of an automobile. Although
they completed a total of 67 test
flights, the Convair 116 and 118 were
never approved for production. Other
post-war attempts included the Fulton
Airphibian and the Bryan Autoplane.
The Taylor Aerocar was part of that
surge. Moulton Taylor of Kelso, WA,
was the genius behind the project,
which is why the vehicles are commonly
known as Taylor Aerocars
today. Taylor had been a naval aviator
in the war and was also an aeronautical
engineer. He had seen the Fulton
Airphibian and decided to build his
own flying car.
How does it work?
Taylor called his company Aerocar International,
and the firm built six prototypes between 1949 and
1966. The company had a contract with Temco
Missiles and Aircraft for mass production, but the
contract was contingent on pre-orders that never
materialized.
When the Aerocar debuted in 1949, it boasted one
of the most workable designs of its era. The car seated
two people side by side on a bench seat. The car portion
uses a rear-engine, front-wheel-drive design. The
Aerocar carries a flat-4-cylinder air-cooled Lycoming
engine good for about 150 horsepower. A 3-speed
manual transmission allows the automobile to manage
up to 60 mph on the road. The Aerocar is designed to
tow the wings and tail section, including the propeller.
To fly the Aerocar, the pilot attaches the wings and
tail section to the car. The car’s license plate flips up
to reveal a power-take-off connection to a driveshaft
that runs through the tail section to the rear-mounted
pusher propeller. To fly, the driver simply places the
car’s transmission in neutral. Aviation controls are
manipulated through the steering wheel and two
rudder pedals located on either side of the automotive
pedals. A full set of aviation gauges and controls occupies
the dash area.
Taylor logged over 100,000 road miles and 1,000
flight hours in the Aerocar. The vehicle works, even
if it’s not the greatest road car or the best airplane
one could buy. There are videos on YouTube that
DETAILING
Years produced: 1949–66
Number produced: Six
Original list price: $9,995
Current ACC Median
Valuation: $275,000 (this
example)
Tune-up/major service:
$500-plus
VIN location: Tail of the
aircraft section
Engine # location: Bottom of
cylinder near the valve cover
Alternatives: Fulton
Airphibian, Bryan Autoplane
ACC Investment Grade: C
Comps
demonstrate the Aerocar very well, including the
segment when James May of “Top Gear” featured the
car-plane on his “Big Ideas” TV show.
Mayday, mayday
With only six examples built, the market for an
Aerocar is highly individual, and each is identified by
its tail number. Aerocar N103D was offered for sale for
$3.5m in 2006, and N101D was offered at $1.25m in 2011.
Reportedly, N103D is on offer again right now at $2.2m.
However, an asking price is only half of a deal, and
not the most important half. N101D crossed the block
with no reserve at this year’s Barrett-Jackson auction
in Scottsdale on January 18. When the hammer fell,
this Aerocar landed at just $275,000.
This is a tough market for oddballs, as while it’s
both a car and a plane, you can argue that it isn’t very
usable as either, which limits values for all but the
most specialized collector. This does have broad appeal
as a curiosity, but there’s a limit to values in that
capacity, which is likely what happened here.
If you’re reading this and thinking that you’d like
to own an Aerocar, your chance probably just flew by.
With only five others in existence, we’re not likely to
see another at auction anytime soon, and certainly not
without a reserve next time.
For the most part, the Taylor Aerocar is likely to
remain a museum piece, but it’s also a reminder that
innovation and lofty dreams are always worth pursu-
ing.A
(Introductory description courtesy of Barrett-
Jackson.)
1997 Vector M12 coupe
Lot 675.1, VIN:
1V9MB1220V104800Z
Condition: 2+
Sold at $106,700
Barrett-Jackson, Las Vegas, NV,
9/22/2011
ACC# 185835
1970 Plymouth Hemi
Superbird
Lot S129, VIN: RM23R0A166207
Condition: 1Sold
at $275,000
Mecum Auctions, Kissimmee, FL,
1/5/2018
ACC# 6858070
1969 Dodge Daytona
Lot 1369, VIN: XX29LB410796
Condition: 2Sold
at $275,000
ACC# 6857970
Barrett-Jackson, Scottsdale, AZ,
1/13/2018
March–April 2020 57
Page 56
RACE PROFILE
1965 DODGE CORONET SUPER STOCK HEMI
No Laughing Matter
This Coronet
falls in a
funny spot for
collectors, but
that makes it
a good buy for
a dedicated
user
VIN: W051197574
by Elana Scherr
• A990 426 Hemi package
• Restored to race appearance
• Rare period racing components
• W051 Coronet Super Stock
• Displayed at Floyd Garrett’s Muscle Car Museum
ACC Analysis This car, Lot 1026.1, sold for
$55,000, including buyer’s
premium, at Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale, AZ, sale
held January 17–19, 2020.
The first Funnies
There are few constants in the world, but racers
pushing the definition of “stock” might well be one of
them.
As factory involvement in drag racing grew in the
1960s, the National Hot Rod Association found itself
scrambling to keep the rule book up to date with the
racers’ innovations. Simply saying a car had to be
stock wasn’t enough if the factory up and built cars
with aluminum or acid-dipped panels, lightweight
glass and giant engines and then sold them to the
public.
Even worse, from a rule-keeping perspective, if you
didn’t specify that the parts all had to have come on
that exact car in that configuration from the assembly
line, clever racers would throw in the biggest engine
from the brand, often with a decidedly unstreetable
compression ratio. Then they’d add suspiciously
lightweight components under the hood and a straight
front axle from the truck-parts bin under the front
end, maybe moved up just a smidge for better weight
58 AmericanCarCollector.com
transfer, and call it within the rules.
NHRA made a class for these Frankencars in 1962
called “FX” for “Factory Experimental.” Direct
factory involvement was short-lived. GM pulled out of
official race support, and Ford and Chrysler realized
it might not be a good look to outshine all their
customers in the most extreme “stockers” on track.
Ultimately, that only meant that independent racers
like Bob Tasca, Dick Landy and Ronnie Sox got more
behind-the-scenes support.
The FX cars got wildly modified and wildly popular
with the fans. By 1965, they were so stretched and
lifted and be-engined that they looked “funny,” and
you can see how they evolved into the tube-chassis
and full-fiberglass-bodied Funny Cars of today.
Courtesy of Barrett-Jackson
Page 57
Wedges and Hemis
Chrysler started the ‘60s with powerful
383 and 413 big blocks. In ’62, it came out
with the Max Wedge 413 in a lighter sedan
and dominated the Super Stock classes. In
1963, displacement increased to the famous
426 number, and in 1964, speaking of famous
engines, Chrysler introduced the 426 Hemi.
The Super Stock cars were already limited
production and came from the factory with
lightweight metal panels, thinner glass and
race-ready engines, but in late ’64, the
engineers built 12 (six Plymouth and six
Dodge) cars for Factory Experimental with
a massive wheelbase alteration. The alteredwheelbase
cars traveled the country more for
match races rather than NHRA competition,
but they caught the imagination of fans and
fellow racers, and, shall we say, altered the
drag-race landscape.
The factory-prepared cars went to factory-
sponsored racers like Landy and Sox, but there were
many additional modified cars built by other racers,
and that’s where the blue-and-silver Coronet that we
have here enters the picture.
Rare racer
This Coronet left Dodge as a W051 lightweight
Super Stock car with the 426 A990 package. A990
refers to the 426 Hemi and related beefy drivetrain
parts and rear gearing.
The cars equipped this way are often called A990
Because of the high compression ratio,
mechanical injection and gasser stance,
it would take a dedicated enthusiast —
and friendly local police force — to use
this car on the street.
cars, but if you’re a stickler, go with W051.
The Coronet was shipped to a dealer in Kentucky,
along with a selection of fiberglass parts for the
wheelbase conversion. The ’65 Super Stockers were
acid-dipped steel, and Dodge worked closely with
aftermarket race shops to create additional go-fast
modifications.
Details on the restoration include a date-coded
426 Hemi race block — December 1964 — with a
forged-steel crankshaft, Crane cam, high-compression
pistons topped by Alcoa aluminum heads, and a rare
DETAILING
Year produced: 1965
Number produced: 101
Original list price: $4,100
(Hemi, approximately)
Current ACC Median
Valuation: $118,800
Tune-up/major service:
$500
VIN Location: Plate on left
front door hinge pillar
Engine # location: Top of
bellhousing
Alternatives: 1965 Plymouth
A/FX, 1965 Ford Mustang
A/FX, 1964 Ford Fairlane
Thunderbolt
ACC Investment Grade: C
Comps
Prestolite distributor and ignition. Hilborn stack
injection towers over the hood and spent gasses make
their historically accurate way out through original
S&S A/FX headers. The Hemi is backed by an A990
torque convertor, a rebuilt Art Carr TorqueFlite
automatic transmission and 4.56 rear gears.
Inside, the Coronet is caged and race-focused,
with lightweight seats, a Hurst dual-gate shifter and a
dash-mounted tachometer. The interior is spare, but
elegant and color-matched in silvery gray.
Collecting history
This Coronet falls in a funny spot for collectors.
It’s possibly too period to be safely competitive on
a racetrack, even in a nostalgia class, and yet not
famous enough to be the centerpiece of a museum
collection the way a Landy or “Dyno” Don car would
be.
Because of the high compression ratio, mechanical
injection and gasser stance, it would take a dedicated
enthusiast — and friendly local police force — to use
this car on the street.
We’ve seen unmodified Super Stock lightweights sell
for twice the price of this rarer altered racer, and that
might reflect a buyer’s insecurity as to what exactly
he or she is going to do with such an outrageous
machine.
Still, it is a 426 Hemi car, and an excellent entry point
into one of the most interesting time periods in drag-
racing history. For that, I’ll call it well bought. A
(Introductory description courtesy of Barrett-
Jackson.)
1965 Dodge Coronet A/FX
Yankee Peddler
Lot S61, VIN: 51186734
Condition: 3+
Sold at $787,500
Mecum Auctions, St. Charles,
IL, 10/6/2006
ACC# 43081
1965 Plymouth Belvedere
Super Stock lightweight
Lot 239, VIN: R051191722
Condition: 1Sold
at $121,000
RM Sotheby’s, Phoenix, AZ,
1/19/2017
ACC# 6817108
1965 Plymouth Belvedere
A/FX replica
Lot F249, VIN: 2145141792
Condition: 2
Sold at $66,000
Mecum Auctions, Indianapolis,
IN, 5/15/2018
ACC# 6869976
March–April 2020 59
Page 58
TRUCK PROFILE
1976 GMC SIERRA GRANDE CUSTOM PICKUP
Truck Trends
SS02 makes
the truck
market cool
for a new
type of buyer
VIN: TCS246F733662
by Jim Pickering
• Supercharged LS3 engine
• Roadster Shop chassis
• AccuAir ENDO CVT suspension
• RideTech adjustable shocks
• Solid billet grille
• Billet turbine wheels
• Baer 14-inch brakes
• Tremec 6-speed manual transmission
• Detroit Trutrac differential
• Syndicate Series digital gauges and shortened
steering column
• Integrated chrome roll bar, custom aged rawhide
leather interior
ACC Analysis This truck, Lot 1431, sold for
$165,000, including buyer’s pre-
mium, at Barrett-Jackson’s massive Scottsdale sale on
January 18, 2020.
If you ever doubted the importance of social media
in the collector-car market, here’s your supercharged,
striped, slammed wake-up call.
There’s a lot to unpack with the $165k sale of
Syndicate Series 02 — a custom shortbed GMC done
up like one of the 1975 Indy Pace Trucks. But before
we get there, let’s take a look at where this truck came
from.
The Syndicate
Joe Yezzi is the man behind Squarebody Syndicate
— a business devoted to Chevrolet and GMC trucks
built from 1973 to ’87, although with a heavy bias
toward the first-year rigs. His dad drove a ’73 when
he was a kid, and the memories of that truck are the
primary drivers of his passion for this body style.
Social media has catapulted his brand into the
mainstream. It’s rare to find any squarebody GM truck
picture on Instagram that isn’t tagged with a Syndicate
60 AmericanCarCollector.com
Courtesy of Barrett-Jackson
Page 59
reference — there are 83,600 of them as
of this writing — and his stickers, hats
and shirts, again carefully chosen and
made in short batches, spread the gospel
even further among connected young
truck people.
And then there are the trucks, done
with an exacting attention to detail
that grows sharper with each passing
build. Some of Yezzi’s builds have been
stock trucks simply modified for stance.
Others have been more in-depth, such
as his first SEMA build from 2015. SS02
is the sharpest to date, with customized
high-level components and finishes
throughout.
SS02
In 1975, GMC produced a short run of
Indy Haulers — special red, white and blue longbed
pickups built to celebrate the Indianapolis 500. Five
hundred replicas were planned for 1976 production.
None were built, leaving the three 1975 trucks —
which participated in the race festivities — as the only
examples.
Yezzi acquired one of the three as a potential
project, but elected to document and preserve it rather
than build it. Instead, he decided to build a shortbed
tribute, which is where this truck — SS02 — came
from.
It rides on a Roadster Shop Syndicate Series spec
chassis with air suspension, has supercharged LS
Social media is where these trends are
expanding. This truck is just one example
of many in this corner of the car
world — but as we saw in both consignments
and pricing at Barrett-Jackson
Scottsdale 2020, custom trucks continue
to be a growing segment.
power, a 6-speed manual transmission, big brakes,
billet wheels, exacting Mar-K replacement trim, and a
custom one-off billet grille. All the badges are custom
pieces, and the interior has modern gauges and a
shorter-than-stock steering column, both of which are
available from Squarebody Syndicate’s Web store.
The result was a drivable, reliable custom truck that
has had its share of the spotlight — online, in truckspecific
publications, and even in miniature thanks to
a run of 1:64th-scale models made by M2 Machines
and sold at Walmart.
Getting likes
Ultimately, this $165k sale price wasn’t much of a
surprise. It’s a new record price for a squarebody GM
truck at auction, but this was undoubtedly expensive
to build. I would be surprised if much money was
made here, after all the receipts are counted. If that
sounds familiar, it should. It’s the same thing we see
with most high-end custom car builds at auction. It’s
generally cheapest to buy something already done.
Almost right away, photos and videos of SS02 on the
block sprang up on Instagram, while Facebook groups
started to bicker about what the price meant for other
squares.
One popular squarebody LS-swap page admin
posted, “Everybody is talking about this truck. Yes,
it sold for $165k. How’s that affect the value of our
trucks? It doesn’t. Your truck and all those on FB
marketplace have about as much in common with this
truck as a hang glider does an F22 Raptor. Stop trying
to relate to this thing.”
That admin has a point. Just because SS02 sold for
relatively big money doesn’t mean other squarebodies
are instantly worth more. But there’s something
missing in that hot take, too, and that’s the value add
that SS02’s exposure brought to these trucks, both at
Barrett-Jackson and before.
Social media is where these trends are expanding.
This truck is just one example of many in this corner
of the car world — but as we saw in both consignments
and pricing at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale 2020,
custom trucks continue to be a growing segment.
For the next-gen buyer who looks to the Web for a
connection to the car world, SS02 is an icon. To build
something that looks similar — while not nearly as
expensive or as detailed — is not hard to do. There
are millions of squarebody trucks out there. Yezzi, and
others, have made these trucks cool through builds
like SS02, which drives interest and ultimately values
as well.
As a trendsetter for an emerging market, SS02 was
well sold at a record price. But for the end user who
wants a cool truck to drive — and something that will
be instantly recognizable by a new class of connected
car person — I’d call it well bought, too. A
(Introductory description courtesy of Barrett-
Jackson.)
DETAILING
Years produced: 1973–87
Number produced: 155,000
(1976 GMC, all variants,
approximately)
Original list price: $3,863
(base)
Current ACC Median
Valuation: $14,300 (all
1973–87 GM trucks)
Tune-up/major service:
$200
VIN location: Plate on dash
Engine # location: Pad
ahead of passenger’s
cylinder head (SBC)
Alternatives: 1973–87
Chevrolet C10 custom,
1973–79 Ford F-150
custom, 1972–80 Dodge
D-series custom
ACC Investment Grade: B
Comps
1958 Chevrolet Apache
Custom pickup
Lot 478, VIN: 3A58L105678
Condition: 1
Sold at $110,000
ACC# 6882305
Barrett-Jackson, Las Vegas, NV,
9/27/2018
1974 Chevrolet C10 Custom
Deluxe
Lot F16, VIN: CCV1441163400
Condition: 3+
Sold at $33,000
Mecum Auctions, Indianapolis,
IN, 5/21/2016
ACC# 6799883
1958 Chevrolet Apache 31
Cameo pickup
Lot 11L, VIN: 3A58K118014
Condition: 3
Sold at $147,000
VanDerBrink Auctions, Pierce,
NE, 9/28/2013
ACC# 227824
March–April 2020 61
Page 60
MARKET OVERVIEW
Arizona Auction Totals Up
Over Last Year
One-percent growth is still growth, but that’s only part of this year’s story
Jim Pickering
What will American car collectors be looking for in Scottsdale 2021?
by Chad Tyson
uptick from the 2019 total, and on 158 fewer cars sold.
Out west, the Arizona Auction Week numbers also jumped 1%, with this year’s
L
$249,671,313 total pipping 2019’s total of $246,536,805 and reversing two straight
years of declining total sales.
Now, even though the overall total grew, it wasn’t roses and cupcakes for all
parties involved. There were 1,004 more cars on offer in 2020 than in 2019. That’s a
slight uptick with a lot more cars and an additional sale on top of last year’s seven, as
Leake Auctions joining the game made one have to choose among eight sales to visit
during the week-plus sale-a-thon.
Which company experienced sales growth over last year? Barrett-Jackson saw a
10% jump, and Leake and MAG were new to the show (MAG replaced the former
Silver AZ set-up in Peoria).
That’s it. Every other company brought in fewer dollars than last year. The biggest
percentage drops came from Bonhams (-48%), Worldwide (-40%) and Gooding
BEST BUYS
1969 AMC SC/Rambler 2-dr
hard top, $26,040—Mecum
Auctions, FL, p. 83
62 AmericanCarCollector.com
1935 Cadillac 452D Imperial
convertible sedan, $472,500—
RM Sotheby’s, AZ, p. 118
1949 Chevrolet Deluxe woodie
wagon, $30,240—Bonhams,
AZ, p. 120
1957 Devin Special Type
T roadster, $17,655—GAA
Classic Cars, NC, p. 98
2006 Chevrolet Corvette Z06
coupe, $29,150—Mecum
Auctions, MO, p. 122
ate-2019 fears of a national recession didn’t bother showing up in Arizona this
January — or at Mecum’s Kissimmee auction, for that matter, as sales in both
areas beat last year’s numbers.
Before the Arizona auctions kicked off in full, Mecum set a new totalsales
record at Kissimmee with $94,742,895 in car-auction sales. That’s a 1%
& Company (-25%).
Of course, we can point out all the million-dollar
bids that didn’t result in sales, claiming that’s why the
numbers are off, but that’s already part of the picture
painted here. Those sales fail to happen all the time.
There are a million and one things to throw off a sale
when dealing in those amounts.
The overall sold percentage in 2020 (81%) was the
lowest since the same 81% in 2012. This year also featured
the lowest average per-car price ($80,461) since a
$71,851 average per car in 2011.
All of this points at market saturation to me. There
are just too many offerings for the number of people
buying right now — most certainly true at the very top
end of the market.
Even if there’s no economic recession in 2020,
or some other national economic situation, I do not
expect that we’ll be covering eight auctions from
Arizona again in January 2021. A
Page 62
MARKET OVERVIEW
TOP 10
SALES IN THIS ISSUE
BUY IT NOW
WHAT TO PURCHASE IN TODAY’S MARKET — AND WHY
1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.9 Limited SUV
• One-year-only 1998 model, with 14,286 produced
(4,235 with California emissions equipment)
Co., AZ, p. 127
Sotheby’s, AZ, p. 126
Sotheby’s, AZ, p. 124
coupe, $484,000—Mecum
Auctions, FL, p. 81
1
2
3
4
sedan, $472,500—RM
Sotheby’s, AZ, p. 118
sedan, $451,000—
Worldwide Auctioneers, AZ,
p. 110
5
6
$429,000—Mecum Auctions,
FL, p. 82
$423,500—RM Auctions,
PA, p. 116
$385,000—Gooding & Co.,
AZ, p. 126
7
8
9
10
1957 Chrysler
300C convertible,
$357,500—Leake, AZ, p. 91
64 AmericanCarCollector.com
2006 Ford GT Heritage
Edition coupe,
1908 Oldsmobile Limited
Prototype tourer,
2006 Ford GT Heritage
Edition coupe,
1937 Packard Twelve
Series 1508 convertible
1935 Cadillac 452D
Imperial convertible
1966 Ford GT40
Superformance replica
1963 Shelby Cobra 260
roadster, $577,000—RM
2017 Ford GT coupe,
$923,500—RM
1948 Tucker 48 sedan,
$2,040,000—Gooding &
• 5.9-L V8 pumps out 245 hp and 365 ft-lb, propelling
the ZJ 0–60 mph in 6.8 seconds — at the
time, the world’s fastest SUV — while getting
about 12 mpg
• Hood louvers, mesh grille, badging and different
wheels (five-spoke Ultrastars) are the prominent
exterior nods to its enhanced performance
Before 500-hp SUVs were widely available, or even
before all of the major manufacturers decided to get in on
the SUV game, Jeep set the sport-utility pace with the Grand Cherokee.
The Grand Cherokee was heads above the other SUVs at the time in terms of comfort and performance,
bringatrailer.com
thanks in large part to its unibody construction and coil-sprung front and rear axles.
But it was in the last year of the ZJ-series Grand Cherokee that Jeep decided to go a little crazy by pack-
ing a 5.9-L V8 (a 360 from Chrysler’s long-lived LA small-block family) into the engine bay. The 5.9 is practically
identical to the 5.2-L V8 option, at least on exterior measurements, so it fit very well. Jeep upgraded
the automatic transmission to a heavy-duty 46RE 4-speed and installed a Dana 44 rear axle, with 3.73 gears.
Underhood, the 5.9s also received some upgraded gear over the 5.2-L V8 including an electric cooling
fan, 150-amp alternator and a hotter cam. Jeep only offered the 5.9 Limited in three colors: Deep Slate,
Stone White and Bright Platinum.
Despite Jeep making over 14,000 of these performance packages, these Jeeps just don’t come to land auc-
tions often. The ACC Premium Auction Database shows just one 5.9 Limited sold, and that was back in 2012
in Canada for $2,310, and just six total 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokees.
More examples have, however, recently popped up on Bring a Trailer, with results ranging from $6,500
to $13,600 in the past year. Other Internet searches gave me mid-to-high-mileage results ranging in price
from $3,600 (228k miles) to $8,500 (77k miles).
It’ll be a little longer before prices are appreciably higher than those, but that means there’s time to get in
— Chad Tyson
while they’re still five figures.
$100m
$150m
$200m
$250m
$300m
$350m
$400m
$50m
$0
August
2018
2019
-34%
September
2018
2019
8%
October
2018
2019
15%
November
2018
2019
10%
SIX-MONTH YEAR-TO-YEAR COMPARISON
$427.4m
Combined Overall
Auction Totals
$283.7m
$344.4m
$343.5m
Condition Ratings
ACC’s 1–6 scale for describing
vehicles in Market Reports
1
2
$105m
$96.8m
$123.1m
$106.7m
$61.7m
$56.2m
$58.4m
$14.9m
December
2018
2019
-75%
January
2019
2020
0.3%
3
4
5
6
Perfect: National
show standard
Excellent: Club
show-worthy, some
small flaws
Average: Daily driver
in decent condition
Meh: Still a driver,
with some visible flaws
Questionable:
A problem-plagued
beast that somehow
manages to run
Lost cause:
Salvageable for parts
Page 64
BARRETT-JACKSON • SCOTTSDALE, AZ
Scottsdale 2020
Strong prices abound in Scottsdale, including a 1970 Buick GSX Stage 1
at $203,500, over 50% above its median market value
Barrett-Jackson
Scottsdale, AZ
January 15–19, 2020
Auctioneers: Dave
Talberg, Kurt Warner
Automotive lots sold/
offered: 1,929/1,930
Sales rate: 99.95%
Sales total:
$137,353,770
High non-charity sale:
2017 Ford GT coupe, sold
at $1,485,000
Buyer’s premium:
10%, included in sold
prices
1970 Buick GSX Stage 1 2-door hard top, sold at $203,500
Report and photos by John Boyle
Market opinions in italics
• The best-ever Scottsdale results; $137.4m is up 10%
over last year’s $124.4m, marking three straight years of
growth in sales
• Charity sales raised $7.6m, headed by the $3m 2020
Chevrolet Corvette s/n 001
• Average per-car price of $71,205 is highest since 2015
($81,570)
A
s Publisher Martin recently stated in his blog, “It’s the people, not the cars,”
who make land auctions special.
The 49th annual Barrett-Jackson sale in Scottsdale is part carnival and
part concours, and the people — buyers, sellers and the throngs of generaladmission
visitors — loved it.
More than 1,900 cars were sold for $137.4 million, a 10% increase over last year
and a 36% increase since 2017.
Okay, which would you rather have: a stock ’57 Bel Air convertible or a resto-
mod? Which will hold its value better? Fans in either camp can claim victory, as a
very well-restored example and a resto-mod, both with some years since their makeovers,
sold for the same $192,500. Neither has a clear case for value, the restored car
came with receipts for a $198,000 restoration (on top of the price of the car), while
the resto-mod sold after it was built in 2012 for $264,000.
While older Chevys were the blank canvas of choice for resto-mods, the top
two non-charity sales came from a pair of nearly-new 2017 Ford GTs, selling for
66 AmericanCarCollector.com
$1,485,000 and $1,182,000, respectively — a huge
appreciation for a model still in production. Despite
the increased availability of the new GTs, prices for
2005–06 Ford GTs remained strong here, with an early
car and Heritage Edition both selling at $440,000.
Across the hobby, we hear fears that younger gen-
erations don’t like cars, while a well-heeled generation
is said to be “graying out” of the collector-car hobby.
Well, leave it to a mega-event like Barrett-Jackson to
provide some insight into those issues: I was reviewing
a ’69 Shelby GT500 when two young members of the
detailing crew stopped to give it a shine. I asked what
they thought of the dozens of high-dollar muscle cars
that surrounded them. “I’ll pass,” one said. “They’re
not really the kind of cars me and my friends are
interested in.” The other quickly added, “Yeah, we
like something newer, I’d really love a turbo Supra or
Subaru.” So good news/bad news really… Yes, they
like cars, but cars of their generation, in much the
same way that some guys prefer Shelbys to earlier
flathead roadsters.
Looking beyond the huge numbers (of cars and
dollars), it’s the melding of people and cars that makes
Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale sale a huge part of the
hobby and a must-do event for thousands. A
QUICK TAKE
Page 66
BARRETT-JACKSON • SCOTTSDALE, AZ
GM
#1316.2-1955 CHEVROLET NOMAD custom
wagon. VIN: VC550058111. Black/red leather.
Odo: 1 mile. 6.2-L fuel-injected V8, auto. Another
entry in the over-the-top resto-mod category.
Classic Nomad body atop a Roadster Shop
chassis; has excellent paint and bodywork. Rear
wheelwells painted red. Bumpers and body trim
excellent. Custom bucket-seat interior with fulllength
console said to have used no fewer than
13 Italian cow hides. Comes with ps, pb, pw,
power vent windows, six-way power seats and
custom steering wheel. Like many of the restomods
here, it features 20-inch wheels in front, 22
in the rear, all stopped with Wilwood brakes.
Under the hood you get a new 430-hp LS3 under
a custom-painted engine cover. It has a polished
aluminum radiator and hidden somewhere is a
custom fuel tank. Cond: 2+.
headliner. Engine bay dominated by massive
chrome air cleaner. Newer electronic-ignition box
looks out of place. Radiator needs paint. Has a
2009 New York inspection sticker, which may
give you a clue about its history and recent use.
Wide whitewalls incorrect for period. Cond: 3.
more pleasurable than with their ’50s powertrain,
suspension, AM radios and likely lack of
a/c. This car sold here in 2015 for $110,000 with
just 33 fewer miles (ACC# 6772514). Too bad
the owner didn’t drive it more. As for me, it
looks like a fun car to take a road trip to Glacier,
Yellowstone or Crater Lake.
#408.1-1958 GMC 100 pickup. VIN: 101CS2419A.
Turquoise & white/blue cloth, white vinyl.
Odo: 85,037 miles. 270-ci I6, 1-bbl, 4-sp. Nice
paint in popular factory color. Door gaps tight in
front. No chrome or trim to speak of; just grille,
fender badges and hubcaps, all of which are nice.
New interior with the seats having slight wrinkles.
Old-school dash has no radio but two ashtrays.
Odometer numbers faded. Wood bed with
stainless strips. Hood not open, but catalog photos
show it to be clean with fresh paint. Cond: 2.
SOLD AT $196,900. The seller told me he has
built almost 20 custom ’55 Nomads, preferring
them to the usually more popular ’57s because
of their looks, particularly their open rear wheelwells.
Considering its new components, think of
this as a resto-mod Corvette you can carry two
more friends in...or a lucky dog or two. Sold for
about what similar resto-mods go for, so certainly
no harm done.
#1085.1-1957 BUICK CABALLERO custom
wagon. VIN: 6D8026175. Copper metallic &
cream/cream leather. Odo: 633 miles. 364-ci V8,
4-bbl, auto. From a distance it looks stock, albeit
lowered a bit and with shaved door handles. Excellent
paint and stainless. Huge bumpers have minor
waves but no pitting. Stock-looking dash hides
Vintage Air. Powered by a 364-ci engine and riding
on a tubular front suspension, with front discs,
a 700R transmission and a 9-inch Ford rear end as
well as custom seats, it should be a fun driver.
Cond: 2+. SOLD AT $102,300. One of the ’50s
most stylish wagons, a 4-door pillarless hard top.
Out of 4,456 1958 Century Caballeros built, there
must be a lot of survivors—there was a similar
car, in similar colors (also a light resto-mod)
parked fewer than 100 feet away (Lot 1108, sold
for $99k). Additionally, there are two in my town,
again modified to make any vacation trips a lot
68 AmericanCarCollector.com
SOLD AT $36,300. The GMC variant of the penultimate
year of the ’55–59 “Blue Chip” series of
truck (equivalent to the Chevy “Task Force”),
and the first year with four headlights. The car
card is a lesson in conciseness: just the engine
size and that it has recently had a frame-off
restoration. Like the seller, I don’t have much to
say about the truck other than it sold slightly
well, at a price of a Condition 1 truck.
#404-1964 BUICK RIVIERA 2-dr hard top.
VIN: 7K1028073. White/black vinyl. Odo: 54,705
miles. 425-ci V8, 2x4-bbl, auto. Older thick repaint
looks suspect even in the bad tent light,
with areas of orange peel and the odd chip or
two. Bumpers show a lot of wear but are straight.
Good grille and window trim. Interior very nice
with a huge console and huge Buick-branded
chrome tach atop dash. Seats look good, as does
SOLD AT $24,200. Bill Mitchell’s stunning
coupe returned for its second year in ’64, still
without the hidden headlights for which it was
originally designed. Seller says it’s one of just
2,122 with the optional 360-hp “Super Wildcat”
V8, which likely explains the tach. Price came in
right at ACC median, but considering its paint
and bumper needs, likely isn’t a bargain.
#1089-1969 CHEVROLET CAMARO COPO
coupe. VIN: 124379N657805. Blue metallic/
white vinyl. Odo: 9,561 miles. 427-ci V8, 4-bbl,
4-sp. Beautiful restoration, with great paint on a
straight body. Like-new bumpers, window stainless
and door handles. Interior presents well,
with light wrinkling on seats, but certainly better
than when it left the Norwood factory. Originally
sold in Canada, it has GM Canada documentation.
It all sounds great until the last line of the
car card...”This car has been rebodied.”
Cond: 2+.
SOLD AT $139,700. One of 822 COPO 9561AA
cars (not to be confused with the 69 ’69 COPO
ZL1s), with upgraded L72 engines and Muncie
4-speeds. So being a rebody cut this car’s value
by a fair bit, but the new owner can take solace
in the fact that an online history of the COPOs
states that because of their racing careers, many
cars received new shells. All things being equal,
it should look, perform and drive like a car that
costs $100k more; it’s just not as good as a col
Page 68
BARRETT-JACKSON • SCOTTSDALE, AZ
lectible. Whether you think it was well bought
will depend on whether you’re going to be driving
or looking at it.
#190-1970 CHEVROLET K10 custom pickup.
VIN: KE140Z137288. Medium Olive Green &
white/green vinyl. Odo: 66,957 miles. 305-ci V8,
4-bbl, auto. A frame-off restoration of a truck
originally sold in Portland, OR. Super paint on a
straight body. Paint quality is far above what any
truck received back in the ’70s. Bed has only a
few very small/shallow dents. Seller says all side
trim and chrome is either new or polished; I
certainly believe it. Stock interior with upgraded
Cheyenne trim. Stock metal dash with new/restored
gauges, factory AM radio. Factory-style
Rally wheels with brand-new BFGoodrich tires.
Engine bay not open, but photos show chrome
dress-up items, Bowtie valve covers and air
cleaner, as well as an Edelbrock intake and carb.
Comes with build sheet and restoration book.
Cond: 2.
SOLD AT $22,000. Another nicely restored
pickup of the popular ’67–72 generation. Not a
claimed frame-off restoration. It looks to be a
more modest restoration than the over-the-top
’70 Chevy (Lot 190) that comes in at a much
friendlier price point, but still nice enough for
shows and local bragging rights. Sold right
where it should have.
#1243-1970 CHEVROLET CHEVELLE SS
custom convertible. VIN: 136670B214037.
Fathom Blue/white vinyl/white vinyl. Odo: 68
miles. 454-ci V8, 4-bbl, 4-sp. Seller says it’s a
396 car reborn with a 454 LS6 upgrade and
fewer than 100 miles on rotisserie restoration.
Equipped with 4-speed Muncie and a 12-bolt
Positraction rear. Excellent paint and body in a
great color. All reproduction trim looks good.
Well-fitted interior all stock except for aftermarket
oil-pressure gauge fitted beneath dash and a
modern radio. Engine bay spotless with GM
hoses and period hose clamps. Cond: 2.
SOLD AT $38,500. The ’67–72 Chevy truck is
the poster child for the restored-pickup movement.
This one, very nicely restored in a very
period color (I swear, back in the day, they were
all this color...whether they were Fords, Dodges
or Internationals) deservedly sold at the top of
the market. Whether this price is a result of Barrett-Jackson
magic or a real jump in the market,
your guess is as good as mine. If you told ol’
Charley that one day his truck would go for
$35k, he’d have thought you were crazy, but it
will likely be worth more next year.
#424.1-1970 GMC 1500 pickup. VIN:
KE134ZZ64690. Olive metallic/green vinyl &
cloth. Odo: 1,479 miles. 350-ci V8, 4-bbl, auto.
A recent restoration of what the seller says is a
southern Montana truck (I’m not sure southern
Montana is much different from the rest of the
state...). Straight body under very good paint.
Reproduction bumpers and trim. Body-color lining
on bed floor. Interior stock except for homemade
radio-delete plate and aftermarket knob
on floor-mounted 4WD lever. Antenna-hole plug
on fender. Underhood is clean but not detailed.
Engine is reportedly a rebuilt unit and comes
with aftermarket carb. Cond: 3+.
70 AmericanCarCollector.com
#1280.1-1970 PONTIAC GTO Judge Ram
Air III convertible. VIN: 24267P142990. Black/
black vinyl/black vinyl. Odo: 95,017 miles. 400-ci
V8, 4-bbl, 4-sp. Described as a matching-numbers
car. Restored a decade ago and driven
about 500 miles since. Seller states restoration
was done using only original or NOS parts. Nothing
to fault really; excellent paint with only light
polishing marks. Windshield and window trim
like-new. Date-coded glass. Spotless underside.
Engine compartment cleaner than the day it was
built. Well equipped with power discs, AM/8track
radio, remote mirror, console. Originally a
Canadian-market car, it has GM Canada documentation,
as well as PHS paperwork.
Cond: 2+.
SOLD AT $137,500. One of 168 Judge convertibles.
Deservedly sold at $8k above ACC median
and $12k above another price guide for a #1
car. Compared to the prices of other muscle cars,
the rarity of this Judge makes this one seem well
bought.
SOLD AT $111,100. The seller told me he was
hoping for at least $75k, so he went home very
happy. Despite its condition, it sold $15k below
the ACC median for real LS6 drop-tops of $125k,
but some $44k above the median for a 396 convertible.
“
#1301.1-1970 BUICK GSX Stage 1 2-dr
hard top. VIN: 446370H279508. Saturn Yellow/
black vinyl. Odo: 2,149 miles. 455-ci V8,
4-bbl, 4-sp. A matching-numbers car with a
frame-off restoration completed in 2016. Excellent
paint, likewise chrome and stainless. Excellent
black hood and body stripes. Unmarked
Rally-type wheels and Goodyear Polyglas tires.
Interior looks unused. Mirrors displayed underside,
which looked as clean as the top. Engine
bay clean and detailed with just the slightest
Those who think of Buicks only as
Grandpa-mobiles will be surprised to
learn that the Stage 1 engine produced
510 ft-lb of torque, the most of any
factory American car until the
third-generation Dodge Viper.
1970 Buick GSX Stage 1 2-door hard top
”
Page 69
signs of use or age. Well optioned with ps, pb,
Positraction, hood tach and more. Cond: 2+.
SOLD AT $203,500. One of 118 GSX Stage 1
cars with a 4-speed. Originally sold in Oregon, it
has a known history from new and comes with
copies of every title, original owner’s manual,
and GSX Society paperwork. Sold at roughly
50% above the ACC median of $136k. Undoubtedly
well sold, but that’s the going rate for
something so rare. Those who think of Buicks
only as Grandpa-mobiles will be surprised to
learn that the Stage 1 engine produced 510 ft-lb
of torque, the most of any factory American car
until the third-generation Dodge Viper.
#1305.1-1971 OLDSMOBILE 442 convertible.
VIN: 344671M229605. Black/black vinyl/
black vinyl. Odo: 627 miles. 455-ci V8, 4-bbl,
4-sp. Straight body and flawless paint on a car
that’s been driven 600 miles since frame-off restoration.
First-rate bumpers and stainless. Mirrors
show underside to be as clean as the top.
Interior shows no sign of wear. Clean and correct
under the hood. As you’d expect from an
Oldsmobile, it’s well equipped with power steering,
brakes and top, a/c, AM/FM/8-track, console,
tilt wheel and Tic-Toc-Tach. Cond: 2+.
SOLD AT $132,000. Alas, it’s not the top-dog
W-30, but that’s the only negative I can say
about it. The muscle-car era was fading in ’71,
but Olds managed to sell 1,304 442 drop tops.
Another car that easily beat the ACC median of
$73,000 and another price guide’s estimate
range of $56k–$80k. Again, quality sells.
March–April 2020 71
Page 70
BARRETT-JACKSON • SCOTTSDALE, AZ
MARKET MOMENT
1978 Ford Bronco Custom SUV
#170.1-1976 PONTIAC TRANS AM coupe.
VIN: 2W87Z6N531288. Black/black vinyl. Odo:
61,224 miles. 400-ci V8, 4-bbl, auto. Recently
restored with nice paint, but with a touch of orange
peel on driver’s door. New rubber seals
and very nice window stainless. Door closes with
the factory sound. Interior looks recent, with
good stock dash. Well equipped with AM/FM
radio, console and power windows. New 17-inch
gold wheels mimic factory look, with fresh Nitto
tires. Hood not open but catalog photos show it
to be clean and correct. Said to be matchingnumbers
with PHS documentation. Cond: 2-.
Courtesy of Barrett-Jackson
SOLD at $63,800
Barrett-Jackson, Scottsdale, AZ, January 18, 2020, Lot 1244
VIN: U15HLCA5768
Many of them did.
Like many of you, I was left asking myself
E
why one pickup in nice shape was worth $15k
while another one in similar shape was worth
$70k. It’s a phenomenon that, at least on the
surface, I had a hard time understanding.
This awesome ’78 Bronco and its attached
$63,800 brought a little clarity. Other than
a new 400-ci V8, a mild lift and new set of
wheels and tires, it’s freshly restored with a mostly stock appearance. The brakes, transmission,
4-wheel-drive system and engine components have all been tended to. The body has a
fresh coat of factory silver and black paint and is fitted with the correct trim pieces.
Getting a Bronco to this level isn’t cheap, and with the market now fully awake to the
vintage SUV’s “cool” factor, this was going to be expensive — especially at Barrett-Jackson,
which always earns strong results for trucks.
This one has the look — and the equipment —
to justify a high price. But is that price repeatable
away from the auction block and the television
cameras?
The current auction median for sold 1978 to
1981 Broncos is just under $24,000. That’s $40k
less than the sale price here. But great examples
are beating that number pretty easily, and as that
continues to happen at high-profile venues, more
great examples will come to market.
For now, call this well sold. But the market’s on
the move in this segment, so it may not stay that
way for long. A
72 AmericanCarCollector.com
AmericanCarCollector.com
— Chad Taylor
arly SUVs and pickups were as hot
as ever at the 2020 Arizona auctions.
Fully customized, mildly upgraded or
rotisserie restored to perfection, all had
potential to earn a stratospheric price.
SOLD AT $30,800. A black Trans Am a year
before it became a film star, with the resulting
production jump of almost 50%. A base-engine
Trans Am, the 400 mill was rated at 185 hp, just
15 behind the optional 455. Non-T-top, which is
something many prefer. Sold at the price the
ACC price guide lists for a 455 car, but the fresh
restoration and matching numbers more than
make up for the 15-hp deficit.
CORVETTE
#1058-1966 CHEVROLET CORVETTE custom
coupe. VIN: 194376S118856. Red/black leather.
Odo: 2,750 miles. 427-ci, 507-hp fuel-injected
V8, 5-sp. Another Corvette resto-mod, but unlike
most of the others, this one rides on its original
chassis, albeit with new coil-over suspension and
rack-and-pinion steering. Beautiful paint, excellent
body lines, panel and headlight gaps. New
bumpers and trim; the sidepipes too are unmarked.
Builder said there is a switch to shift
exhaust from the sidepipes to tailpipes to quiet
cabin during long-distance drives. Interior looks
stock until you notice the reasonably subtle black
modern buckets with red stitching. Fitted with
Page 71
BARRETT-JACKSON • SCOTTSDALE, AZ
Vintage Air and stock-looking Dakota Digital
gauges. Underhood is immaculate and fitted with
an official GM “Continuation” 427 rated at 507
hp. Cond: 2+. SOLD AT $126,500. The builder
says he has 1,600 hours of labor into this, and
it’s easy to believe. A very impressive car and
compared to other high-dollar resto-mods offered,
a very good buy.
#1307-1967 CHEVROLET CORVETTE coupe.
VIN: 194377S114902. Tuxedo Black/black
leather. Odo: 44,658 miles. 427-ci 435-hp V8,
4-bbl, 4-sp. A reported matching-numbers car
that’s been in the same family for 41 years.
Fewer than 1,000 miles since 2005–08 frame-off
restoration using NOS and date-coded parts.
Color changed in the ’70s from its original Marlboro
Maroon. Excellent paint over a straight
body. Very good sidepipes and factory wheels.
Interior like-new, with leather seats and factory
headrests. Underhood spotless, but seller told me
he had the engine painted in a matte finish so it
wouldn’t be too shiny and would look like a car
that’s been driven. Comes with Al Grenning report,
with photos of serials, shipping data report
and 41 years of documents, registrations and
inspections. Cond: 2+.
dual removable roof panels for $915, a $30 destination
charge, and the ZR-1 option added another
$31,683 for a total of $65,583. Seller had
a handout with his cell number in case anyone
had questions....a welcome touch. Cond: 2+.
in 2014 (ACC# 240747), dropping the next year
to $22k (ACC# 258635). If this seller was the
2015 buyer, he came out all right on the deal.
Deservedly sold at the top of the market, and no
doubt welcome news to Model A owners everywhere.
SOLD AT $28,600. Car and Driver called the
ZR-1 a legitimate Ferrari competitor, and said it
should serve as an example for the entire American
automotive industry. Alas, it never sold anywhere
near GM’s hopes (they said they could
build 4,000 a year; the high point was in 1990,
when they built 3,000). One of 2,044 built in
1991. Like many, this one was essentially put
away when new; now they’re coming out of collections.
Sold well above the ACC median, but
still a great performance bargain.
FOMOCO
SOLD AT $181,500. The seller’s late uncle, an
engineer at St. Louis’ McDonnell-Douglas aerospace
firm, bought this in 1978 as a replacement
for his first two Corvettes; the first was wrecked,
the second stolen. The nephew wanted to keep it
in the family but his children aren’t interested.
Get out your checkbooks—a ’67 black-on-black
(albeit a color change) 4-speed with the largest
engine option. Deservedly brought huge money,
at $50k above the ACC price-guide median.
#414.1-1991 CHEVROLET CORVETTE ZR-1
coupe. VIN: 1G1YZ23J1M5800185. Black/black
leather. Odo: 776 miles. 5.7-L 375-hp fuel-injected
V8, 6-sp. A nearly new car. Paint and interior
per factory. Engine compartment clean.
Rides on new tires, originals come with car.
Windshield has been replaced with correct (and
very expensive) insulated unit. Comes with all
factory documentation: labels, tags, pamphlets,
VHS tapes, briefcase, key chain. Original sticker
shows a base Corvette with a sticker of $32,455,
#51-1929 FORD MODEL A roadster. VIN:
2346337. Black/black vinyl/brown vinyl. An A in
basic black. A well-optioned car with winged
Motometer, wind wings, dual spares and grille
guard. Nice paint with an occasional bit of orange
peel, especially on side of hood. Filled-in
chip on right fender top. Seller says pinstripe is
red, but looks orange to me, thus giving it a
Harley-Davidson vibe. Nice clean whitewalls.
Excellent chrome on headlights and radiator.
Interior looks unused, with first-rate chrome
gauge trim. Likewise excellent top. Underhood
clean and correct. Odometer reads straight zeroes.
Cond: 2.
SOLD AT $70,400. Sold at nearly twice the
median value for a Baby Bird with the D-code
engine upgrade, there’s no doubt as to its Amos
Minter restoration with low miles. You’ll see
these everywhere in conditions ranging from cars
with amateur restorations of varying quality to a
few cars like this. As I write this, there are 225
for sale in an online classified database (a sign
of owners “aging out” of the hobby?), most in
the sub-$50k class, but a surprising number at
prices higher than this. Given the quality of the
restoration and the Minter pedigree, I’ll call it
fairly bought.
SOLD AT $35,200. One of 1.3 million Model As
sold in the model’s second year, where a big
change was the addition of door handles. This
was a very nice car, reportedly a former museum
car with an older body-off restoration. It has sold
twice at this venue, selling for a healthy $34,100
#1306-1966 SHELBY GT350 fastback. VIN:
SFM6S2116. Wimbledon White/black vinyl. Odo:
27,697 miles. 289-ci V8, 4-bbl, 4-sp. Virtually
flawless, matching-numbers car with excellent
paint, body lines, bumpers and stainless. When
shut, the doors sounded just they way they did
back in the day. Mix of original and reproduction
(with Ford markings) glass. Interior looks new,
with correct optional three-inch racing-type seat
belts and plastic-wood steering wheel.
Underhood is spotless with black Ford washer
bag and reproduction Motorcraft battery. Rides
on reproduction Blue Streak tires and neat, optional
Shelby 10-spoke wheels. Cond: 2. SOLD
AT $192,500. Just 150 miles since its 2010 restoration.
Comes with restoration photos, factory
March–April 2020 73
#1257.1-1957 FORD THUNDERBIRD convertible.
VIN: D7FH280975. Torch Red/white
vinyl, red hard top/cream leather. Odo: 120
miles. 312-ci V8, 4-bbl, auto. Undriven restoration
by famed T-bird specialist Amos Minter. Flawless
paint, straight body, excellent bumpers and window
stainless. Interior looks like it’s never been
sat in. Beautiful, correct dash. Engine bay per
factory with several factory inspection stamps.
Period screw-cap battery. Cond: 2+.
Page 72
BARRETT-JACKSON • SCOTTSDALE, AZ
insulation, back seat, radio or warranty. What
buyers did get with the $7,205 “R” package was
a high-performance 5.0, upgraded suspension,
tower brace and various fluid coolers. Paint and
plastics have aged well (as opposed to a pair of
Buick Grand Nationals with similar miles I saw
here last year), seats still plastic-wrapped.
Underhood unused, but some bare-metal surfaces
on pulleys and alternator show age. Call it
a new car. Cond: 2+.
paperwork and reproduction owner’s manuals.
Sold for the median in the price guide, but given
its condition, well bought. One of 1,368.
#68-1968 FORD TORINO GT convertible.
VIN: 8H43Y153663. Wimbledon White/white
vinyl/blue vinyl. Odo: 25,622 miles. 390-ci V8,
4-bbl, auto. Older paint still presents well despite
a few small issues. Painted-over rust bubble at
base of rear window. New factory-style stripes.
Seller says top is new; it fits well. Very good rechromed
bumpers, likewise excellent windshield
stainless, but some other trim shows light wear.
Factory wheels with new hubcaps. Very nice interior
with original Philco (a Ford division) radio,
newer correct seat covers and carpet. New tires
with correct-sized whitewalls, new hubcaps. A
slight rattle when driver’s door closes, a bit of
rubber trim is loose and hangs outside when
door is closed. Underhood is said to be recently
painted, but the firewall finish could be improved.
Cond: 3+.
the ACC Premium Auction Database, being bid
to, but not sold at, $230,000 at Mecum Indy
2018 (ACC# 6874185) and again going unsold
at Mecum Phoenix 2019 with a high bid of
$175,000 (ACC# 6905217).
AMERICANA
SOLD AT $143,000. Sold for double the median
price of a Cobra R, but that’s not surprising
considering it’s never been raced...or even
driven. Last year I reviewed a similar 551-mile
Cobra R; it went for $132,000, which I thought
was all the money. I’ve since learned that a
number of the 107 built were stored as future
collectibles, so we likely haven’t seen the last
one like this to cross an auction block. Parked
next to this car was another ’93, with 320 miles;
it sold for $121,000. A lot of money for a Foxbody,
but worth it to someone.
MOPAR
SOLD AT $14,850. Ford’s forgotten middle
child, the Torino was having a bit of an identity
crisis in ’69, as it was still offered under the Fairlane
banner; Torino would be the series name
beginning the next year. Pending a good investigation
of the body for other rust/paint issues,
sold right about where it should have. Seemed to
have good bones, and with good chrome/interior
and the upgraded 390, the price guides suggest
a repaint could be done without going underwater.
Fairly sold, and perhaps a good buy if it just
needs a simple paint job.
#1073.1-1993 FORD MUSTANG SVT Cobra
R fastback. VIN: 1FACP42DPF169175. Red/
gray cloth. Odo: 33 miles. 5.0-L fuel-injected V8,
5-sp. A factory lightweight racer: no a/c, sound
74 AmericanCarCollector.com
#1320.1-1970 PLYMOUTH HEMI ’CUDA
2-dr hard top. VIN: BS23R0B146694. Rallye
Red/black vinyl. 426-ci V8, 2x4-bbl, auto. A realdeal
Hemi ’Cuda, one of 368 automatic cars built
in 1970. Stated NOM, but correct-type engine
was sourced from another Hemi ’Cuda at a reported
cost of $30k. Excellent paint over a
straight body with excellent panel gaps. Excellent
interior with a bit of very slight puckering on
driver’s seat. Great console, dash and steering
wheel. Door locked, so odometer reading not
available. Trunk is spotless with correct inflate-aspare.
Spotless under the hood, modern battery
fitted. Mirrors show a spotless undercarriage, but
bottom of oil pan appears to have some dents.
Won best Muscle Car Class at Portland roadster
show in 2018, and comes with trophies and build
receipts. Cond: 2+. SOLD AT $170,500. Seller
says it was restored at a cost of $282,963.11,
meaning despite the healthy sale total, someone
still lost near $112k. The car appears twice in
#384.1-1947 CROSLEY CC pickup. VIN:
CC4721263. Yellow & white/brown vinyl. Odo:
11,323 miles. 44-ci I4, 1-bbl, 3-sp. A fresh restoration
with just about everything new...as you’d
expect from a truck which spent 40 years in a
Yakima, WA, chicken coop. Very good paint and
bodywork. New chrome and glass. Very nice interior
with two neat gauges and what looks to be a
new or restored steering wheel. Bare-metal
transmission tunnel undented. Cab floor and
headliner looks like they were sprayed with
matching yellow bed liner, as does the bed floor.
Tiny engine is well painted, as is the rest of the
engine compartment (it’s far too small to call it
an engine bay). Cond: 2.
SOLD AT $19,800. Crosley made a series of
trucks, both pickups and panel trucks, throughout
their surprisingly long history. This car sold
here last year for $26,400 (ACC# 6892195).
This time, it sold well above the $12k price of a
#3 condition convertible that sold at last year’s
B-J Scottsdale sale (ACC# 6891037), but well
below the $47,600 brought by a #2+ CD Super
wagon sold at RM Sotheby’s Monterey last year
(ACC# 6908536). On a price-per-pound basis,
it’s well sold, even if at a loss from last year, but
not out of line for rarity, condition and cute factor.
Page 73
BARRETT-JACKSON • SCOTTSDALE, AZ
#432.1-1953 KAISER DRAGON sedan. VIN:
001849. Stardust Ivory/black vinyl/black vinyl,
cream cloth. Odo: 63,403 miles. 226-ci I6, 2-bbl,
auto. Older restoration in factory color and heavily
ribbed “Dragon Skin” vinyl roof. Paint is
holding up well with just a few chips. Likewise,
the top is in good shape with slight color fade
but no rips or signs of rust underneath. Massive
chrome bumpers are good, very good window
stainless. Good window rubber and felt, doors
sound solid when closed. Interior is done with
factory-correct cloth in a typical, early-’50s design.
Likely irreplaceable, I wonder if it’s original.
The highlight of the car is a great dash; a
mixture of heavy padded vinyl and chrome. Hood
not open; however, catalog photos show it to be
spotless and correct. Cond: 3.
#70-1970 INTERNATIONAL TRAVELALL utility.
VIN: 383107H961128. White/blue cloth.
Odo: 66,718 miles. 304-ci V8, 4-bbl, 4-sp. Recipient
of a cosmetic restoration circa 2012, with
thick paint over a straight body. Very good stainless
grille, rechromed bumpers look fine. Original
drip rails have the usual scratches and dents.
Wide lower body-side trim insert now body color
instead of original black or argent. New genericlooking
seat covers and carpet in modern materials.
Excellent dash with aftermarket radio/CD.
Seller gives a long list of service done since
2012: new clutch, brakes, seals, tires and factory
a/c converted to R134a. Original paint on firewall
gives the truck an honest, maintained look.
Aluminum radiator. Cond: 3.
fully at that price it will receive continued care
and restoration.
#53-1984 JEEP CJ-7 SUV. VIN: 1JCCM87E3ET056083.
Tan/tan fiberglass/brown &
tan cloth. Odo: 102,365 miles. 258-ci I6, 2-bbl,
4-sp. A largely stock CJ-7 with original paint.
Some wear and scratches to fender tops and
paint loss to both exterior hood hinges. Stock
dash with correct factory pad, seats are covered
with aftermarket covers. Fiberglass top and glass
look good. Like the rest of the truck, engine bay
is clean and stock but not detailed. Rides on nice
chrome wheels with new tires. Reportedly a lifelong
California-Arizona truck. Cond: 3+.
SOLD AT $25,300. The Dragon was the top of
Kaiser’s ’53 range, with a list price of $3,924, not
far from the cost of a Cadillac convertible. I rated
this a #3 because it looked a bit tired—a good
detail and some TLC might bring it up a notch.
Sold for #2 money, but considering the correctness
of the car, not a bad buy.
SOLD AT $20,900. It looks like a well-maintained
truck your uncle would have bought off a
buddy who’s going into a retirement home. The
older cosmetic work was done to a functional,
not factory-correct level, as would befit a
40-plus-year-old orphan SUV at the time. It
would be interesting to see what the new owner
has in store for it. More of the same, or a return
to stock? Sold near the top of the market; hope-
SOLD AT $14,850. My first collector car was a
’77 CJ-5 bought in 1997; even back then, it was
tough to find CJs in such good condition. The
modest three-inch lift gives it a bit of swagger,
likewise the aftermarket wheels. Too bad it
doesn’t have a Laredo or Renegade trim package.
Thankfully, it has the optional I6 in place of
the standard I4, the V8 option having disappeared
after 1981. A good buy. A
The most valuable tool in your box
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March–April 2020 75
Page 74
MECUM AUCTIONS • KISSIMMEE, FL
Kicking off the year with a $3.74m “Bullitt”
Kissimmee 2020
Mecum Auctions
Kissimmee, FL
January 2–12, 2019
Auctioneers: Jimmy
Landis, Mark Delzell,
Matt Moravec
Automotive lots sold/
offered: 2,015/2,946
Sales rate: 68%
Sales total: $94,742,895
High sale: 1968 Ford
Mustang GT “Bullitt”
fastback, sold at
$3,740,000
Buyer’s premium:
10%, included in sold
prices
So what will the new owner’s reaction be if a black Charger appears in the rear-view mirror?
Report and photos by John Hoshstrasser
Market opinions in italics
• Highest-ever total at Kissimmee, besting last year’s
$93.7m by 1%
• Star-studded event: Movie cars offered here included the
“Bullitt” Mustang, GT40 Superformance replica from
“Ford v Ferrari” fame, and the 1958 Plymouth Fury
convertible from John Carpenter’s “Christine”
• Buyers had their choices from 42 Pontiac Trans Ams, 19
(’60s and ’70s) Dodge and Plymouth Hemi-powered cars,
or a whopping 305 Corvettes
rate (up from 65%).
The big news for this year’s Mecum Kissimmee auction was the inclusion of Lot
A
F150, the 1968 Ford Mustang GT that was the hero car driven by Steve McQueen in
the iconic 1968 movie “Bullitt.” Fully documented from new and in single-family
ownership since 1974, this car rocked the house. As it entered the block, everyone was
on their feet cheering. It was mechanically restored but cosmetically original, meaning
the seat, steering wheel, 4-speed shift knob and accelerator pedal were all the same
ones used by McQueen in the movie. A bidding war ensued by several phone bidders
76 AmericanCarCollector.com
s “The World’s Largest Collector Car Auction,” Mecum’s annual Kissimmee
sale certainly lives up to its billing. For 2020, nearly 3,000 collector cars
and 3,000 items of road art were auctioned off over 11 days. All told, 2,015
cars sold for a combined $94,742,895, with a 68% sell-through rate. This is a
slight increase over last year’s $93,741,010 result, with a better sell-through
until the hammer finally fell for a Mustang world record
of $3,740,000, after commissions.
Other significant movie cars included Lot S203,
a 1966 Ford GT40 Superformance replica that was
the Ken Miles hero car from the 2019 film “Ford v
Ferrari.” Driven by Christian Bale in the movie, it
showed very well for a movie car. All in, it sold for
$484,000, which may sound like a lot for a GT40
replica, but any fan of the film with the means would
like to have this example in their garage. Another
movie car at this year’s auction was Lot F156, a 1958
Plymouth Fury that was the hero car for the 1983 cult
film “Christine.”
As I live in Central Florida, I’ve been attending
and enjoying the Mecum Kissimmee auction for many
years and I must say, this year’s offerings were the
best I’ve ever seen. It seemed like every Mopar was
a Hemi, and every Corvette was a big-block. With an
auction so large, you really had to have your walking
shoes on to even see a fraction of what Mecum
Kissimmee has to offer.
In addition to this being “The World’s Largest
Collector Car Auction,” I’ve always thought of it as
“The World’s Greatest Car Show.” Even if you do not
intend to bid, there’s plenty of opportunity to educate
yourself firsthand on some of the rarest collector cars
built.A
QUICK TAKE
Page 76
MECUM AUCTIONS • KISSIMMEE, FL
GM
#F251-1968 CHEVROLET C10 custom
pickup. VIN: CS148S173783. Red/tan leather.
Odo: 1,096 miles. 5.7-L fuel-injected V8, auto.
Flawless paint over straight body panels. Chrome
bumpers and exterior trim blemish-free. Excellent
wood bed. Full custom interior has a vintage
vibe, with factory-appearing dash, leather seats
and console. LS3 engine components have been
chromed including Weiand intake manifold and
Vintage Air a/c compressor. B&M 4L60E automatic
transmission. Other custom touches include
keyless ignition, LED headlights, taillights and
side-marker lights, hidden radio, power windows
and door releases. Billet Specialties Legacy
wheels—19x8 in front and 20x10 in back.
Cond: 1-.
NOT SOLD AT $90,000. This Z/28 was an attractive
car with good options. The aggressive
$120,000 low estimate is a large premium to pay
just for the color combination. Yeah, it’s the only
1969 in burgundy with red stripes, but to me it
wasn’t all that striking. The consignor could have
taken the high bid without regret.
SOLD AT $143,000. This truck was the 2019
C10 Nationals Truck of the Year and Goodguys
Truck of the Year finalist. It’s easy to see why, as
the quality of this build was top notch. Very
tastefully done interior is luxurious and not
overly styled. The cheerful consignor was on site
and answering everyone’s questions. This truck
did not meet its low estimate of $160,000, but
the consignor cut it loose at the hammer price.
Although it’s still difficult for me to digest a
pickup selling for this kind of money, all should
be happy here.
#F168-1969 CHEVROLET CAMARO Z/28
coupe. VIN: 124379N518516. Burgundy/black
vinyl. Odo: 120 miles. 350-ci V8, 4-bbl, auto.
Said to be the only 1969 Z/28 painted burgundy
with red stripes. Early production car without
front and rear spoilers. Shiny paint shows a few
inclusions. Stripes are under the clearcoat. Stock
interior shows little wear. Engine bay is very
clean but not concours detailed. Correct components,
hoses and clamps. Modern Delco battery
with the positive cable disconnected. Power front
disc brakes, Z21 Style Trim Group, Z23 Special
Interior Trim, U17 Special Instruments. Notarized
letter of testimony from the original owner attesting
the red stripes were painted at the factory.
Dealer invoice, owner’s manual, original
keys and vintage photos of the car included.
Cond: 2.
78 AmericanCarCollector.com
#S232-1969 OLDSMOBILE HURST/OLDS
2-dr hard top. VIN: 344879M367939. White &
gold/black vinyl. Odo: 8,558 miles. 455-ci V8,
4-bbl, auto. Claimed to have had a frame-off
restoration at unspecified date. Shiny paint
shows a lot of polishing swirls. Some paint chips
on hood scoop. Rechromed front bumpers wavy,
rear bumpers are good. Glass is clear all around.
New carpet, door panels and seat covers, the rest
of the interior looks tired. “His and Hers” Hurst
Dual Gate shifter. Stock engine bay is complete
and very clean. Factory a/c, power steering and
front disc brakes. Documented with reproduction
window sticker, Protect-O-Plate and Hurst registry.
Cond: 2.
400-ci V8, 4-bbl, auto. One of 14 Ram Air IV
convertibles built with an automatic transmission.
Paint looks a little thick. Only flaw is a dimesized
scuff on left rear fender. All chrome and
exterior trim apparently flawless, but door gaps
off on both sides. Restored interior is all stock
and excellent, with factory push-button AM radio.
Engine bay is spotless save for some rusting on
intake-manifold bolts. SR-suffix warranty replacement
block. Equipped with power steering,
front disc brakes, driver’s seat and antenna,
hood tach, Positraction 3.90 rear end, hideaway
headlamps and shoulder belts. Cond: 2.
SOLD AT $154,000. Documented with original
Protect-O-Plate, PHS documentation and Canadian
title search. This goat was built in Baltimore
and sold new at a Vancouver, Canada, dealer.
Traded in for a new Toyota Celica in 1974. Hindsight
is 20/20, right? Previous no-sales at Mecum
Kissimmee 2017 at a high bid of $175,000
(ACC# 6824643) and Mecum Monterey 2019 at
a high bid of $145,000 (ACC# 6908559). The
sold price here looks a bit high, but was in the
middle of the estimate. Still, well sold today.
SOLD AT $66,000. A good interior detailing
would do wonders for this car. Legend has it that
George Hurst persuaded Oldsmobile to get
around the GM-mandated 400-ci engine limit by
having final assembly/modification done off-site,
with the cars being effectively sold back to Olds
for dealer distribution. All Hurst/Olds were built
with the “His and Hers” shifter, but only 173 left
the factory with a/c like this example. The
$125,000 low estimate was very ambitious, and
the consignor let it go for almost half that. The
hammer price was a little light given the factory
a/c. Well bought.
#F167-1969 PONTIAC GTO Ram Air IV convertible.
VIN: 242679B169050. Carousel Red/
black vinyl/Parchment vinyl. Odo: 97,328 miles.
#S209-1970 OLDSMOBILE 442 W-30
convertible. VIN: 344670M185344. Sebring
Yellow/black vinyl/black vinyl. Odo: 56,867
miles. 455-ci V8, 4-bbl, 4-sp. Stated that a nutand-bolt
restoration was completed in 2015, and
it was awarded 998 out of 1,000 points in the
2017 Oldsmobile Nationals. Special-order Sebring
Yellow paint shiny but has some polishing
swirls. Magnum 500 wheels unmarked and shod
with reproduction Goodyear bias-ply tires. New
top fits very well. Interior has been restored to
perfection. Original foot pedals are a little dirty.
Factory AM radio with 8-track tape player below
dash. Engine bay with matching numbers is stock
Page 78
MECUM AUCTIONS • KISSIMMEE, FL
and spotless. Equipped with front disc brakes,
power top and M21 close-ratio 4-speed manual.
Documented with two broadcast sheets. Cond: 1-.
SOLD AT $247,500. This car checked a lot of
boxes for 442 fans: concours condition, nicely
optioned and well documented. I was surprised
that such a nice, rare and valuable car was
parked outside for the duration of the 11-day
auction. At least it was under a tent. The hammer
price blew past the price guides and ended
near the $260,000 high estimate, but the buyer
has bragging rights to owning one of the best
442s in existence. Well sold, but for the very best
cars, the price guides need to be tossed out the
window sometimes.
#S217-1972 CHEVROLET SUBURBAN SUV.
VIN: CCE162F129189. Blue & white/blue vinyl.
Odo: 96,967 miles. 350-ci V8, 4-bbl, auto. Unusual
3-door Suburban with a back door on the
passenger’s side only. Good paint has a few chips
touched up on nose. A few dents and masking
issues on drip rails. Bumpers and exterior bright
trim are all good. Twenty-inch chrome Boyd Coddington
wheels unmarked. Expertly restored
stock interior. Modern CD player in dash, with
speakers cut into kick panels. Rare dual-zone a/c
with outlets in roof of the cargo area blowing
forward. Engine bay is stock, clean and complete.
Fitted with Custom Deluxe trim package, factory
a/c, power brakes and steering, factory tow package.
Cond: 2.
be clean and original, in good shape but not
crisp. Factory AM/FM/8-track stereo. Replacement
door-sill trim. Engine bay is clean and correct
but not detailed. Equipped with WS6
performance package, T-tops, CB radio, factory
a/c and matching-numbers engine. Documented
with PHS documents, owner’s manual, books and
warranty documents. Glovebox door and CB radio
signed by Burt Reynolds. Cond: 2.
soft spot for Fieros. As is typical with GM, they
improved the Fiero over the years and made it
into a good car, only to kill it when it was at its
zenith. With the addition of the V8 Northstar
with nitrous, this car would be a street beast!
There are V8 conversion kits for Fieros available,
and these cars have a cult following. If you pull
up next to a Fiero at a stoplight, make sure it
has the stock engine before you punch the gas.
You either love these or hate them. I love them,
so I’m calling this well bought.
CORVETTE
SOLD AT $48,400. These Bandits took off in
value in 2015, but have been relatively flat since.
This example had all the options that a collector
would look for: T-tops, 4-speed, WS6 package,
factory a/c, matching numbers and signed by the
Bandit himself. There wasn’t a lot of information
about the car in the auction catalog and that
might have held it back. The final price was in
the ball park, and, in the end, it was enough to
complete the deal.
NOT SOLD AT $40,000. This was a nicely restored
vintage SUV in pleasing colors. With the
350 small block and a/c it is very usable today.
As values for ’67–72 pickups rise, perhaps they
will bring the Suburban variants with it. The
consignor apparently thinks so. The final hammer
price was below the low estimate of $50k, so
the consignor took it back home.
#F5-1979 PONTIAC TRANS AM SE coupe.
VIN: 2W87Z9N133965. Black/tan vinyl. Odo:
7,513 miles. 400-ci V8, 4-bbl, 4-sp. Shiny paint
shows no chips, scratches or orange peel. Wax
residue resides around the Screaming Chicken on
the hood. Factory alloy snowflake wheels show a
few scuffs. Glass is clear all around, except the
T-top glass has some scratches. Interior looks to
80 AmericanCarCollector.com
#U94-1988 PONTIAC FIERO custom coupe.
VIN: 1G2PG1199JP207805. White/tan leather.
Odo: 113,488 miles. 4.6-L fuel-injected V8, auto.
Good white paint with ghosted stripes. Masking
lines around windshield. Konig alloys show some
abrasions. Hood louvered to look like a Trans
Am. Pop-up moonroof. Stock interior shows
some wear on steering wheel. Creasing to driver’s
seat, scuffs on door sills. Still has the factory
cigar lighter. Factory cassette player in dash.
Oversized quad exhaust tips. Engine has been
swapped out with a 1997 Cadillac Northstar V8
and Cadillac 4-speed auto transmission. Engine
puts out 300 hp and the addition of nitrous oxide
system adds another 150 hp. Wilwood brakes
and upgraded suspension. Cond: 2-.
#S193-1953 CHEVROLET CORVETTE roadster.
VIN: E53F1300. Polo White/black cloth/red
vinyl. Odo: 210 miles. 235-ci 150-hp I6, 3x1-bbl,
auto. Good paint over wavy fiberglass—just like
they left the factory. Some chips around fuel door
and on nose. Chrome bumpers and exterior trim
excellent. Whitewall tires starting to yellow. Interior
appears unworn. Engine bay is concours
detailed and all correct. Top down, so can’t inspect,
but photos in catalog show that it fits well
and the rear window is clear. Bloomington Gold
certified in 1988, Bloomington Gold Special Collection
in 1991, NCRS Top Flight, Performance
Verification and Duntov Mark of Excellence in
1990, and part of GM’s World of Motion display
at Walt Disney World. Cond: 2+.
SOLD AT $269,500. This Corvette was the last
of the 300 produced in the Corvette’s inaugural
year. This car comes with extensive documentation
of its history with good ownership. Last restored
in 2007 by an NCRS Master Judge and
completely mechanically overhauled in 2015. It
has plenty of awards and magazine appearances.
This car sold at the upper end of the high
estimate and above the price listed in the ACC
Pocket Price Guide, but due to the condition and
it being the last 1953 Corvette built, I’m calling it
fairly bought and sold.
SOLD AT $9,350. Two seats, mid-engine and
the look of an Italian exotic—I’ve always had a
#F199-1958 CHEVROLET CORVETTE convertible.
VIN: J589103177. Charcoal & silver/
black vinyl/red vinyl. Odo: 145 miles. 283-ci
250-hp fuel-injected V8, 4-sp. Shiny paint over
straight body panels, with polishing swirls
throughout. Bumpers and exterior trim very
good. Reproduction Firestone whitewall bias-ply
Page 79
MECUM AUCTIONS • KISSIMMEE, FL
tires starting to yellow. Bright red interior appears
as-new. Modern aftermarket radio with
Corvette logo. Rare heater delete. Decklid has
factory holes for a hard top, but there’s no mention
of one being included in the sale. Engine
bay is complete, sanitary and correct, with the
exception of added tube headers. No documentation
mentioned. Cond: 1-.
tain, the founder of Fountain Power Boats. This
car comes documented with a copy of the Manufacturer
Statement of Origin, a notarized letter
from Reggie Fountain and a letter of confirmation
from Joel Rosen. The modifications performed
on this car by Motion Performance are
too many to list. A little rough around the edges,
but this car deserved more than the high bid,
and the consignor was right to walk away.
SOLD AT $154,000. Rare, striking Charcoaland-red
color combination. This is the tamer
250-hp hydraulic-lifter variation of the famed
fuel-injected engine. Stated that this car was the
recipient of a frame-off restoration 15 miles ago
(but not exactly when). Obviously the bidders
found this car very attractive, as the hammer
price blew past the $110k high estimate. Well
sold, but if you wanted a 1958 Corvette Fuelie,
this was a great example to pursue.
#S236-1969 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Motion
Mako Shark II coupe. VIN: 194379S718498.
LeMans Blue/bright blue vinyl. Odo: 43,499
miles. 427-ci 520-hp V8, 4-bbl, 4-sp. Excellent
paint. Some waviness to custom body panels, as
to be expected. Bumpers appear to have been
rechromed over sanding scratches. Interior appears
to be original and has survived very well,
except the carpet is worn, faded and stained.
Factory AM/FM radio. Engine bay looks to have
been hosed down but not cleaned. Master cylinder
is rusty. Distributor shroud is missing. Motion
aluminum valve covers. Engine said to be built to
520 hp. Equipped with tilt and telescopic steering,
power steering, brakes and windows and a
4.88 rear axle. Cond: 3.
#S203-1966 FORD GT40 Superformance
replica coupe. VIN: GT40P2339.
Blue/black leather. RHD. Ken Miles Hero
Car from the 2019 film “Ford v Ferrari.” Good
shiny paint for a movie car, let alone a race car.
Plastic headlight covers have scratches, as do
plexiglass side windows. Knockoff wheels blemish-free
but a little dirty. Well-appointed interior
with full gauges. Dash signed by Charlie Agapiou,
Ken Miles’ crew chief in 1966, and Peter
Miles, Ken’s son. Current California license
plates. Engine bay looks fantastic with K&N
8-stack fuel-injection system, “bundle of snakes”
exhaust system and Roush valve covers. Dan
Gurney For President sticker on rear wing is a
nice touch. Cond: 2.
FOMOCO
4
SOLD AT $484,000. One of two cars built by
Superformance for the “Ford v Ferrari” movie.
The other car was a reproduction of Bruce
McLaren’s black GT40 that ultimately placed first
at Le Mans in 1966. This car was driven by Christian
Bale in the movie, and also went on publicity
tours to advertise the movie. Superformance
GT40s are valuable in their own right, but having
this movie car comes with huge bragging
rights. Hard to value, but the final hammer price
shot past the $325,000 high estimate. It would
be easy to say this was well sold, but as they say,
find another.
NOT SOLD AT $200,000. I love these cars with
their wild custom bodywork and performance
mods. Said to be ordered new by Reggie Foun-
#S211-1968 SHELBY GT500 KR fastback.
VIN: 8T02R201765. Acapulco Blue/black vinyl.
Odo: 76,119 miles. 428-ci V8, 4-bbl, auto. Shiny
paint very well done, with no apparent flaws.
Chrome bumpers and exterior trim very good.
Some scratches on driver’s side door handle.
Good gaps all around. Interior very well restored,
but armrests show some wear. Dash
March–April 2020 81
TOP 10
Page 80
MECUM AUCTIONS • KISSIMMEE, FL
signed by Carroll Shelby, dated 2002. Engine bay
is correct and very clean. Equipped with power
steering and power brakes with front discs.
Cond: 2+.
#F194-1985 FORD MUSTANG GT hatchback.
VIN: 1FABP28M3FF236306. Red/gray
cloth. Odo: 3,947 miles. 5.0-L V8, 4-bbl, 5-sp.
Mileage stated to be actual. Good factory paint
shows light polishing scratches. Light curb rash
on left rear alloy wheel, others unmarked. All
exterior black trim good. Cloth interior is as-new,
with no visible wear. Factory cassette stereo.
Mustang Club of America decal on windshield.
Engine bay all stock, detailed. Original battery
comes with car. Copy of original window sticker
attached to driver’s window. Equipped with
power steering and brakes, factory a/c. From the
Colin Comer Collection. Cond: 2+.
SOLD AT $132,000. The 335-hp rating for the
King of the Road is considered to be extremely
underrated. I love this shade of blue and this
example wore it well. The only thing holding this
car back may have been the automatic transmission.
Final hammer price was just under the
$140k low estimate, and it was also under the
money for KRs. Well bought.
#F132-1971 MERCURY CYCLONE Spoiler
2-dr hard top. VIN: 1H17J526202. Yellow/
white vinyl/white vinyl. Odo: 2 miles. 429-ci V8,
4-bbl, 4-sp. Fresh paint expertly applied, with no
visible chips, scratches or orange peel. Vinyl
stripes applied over the paint. All exterior
chrome and trim excellent. Clear glass all
around. Chrome Magnum 500 tires blemish-free,
with reproduction Firestone Wide Oval tires.
Seats said to be reskinned with OEM vinyl. Interior
appears nearly flawless, except for some
light pitting on chrome trim of factory radio. 429
Cobra Jet Ram Air engine is concours detailed.
Comes with Elite Marti Report and window
sticker. Cond: 1-.
SOLD AT $39,600. If you missed out on buying
a new 1985 Mustang GT, this was your second
chance. This was the desirable 1985 “Four Eye”
Fox-body GT and the last year of the 4V carbureted
5.0-L HO engine with roller camshaft. It
was said to be a multiple MCA Gold Award winner,
and comes from a who’s who in the Mustang
collector world. Previously seen at the BarrettJackson
Scottsdale auction on January 13, 2018,
where it sold for $33,000 (ACC# 6862717). This
would be the centerpiece of any Fox-body collection.
On paper this lot was well sold, but if you
were a collector with means, you wouldn’t be
faulted for stepping up.
SOLD AT $104,500. Rare, one-of-353 Cyclone
Spoilers produced in 1971. The Spoiler was the
performance version of the Cyclone, with front
and rear spoilers, functional Ram Air hood
scoop, competition suspension package and 429
Cobra Jet engine all standard. The final hammer
price was much higher than the median price
listed in the price guide, and because of that, I
have to say this was well sold. But this may be
the best example in existence, so no fault to the
buyer for paying up for such a great car.
82 AmericanCarCollector.com
#F111-2006 FORD GT Heritage
Edition coupe. VIN: 1FAKP90S76Y400326.
Heritage Blue & Epic Orange/black
leather. Odo: 625 miles. 5.4-L supercharged V8,
6-sp. One-owner car. Factory paint unmarked,
but shows orange peel throughout. Clear bra
covers nose. Wheels blemish-free. Interior asnew.
Supercharger signed by Jack Roush. Original
tires look good. Equipped with all four
options. From the Wellborn Musclecar Museum
Collection. Comes with Ford GT Certificate package,
four window stickers, owner’s manual, car
7
cover, battery tender and all factory brochures
available when new. Cond: 1-. SOLD AT
$429,000. For first-generation GTs, it doesn’t
get any better than this. Heritage paint, all the
options, low mileage and fastidiously cared for
by a well-known collector. A market-correct result
I’ll call fairly bought and sold.
MOPAR
#F156-1958 PLYMOUTH FURY 2-dr hard
top. VIN: LP2L11322. Red & white/red vinyl &
cloth. Odo: 79,510 miles. 318-ci V8, 2x4-bbl,
auto. Featured in the 1983 movie “Christine.”
Shiny paint shows some polishing swirls. Abundant
chrome and exterior stainless trim are
good. Whitewall, bias-ply tires starting to yellow.
Glass looks dirty from storage. Interior is in good
shape but a little dusty. Engine bay appears to
have been concours restored at one point and is
now dusty. Cheap hoses with modern clamps.
Period-looking battery. Exhaust manifolds show
no rust. Offenhauser intake manifold. Equipped
with power steering and brakes. Cond: 2.
NOT SOLD AT $275,000. This was one of the
cars used in the movie, which was based on the
novel by Stephen King. After production
wrapped, it was raffled off. Last seen at the Barrett-Jackson
Scottsdale 2015 auction, where it
sold for $198,000 (ACC# 6778838). I don’t
know what condition it was in at the last sale,
but it looks like someone is trying to recoup the
restoration costs. The $400k low estimate was
very ambitious. “Christine” isn’t getting any
more popular as time goes by. The high bid was
all the money for a good (not great) Fury that
appeared in a B movie. The consignor should
have taken the money.
#S184-1969 DODGE DAYTONA 2-dr hard
top. VIN: XX29L9B390018. White/red vinyl. Odo:
56 miles. 440-ci V8, 4-bbl, auto. Newer paint
over straight body panels with orange peel
throughout. Chrome and exterior bright trim in
good shape. Windshield starting to delaminate
around perimeter. Putty placed around sides of
the windshield, presumably to keep the elements
out. Magnum 500 wheels blemish-free, with
Goodyear Redline tires. Door gaps wide at front,
tight at rear. New interior shows well, carpet is
TOP 10
Page 81
baggy around passenger’s footwell. Radio antenna
sitting on passenger’s seat. Engine bay is
very clean, with correct hoses and clamps. Exhaust
manifolds are rusty. Equipped with center
console, woodgrain steering wheel, power steering
and Tic-Toc-Tach. Documented with broadcast
sheet and data tag. Cond: 2.
Pam Wellborn’s favorite cars, so it’ll take even
more to wrestle it away from her. Otherwise the
high bid should have been gleefully accepted.
MECUM AUCTIONS • KISSIMMEE, FL
AMERICANA
SOLD AT $346,500. The white paint with red
wing and interior was striking. This car was the
recipient of a frame-off nut-and-bolt restoration
some time ago and has many concours trophies
and many appearances in Mopar magazines.
Now the restoration is starting to unwind a bit.
The sale price landed very near the aggressive
$350,000 high estimate, and I have to call this
very well sold.
#F112-1970 DODGE CHARGER R/T 2-dr
hard top. VIN: XS29V0G258205. Panther Pink/
white vinyl/black vinyl, houndstooth cloth. Odo:
70,797 miles. 440-ci V8, 3x2-bbl, auto. Very good
paint. Stripe is scratched on right rear fender.
Chrome bumpers and exterior trim shiny. Front
bumper shows some scratches. Good door gaps,
hood gaps are wide. Blemish-free Magnum 500
wheels with reproduction Goodyear Polyglas
tires. Interior appears unworn. Factory AM radio.
Clock and tach delete, so the left gauge in the
dash is blank. Engine bay is concours detailed.
Equipped with power steering and front disc
brakes. Documented with three broadcast sheets.
Stated to be one of two Panther Pink V-code
cars. Offered from the Wellborn Musclecar Museum
Collection. Cond: 2+.
#F268-1970 PLYMOUTH ROAD RUNNER
custom 2-dr hard top. VIN: RM21N0G172160.
Bronze/black vinyl/black leather. 6.1-L fuelinjected
V8, auto. Originally a 383 Road Runner
customized with Superbird bodywork. Build date
not specified. Excellent paint with no visible
flaws. Good vinyl top. Chrome and exterior
bright trim are all good. Aftermarket rear wing
is not adjustable. All-custom interior shows no
wear. Dash resembles stock, but has digital
gauges and modern stereo. Stock-looking horseshoe
shifter for the 727 TorqueFlite automatic a
nice touch. Modern SRT8 Hemi engine with
8-stack fuel-injection system. Aluminum radiator
with dual electric fans. Wilwood power disc brake
system. Vintage Air.
#K118-1969 AMC SC/RAMBLER 2-dr
hard top. VIN: A9M097X264085. White,
red & blue/black vinyl. Odo: 628 miles. 390-ci
V8, 4-bbl, 4-sp. Paint is in good shape. Bumpers
are straight and shiny. Door handles pitted.
Chrome drip rails are scuffed on passenger’s
side. Factory steel wheels unmarked. Modern
Kumho tires have red stripe painted on. Interior
shows little wear but looks tired, could use a
good detail. Radio face shows pitting. Sun tach
clamped onto steering column, obscuring speedometer.
All-stock underhood looks to have been
detailed at some point, then driven. Foam insulation
around Ram Air air cleaner shows wear.
Cond: 2-.
SOLD AT $95,700. This was a very nice build, if
you don’t mind continuously being asked, “Is it a
real Superbird?” This resto-mod may have had
more over-the-top appeal to bidders than lot
T215, the 1967 Corvette convertible with LS3
power that failed to sell at $75,000. With commissions,
the final hammer price landed squarely
in the middle of the estimates. Was this one-off
custom worth the money? Two people in the
room thought so, so call it fairly bought and
sold.
SOLD AT $26,400. Based on your grandma’s
Rambler, the SC/Rambler was produced in conjunction
with Hurst for 1969 only, with 1,512
built. They offered few creature comforts and a
stiff suspension, but no matter—these cars were
built for the strip. These were 14-second cars off
the showroom floor and, with a few modifications,
could get into the 12-second range. This
appears to have been restored and then enjoyed.
Some shortcuts were taken, but the final hammer
price was way under current market value.
Very well bought. A
NOT SOLD AT $185,000. I could see someone
pulling up beside this car at a stoplight and giving
a little chuckle, only to have their doors
blown off when the light turns green. The final
hammer price was above the low estimate and
well above the value guides, but this was one of
“
Based on your grandma’s Rambler, the
SC/Rambler was produced in conjunction
with Hurst for 1969 only, with 1,512 built.
They offered few creature comforts and a
stiff suspension, but no matter — these
cars were built for the strip.
1969 AMC SC/Rambler 2-door hard top
March–April 2020 83
”
BEST
BUY
Page 82
LEAKE • SCOTTSDALE, AZ
Scottsdale Premiere
A strong Arizona Auction Week debut, boosted by no-reserve
Cars of Dreams
Leake Auctions
Scottsdale, AZ
January 16–19, 2020
Auctioneers: Tom
“Spanky” Assiter, Amy
Assiter, John Nickols,
Julia McConnell, Bran
Martens, Dustin Rogers
Automotive lots sold/
offered: 384/638
Sales rate: 60%
Sales total: $18,445,452
High American sale:
1957 Chrysler 300C
convertible, sold at
$357,500
Buyer’s premium:
10%, included in sold
prices
Nearly triple median value — 1957 Chrysler 300C convertible, sold at $357,500
Report and photos by Brett Hatfield
Market opinions in italics
• Leake’s $18.4m total was the best Arizona Auction Week
debut since Gooding & Company set up shop back in
2007 with a $21m opening total
• The third-most affordable Arizona auction this year, with
an average per-car sales price of $48,035
• Record-setting, $357,500 price for s/n 001 1957 Chrysler
300C convertible shot well beyond its previous record
high of $214,500
to much success. They brought with them an impressive assortment of vehicles,
including 114 cars from the famous John Staluppi Cars of Dreams Collection, all of
which were offered with no reserve. The auction sold 384 cars of the 638 on offer,
for a sell-through rate of 60%, yielding a total take just over $18.4 million.
The docket was loaded with a surprising and diverse array of offerings. A beautifully
restored 1957 Chrysler 300C convertible sold for $357,500, a new record for
L
84 AmericanCarCollector.com
eake (pronounced “lake”) Auctions has been in the collector-car business
for over 55 years. Formed by James C. Leake Sr. in 1964, it is the oldest
collector-car company in the U.S. For years, they have held auctions in Tulsa,
Oklahoma City and Dallas.
This year, Leake held their inaugural sale at Scottsdale’s Salt River Fields,
the model. A 1968 Corvette L88 coupe, one of only 80
made for 1968, sold for a positively bargain-basement
$275,000. An ultra-rare 1958 Dual Ghia crossed the
block for $330,000 and a 2012 Lexus LFA proved to
be the top seller for the auction, changing hands for
$434,500.
The four-day Leake auction also included two ve-
hicles sold for charity. They sold a 2020 Jeep Gladiator
IASO Rubicon pickup to benefit the pediatric cancer
research charity Austin Hatcher Foundation. The
Gladiator sold for $145,000, with a further $30,000
raised from private donations. A 2020 Indian
Springfield Jack Daniel’s motorcycle was sold three
times during the Leake auction — twice the buyers
asked for the motorbike to be sold again — raising a
total of $130,000 to be donated to The Armed Forces
YMCA and Jack Daniel’s Operation Ride Home.
“It was an amazing event, and we couldn’t have
done any of it without the support of our wonderful
consignors, bidders, spectators, sponsors and
vendors,” said Gary Bennett. “There were many highlights
during our four-day auction, but John Staluppi’s
Cars of Dreams Collection certainly brought the most
excitement. John has a very discerning eye for detail
and a magical understanding of the collector-car
market.”A
QUICK TAKE
Page 84
LEAKE • SCOTTSDALE, AZ
GM
#435.1-1956 PONTIAC STAR CHIEF convertible.
VIN: K856H3957. Lilac metallic & white/
white vinyl/black & white vinyl. Odo: 40,574
miles. 316-ci V8, 4-bbl, auto. Well equipped with
power steering, brakes and top, and automatic
trans. Lilac metallic paint presents well. A couple
of small chips have been touched up at the driver’s
side door sill. Bright chrome bumpers have
been refinished. Stainless fender skirts are well
polished. Numbers-matching 316 V8 Pontiac
Strato Streak is housed in a tidy engine bay.
Black-and-white vinyl interior shows very little
use. Glass is clear, free from nicks or wiper
marks. From John Staluppi’s Cars of Dreams
Collection. Cond: 2-.
very minor pitting on the face, as does the steering-wheel
horn button. From John Staluppi’s
Cars of Dreams Collection. Cond: 2+. SOLD AT
$101,200. As with most of the cars from the
Staluppi Collection, this one was far nicer than
when new, with very little to indicate its age. The
rotisserie restoration was done to a fault. Add in
a combination of performance and comfort options
rarely seen together, and this one became
a unicorn of sorts. Winning bid was more than
double ACC Pocket Price Guide median value,
but easily justifiable given the package.
SOLD AT $40,700. Last seen at the April 2019
Barrett-Jackson West Palm Beach sale, where it
sold for $71,500 (ACC# 6902114). The Star
Chief was a nice alternative to the Bel Air, with a
somewhat dressier appearance. This example
was nicer than your average cruiser, having been
the subject of a frame-off restoration a few years
ago. Only some minor chips detracted from the
appearance. The price here was below market
for the condition. Well bought indeed.
#625.1-1961 CHEVROLET IMPALA SS convertible.
VIN: 11867L140287. Tuxedo Black/
black vinyl/Cardinal Red & white vinyl. Odo:
88,010 miles. 348-ci V8, 4-bbl, 4-sp. An interesting
combination of equipment, with manual
trans, a/c, power steering, brakes, windows and
top. Glossy paint is far better than factory, showing
ample care in prep and execution. Panel
gaps are excellent. Painted steelies are shod in
bias-ply rubber. Squared-away engine bay
houses a 348. Chrome, brightwork both brilliant.
Red-and-white vinyl interior shows no appreciable
wear. Under-dash a/c-control panel has
#431-1965 CHEVROLET C10 Custom
pickup. VIN: C1445S221023. Light blue &
white/gold vinyl & cloth. Odo: 228 miles. 350-ci
V8, 4-bbl, auto. Power steering, power brakes,
and a/c are nice touches on a Custom trim-level
pickup. Paint is much better than new. Panel
gaps are consistent with 1960s pickup finish.
Chrome bumpers done to a good standard are a
nice bit of dress-up on an otherwise basic work
truck. Rest of brightwork is also in quite good
nick. Very clean engine bay is home to an upgraded
350, more-modern a/c, and backed by an
automatic. Interior appears recent, with only
slight wrinkling on the driver’s side of the bench
seat. Dash has been repainted a pewter metallic
that is close to the seat cover in color. Cond: 2.
better than showroom, spotless and correct. Interior
looks fresh, with no signs of wear. From
John Staluppi’s Cars of Dreams Collection.
Cond: 1-.
SOLD AT $110,000. Last seen at the 2019 Barrett-Jackson
Scottsdale sale, where it sold for
$82,500 (anyone else sensing a theme here?
ACC# 6891681). Very well sold here for well
north of median book value. Condition was the
driving factor, as there was little to fault anywhere
on the car. The wife and I discussed taking
this one home, but couldn’t keep up with the
meteoric bidding. The buyer certainly took home
one of the best examples to be found.
SOLD AT $38,500. Last seen at the June 2016
Northeast Barrett-Jackson sale, where it found
new ownership for $33k (ACC# 6875605). Much
better looking than when new. The change to a
newer 350 was not much of a sin in a truck that
was trying to be an extremely nice driver, as
opposed to a super-original example. Much like
a flannel shirt that had been starched and
ironed, this was a very usable basic truck, if
dressed up just a little. Well sold.
#440-1969 CHEVROLET CAMARO RS/SS
convertible. VIN: 124679N528033. Hugger
Orange/black vinyl/black vinyl, black & white
houndstooth. Odo: 15,661 miles. 396-ci V8,
4-bbl, 4-sp. One of the best examples I have ever
seen. Power steering, brakes, windows and top.
Hugger Orange paint is far better than new, with
obvious attention to prep and execution. Chrome
and stainless just gleam. Glass is crystal clear. All
weatherstrip is soft and pliable. Engine bay is
86 AmericanCarCollector.com
#630-1969 OLDSMOBILE 442 Hurst Shifter
Parade replica convertible. VIN: 344679E157859.
Cameo White & Firefrost Gold/black vinyl/
black vinyl. Odo: 11 miles. 455-ci V8, 4-bbl,
auto. Full Hurst Shifter promotional car replica
complete with stand on trunk lid for models, and
a nine-foot-tall Hurst Golden Shifter. Replica
constructed by Thornton Motors of Bucks County,
PA, with input from Hurst engineer “Doc Watson.”
Power steering, brakes and convertible top.
Paint is in quite good nick, with minimal orange
peel. Small scratch in the paint just below the
stripe on the passenger’s side. Refinished chrome
bumpers and polished stainless trim present well.
There is a cut in the black vinyl top cover. Engine
bay is very clean and correct. Black vinyl interior
(with gold-stripe-painted headrests) shows no
wear. From John Staluppi’s Cars of Dreams Collection.
Cond: 2.
SOLD AT $148,500. Last seen at the April 2014
Barrett-Jackson West Palm Beach sale, where it
changed hands for $200k in a charity auction
(ACC# 6717325). Linda Vaughn would be right
Page 86
LEAKE • SCOTTSDALE, AZ
at home on this one. What a cool replica, but
would be difficult to use without disassembling
the stand and giant shifter. The car this one was
based on was in tons of Hurst promotional materials
in the late ’60s/early ’70s. Book value on a
Hurst Olds 442 ragtop was $73.5k. No real way
to tell if the price paid was a deal for either the
buyer or seller (at least until they sell), but guaranteed
there won’t be another one at Cars &
Coffee.
#629-1969 CHEVROLET CAMARO Z/28
coupe. VIN: 124379N685761. Dusk Blue/black
vinyl/Dusk Blue vinyl. Odo: 47,512 miles. 302-ci
V8, 4-bbl, 4-sp. Paint is shiny but has a few
small blemishes that have been touched up.
Black vinyl roof looks good. Bumpers and stainless
are shiny, polished. Glass shows no untoward
marks, and weatherstrip is pliable. Engine bay
looks as it should, housing a true DZ 302. Dusk
Blue vinyl interior shows only some minor wrinkling,
with no other wear present. Carpet is in
good shape. Equipped with the Rally Pack console
gauges. Accompanied by heavy documentation,
Protect-O-Plate, and Certificate of
Authenticity from Jerry MacNeish. From John
Staluppi’s Cars of Dreams Collection. Cond: 2.
strips show sun fade. Stainless is nicely polished.
Red leather interior presents well, with minimal
wear. Engine bay is tidy and correct. Glass shows
minimal wear. Panel gaps are better than factory.
From John Staluppi’s Cars of Dreams Collection.
Cond: 2-.
to create a package with both performance and
efficiency, and got neither. The Turbo Indy package
was hardly exclusive, with 5,700 copies leaving
the factory. This one was boosted by the utter
lack of miles and the notoriety of celebrity ownership.
Book value was only $20k, so someone
paid dearly to own one of Burt Reynolds’ lessdesirable
T/As.
CORVETTE
SOLD AT $40,700. Last seen at the May 2018
Mecum Indy sale, where it found new ownership
for $46,200 (ACC# 6872812). Condition was the
driving factor on this final year of the Eldorado
convertible. Sold for quite a bit less than its previous
outing at the top of the market, but still
well above market median of $21k.
SOLD AT $74,800. Last seen in April 2018, at
the Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach, FL, sale, where
it sold for $71,500 (ACC# 6868417). The DZ 302
utilized the 327 bore, combined with the crank
from the 283. This was done to get displacement
below the SCCA-Trans Am limit of 305 cubic
inches. The larger bore coupled with the short
stroke produced an engine capable of revving
well past the 7,000 rpm mark. The 302-equipped
Camaro performed well in both SCCA and NHRA.
The winning bid here was above median, but so
was the condition.
#429-1976 CADILLAC ELDORADO convertible.
VIN: 6L67S6Q215448. Sable Black/red
leather. Odo: 28,182 miles. 500-ci V8, 4-bbl,
auto. Optioned as one would expect, with power
windows, locks, steering, brakes, windows, top,
seat and a/c. High-quality repaint in Cadillac
Sable Black presents well, with only a couple of
tiny inclusions. Very subtle orange peel just
above driver’s side door handle. Chrome bumpers
are in good nick, but the rubber bumper
88 AmericanCarCollector.com
#629.1-1980 PONTIAC TRANS AM Indy
Pace Car coupe. VIN: 2X87TAN141075. Cameo
White & gray/Oyster vinyl & cloth. Odo: 1,617
miles. 301-ci turbocharged V8, auto. Previously
owned by Burt Reynolds, this low-mile copy just
needs some TLC. Factory paint could stand to be
polished. Some of the decals and pinstripes are
peeling. Engine compartment is reasonably
squared away, but the exhaust plumbing has
been wrapped in fabric heat wrap. Interior is just
sad: Seat-belt tabs have surface rust, covers for
the sliders are gone, seat belts themselves are
dirty from rust, and seat-belt guides are broken
on both front seat backs. Post-It note on the dash
indicates an electrical draw, and the battery
needs to be disconnected. Dash is signed by Burt
Reynolds. From John Staluppi’s Cars of Dreams
Collection. Cond: 3.
#627.1-1961 CHEVROLET CORVETTE convertible.
VIN: 10867S110883. Roman Red &
Ermine White/white vinyl/red vinyl. Odo: 891
miles. 283-ci 270-hp V8, 2x4-bbl, 4-sp. Lacquer
paint presents quite well on this NCRS Top
Flight-winning Corvette. Replacement Pilkington
windshield is free from nicks or tracks. Chrome
has been replated, appears brilliant. Headlight
bezels don’t quite line up, but they almost never
do. Panel gaps are better than new. Newish interior
has had great attention lavished upon it,
with chrome and stainless well polished. Wonder
Bar radio fitted. Engine bay is quite tidy. Another
from John Staluppi’s Cars of Dreams Collection.
Cond: 2+.
SOLD AT $85,800. Last seen at the January
2019 Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale sale, where it
traded hands for a well-above-market $99k
(ACC# 6891079). While a loss when compared
to the previous sale price, the winning bid here
was still well above price-guide median value of
$76k. The driving factor was condition and the
previous Top Flight award. The restoration alone
would have exceeded the sale price, making this
one well bought.
SOLD AT $52,800. Last sold at the April 2018
Barrett-Jackson West Palm Beach auction, where
it traded hands for $110k (ACC# 6868875).
With an eight-second 0–60, and a quarter-mile
time in the mid-16-second range, the 1980
Turbo Trans Am was hardly the paragon of performance.
Pontiac threw a turbo on top of their
positively disappointing 301 engine in an effort
#621.1-1966 CHEVROLET CORVETTE coupe.
VIN: 194376S112195. Tuxedo Black/silver
leather. Odo: 34,275 miles. 327-ci 300-hp V8,
4-bbl, 4-sp. Well equipped with factory a/c,
power steering, headrests, knockoff wheels,
Goldline tires and telescopic steering wheel.
Original starter, regulator, carb, alternator and
distributor. Glossy paint looks almost better than
new. Two tiny pock marks on driver’s side Bpillar.
Slight bonding-strip shadow visible across
the tail. Chrome bumpers have been replated,
and appear as-new. Well-polished stainless
Page 87
LEAKE • SCOTTSDALE, AZ
throughout. Engine bay appears showroomfresh,
with proper finishes on all surfaces and
components. Valve-cover sticker lifting on driver’s
side. Interior shows no appreciable wear. NCRS
Top Flight Award and Performance Verification.
Accompanied by plentiful paperwork, including
Shipping Data Report. Cond: 2-.
SOLD AT $33,000. Last seen at the April 2018
Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach auction, where it
traded hands for $56k (ACC# 6868493). Early
third-generation Corvettes have begun to find
their stride, particularly those with the more
powerful engine options. As they were made in
far greater numbers, and with more polarizing
styling, the third gen will likely never garner the
following or bring the money of the mid-years.
This example sold below median value of
$38.5k, in much better than median condition.
Well bought.
SOLD AT $85,800. From John Staluppi’s Cars
of Dreams Collection. Last seen at the January
2019 Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale sale, where it
hammered sold for $84,700 (ACC# 6891852).
This was an excellent restoration, done to a very
high standard. Seeing the bonding strip on the
rear of the car broke my heart, as the rest of it
was so good. In the car’s defense, you did have
to catch the light at just the right angle to see it.
Median value of $69k doesn’t take into account
restorations of this caliber, nor the attendant
documentation. Given what was likely invested
to bring the car to this level, the sale price here
was a bargain.
#419-1972 CHEVROLET CORVETTE convertible.
VIN: 1Z67W2S521273. Sunflower
Yellow/black leather. Odo: 80,635 miles. 454-ci
270-hp V8, 8x2-bbl, auto. Well equipped with
power and luxury features: factory a/c, automatic
trans, power steering, power brakes, power windows,
tilt/tele, AM/FM stereo, rear defroster and
the top-of-the-line 454 big block. Paint shines
nicely, but with two small nicks and a visible top
ring on rear deck. An optional luggage rack is
installed. An extra, passenger’s side rear-view
mirror has been fitted. Chrome bumpers have
been refinished. Stainless is bright, not overly
polished. Steel wheels have the rare turbine-style
wheel covers. Engine bay is clean, but not quite
concours ready. Black leather seats are a bit
overstuffed, show minimal creasing. From John
Staluppi’s Cars of Dreams Collection. Cond: 2-.
#619-2009 CHEVROLET CORVETTE ZR1
coupe. VIN: 1G1YR26R595800005. Cyber Gray/
black leather. Odo: 869 miles. 6.2-L 638-hp supercharged
V8, 6-sp. Nearly new, with a scant
869 miles on the clock. Formerly owned by NASCAR
driver Jeff Gordon. Paint is factory fresh, as
is the carbon-fiber roof. Wheels are all free from
rash. The heated seats show only minor creasing.
Engine bay also shows as new. From John Staluppi’s
Cars of Dreams Collection. Cond: 1-.
SOLD AT $27,500. Last seen at the May 2018
Mecum Indy sale, where it found new ownership
for $28,600 (ACC# 6873649). Perfect for parades,
shows or exclusivity at your local Cars &
Coffee. This was just a fun truck in a way few
others could be. For the money, this seemed like
lots of eyeball and entertainment. Very cool and
likely worth every penny.
SOLD AT $63,800. Last seen at the April 2019
Barrett-Jackson West Palm Beach auction, where
it sold for $165,000 for charity (ACC# 6901789).
The ZR1 has long been the monster performance
variant of the Corvette. They were well loaded
with a 638-hp supercharged LS9 engine, and lots
of technology, performance and comfort features.
They originally stickered well above
$120k, but with a new-generation Corvette about
to arrive, we should expect softening prices for
previous models. This was a bargain for a car
with such few miles and celebrity ownership. A
great deal for a car whose performance is still
quite relevant.
FOMOCO
#430-1931 FORD MODEL A Chicago Police
paddy wagon. VIN: A3445396. Black/black
vinyl/black leather. Odo: 4,777 miles. A Ford
woodie wagon built to resemble a Chicago Police
“paddy wagon.” Paint on steel portion of truck
up to the cowl is decent, without nicks or
scratches. Balance of body is wood, painted a
matching shade of black with white Chicago Police
lettering, and dual sidemounts. Roof is cov-
#434.1-1955 FORD FAIRLANE Sunliner convertible.
VIN: M6CC144655. Aquatone Blue &
Snowshoe White/white vinyl/light blue & white
vinyl. Odo: 91,947 miles. 272-ci V8, 2-bbl, auto.
Striking from 20 feet away, while closer inspection
reveals some true needs. Paint combo has
plenty of eyeball, and appears to have been
done in the past few years, with a decent eye for
prep. A handful of touch-ups can be found
around the car. Bumpers rechromed. Wing windows
show ample pitting, patina. Weatherstrip
cracked around windshield. Balance of chrome
and stainless shiny. Continental kit in good
shape. Seat covers appear recent, carpet is fadefree.
Interior brightwork pitted throughout.
Gauge lenses are crazing. Engine bay is tidy,
with chrome dress-up kit. Cond: 3.
ered in black vinyl, impossible to see except from
the side. Black leather bench seat shows no wear.
Interior features a mock Tommy gun and police
night stick, as well as clipboards with wanted
posters of Al Capone and “Baby Face” Nelson.
Side windows and rear door windows for prisoner
compartment are complete with steel frame
and window bars. Inside has prisoner benches
and shackles on floor. Red lights and a Sireno
siren alert round out the package. Cond: 3+.
SOLD AT $27,500. Last seen at the April 2018
March–April 2020 89
Page 88
LEAKE • SCOTTSDALE, AZ
ONE TO WATCH
Cars With Values on the Move
$160,000
$140,000
$120,000
$100,000
$80,000
$60,000
$40,000
$20,000
$0
2016
$69,300
$70,400
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE BY YEAR
$155,100
$129,250
$138,600
Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach sale, where it hammered
sold for $27,500 (ACC# 6867979). This
was little more than a cute cruiser, ideal for
weekend work. The fact that the sale price remained
static is indicative of this still being an
attractive offering that could be enjoyed without
guilt. Nobody got hurt here.
2017
2018
like it. Twenty years later, some of those fans are in a spot to make
that dream a reality. And they are willing to open their wallets to
get there.
Cinema Vehicles built the original cars used in the movie, and they undoubtedly bring a pre-
T
Current ACC Median
Valuation: $138,600
mium over the rest. Other shops have produced versions of “Eleanor,” beginning with ill-fated
Unique Performance and their GT500E continuations — an endeavor that ended in title-washing
arrests and bankruptcy. Today, other shops are building cars with permission from trademark
owner Eleanor Licensing LLC, calling them Eleanor Tribute Editions. Those cars can easily
fetch prices over $100k.
Median values were on a steady rise through 2018, the exception being 2016, when few
“Eleanors” sold at auction. Those that did were all in excess of $110k, a clue of things to come.
Jump to 2019, the median price increased 120% and only one out of 16 sold examples achieved
less than $100k. In January 2020 alone, we have witnessed nine sales ranging from a cheap
$99,000 to a staggering $852,500 for the real “Eleanor” used in the chase scene of the movie.
As long as it can be proven that a car is an official version of some kind and looks somewhat
like the original, it appears that examples of the GT500 “Eleanor” will continue to achieve big
prices. Now just might be the time to buy before prices get even more insane. The country appears
to have an insatiable appetite for this automotive movie star.A
• Highs: Looks that can’t be denied and the centerpiece of the most epic
car-chase scene of the new millennium
• Lows: Is it real or fake? An official continuation or replica? The lines are
blurry; star power can be fleeting
• Outlook: A mean-looking fastback that has enthralled fans for over 20 years
and shows no signs of slowing down
90 AmericanCarCollector.com90 AmericanCarCollector.com
— Chad Taylor
1967 Shelby GT500
“Eleanor” Fastback
he name recognition for “Eleanor” has become so strong
that it is verging on becoming its own make and model.
From its debut in the 2000 remake of “Gone in 60
Seconds,” the custom GT500 fastback known as “Eleanor”
has accumulated throngs of fans yearning to own one just
2019
2020
Detailing
Year built: 1967
Number produced: N/A
Number sold at auction in
the past 12 months: 20
Average price of those
cars: $185,999
Number listed in the
ACC Premium Auction
Database: 91
SOLD AT $137,500. Last seen at the May 2018
Mecum Indy auction, where it sold for $110k
(ACC# 6869959). The work done here likely
well exceeded the price paid. The restoration was
remarkable and drove bidding to the top of the
market. As one may not find its equal any time
soon, this may have been both well sold and
bought.
#425-1965 FORD THUNDERBIRD convertible.
VIN: 5Y85Z136284. Rangoon Red/white
vinyl/white vinyl. Odo: 4,582 miles. 390-ci V8,
4-bbl, auto. Older restoration that appears to be
holding up quite well. Lovely paint has been
done to a high standard. Chrome bumpers and
brightwork all very shiny. Very clean engine bay
houses a beautiful 390 complete with chrome
dress-up kit. Factory a/c sits next to a dented
chrome overflow tank. Dual spotlights rest at
bottom of windshield on either side. Chrome wire
wheels shod with radial whitewalls. Hard tonneau
cover fitted. Chrome wing-window frames
show patina, pitting. White vinyl interior shows
minimal use. Continental kit rounds out this
heavily optioned T-bird. Another from John Staluppi’s
Cars of Dreams Collection. Cond: 2.
#620-1960 EDSEL RANGER convertible.
VIN: 0U15Y702534. Cloud Silver Metallic/black
vinyl/red vinyl & cloth. Odo: 8,146 miles. 352-ci
V8, 4-bbl, auto. Originally white over black.
Equipped with a/c, ps, pb, pw, power seat, AM
radio, with dual rear antennas. Dealer-installed
spotlights. Rotisserie restoration produced a car
far better than new. Paint shows great attention
to prep and execution, with the only flaw a
3/8-inch-long scratch beneath the gas-filler door.
Panel gaps consistent throughout. Chrome and
stainless are both brilliant. Interior shows virtually
no signs of use. Spotless engine bay and
undercarriage with correct finishes. Multiple
AACA National First Place award winner. From
John Staluppi’s Cars of Dreams Collection.
Cond: 2+.
Page 89
LEAKE • SCOTTSDALE, AZ
ger the size of a Jeep CJ, the Bronco was now
being built on the Ford full-size pickup platform.
With the run-up of first-gen Bronco prices, the
full-size models have been on the rise. This one,
while reasonably clean, wasn’t good enough to
command big money. It was, however, priced
right to use and enjoy.
SOLD AT $49,500. Last seen at the May 2018
Mecum Indy sale, where it changed hands for
$49,500 (ACC# 6873899). By 1965, the Thunderbird
had evolved far away from being Ford’s
answer to the Corvette, and had become a far
more luxurious personal car. The 1965 T-birds
had the first sequential turn signals ever offered
in a production vehicle. The interior was roomier.
Power steering, power front disc brakes,
power windows, front seats, cruise control, a/c
and swing-away wheel were all available. This
copy had all the goodies, and was in quite decent
shape, selling for nearly twice book value.
Given all the options and condition, the price
seemed in line.
#617-1978 FORD BRONCO XLT Ranger
SUV. VIN: U15HLBE0927. Dark Jade Metallic &
Wimbledon White/green vinyl & patterned cloth.
Odo: 83,060 miles. 351-ci V8, 4-bbl, 4-sp. Decent
restoration. Lifted, aftermarket 17-inch wheels
and 35-inch tires makes for quite a stretch to get
in. Paint looks to have had decent prep. Color
combo is attractive. Poor fit at junction of grille,
fender and belt molding. Rub mark on the edge
of the grille. Engine bay is clean, with proper
finishes. Underside of hood is clean, wears fresh
paint. A newer Holley carb sits atop the 351,
beneath an Edelbrock air filter. Door panels, seat
covers and carpet all appear fresh. Side glass
shows some scratches, and moldings are missing
some paint in spots. Spare missing from luggage
area. Cleaner than most of the old Broncos on
the market. From John Staluppi’s Cars of Dreams
Collection. Cond: 3+.
#638.1-1957 CHRYSLER 300C
convertible. VIN: 3N571001. Cloud
White/black vinyl/beige leather. Odo: 38,132
miles. 392-ci V8, 2x4-bbl, auto. Serial number
001 of 484 built. Former show winner in the
early 2000s. Older restoration holding up well.
Paint shows good prep and execution. A few
small chips beneath grille opening have been
touched up. Brightwork in good nick. Glass is
damage-free, weatherstrip shows no cracks. Engine
bay is as it should be, clean and correct.
Interior still appears fresh, with only minor
creasing on the seat bottom. All three buttons
(headlight dimmer, windshield washer, signal
seeker for radio) on the floor. Lovely example of
a 1950s velvet hammer. Cond: 2+.
MOPAR
10
SOLD AT $242,000. Last seen at the May 2018
Indy Mecum sale, where it traded hands for
$286k (ACC# 6873469). The fifth year for both
Virgil Exner’s Forward Look design and the
Chrysler 300 Letter Cars, 1959 was also the first
year for the 413 Golden Lion Wedge engine that
replaced the Hemi. This example sold for more
than $100k above book value. The sale was certainly
condition-driven, with the full host of options
one would expect from Chrysler’s flagship
personal-luxury car.
SOLD AT $357,500. Last seen at the May 2018
Mecum Indy sale, where it sold for $214,500
(ACC# 6869958). Condition was quite good,
despite a couple of very minor shortcomings. Not
far from concours clean, this first 300 Letter Car
for 1957 was a bit of instant exclusivity. Price
garnered was quite impressive, even for such a
rare bit of history, at nearly triple median value.
Very well sold indeed.
SOLD AT $31,900. Last seen at the June 2018
Barrett-Jackson Uncasville, CT, sale, where it
sold for $38,500 (ACC#6875682). As the first
year of the “big body” Broncos, 1978 was a seismic
shift from the previous generation. No lon-
#639.1-1959 CHRYSLER 300E convertible.
VIN: M591100459. Formal Black/black vinyl/
beige leather. Odo: 93 miles. 413-ci V8, 2x4-bbl,
auto. An impressive, older restoration that is
holding up well, with only minor signs of use.
Formal Black paint is superior to the factory finish,
showing ample consideration to prep and
execution. One rub mark on the driver’s side rear
fender, likely something garnered in transit;
easily removed with some careful buffing. Panel
gaps are consistent. Chrome and stainless are
both show-quality. Tidy engine bay houses the
impressive-looking 413 topped by dual carbs.
Interior perforated leather shows some light
#632.1-2018 DODGE CHALLENGER SRT
Demon coupe. VIN: 2C3CDZH96JH101215.
White Knuckle & Matte Black/black leather &
Alcantara. Odo: 11 miles. 6.2-L supercharged V8,
auto. As-new, with plastic wrap still on much of
the interior and nothing to fault; no wear or
tear. Barely double-digit actual miles. Includes
Demon crate, original window sticker, two red
keys, owner’s manual and Demon Storage Package.
From John Staluppi’s Cars of Dreams Collection.
Cond: 1.
creasing. Well equipped with power windows,
power swivel seat, power mirror and antenna.
From John Staluppi’s Cars of Dreams Collection.
Cond: 2+.
SOLD AT $121,000. When these first entered
the market, most were grabbed up by speculators
hoping to turn a buck on the limited production
run of just 3,300 units. Prices north of $140k
were the norm for some months, but it seems the
market has cooled. $121k is still well above the
window sticker of around $90k, and other examples
could be found online for fewer dollars,
albeit with more miles. The market seemed to
have softened, but not enough to avoid the premium
above sticker. Well sold. A
March–April 2020 91
TOP 10
Page 90
GAA CLASSIC CARS • GREENSBORO, NC
November 2019 Auction
Top-selling custom Bel Air convertible is worth every penny
of its $112,350 sale price
GAA Classic Cars
Greensboro, NC
November 7–9, 2019
Auctioneers: Eli
Detweiler, Ben DeBruhl,
Ricky Parks, Mike
Anderson
Automotive lots sold/
offered: 456/646
Sales rate: 71%
Sales total: $12,337,396
High sale: 1957
Chevrolet Bel Air custom
convertible, sold at
$112,350
Buyer’s premium: 7%,
included in sold prices
From the headlining Shinn Collection — 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner retractable hard top, sold at $71,690
Report and photos by Mark Moskowitz and Jeff Trepel
Introduction by Mark Moskowitz
Market opinions in italics
• $12.3m auction total (up 13% from last year) is highest
total for GAA Classic Cars’ November sale
• 237 Chevrolets and 164 Fords crossed the block, making
up 62% of consignments
• 59 of those were Corvettes (1954–2017 models), 37 of
which sold for a total of $1,377,893 ($37,240 on average)
G
AA Classic Cars’ November auction is underappreciated. The spring sale
comes with the anticipation of warm-weather motoring fun. In July, buyers
are looking for one last great adventure. As winter approaches, many folks
are putting toys away and devoting time to home and hearth. However, the
November sale has brought some epic GAA sales: The prominent example
was a Shelby Cobra concept car that netted $825,000 in November 2017.
This year, November leaned domestic, with a highlight being the sale of 46
cars from the George Shinn Collection, all at no reserve. Shinn is a North Carolina
entrepreneur who consolidated for-profit colleges under the Rutledge banner and
then bought an NBA franchise, the Charlotte Hornets, for $32.5 million in 1987,
later selling the team back to the NBA for an estimated $300 million. According to
auction official Johnny Ransom, “He (Shinn) was selling these to make room for
more… In the last five years he’s not missed one of our auctions.”
All but one of the Shinn offerings, a supercharged Jaguar, were classic American
makes. Chevys predominated. There were seven ’57s, one of which — a maroon
92 AmericanCarCollector.com
resto-mod convertible — represented the auction’s
high sale. The impressive, mostly chromed-andpolished
engine compartment, Art Morrison chassis
and custom interior complete with four leather buckets
were show-stopping and show-winning features that
made the car worth the $112,350 sales price.
While another 236 Chevrolets crossed the block,
making up over a third of the cars in the sale, I was a
bit more impressed with the Fords. Dean Green, the
auction’s principal, is a long-established Blue Oval
franchisee, and his events seem to attract similar
dealer/collectors. Superb examples of rare Fords,
like this sale’s 1963 notchback R-code 427 Galaxie
and 1964 Q-code 427 Galaxie convertible, routinely
appear.
This year’s vehicle sales total of $12,337,396 was
GAA’s highest for a fall sale. Expect more. A mile
down the road from the Palace, Green is putting the
finishing touches on his 60,000 square-foot museum.
It’s magnificent, with high ceilings and a second-floor
overlook/banquet facility. It houses 250 cars from his
personal collection. Most back up to externally routed
exhaust ports. There’s an indoor Texaco station, a
wash facility and hundreds of wall outlets for neon
signs. Next year, the auction’s Thursday lunch transitions
to a Wednesday night gala in the new facility.
And Green states he’ll add another 150 cars to each
auction.A
QUICK TAKE
Page 92
GAA CLASSIC CARS • GREENSBORO, NC
GM
#TH0190-1941 CHEVROLET SPECIAL DELUXE
2-dr sedan. VIN: 14AH0665406. Tuxedo
Black/tan cloth. Odo: 77,712 miles. Body panels
are straight, but panel fit is a bit off. Polishing
marks and inclusions noted. Window surrounds
on passenger’s side show multiple inclusions and
orange peel. Excess paint near left fender ornament.
Brightwork surrounding windows and
overlying doors is very good. Inclusions in fender
ornament chrome and a lesser amount on front
bumper chrome. Seat covers are appropriate and
new. Faux-wood surface around doors and on
dash is heavily worn. Gauges and knobs are
period appropriate. Some pitting of dashboard
chrome. Carpets are excellent. Painted valve
cover, but the rest of engine compartment is
heavily worn and stained, with wrap surrounding
wires melted in spots. Six-volt system. Mix of old
and new wires. Cond: 3+.
SOLD AT $48,150. Unusually heavily optioned
SS 396 including Turbo Hydramatic, factory air,
power steering, brakes and windows, console,
rosewood-rimmed tilt wheel, vinyl top and full
tinted glass. Whether the car was originally born
with all of that equipment we don’t know, as no
restoration history was presented other than stating
“frame-off rotisserie restoration.” I was,
however, impressed with the attention to detail
on this car, such as using the correct 1967 flatcap
Rally wheels (on repro Redlines), as opposed
to the much more commonly seen 1968-andnewer
knurled-cap wheels. Sold for a few thousand
below most price-guide values for a 1967
SS 396 in this fine condition, so must be considered
well bought.
CORVETTE
SOLD AT $18,725. One of over 600,000 Chevrolets
sold as a Special Deluxe in 1941. This was
a town sedan with presence. Not a bad movie or
event car. The same effort expended on a cabriolet
or pickup of similar vintage would have garnered
a higher sales price, but at least this one
received a proper bid. Seller should not have
expected more and appropriately chose to let it
go.
#ST0088-1967 CHEVROLET CHEVELLE SS
396 2-dr hard top. VIN: 138177B135801.
Granada Gold/black vinyl/black vinyl. Odo:
32,519 miles. 396-ci V8, 4-bbl, auto. Exceptionally
good-looking, no-reserve SS from the
George Shinn Collection. A few exterior flaws are
seen, such as a huge chip on the right edge of
hood and the trunk lid up slightly on its left side.
Paint mostly superb but with a flaw or inclusion
here and there. Interior presents beautifully
overall, with seats, carpet, headliner and other
major components looking almost new. One little
chrome doodad is missing from the driver’s door
panel. Later, generic AM/FM/cassette is neatly
integrated into the dash. Very clean and restrained
underhood; not festooned with inauthentic
chrome parts. Cond: 2+.
94 AmericanCarCollector.com
#ST0096-1962 CHEVROLET CORVETTE convertible.
VIN: 20867S109733. Sateen Silver/
black vinyl/red vinyl. Odo: 791 miles. 327-ci
300-hp V8, 4-bbl, 4-sp. Very nice C1 offered at
no reserve from Shinn Collection. Panel fit and
paint better than new. Some micro-scratching
now apparent, especially around hood. Excellent
chrome except for dullish windshield surround.
Outstanding interior with no apparent flaws in
workmanship or materials. Later el-cheapo AM/
FM/cassette player detracts, even if well-installed.
Soft top and engine compartment not
observed, but engine looks good in website photos.
Owner’s manual and binder documenting
2006 frame-off restoration present. Claimed to
be done to “NCRS Top Flight and Bloomington
Gold standards,” but I did not see any documentation
stating it had actually been judged by
those organizations. Cond: 2+.
SOLD AT $69,550. A very fine example of the
final Corvette prior to the introduction of the
drastically modernized 1963 Sting Ray. Excellent
color combination. C1 values have been flat to
slightly down lately. Nonetheless, this car sold
below the price-guide median for its condition.
The absence of a hard top, though correct, may
have detracted. I would call this car well bought.
Although C1 Corvettes are unlikely to experience
a big value increase, there may be a bit of investment
potential here.
#ST0142-1978 CHEVROLET CORVETTE 25th
Anniversary Pace Car Edition coupe. VIN:
1Z8748S905449. Black & silver/silver leather.
Odo: 8 miles. 350-ci 220-hp V8, 4-bbl, auto.
Presented as a minimal-mileage, original car.
EPA sticker, as well as early Chevrolet invoice
sticker still affixed to windows. Paint shows multiple
polishing scratches and literally hundreds of
pits on tops of front fenders, lesser amounts on
rear fenders and none on hood. Orange peel on
top. Windshield glass has delaminated. Tight gap
in passenger’s door, wide gaps in driver’s door.
Some creases in seat leather but no discoloration.
Some finish has scraped off the console.
Single scratch on left seat-belt buckle. Oxidation
in the engine compartment but no sign of wear.
All engine paint appears intact. A glance at the
chassis shows no evidence of any stone chips or
usage—although there is heavy oxidation.
Cond: 2-.
SOLD AT $42,800. This car certainly presents
as an enigma. One possible explanation is it was
not stored well and portions had to be repainted.
Interesting because it is a car with eight miles on
it. More than 6,500 25th Anniversary Pace Car
editions were built and, with just 220 hp and the
“slushbox” on this one, the proposition does not
seem that exciting. Yet these ’Vettes remain popular
with collectors. Although there have been
variations from the norm, the price seems right
for a stored-away Corvette of this ilk. Drive it
and it will be worth less. A new finish might detract
from value. I see little upside.
#ST0103-2004 CHEVROLET CORVETTE CRC
conversion convertible. VIN: 1G1YY32G745104171.
Champagne/tan leather. Odo: 18,051
miles. 5.7-L 405-hp fuel-injected V8, auto. Well
Page 93
GAA CLASSIC CARS • GREENSBORO, NC
known modification of a 2004 Corvette evoking
the vintage look of a 1961–62 Corvette. Excellent
body finish, with very rare, superficial scratches
in clearcoat. Single inclusion in bumper, but
other chrome is excellent. Panel fit is excellent.
Stone chip on windshield. Fender tops and hood
swing forward as a unit. Engine compartment
immaculate. Seat leather is heavily creased. Carpets
show age. Dashboard covering is excellent,
as is steering-wheel leather. Has factory hard top
and Bose sound system. Advertised as capable of
0–60 in 3.9 seconds. Another from the Shinn
Collection. Cond: 2-.
actual miles,” and could have been appreciated
as an essentially new car. Now, it’s a five-yearold
model with modifications and customization
to one person’s taste. Thus, it was appropriately
bid to the price of an excellent 2015 example for
an intermediate-level Corvette offering. Finding
that buyer who seeks a garish color, those mods
and is willing to pay a premium for same is unlikely.
FOMOCO
SOLD AT $66,340. The presentation is different
enough that even the casual observer will realize
this is not a real late-C1 ’Vette. Somehow Classic
Reflection Coachworks Corvettes command
higher prices than the stock examples of their
underpinnings. Build quality is obvious, and
people like the proposition of modern accoutrements
wrapped in a vintage-appearing shell.
Bought for well under the money with many
miles to be enjoyed.
#ST0050-2015 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z51
coupe. VIN: 1G1YL2D78F5119853. Lamborghini
Ithaca Verde/black leather. Odo: 2,702 miles.
6.2-L 540-hp supercharged V8, 7-sp. Striking
3LT Z51 said to have $43k in custom upgrades
including its pearlescent paint and Weapon-X
body mods (on top of the $76,225 MSRP). Engine
upgraded with a Pro Charger supercharger
and a Borla exhaust. Engine intake cover has
been painted to match the car’s exterior. Paint
and carbon-fiber splitter appear unblemished. A
few driver’s seat creases are the only signs of
interior wear. Cond: 1-.
#ST0095-1957 FORD FAIRLANE 500 Skyliner
retractable hard top. VIN: D7KW161895.
Flame Red & Raven Black/red cloth, white
vinyl. Odo: 87 miles. 312-ci V8, 4-bbl, auto.
Product of frame-off restoration by known specialist
Jerry Miller of Arkansas; date unknown.
Straight panels and very smooth paint, although
some is missing on Continental kit. Crazed
chrome on bumpers. Right-side mirror looks old.
Most of interior, including seats under clear plastic,
looks new—exceptions include older dashboard
trim and chrome bordering seat. Neat,
correct engine compartment, with some paint loss
in spots. Cond: 2+.
SOLD AT $7,758. This gasser is obviously showing
its age but has immense charm, with many
original features. An Internet search revealed it
in action at Union County Dragway in 2014. You
might part it out (wheels, 351, vintage racing
parts and the rest to a salvage yard) and recoup
the same funds, but better yet, keep it intact as a
cool showpiece or an inexpensive entry into nostalgia
drag racing. It seems worth the price and
perhaps a bit more.
SOLD AT $71,690. Part of the headlining Shinn
Collection. This sold at no reserve as part of a
massive late-’50s Ford collection at Mecum Kissimmee
2018 for $62,700 (ACC# 6860273).
Offered in its best color combination, this car had
a few issues—many of which were related to
storage; most of the rest was spectacular. A win
for the seller and acquired by the buyer at much
less than many of the restorer’s other similar
products. All should be pleased.
NOT SOLD AT $54,000. Previously seen at
Barrett-Jackson Las Vegas 2015, when it sold for
$103,400 (ACC# 6788618), had “under 2,500
#TH0130-1962 FORD FALCON gasser 2-dr
sedan. VIN: 2A11S169702. White/black vinyl.
Odo: 96,704 miles. 351-ci V8, 4-bbl, auto. Presented
as a vintage gasser. Virtually everything
that could be removed has been removed from
this car. The finish is aged and cracked. The
graphics are hand-painted and faded as well.
Door-handle chrome and fender ornament
chrome is pitted. Rear wheelwells appear to have
been radiused by hand. Interior thoroughly gutted,
with aluminum panels lining doors and necessary
gauges inserted. Engine paint is irregular
and pitted, as is inner fender paint. Features
#ST0143-1966 SHELBY GT350 H replica
fastback. VIN: 6F09C111504. Black/black vinyl.
Odo: 48,739 miles. 289-ci V8, 4-bbl, 4-sp. Stated
re-creation of a Shelby GT350 Hertz edition.
Outstanding paint and striping, with rare polishing
scratch. Panel fit is excellent. Sides are
straight. Chrome is flawless. Interior, including
dashboard carpets and seat vinyl, is as-new. Engine
compartment is immaculate, with appropriate
paint marks. Engine is an appropriate 289
and not a 302 with Shelby-type intake. Wheels,
tires and glass are as-new. Chassis is immaculate
and appropriately painted. Cond: 1-.
include an early version of the Hurst Line Loc
shifter, massive aluminum radiator, as well as
aluminum hood scoop and valve covers, custompainted
headers and massive Lakewood traction
bars. Cond: 3-.
NOT SOLD AT $52,000. This car was stunning
and the consistent build quality obvious. There
were numerous obvious variations from what
one might expect, including lack of a dashmounted
tach, lack of Hertz identifiers on the
wheels, (safer) high-back seats, different exhaust
system and the integrated front spoiler. But
again, no attempt made to pass this off as original.
A superbly restored 1966 fastback might
command the price offered and more. A bit
higher bid might occur on another day.
March–April 2020 95
Page 94
GAA CLASSIC CARS • GREENSBORO, NC
#ST0065.1-1968 FORD MUSTANG Bullitt
replica fastback. VIN: 8F02C155290. Highland
Green/tan vinyl. Odo: 26,470 miles. 351-ci V8,
4-bbl, 5-sp. A Bullitt clone and auction feature
car prominently displayed at auction entrance.
Panels are straight and fit well. Highland Green
paint marred by imperfections in clearcoat on
rear section. Bumpers appear to have been rechromed,
while mirrors and exterior door handles
appear new. Interior is not as nice with
pitting of door handle, visor and interior light
chrome. Tach held in place with hose clamp.
Numerous small cracks in driver’s seat covering
and some rips in vinyl door panels. Other fit
issues. Non-period 351—backed by a 5-speed
and an aluminum driveshaft and topped by AFR
heads—sits in a neat but not concours engine
compartment. Updated steering. Torq Thrust
wheels look like the real deal. Cond: 3+.
NOT SOLD AT $92,000. This Shelby was anticipated
to be an auction highlight. It had over 15k
website views. Mustangs average less than a
tenth of that. It appeared to have had a hard life
and had some recent refreshing. It will be a
journey to bring it up to local-show standards,
and a number of items need to be addressed
before many could enjoy it. No surprise that once
seen it did not bring a higher bid.
#ST0077-1970 FORD MUSTANG Mach 1
fastback. VIN: 0F05M136244. Calypso Coral/
black knit vinyl. Odo: 95,141 miles. 351-ci V8,
4-bbl, auto. Great panel fit and excellent paint in
one of the best colors for this model, except
around rain gutters, where the paint is too thick.
Excellent glass and nicely rechromed. The claustrophobic
Mach 1 interior is in great shape, with
supple vinyl (there are two words you usually
don’t see together) seats and a great dash, even
including the plastiwood. Later JVC stereo and
auxiliary instruments, neatly installed. Magnum
500-type wheels in excellent shape and car sits
correctly. Quite nice underhood, with Motorcraft
battery. One of the hood pins fell apart and was
sitting in the car, but that is one of the very few
nits to pick here. Cond: 2+.
SOLD AT $52,430. This clone has a desirable
body in good condition and significant but appropriate
engine and chassis mods. The interior
issues can be addressed. This seems close to the
right price for the time. What will happen when
the McQueen mystique wanes?
#ST0141-1968 SHELBY GT500 fastback.
VIN: 8T02514331. Sunlit Gold Metallic/black
vinyl. Odo: 1,867 miles. 428-ci V8, 4-bbl, 4-sp.
Mostly smooth paint with imperfections in clearcoat
of left front fender area. Trunk fit less than
optimal, and some of the panels seem to be misaligned.
Windshield and door trim have multiple
scratches and have lost sheen in several locations.
Interior carpets are new. Swing-away
steering column said not to function. Radio appears
new. Pitting of vent window chrome. Fresh
glue appears to be separating from rubber
around passenger’s window. Rear-view mirror is
heavily fogged and loose. Lots of small scratches
in front and rear glass. Engine compartment
extremely well detailed and appears mostly correct,
with new a/c unit. Cond: 3+.
SOLD AT $40,660. Another very nice, no-reserve
offering from the George Shinn Collection.
1970 was a weak sales year for Detroit and Mustang,
and Mach 1 sales in particular were down
about 43% from 1969. Thus, nice 1970 Mach 1s
are not easy to find, and may have been overshadowed
by the iconic Boss 302. Despite the big
sales decline, more than six 1970 Mach 1s were
sold for each Boss 302, but you would never
know that now. This is one of the nicest 1970
Mach 1s I have seen at an auction. Mach 1 values
have been lightly softening over the past
couple of years, but I expected this car to bring
at least another $5k, and I think it was quite well
bought.
#ST0065.2-2019 FORD MUSTANG Bullitt
coupe. VIN: 1A6P8K05K05K5500961. Highland
Green/black leather. Odo: 84 miles. 5.0-L fuelinjected
V8, 6-sp. Displayed at entrance to auction
area next to a vintage Bullitt re-creation.
With only 84 miles on the odometer, it presented
as a new car and inspection found no flaws. It
96 AmericanCarCollector.com
was equipped with the optional Bullitt electronics
package and the MagneRide damping system.
The accompanying Monroney document listed an
MSRP of $51,760. Cond: 1.
SOLD AT $48,150. I’ve done a weeklong test of
the Bullitt and believe it to be a superbly balanced
street car and worthy of any enthusiast’s
consideration. They have been popular, but not
as popular as Ford anticipated and at the time of
this auction, with the 2020s released and the
new GT350 and GT500 stealing some thunder,
there were plenty of 2019 Bullitts offered on
dealer websites at significant discounts. As I write
this, an identically optioned new Bullitt is offered
nearby for $43,500. Score one for the seller.
MOPAR
#FR0134-1950 PLYMOUTH SUBURBAN Deluxe
wagon. VIN: 18071539. Dark blue/Saddle
vinyl. Odo: 19,278 miles. 217-ci I6, 1-bbl, 3-sp.
Quite likely the best example in existence. Glossy
paint mostly smooth and well applied, but too
thick around the windows and door caps. Decent
chrome with pitting and staining here and there.
Great dash and seats, wisely fitted with lap belts
in front. Ultra-industrial rubber floor mat in
front (carpeting is for the bourgeoisie!). Engine
compartment not inspected, but looks immaculate
in website photos. Blackwalls and poverty
caps authentically complete the package.
Cond: 2.
SOLD AT $24,075. America’s first all-steelbodied
station wagon, starting in 1949. Twofamily
owned. If my family had owned such a
dowdy and utilitarian vehicle in the Fabulous
’50s, with a whopping 97-horsepower 6-cylinder,
I would have been embarrassed to have been
seen in it. Now, I think it’s super cool. Needs
Page 96
GAA CLASSIC CARS • GREENSBORO, NC
nothing to be an AACA award winner or a conversation
piece at Cars & Coffee. This charming
Plymouth previously sold for a remarkably low
$14,850 (including premium) at Barrett-Jackson’s
April 2019 Palm Beach sale (ACC#
6899794). The flipper recognized an opportunity
and realized a sizable profit percentage here.
Well sold, but if the buyer is an end-user, he has
an unrepeatable classic.
#TH0048-2001 CHRYSLER PT CRUISER custom
wagon. VIN: 3C8FY4BB51T544702. Blue &
black/gray cloth. Odo: 141,315 miles. 360-ci V8,
4-bbl, auto. Hot Wheels replica covered in wrap
rather than paint. Some of wrap is peeling and
some is worn away. Bumpers have multiple
gouges and scratches. All four wheels have extensive
curb rash. Stock interior showing its age,
but equipped with Hurst Line Loc shifter and
accessory gauges. Engine compartment is a bit
dirty; its most attractive feature is a tunnel-ram
manifold. Cond: 3.
MSRP of $37,700. List for the added wing and
nose could be as high as $11,000. Whether he
chose to drive it or not, the owner had five years
of use and paid little for it. On the buying side, I
do not find this car unusual enough to be considered
a future collectible and I expect further
depreciation.
AMERICANA
SOLD AT $5,885. Best described as a novelty
piece. This car was written up as a fresh build
but did not seem so; it was best viewed from
several feet away. It would take some tidying up
before one would want to take it to a local Cars
& Coffee. Sold for roughly twice its typical priceguide
value, but that delta was small and close
to the combined values of shifter, gauges, custom
headers and engine mods. It would not be the
highlight of most collections, but beauty lies in
the eyes of the beholder/buyer.
#ST0091-2013 DODGE CHALLENGER R/T
Daytona conversion 2-dr hard top. VIN:
2C3CDYBT0DH51579. White/white leather. Odo:
1,870 miles. 5.7-L fuel-injected V8, auto. R/T
version carried suspension and trim mods. This
one was further upgraded with an aftermarket
“Daytona” wing and nose. Driven little, it had a
few chips around the grille and on spoiler but
was otherwise pristine. From the George Shinn
Collection. Cond: 1-. SOLD AT $45,475. A
throwback to a time when Dodge was a force in
stock-car racing. Winged Dodges and Plymouths
carved out multiple victories in 1969 and 1970.
This car and its multiple options, including 20inch
wheels, Super Trak Pak and a 368-watt
stereo with Boston Acoustics speakers, carried an
98 AmericanCarCollector.com
#ST0109-1954 HUDSON HORNET convertible.
VIN: 7307752. Red/black vinyl/red leather.
Odo: 17 miles. 308-ci I6, 2x2-bbl, auto. Another
no-reserve car from the George Shinn Collection.
2011 frame-up restoration by 21st Century Hudson
of Illinois. Twin-H Power, Hydramatic, power
steering, brakes and windows. Very nice repaint
with no orange peel, perhaps a little too thick
around the body seams. Brightwork ranges from
fair to very good. Excellent windshield, but vinyl
trim around windshield header is wavy. Very nice
leather seats and door panels. Interior chrome a
mixed bag like exterior—some dash pieces are
almost too shiny. A few pieces, like the turnsignal
lever and the pedals, evidently escaped
restoration and look fossilized. Overall, a fine
presentation with some details that need improvement
for more consistency. Cond: 2.
#TH0147-1957 DEVIN SPECIAL Type T
roadster. VIN: SW102227PA. Yellow/ yellow
& black vinyl. Odo: 5,257 miles. 283-ci V8,
3x2-bbl, 4-sp. Smooth yellow paint with rare
inclusions. Paint appears touched up around
right front headlight. Hood displayed separately
and its paint quality differs—multiple inclusions
and a markedly different shade. Aged headlight
surrounds, well-worn hood and trunk holddowns.
Custom chrome sidepipes. Early Chevy
chassis with coil-overs and a sway bar. Neatly
done, but dirty aluminum floor and inside panels.
Seat covers appear aged. Numerous gauges
of varying ages. Chevrolet 283 with three deuces
on an Edelbrock intake. Engine compartment
tidy with numerous Aeroquip lines and remote
oil filter. Wiring neatly done. Cond: 2-.
SOLD AT $17,655. Devin roadster with better
build quality than many I have seen. It appears
to be the job of a professional. As best as I could
discern, the T designation is for the 96-inchwheelbase
body for American components. A
wise buyer overlooked the tacky yellow seats and
scored an amazing buy. This Devin could be
flipped for more than double or enjoyed, getting
significant attention at some important vintage
events. Discover any race history and the possibilities
excite even more.
SOLD AT $83,460. Final year of the step-down
Hudson before Hudson merged with Nash to
form AMC, and it became based on the Nash
Ambassador. Also the last year for a Hudson
convertible. This car last sold (probably to Shinn)
at the 2015 Mecum Indy auction for $91,800
(ACC# 6797708), so there has been a slight
decline since then. In some cases, price guides
show even higher prices for this model, but I
don’t believe them. I think the price here was
fair to both parties but reasonably generous.
#ST0045-1970 AMC AMX fastback. VIN:
A0C397P282941. Big Bad Blue/blue vinyl. Odo:
69,740 miles. 360-ci V8, 4-bbl, auto. Auction
website claims this AMX has original paint and
interior, and that could be correct. One owner for
past 39 years. The Big Bad Blue paint shows
abundant micro-scratching and lacks gloss, but is
perfectly serviceable and should be preserved,
not repainted. Same for chrome. Inside, there is
a slight musty odor. Excellent dash top. Armrests
warped, as usual on Javelin/AMX. Rear-view
mirror delaminating. Decent carpeting and seats,
but the driver’s seat padding may have perished
or collapsed and needs to be rebuilt. Owner’s
manual in glovebox. Looks original underhood,
including the original AMC washer-fluid bag, but
with the exception of some hoses. Cond: 3+.
SOLD AT $32,100. The arrival of the 2-seat
AMX in 1968 instantly earned AMC a seat at the
cool kids’ table. But it only lasted three model
BEST
BUY
Page 97
PUT YOURSELF IN THE
DRIVER’S SEAT
WITH ACC PREMIUM!
years. For 1970, the “Big Bad” colors packages
(blue, green or orange) used regular chrome
bumpers rather than the body-colored bumpers
of 1969. This is not the hottest AMX performance
package for 1970, being a standard 360 with
Borg-Warner automatic rather than a 390
4-speed. Still, it’s likely powerful enough. This
car sold for slightly higher than I would expect
for a “regular” 1970 AMX in this condition, but
there cannot be very many, if any, Big Bad Blue
cars available in such well-preserved, largely
original condition. I think the buyer did very
well.
#TH0123-1986 JEEP CJ-7 Laredo SUV. VIN:
1JCCF87E7GT12505. Burgundy/tan canvas/tan
vinyl. Odo: 77,432 miles. 258-ci I6, 2-bbl, 5-sp.
CJ-7 with top-of-the-line Laredo package. Obvious
repaint with occasional orange peel, some
excessive clearcoat and rare inclusions. Excellently
applied graphics. Waviness of panels.
Stainless-steel package included hinges, mirrors
and handles; all as-new. Door-sill covers also
stainless. Said-to-be-original leather interior is
in amazing condition. Console appears aged,
with a few drill holes and rivets. Dashboard is
excellent. Steering wheel covered by a wrap.
Unblemished chrome wheels. Clean undercarriage
with four new Rough Country shocks. Factory
a/c. Engine compartment has not been
restored. Wiring a bit messy. Cond: 3+.
The Insider’s Authority
on Collector Car Values
297,000 vehicles compiled
over 30 years
Auction results on over
Graphs, price trends,
photos and more
SOLD AT $16,050. Among depreciated Jeeps,
the CJ-7s seem to command the highest
prices—although CJs, TJs and YJs all have their
advocates. Certainly the 7 is considered the ultimate
expression of the classic CJ; it rides on a
longer wheelbase and has the chassis mods
which foster repute as a capable rock crawler. A
market-correct sale. A
Special pricing for ACC subscribers
www.americancarcollector.com/premium
March–April 2020 99
Page 98
RUSSO AND STEELE • SCOTTSDALE, AZ
Scottsdale 2020
A very-well sold V-code 1970 Plymouth Superbird topped all
American-make sales at $222k
Russo and Steele
Scottsdale, AZ
January 15–19, 2020
Auctioneers: Marty
Hill, Phil Gee, Jerry
Daisey, Dan Roush,
Kenny Garmen, Brent
Earlywine, Britany Epps,
Michael Shackelton
Automotive lots sold/
offered: 281/512
Sales rate: 55%
Sales total: $10,714,050
High American sale:
1970 Plymouth Superbird
2-dr hard top, sold at
$222,000
Buyer’s premium:
10%, included in sold
prices
Said to be all numbers matching — 1970 Plymouth Superbird 2-door hard top, sold at $222,000
Report and photos by Andy Staugaard
Market opinions in italics
• Russo and Steele moved back to the northeast corner of
the Loop 101 Freeway, home to some of their highestgrossing
sales ever in Scottsdale
• Chevrolet was the most popular-selling consignment
(50 sold), followed by Ford (42) and Mercedes-Benz (28)
• Their smallest Scottsdale auction in terms of cars offered
and dollars sold since last decade (490 cars in 2008;
$4.6m in 2004)
I
t was Russo and Steele’s 20th-anniversary auction in Scottsdale, and they had
an excellent selection of cars, trucks and even buses.
According to Drew Alcazar, auction president and CEO, “This was the
picture-perfect location for Arizona Car Week. The excitement at returning
to this spot was palpable as, night after night, the cars crossed the block to a
standing-room-only crowd.”
The auction-in-the-round (actually it’s more rectangular) format is a relaxing, as
well as exciting, way to view and take part in all the action.
There were 512 vehicles that crossed the block in four days. Of those, 281 were
sold, representing a 55% sell-through rate — the same as last year’s rate. Total
100 AmericanCarCollector.com
sales were $10,714,050, with an average sale price of
$38,128 and a median of $24k.
That average was pushed up by the top sale of a
1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster for $1.045m,
almost twice the price of the number-two sale, a 1971
Ferrari Daytona Spyder that sold for $550k. Thirdhighest
sale was a 1956 Porsche 356 for $258,500.
America finally came in at fourth and fifth with a
1970 Plymouth Superbird at $222k and a 1966 Shelby
Mustang at $156,750.
There were three woodies with excellent restora-
tions of interest: a 1949 Chrysler Town & Country that
sold for $74,250, a 1938 Ford woodie wagon that sold
for $57k, and a 1951 Ford Country Squire that sold for
$45,100. It appears that the woodie market is alive and
well.
Of special interest to Corvette enthusiasts was the
historical 1967 Sting Ray ordered by racer and Corvette
chief engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov for Chevrolet chief
designer Bill Mitchell’s wife, Marian. This car was
the first recipient of the Bloomington Gold Historic
Award in 2001. The car was a no-sale with a high bid of
$302,500. It’s hard to put a price on history.
In all, it was a fun event. The next Russo and Steele
auction comes up soon. In fact, it might be happening
as you read this, as it’s set for March 4–6 at Amelia
Island, FL. A
QUICK TAKE
Page 100
RUSSO AND STEELE • SCOTTSDALE, AZ
GM
#5245-1919 CHEVROLET BUCK BOARD
racer. VIN: 3943724. Blue/black leather. MHD.
Great American Race entry discovered in the ’70s
under a grandstand in Canada, according to the
auction listing. Paint and interior are excellent.
Spoke wheels are really nice. Interior shows
some evidence of use but is in nice shape. Clean
engine bay. Underside matches top-side quality.
Cond: 1-.
#5267-1970 CHEVROLET CHEVELLE 2-dr
hard top. VIN: 136370K137339. Fathom Blue/
black vinyl. Odo: 2,253 miles. 454-ci V8, 4-bbl,
4-sp. Very good blue paint with white racing
stripes enhances its big-block 454 stature. Panel
fit is very good all around. Interior condition
matches exterior quality. Engine bay, underside
and wheels all excellent. Cond: 2.
Body and paint are in very good condition, as
well as chrome and trim. Panel fit is good all
around. Interior is custom, with new steering
wheel, new gauges, and a/c. Engine bay and
underside are clean and match top-side quality.
Glass is clear all around. Wood bed is very nice.
Cond: 2.
SOLD AT $25,000. A great museum piece or
could actually be used in a vintage race, if it runs
out right. Hard to place a value on this one, but I
would like to have some racing fun with it. In its
perfect condition, the price seems to be right for
both the buyer and seller.
#5673-1969 CHEVROLET CAMARO Z/28
coupe. VIN: 124379N666563. Orange & black/
black vinyl/black vinyl. Odo: 73,405 miles. 302-ci
V8, 4-bbl, 4-sp. Body and paint in excellent
shape, with only minor imperfections. Fit likewise
is good all around. Chrome and trim are excellent;
same is true of the interior. Wheels, underside
and engine all look like new. Appears to be
a matching-numbers and correct restoration.
Cond: 2+.
SOLD AT $53,350. Documentation supports this
car being a true-blue 454/450 LS6 with 4-sp
manual, and they don’t get much better than this
in the Chevelle world unless the top goes down.
The price guide lists the median price for these
at $96.5k. So was this a real steal or did something
hold it back? Well, I found that the carcard
VIN number shows 136370K 137339, while
the door tag shows 136370K 137399. I report,
you decide.
#5376-1970 OLDSMOBILE 442 2-dr hard
top. VIN: 344870Z115302. Matador Red/tan
vinyl. Odo: 9,000 miles. 455-ci V8, 4-bbl, auto.
Older repaint still shows well from storage in
Phoenix-area climate. Panel gaps are good all
around. Chrome and trim are good, with minor
scratches. Engine is desirable 455 with W-30
option and shows well inside a clean engine bay.
Wheels could use better detailing. Underside is
very good. Cond: 2-.
SOLD AT $21,450. A very nice custom pickup
that sold for just about what it should. Hard to
complain about a good deal for both parties.
CORVETTE
#5379-1954 CHEVROLET CORVETTE roadster.
VIN: E54S003290. Polo White/red leather.
350-ci V8, 4-bbl, auto. Body shows some cracking
in wheelwell areas, but paint is decent all
around. Body and fit have typical gap issues
found in the first two years of Corvette production
due to hand assembly. Interior is very nice.
NOM V8 engine and transmission. Inline-6 engines
were the norm for 1953–54 ’Vettes. Underside
shows minor surface rusting. Cond: 3+.
NOT SOLD AT $49,500. Someone did a very
good restoration on this car. The ACC Pocket
Price Guide lists its median market value at
$66k. This car appeared at Mecum Kissimmee in
January 2018, and sold for $88k (ACC#
6859327). No wonder it didn’t sell here at half
the price it did the last time out. The market
hasn’t suffered that much, so the seller was wise
not to cut it loose at a cut-rate price.
102 AmericanCarCollector.com
SOLD AT $29,150. The auction listing states
“lots of W-30 options,” but this is not a W-30
edition from the factory. That said, the median
market value for a base 442 hard top is about
$38.5k. At no reserve, the hammered price was
still a bargain. Well bought.
#5321-1972 CHEVROLET C10 Stepside custom
pickup. VIN: CCS142S172069. Black/black
vinyl. Odo: 468 miles. 350-ci V8, 4-bbl, auto.
NOT SOLD AT $35,200. You would think that a
1954 Corvette would be a hot collector’s item,
but it is not. The first year, 1953, is the one that
is the good collectible because it was the first
year for the Corvette, and Chevy only made 300
of them. In 1954 there were 3,640 made and
they still had the inline 6 Blue Flame engine.
Then, in 1955, Chevrolet introduced the 265-ci
V8 to the Corvette. The market median values of
those three years were $239k, $69k, and $99k,
respectively. You see that the 1954 model is the
least desirable of the three model years. The one
up for auction here has another thing holding it
back—the 350 V8 engine—because there was
Page 102
RUSSO AND STEELE • SCOTTSDALE, AZ
no V8 in 1954, let alone a 350. The high bid is
probably about what it is worth and the car
should have sold.
#5440-1963 CHEVROLET CORVETTE convertible.
VIN: 30867S120229. White/white vinyl/
red vinyl. Odo: 19,220 miles. 327-ci 300-hp
V8, 4-bbl, auto. Older repaint still shows well.
Chrome and trim just above driver quality. Nice
reproduction knockoff wheels. Non-original motor
(NOM) and Powerglide transmission. Very
nice restored interior. Includes factory air conditioning,
a good option in 1963. Underside is
rough with lots of rust and grease, and needs
restoration. Cond: 3+.
this one at $532,500, with an A investment
grade. The high bid was not even close, and
seller was right to take it down the road.
FOMOCO
#5316-1938 FORD DELUXE custom woodie
wagon. VIN: CA569747. Burgundy metallic/tan
leather. Odo: 362 miles. Body and paint very
good, but exterior wood varnish is beginning to
dull and should be recoated. Interior is excellent
with shiny wood. Chrome bumpers have some
corrosion issues. Trim in decent shape all around.
Gaps and panel alignment excellent all around.
Engine bay, wheels and underside are all very
good. Windshield-washer reservoir cap is missing.
Glass is clear all around. Cond: 2.
ible for a good while longer. It’s tough to put a
price on history when they don’t make them
anything like this anymore (or ever did with the
updates).
#5386-1957 FORD THUNDERBIRD convertible.
VIN: D7FH144703. Blue/blue & white
leather. Odo: 63,408 miles. 312-ci V8, 4-bbl,
auto. Older repaint still shows well. Fit is good
all around. Chrome and trim in good condition.
Interior is very good to excellent. Engine bay
shows well. Underside matches top-side quality.
Clear glass all around. Presented with hard top
installed; soft top could not be inspected.
Cond: 2-.
SOLD AT $37,400. 1963 was the first year of
the second-generation (C2) Corvette and the first
year of the Sting Ray model, which represented
a big paradigm shift from the C1. Of course, the
1963 Split-Window coupe is the one to have, but
the convertible is also a good long-term investment.
If the price is right, this one would be a
good resto-mod candidate because of its nonoriginal
drivetrain. With a book value of around
$44k, the price is close to being right for this
one. Fairly bought and sold.
#5206-1969 CHEVROLET CORVETTE L88
convertible. VIN: 194679S704899. Black/tan
vinyl/tan leather. Odo: 32,479 miles. 427-ci 430hp
V8, 3x2-bbl, 4-sp. Body, paint and fit very
good all around. However, there is minor damage
to interior molding and top of passenger’s
door. Remainder of interior is in excellent condition.
Cannot inspect the engine bay; would very
much like to have a look at the big 427. Wheels
and underside match the top side’s quality.
Cond: 2+.
SOLD AT $57,000. A very nice classic woodie
and, according to the auction listing, was built by
Reggie Jackson of “Mr. October” baseball legend
fame. Most likely a good long-term investment,
this car will always draw a lot of followers. Good
deal for both buyer and seller.
#5216-1951 FORD COUNTRY SQUIRE custom
woodie wagon. VIN: B1CS134064. Blue/
brown leather. A custom with a new crate V8,
Vintage Air and disc brakes all around. Body and
paint very nice except for a few road chips and
scratches. Side wood very nice, with just a few
scratches. Fit good all around. Chrome and trim
very good. Engine bay with unidentified NOM V8,
wheels, and chassis all in very good shape.
Cond: 2.
SOLD AT $43,450. Although the Ford Baby
’Birds have been slowly declining on the auction
circuit, the good 1957s are holding their own.
This one was a good base model whose ACC median
market value is about $36.5k. Well sold at
the hammered bid.
#5292-1959 FORD GALAXIE Skyliner retractable
hard top. VIN: B9FW231844. Red &
white/red & white vinyl. Odo: 70,658 miles. 312ci
V8, 4-bbl, auto. Advertised as a two-owner car.
Body and paint are very good. Chrome and trim
are excellent. Engine bay and wheels look great.
Hard-top mechanism is very clean, looks to be in
good condition. However, I would want to see it
work before bidding. Interior very good, with
clear vinyl covering. Chassis is dirty and showing
surface rust—needs to be restored. Cond: 2-.
NOT SOLD AT $220,000. A rare Corvette, with
only 116 produced in 1969, most of which were
coupes. The price guide lists the median value of
104 AmericanCarCollector.com
SOLD AT $45,100. One of several real nice
woodies at this auction. Price seems a little
steep, but it will likely be in demand as a collect-
SOLD AT $33,000. This car was a no-sale at
Mecum’s Phoenix sale in March 2019 for $40k
(ACC# 6904833). Its median market value is
$36.5k, according to the price guide. Seller
should have taken the offer back then, but that
hesitation turned out to be a good deal for buyer
here.
Page 103
RUSSO AND STEELE • SCOTTSDALE, AZ
#5506-1965 FORD MUSTANG convertible.
VIN: 5F08A648849. Red/black vinyl/black vinyl.
Odo: 21,517 miles. 289-ci V8, 4-bbl, auto. Paint
has some issues with bubbling, especially on
back end around taillights. Chrome and trim are
very good. Convertible top and its frame look to
be bad and, if so, should be replaced. Engine bay
is excellent, showing off the C-code 289 very
nicely. Wheels are in very good condition, with
new tires. Chassis matches body quality.
Cond: 2-.
and stained carpet needs replacement. Wheels
and tires are dirty and dull. Convertible top is old
and needs to be replaced. Engine bay and underside
are clean. Cond: 3-.
6.5-L fuel-injected V8, 4-sp. An excellent restoration
to like-new, if custom, condition. Everything
about this truck is excellent, from its LS3 drivetrain
to its polished wood bed. This is why it won
the top 10 “Battle of the Builders” award at
SEMA in 2017. Looks better now than it could
have when it came off the assembly line 79 years
ago. Cond: 1.
SOLD AT $25,300. The first-year Mustangs will
surely be a good long-term investment, if the
price is right. The price was just about right for
this one, with a median market value of $30k as
listed in the price guide. Good buy for an aboveaverage-condition
one.
#5396-1973 FORD BRONCO custom SUV.
VIN: U15GLR92118. Blue/white fiberglass/blue
vinyl & cloth. Odo: 36,212 miles. 302-ci fuelinjected
V8, auto. Body and paint are just driver
quality, with several cracks, chips and scratches,
as well as minor rusting. Panel alignment and
gaps are good. Interior is in decent shape. Engine
bay is clean and presentable. Underside
shows a lot of rust and needs to be restored.
Cond: 3-.
SOLD AT $4,675. One of 1,360 7-Up Mustangs
produced, according to the auction listing, although
that’s for the manually shifted ones. Ford
produced 3,837 of these in total. The 7-Up Mustang
was made for a 7-Up beverage company
contest. However, the contest was cancelled at
the last minute, leaving Ford with a lot of special-edition
Mustangs that they had to sell. Although
that is interesting trivia, the real value to
the car is its 5.0-L engine and Fox body. However,
in its current condition it should not be
worth more than $5k. So the price appears to be
right for both the buyer and seller.
MOPAR
#5493-1941 DODGE POWER WAGON custom
pickup. VIN: 86381928. Green/tan leather.
NOT SOLD AT $88,000. Another nicely restored,
custom Power Wagon. Although restomodded
to better-than-new condition, it should
have sold for the high bid. Most likely being a
SEMA award winner kept its reserve value high,
but the seller might be sorry they didn’t turn it
loose here.
#5317-1949 CHRYSLER TOWN & COUNTRY
convertible. VIN: 7410406. Gulf Green Metallic/
dark green cloth/green & beige leather. Odo:
SOLD AT $42,000. I know that Broncos are a
hot ticket right now, but at $42k, this one was
really hot and not worth the price in my mind.
#5409-1990 FORD MUSTANG LX 7-UP Edition
convertible. VIN: 1FACP44E6LF157223.
Emerald green/white vinyl/white leather. Odo:
15,812 miles. 5.0-L fuel-injected V8, 4-sp. Paint
shows slight orange peel in places. Scratches
along door sills are deep and numerous. Dirty
March–April 2020 105
Page 104
RUSSO AND STEELE • SCOTTSDALE, AZ
11,261 miles. 323-ci I8, 2-bbl, auto. Body and
paint are very good to excellent. Fit, chrome/trim
and interior all excellent. Engine bay very good.
Underside needs to be detailed to match top
side’s condition. Wheels with big wide hubcaps
and wide whitewalls really look nice. Glass is
clear all around. Cond: 2-.
first appearance at auction. With a median market
value of $173.5k, it was very well sold indeed.
SOLD AT $74,250. A very nice and rare (#406
out of 1,000) Chrysler. The price guide shows a
median market value of only $51k. So the seller
did very well indeed at the sold price. This is a
very nice car but not that nice. Someone really
had to have it.
#5318-1970 PLYMOUTH SUPERBIRD 2-dr
hard top. VIN: RM23V0A178666. Lemon Twist/
black vinyl/black leather. Odo: 80,248 miles.
440-ci V8, 3x2-bbl, 4-sp. One of 716 Superbird
V-code 440 Six Pack cars. Older repaint still
shows well. Body and fit are excellent all around,
with no visible damage. Interior is very good,
considering its high mileage. Wheels are nothing
special, just factory chrome on steel. Engine bay
is good, as well as underside. Cond: 2-. SOLD AT
$222,000. Seller says car is all numbers matching,
and that it was one of 308 4-speed manual
Superbirds built by Plymouth in 1970. This one
did not show up in the ACC Premium Auction
Database, so there’s a good chance that this is its
#5335-1970 PLYMOUTH HEMI ’CUDA 2-dr
hard top. VIN: BS23R0B194914. Purple &
white/white vinyl/white leather. Odo: 45,492
miles. 426-ci V8, 3x2-bbl, auto. Body and paint
are above standard. Panel fit and gaps are good
all around. Engine bay is clean, showing off the
NOM Hemi. Interior is excellent. Underside
matches top-side quality. Wheels are factory
chrome over steel and nothing special. Cond: 2-.
been born an original Hemi but is far from
original now. The main thing is that the engine,
transmission and carburetors are replacements. I
am surprised that it was bid so high. The seller
should have taken the bid and ran to the bank.
AMERICANA
#5416-1981 JEEP CJ-7 custom SUV. VIN:
AZ343400. Competition Orange/gray vinyl. Odo:
3,500 miles. 350-ci V8, 4-bbl, auto. Restored in
2015, with 3,500 miles on it since then. Body and
paint are very good. Interior is in decent shape,
except that the floor is dirty, with broken rubber
pedal pads and wires hanging from dash. Engine
bay is really clean and nice, as are the wheels
and underside. Lots of options, including ps, pb,
Holley off-road carburetor, tubular steering arm,
electric fuel pump, spare-tire mount, fender
flares and more. Cond: 2.
NOT SOLD AT $330,000. Nice car, but it is not
the Hemi ’Cuda that your friends all talk about
and want to have in their garage. That would be
a real-deal, well-documented, Hemi ’Cuda convertible.
This one is a coupe that might have
SOLD AT $16,500. A nice, custom Jeep CJ-7
that probably has some good long-term investment
potential. This one was right on the money,
selling for the listed price-guide median value.
Fairly bought and sold. A
CAR COLLECTOR
106 AmericanCarCollector.com
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Page 106
WORLDWIDE AUCTIONEERS • TEMPE, AZ
The Scottsdale Auction
A 1937 Packard Twelve convertible sedan, formerly owned by Bette Davis,
proved to be very well sold at $451k
Worldwide
Auctioneers
Tempe, AZ
January 15, 2020
Auctioneer: Rod Egan
Automotive lots sold/
offered: 39/55
Sales rate: 71%
Sales total: $5,570,325
High sale: 1936
Auburn 852 SC Boattail
Speedster, sold at
$880,000
Buyer’s premium:
10%, included in sold
prices
A gift for winning an Oscar — 1937 Packard Twelve Series 1508 convertible sedan, sold at $451,000
Report and photos by B. Mitchell Carlson
Market opinions in italics
• Almost half (27) of the lots consigned were available
at no reserve
• Forty of 55 offered lots were American made, 14 of which
were made prior to World War II
• Top seller the past two years was an Auburn SC Boattail
Speedster, with last year’s ’35 851 selling for $687,500,
under this year’s 1936 852 example at $880,000
W
hile MAG Auctions was the first auction company to start selling cars
during the busy January auction week, Worldwide has become the first
of the higher-end, boutique auction houses to conduct their auction on
Wednesday evening. As such, January 15 ushered in a new year for
Worldwide, and this year in a new home. Relocating from the defunct
car dealership campus in Scottsdale, Worldwide’s new Arizona home was not far
away in northern Tempe at Singh Meadows.
While a nice venue with ample room on grass for a decent selection of cars (albeit
mostly CCCA Full Classics, led by the no-reserve Chuck Morgan Estate Collection),
it hosted fewer cars than in past years. With two high-profile lots canceled at the
last minute due to a family emergency with the consignor, only 55 lots crossed the
block this year. Compare that with last year, when 72 lots crossed the block, with
55 of them selling. This year just 39 were hammered sold, for just over a two-thirds
108 AmericanCarCollector.com
sales rate. Part and parcel of having fewer cars and few
sales, the gross sales were down markedly from last
year.
Leading all sales was a 1936 Auburn 852 SC
Boattail Speedster. This well-restored example sold at
$880,000. The next-highest car was even rarer — the
1956 Chrysler Plainsman wagon show car. One of two
Ghia-built show cars for the 1956 car-show season,
it led a rather storied existence that included calling
Cuba and Australia home before returning to the U.S.
to be expertly restored in recent years. The one-off
wagon was declared sold here for $742,500.
With seven other auction houses competing against
them during this week in the Phoenix area, the lack
of consignments can easily be attributed to plenty of
competition for consignors (if not too much). This
is especially true on the upper end of the market.
Additionally, it’s no secret that CCCA Full Classics
have been taking it on the chin in the market lately, especially
since Monterey last year — and Worldwide’s
catalog has plenty of them. While Worldwide was
down this year, they certainly aren’t out, and we hope
to see them with more cars on the docket next year.A
QUICK TAKE
Page 108
WORLDWIDE AUCTIONEERS • TEMPE, AZ
CLASSICS
#43-1934 AUBURN 850Y Custom phaeton.
VIN: 2135H. Silver/gray cloth/red leather. Odo:
49,586 miles. Optional dual sidemount spare
wheels with metal covers. ACD Club Category 1
certification (original body and powertrain to this
chassis). Concours-quality restoration completed
in recent years. Superb bare-body repaint, stated
to be in original hue. Show-quality chrome plating
throughout. Clean, authentically detailed
under butterfly hood. Whole of the undercarriage
is clean gloss black paint, with like-new OE-style
exhaust. Well-fitted, supple leather seating and
door panels, showing no appreciable wear. Slight
wear on restored steering wheel. Cond: 2+.
bad place to start. However, it steadily worked its
way past $200k, then $300k, then $400k until
one more bid got the no-reserve Packard sold.
GM
others of their ilk), which otherwise clutter Packard’s
glorious prow. The painted wire wheels are
another styling relief, as the wide whites
mounted to them are gaudy enough. Packards
often were bought by men of business and finance,
who, even on a sport phaeton, tended to
go in for a subtle, conservative look rather than
gangster flamboyance—especially during the
Depression. This example does a good job of
looking the part of the former rather than pretending
to be the latter. Bidding opened here at
$150k on this no-reserve example from the
Chuck Morgan Collection, taking a while to advance
one more bid to sell.
SOLD AT $101,750. The 850Y was the top trim
level of the four models of 8-cylinder Auburns
for this one-year-only design of 1934. It’s sort of
a love-it-or-hate-it style, with more haters back
in the day‚ hence the radically redesigned front
clip for 1935 that carried into Auburn’s final year
of production in 1936. Bidding opened at $50k,
taking quite some time to get to where the reserve
lifted and it hammered sold. Still squeakyclean
from the restoration, it’s pretty much
turn-key ready for the concours circuit. This was
the best buy on a CCCA Full Classic for the night.
Yet that in itself gives an idea of what’s going on
in the market for CCCA Full Classics—even wellrestored,
open-bodied examples.
#48-1934 PACKARD SUPER EIGHT Series
1104 phaeton. VIN: 75119. Eng. # 752808.
Dark blue/tan cloth/blue leather. Odo: 20,618
miles. Original body tag indicates that it sold
new on May 18, 1934, by Packard Motor Co. of
Newark, NJ. Optional Goddess of Speed hood
ornament, dual sidemount spares with metal
covers and pedestal mirrors atop them. Fitted
with a folding rear-compartment windshield.
Expertly restored in late 1990s. Bare-body repaint
still presents exceptionally well. Weak plating
on period-accessory driver’s side spotlight.
Good door and panel fit. Only a few light chips
on radiator shell and cowl from the butterfly
hood. Well-fitted, buttery seat leather, with no
appreciable wear. Clean, tidy engine bay. Generally
clean, black-painted undercarriage. Cond:
2-. SOLD AT $192,500. I was pleased that this
didn’t have a set of Trippe driving lights (or
110 AmericanCarCollector.com
#35-1937 PACKARD TWELVE Series
1508 convertible sedan. VIN: 1073212.
Black/black Haartz cloth/black leather, gray
cloth. Odo: 14,161 miles. Delivered new on September
8, 1937, by the W.H. Collins Packard
dealership of Hollywood, CA, to Jack Warner,
who presented it to actress Bette Davis. Given a
state-of-the-art restoration in the mid-1990s,
earning three 100-point concours scores. Since
then, it’s been used in CCCA CARavans and is
starting to show light wear. Paint has light polishing
scratches but still presents well—as does
most of the plating. Fitted with period Trippe
lights, with haphazard wiring between them and
frame. Leather tops of front seats show light
fading. Scuffing on interior woodwork. Glossblack-painted
undercarriage, with more than a
few light chips, but generally clean. Cond: 3+.
6
#41-1932 CADILLAC 355B rumble-seat
roadster. VIN: 1201917. Red & cream/tan cloth/
tan leather. Odo: 6,614 miles. Dealer-accessory
Pilot Ray turning driving lights, plus dual spotlights
and Cadillac-branded AM radio. Restored
while owned by noted Buick dealer and collector
Len Immke in the early 1980s. Repaint still holding
up exceptionally well. Generally, the chrome
is still pretty good, but getting weak on the windshield
support and frame. Blue dots in taillight
lenses. Engine compartment due for some cosmetic
attention if the car is to be shown. Redpainted
undercarriage still fairly clean and
holding up well, although the tin grease boots on
leaf springs are weeping. Light wear and wrinkling
on leather seating surfaces. Minimal carpet
wear. Cond: 3+.
SOLD AT $129,250. After Len Immke had the
car restored, in Ohio State red and white (or
reasonably close), he drove famed Ohio State
football coach Woody Hayes in the car during a
campus homecoming parade shortly before Mr.
Hayes’ passing. A good enough buy that the high
bidder was a Midwest dealer who generally specializes
in muscle cars—either that or he has
more refined taste than I had previously figured.
Then again, he might be an Ohio State alumnus.
SOLD AT $451,000. The story goes that Mr.
Warner gave Davis the car for winning the Oscar
for Best Actress in the Warner Bros. movie “Jezebel.”
Around this time, she also attempted to
nullify her contract with Warner Bros., so the car
may have also been an attempt at keeping her
in the fold. Today, a one-of-four Packard Twelve
Dietrich convertible sedan with roll-down centerdivider
windscreen should be about a $250k car,
let alone one with a restoration that’s starting to
unwind. As such, the opening $100k bid wasn’t a
#50-1934 PONTIAC EIGHT Series 603 sedan.
VIN: 838799P8. Dark blue & black/black
leatherette/tan cloth. Odo: 60,504 miles. Humpback-style
rear trunk, with spare tire mounted
behind it, à la Continental kit. Restored to stock
configuration early 2000s. Modern, economygrade
trailer lights for turn signals, LED third
brake light in backlight, and clamp-on mirrors
attached to front door frames the only concessions
to the 21st century on exterior. Paint quality
is quite good for both hues, as is plating for
bumpers and most trim. Mirrors are rather dull;
vent-window frames were replated over pitting.
All-new glass and weather seals. Don’t heed the
advice of the “SNIFF but don’t scratch” decal on
vent windows. Despite having newer, well-fitted
upholstery, it has a mild yet dank, moldy smell
inside. Cond: 2-.
TOP 10
Page 109
WORLDWIDE AUCTIONEERS • TEMPE, AZ
performance car of choice—be it an Allard or a
Model A hot rod. Bidding here opened at $50k
and had little difficulty hitting this bid, where the
reserve was lifted and it sold. Market-correct
sale, but I’d still polish those back two wheel
covers, pronto.
SOLD AT $20,900. 1934 Pontiacs—regardless
of whether they’re sixes or eights—are nearly
extinct today. Perhaps part of the reason is that
they look rather staid compared to a ’34 Chevy.
They almost look like a GMC sedan in a way.
While the butterfly hood remained shut throughout
the inspection period, it was reported that
the tidy engine was recently rebuilt and properly
re-babbitted (another reason few have survived,
having poured babbitts instead of insert bearings).
Good luck trying to find another one better
than this, even if this car has a few minor
issues. Despite its rarity, it’s still a not-popular
4-door, so it sold about right.
#33-1949 CADILLAC SERIES 62 convertible.
VIN: 496213280. Black/tan cloth/red leather.
Odo: 259 miles. 331-ci V8, 2-bbl, auto. Concise
restoration completed in 2016, with the indicated
miles racked up on it since. Good body prep and
paint application. All exterior body trim was replated
or reconditioned. Front “sombrero” wheel
covers were expertly polished, the rears—mostly
hiding behind fender skirts—were untouched.
Door fit on driver’s side is a bit off. Rear-view
mirrors added to vent-window frames. All-new,
lightly tinted glass. New top is taut but fails to
fully cover the side rails. Well-fitted seats and
door panels, showing no discernable wear. Authentically
restored engine bay. Clean, matteblack
undercarriage, apart from exhaust and a
new gas tank. Cond: 2.
#39-1950 BUICK ROADMASTER custom
4-dr convertible. VIN: 15697347. Maroon
metallic/maroon leather. Odo: 4,064 miles. 320ci
I8, 2-bbl, auto. Converted from a bog-stock
sedan sometime in the 1980s. The top consists of
four cloth-covered panels that are stored in the
trunk, yet top of windshield frame is refinished
without any attachment points. Bolster added
behind front seat, spanning from left to right
rear door pillars for additional body rigidity;
also has a rear windscreen that mounts to it,
sitting loose on rear floor. Also appears to have
an additional X-brace bolted in on bottom of car.
Good older repaint, done after the roof got sliced
off, as Bayliff badge on trunk lid has rather mediocre
masking. Generally clean and stock
underhood. Seats redone in non-stock leather,
likely as part of the conversion, but showing minimal
if any wear. Cond: 3+.
dullness, light edge wear. Minty, repop exterior
plastic emblems and lenses. Well-detailed
underhood, to include the correct “batwing” air
cleaner for the dual-quad induction. Good upholstery
work on seats, dashboard top and door
panels. Excluding the newer, fuel-stained gas
tank, the undercarriage is coated in a murky
black. Cond: 2-.
SOLD AT $68,750. Last seen in our database
selling at Mecum’s Chicago-area auction in 2013
for $56,710 (ACC# 6728523). As such, the Wisconsin-issued
VIN makes a lot more sense, as it
was not far from where it last sold. Still, without
an original 5562-prefix VIN (since Eldos were
serialized with Series 62s), this should be a value
leader rather than a record-price setter. And it
did that here.
SOLD AT $55,000. The setup for the top allows
it to be configured as a fully enclosed roof, an
open-front town car or an open-rear landaulette.
This was actually rather mild for Bayliff,
as they were better known at the time of
this car’s conversion as owning the rights to the
automotive Packard name and trademark,
making neo-classic Packards using then-current
GM chassis (much to the consternation of more
than a few Packard enthusiasts). It is what it is,
and being offered at no reserve, it sold for all
it’s worth.
SOLD AT $105,600. While 1949 was the second
year of their new post-war car, this was the first
year of the engine that catapulted Cadillac on
top of the domestic luxury car industry in the
post-war era: the 331-ci, overhead-valve V8.
Their pre-war-designed flathead V8 certainly
wasn’t a slouch, even compared to Lincoln’s
post-war flathead V8 introduced the same year.
Yet it became THE engine of choice to put in the
#44-1955 CADILLAC ELDORADO convertible.
VIN: 5781WIS. Red/white vinyl/red & white
leather. Odo: 75,939 miles. 331-ci V8, 2x4-bbl,
auto. Wisconsin-assigned VIN, etched onto a
plaque rather than a state-issued, tamper-proof
decal. Hard parade boot. Period-accessory Continental
kit. Better-quality bare-body repaint, with
a few light polishing scratches. Good door fit,
although it rattles a little when latched. Almost
all chrome—inside and out—is quite spectacular,
with gold-toned trim starting to show some
#38-1960 CHEVROLET IMPALA convertible.
VIN: 01867S209549. Roman Red/white vinyl/red
vinyl, red & white houndstooth nylon. Odo:
62,151 miles. 283-ci V8, 4-bbl, auto. Optional
230-hp engine, Powerglide, spinner-style wheel
covers and an AM radio with twin rear antennas—mounted
close to the C-pillars instead of
at far rear ends atop the rear quarter panels.
Quite good trim-off repaint about 40 years ago.
Still holding up well, but with plenty of wax and
polishing compound in gaps. Overall most
brightwork is pretty good. Replacement top is
taut and generally fits well, but doesn’t fully
cover the side bows. Engine compartment detailed
a few years ago. Heat-riser tube missing
between exhaust manifold and carburetor choke.
Front seat bottom vinyl tops and door panel
armrests are deeply discolored, but houndstooth
inserts look good. Cond: 2.
SOLD AT $57,750. A bit unusual for even a
Chevy convertible to be this sparsely equipped.
The rear antennas are at best dealer installed, if
not added in later years as part of the repaint
(hiding the original hole in the right front fender
back when it was repainted four decades ago),
March–April 2020 111
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WORLDWIDE AUCTIONEERS • TEMPE, AZ
and wheel covers are easily changed over six
decades. Bidding appropriately opened at thirty
grand, moving up with not much difficulty until
this no-reserve car ran out of bidders. Considering
that it was equipped with power nothing, this
sold well, as a small-block car that brought bigblock
money.
#24-1965 CHEVROLET C10 custom pickup.
VIN: C1446Z143735. Light blue & white/white
leather. Odo: 480 miles. 6.0-L fuel-injected V8,
auto. Short-wheelbase model with Custom-series
trim. Good trim-off repaint, but cracked; original
vent-window-frame gaskets were reused and
masked over. Good door fit and panel gaps. New
glossy finish on wood box floor, with argentpainted
mounting/skid strips. Heavily modified
front and rear suspension, with 4-wheel disc
brakes, to sit low on the 20-inch aftermarket
wheels and radials. Repowered by a tuned Vortec
6.0-L LS engine, with a 480LE automatic behind
it. Good installation workmanship, with modern
power brake master cylinder, custom cold-air
intake and aluminum radiator. Modern GM
pickup front bench seat, re-covered in leather,
among custom interior mods. Cruise control and
OBD-II reader mounted on bottom edge of dash.
Cond: 2.
that the engine was pulled and rebuilt; now
looking stock and still rather clean. Parts-store
belts, hoses, clamps, battery cables and battery—plus
various strands of added wiring.
Well-fitted reproduction interior soft trim.
Cond: 3+.
and, while it almost sold at $46k, it got one
more bid just before it hammered done. Well
enough sold for a small-block car in this condition
grade; not a big payday for the consignor’s
estate, not a steal for the new owner.
CORVETTE
SOLD AT $35,750. This GS400 had been
shopped extensively on the West Coast a year
ago, last seen selling at Silver’s Big Sky auction
in Spokane, WA, in May for a dear $35,700
(ACC# 6902414). But don’t call this a draw, as
there are seller’s fees and transportation costs.
Call it as close to getting lucky to get rid of it as
practical. The best thing about this A-body is that
it’s not a cookie-cutter Chevelle, which always
brings a lot more than the equally competent (if
not more so) B-O-P brethren.
SOLD AT $35,200. Resto-modded pickups
aren’t usually Worldwide’s genre. Seems to be a
good, quality build for the driver that it is. Offered
at no reserve, the real money started bidding
at $20k. Then it hammered at a reasonable
price considering the build quality and that this
era of Chevy pickups is staring to pick up interest
in the market—stock or otherwise.
#23-1967 BUICK SKYLARK GS400 convertible.
VIN: 446677K122197. Dark green/white
vinyl/Parchment vinyl. Odo: 37,825 miles. 401-ci
V8, 4-bbl, auto. Optional power driver’s seat,
power top, tilt steering column and AM radio.
Fitted with Buick Road Wheels shod with lowerthan-stock-profile
Radial T/A tires. Stated to
have had “a complete, frame-off restoration,”
but the average repaint shows masking lines
around windshield trim and vent-window frames.
Green overspray present on parts of frame rails
and muffler hangers, while it’s mostly burned off
the dual exhaust pipes. Good panel gaps—especially
for this generation of A-body GM. Stated
112 AmericanCarCollector.com
#5-1969 CHEVROLET CAMARO RS/SS Indy
Pace Car Edition convertible. VIN: 124679N626925.
White/white vinyl/orange vinyl houndstooth.
Odo: 4,778 miles. 350-ci V8, 4-bbl, auto.
Restored by a marque expert in the late 1980s to
then-state-of-the-art standards, won awards
through the late-’90s. Stated that the powertrain
is “truly numbers matching,” with a concoursready
engine-compartment detailing. Equally
clean undercarriage, but not quite as well detailed.
Good paint and reproduction decal application,
still looking like it was done fewer than
five years ago. Windshield adhesive overflow at
the base of the windshield, which covers some
rust repair in the corners. Expertly fitted reproduction
interior vinyl and carpeting, showing no
appreciable wear. Cond: 2.
#32-1962 CHEVROLET CORVETTE convertible.
VIN: 20867S112200. Roman Red/tan vinyl/
red vinyl. Odo: 7,196 miles. 327-ci 245-hp V8,
4-bbl, 4-sp. Stated that the car received a cosmetic
restoration approximately 2k miles ago.
Good trim-off repaint. Door fit is okay, but they
protrude slightly from the body, like most C1s.
Modern branded windshield. Four halogen headlights.
New seats, door panels, carpet, dashpad
and seat-belt webbing (retaining the original
dull buckles and latches). Door armrest bases
have vacuum plating peeling off. Wonder Bar
radio looks the part as stock, but has modern
electronic guts. Recent engine rebuild; generally
dressed up as stock. Cond: 2-.
SOLD AT $51,700. The original owner was a
gal who drove this daily until 1985, but prudently
parking it over the Illinois winters where
she lived. While not quite like the rest of the cars
from the no-reserve Chuck Morgan Estate Collection
that were sold here, they bought it in 2012
because Chuck’s wife was an Indy 500 Festival
princess in 1969. Bidding opened here at $20k,
SOLD AT $57,750. On the morning of this auction,
I was one of the panelists in the ACC seminar
at Barrett-Jackson. A fellow panelist, Ken
Lingenfelter, chose the C1 as a car to sell. He
reasoned that it’s an aging demographic who
grew up with them and had driven its market,
and that they’re at the point where a lot of them
are downsizing. Then this one brought what
most would feel is sub-par money. Yet (speaking
of aging demographics), like Paul Harvey used
to say, now for the rest of the story. I felt this car
was hurt more by the non-correct components
used to restore it. Anyone wanting to take this to
an NCRS event would not be interested in it, as
correcting things ranging from the headlights to
the windshield will make you spend as much as
you would for a car that’s already correct by the
time you’re done. If the final bidder just wanted
a nice cruiser, they did okay; anyone else would
(and did) give it a pass.
#9-1970 CHEVROLET CORVETTE coupe.
VIN: 194370S405190. Marlboro Maroon/Saddle
vinyl. Odo: 77,687 miles. 350-ci 370-hp , 4-bbl,
4-sp. Retains the original window sticker and
Protect-O-Plate, showing it was sold new by
Sharpnack Chevrolet of Vermilion, OH. Believed
to be the only ZR-1 equipped with an optional
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WORLDWIDE AUCTIONEERS • TEMPE, AZ
3.08 differential. Fitted in period and retains a
set of Baldwin-Motion headers and sidepipes,
with original exhaust manifolds. Good body prep
and paint application. Reproduction hood striping
is lifting at edges facing windshield. Said
windshield is a modern aftermarket replacement.
All-new door and glass seals. Trim on left front
corner of windshield glued into place, but now
coming loose. Show-chrome bumpers, reproduction
trim. Redyed dashboard and plastic interior
trim. Well-fitted reproduction seats and carpeting.
Black cloth wrap around e-brake handle.
Heavily faded, original octane-warning decal on
center console. Clean, well-detailed-to-stock engine
compartment and undercarriage. However,
rear suspension hardware has light flash rust.
Cond: 2-.
on the top. Well-fitted seat upholstery, with no
discernible wear. Varying degrees of fading on
gauge faces. Mostly black-painted undercarriage.
Newer reproduction tires. Cond: 2-. SOLD AT
$19,800. Unlike most restored A roadsters, they
didn’t go over the top with accessories and
plated doodads. It doesn’t even have a quail
radiator cap—it’s just plain. Combined with the
blackwall tires, it has a believable, authentic
overall look to it—instead of being a poor
man’s Duesenberg. Bidding opened at ten
grand, and gradually moved up to this final bid
without much undue effort.
SOLD AT $99,000. The 1970 LT-1 was essentially
an L88 with the 370-hp, solid-lifter, 350-ci
small block—the no-nonsense race car without
creature comforts. Also like the L88, the ZR1
wasn’t a cheap date to get as a track weapon,
costing $968.95. Part and parcel of why only 25
LT-1s were made this first year it was offered.
Bidding opened at $50k, and when no more bids
were able to be coaxed out, the reserve was
lifted and sold to the high bidder on the phone.
FOMOCO
#53-1931 FORD MODEL A Deluxe roadster.
VIN: A4429474. Green & black/tan cloth/brown
leatherette. Odo: 83,569 miles. Period-style
mesh grille guard and canvas covers over both
fender-mounted spare tires. Period, aftermarketstyle
trunk on a reproduction rack, plus wind
wings and mirrors. Comprehensive restoration
done on it in the late 1990s; now starting to
show light wear from limited use. Better-thanoriginal
paint and bodywork workmanship—not
like that bar is too tall to cross. Light soiling
SOLD AT $156,750. This is one of the 20
“brake test” cars done early in the Hertz program,
of which 18 were in this white-with-bluerocker-stripes-only
configuration. When the cars
were released to Hertz, Shelby was told that all
future deliveries of 1966 program cars would be
black with gold striping. The consignor bought
the car from the widow of the previous owner,
who specified in his estate that the car wasn’t to
be sold until Carroll Shelby also passed away—
hence her storing it from 1995 to 2015. Bidding
here opened at $75k, with the reserve lifted at
$135k, garnering a few more bids before hammering
sold. As such, this was a market-correct
sale.
#40-1969 FORD MUSTANG Boss 429 fastback.
VIN: 9F02Z195394. Candy Apple Red/
black vinyl. Odo: 45,773 miles. 429-ci V8, 4-bbl,
4-sp. KK 1798. Marti Report displayed with car
confirms it as a real-deal Boss 429, sold new by
#27-1966 SHELBY GT350 H fastback. VIN:
SFM6S449. White/black vinyl. Odo: 49,411 miles.
289-ci V8, 4-bbl, 4-sp. Repainted and restriped
when acquired by the consignor in 2015, in the
correct, original color combination. Hood is
slightly too short, as cowl gap is wide and it also
sits a bit too far back to line up with the headlight
buckets. All exterior brightwork was reconditioned
while off the car. All original Carlite
glass. With the exception of the replacement
driver’s door panel and repairs on the driver’s
seat, the interior is all original. Engine compartment
is clean and well detailed to stock, aside
from a modern battery. Reconditioned original
Magnum 500 wheels with Hertz center caps, shod
with reproduction Wide Oval tires. Cond: 2-.
Cook Whitehead Ford of Panama City, FL. Options
include close-ratio 4-speed, competition
suspension, 3.91-ratio TractionLok differential,
Interior Décor Group, center console, deluxe seat
belts, Visibility Group and AM radio. Excellent
bare-body repaint as part of a comprehensive
restoration completed within the decade. OEMgrade
bumper replating, reproduction
brightwork. Good door and panel fit. Heavily
faded VIN tag in windshield, with a new dashpad
behind it. Seats, carpeting and door panels are
also new. Concours-quality detailing under the
hood. Just as clean on undercarriage, just not as
well detailed. Cond: 2-.
NOT SOLD AT $170,000. Sold at Mecum Kissimmee
2018 for $176k (ACC# 6860379), then
has been shopped on the Mecum tour circuit
since, apart from being here, where it was bid to
less that it was bought at for the first time. Not a
good trend, as Boss-9s are starting to lose traction
in the market (and not just due to repop
bias-ply tires either).
#46-1999 SHELBY SERIES 1 convertible.
VIN: 5CSXA1811XL000165. Black & garnet/black
cloth/black & gray leather. Odo: 976 miles. 4.0-L
fuel-injected V8, 6-sp. Indicated miles are from
new. One-of-one color combination, per copies of
the factory records displayed with the car. That
unique paint is still in quite good condition.
Clean engine bay more from lack of use than
from cleaning and maintenance. Minimal seat
wear, mostly on upper portions of seat backs.
Still has the Mylar instruction cling film on the
face of the sound system, including the securitycode
number. Steering wheel to steering column
shroud fit is nothing to write home about. Nor is
the quality of the welds on the rear suspension
A-arms. Stock three-piece wheels shod with the
original, rock-hard Goodyear Eagle tires.
Cond: 2.
SOLD AT $159,500. I’m not sure how they can
get away with calling this a 1999. It was ordered
in 1997, assembly started in August 2000, and
completed in January 2001. Maybe the check
March–April 2020 113
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WORLDWIDE AUCTIONEERS • TEMPE, AZ
was cashed for the car in 1999? Then again, I’m
also among the legions of those who never fully
embraced Carroll’s GM parts-bin-assembled kit
car—even if it’s bloody quick. At least he used
the somewhat-more-reliable Olds/Aurora V8s
instead of the snap-in-half Cadillac NorthStars.
Bidding opened at $100k, the reserve was met at
$135k, and managed to get a few more bids
before selling. If one-of-one due to a paint job is
worth a premium to you, then this was still well
sold.
MOPAR
#47-1947 CHRYSLER WINDSOR convertible.
VIN: 70636491. Sumac Red/tan cloth/red
leather. Odo: 2,162 miles. 250-ci I6, 1-bbl, auto.
Optional Fluid Drive semi-automatic transmission.
Despite wearing a 1990 AACA National
Senior First Place badge on grille, the car was
fully restored during 2004. Nice bare-body repaint,
although windshield trim has moderate
sanding scratches. Balance of brightwork is still
quite good. Good door and panel fit. Taut, wellfitted
top. Reupholstered seats, with the padding
over the leather section being a bit lumpy from
compressed original padding. Reconditioned
steering wheel, new plastic ends on dashboard
control knobs. Overall lightly scuffed original
interior chrome. Engine bay starting to show
some light dust and flash rust. All gloss-black
undercarriage, with a chip on corner of gas tank.
Cond: 2-.
dian registration. Reproduction 14-inch wire
wheels shod with wide-whitewall, bias-ply tires.
Exceptionally well-prepped and -applied barebody
repaint. Show-quality plating on all chrome
trim. Rear suspension sits a bit high, exacerbated
by tail fins each topped by a radio antenna.
Spot-on door and panel fit. Concours-quality
engine bay detailing. Clean, mostly gloss black
undercarriage. Taut replacement top, but the
side bows aren’t fully covered. Speedometer
stuck at 35 mph. Period-style seat belts added
front and rear. Cond: 2+.
SOLD AT $115,500. For 1965, 102 Plymouths
and 101 Dodges were configured as Hemi lightweights.
This one is likely the most original of
the lot and has been well documented, not only
for most of its past history but in the popular
vintage drag racing and Mopar press in recent
years. Bidding opened at $100k, and after some
coaxing, the reserve was lifted, generating one
more bid to sell the car. While the car is something
of an albatross (unless you only plan on
showing it at Mopar events, where the faithful
will flock to it), I nonetheless feel that it was a
good buy—especially in the long term. It’s better
to spend $115k today on a Mopar factory
drag car than a Demon.
NOT SOLD AT $150,000. One could make a
good argument that this was DeSoto’s version of,
or competitor to, the Chrysler 300. More fuel for
that fire was that only 300 were made in 1957
(all of them drop-tops). Sold from the Ron Pratte
Collection at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale 2012 for
$225,000 (ACC# 193552). Since then, the auction
catalog indicated that it changed hands one
more time, to the consignor here. Despite the
statement from the block that “the reserve is off”
at $150k, it didn’t really sell. Not only wasn’t a
bidder’s number stated after it was hammered
off the block, but post-event data from the auction
company confirms that it didn’t sell.
SOLD AT $41,250. Unfortunately, this wasn’t
fitted with the optional Highlander plaid interior,
which would’ve complemented the Sumac Red
paint well. Still, it’s good to see a Windsor droptop
done as well as a Town & Country (actually,
it was a lot better than the T&C that was offered
here, Lot 26). Dirt-cheap opening bid of $20k,
and even where it ended, was well bought for
the quality of the car (and a darn better buy for
the money compared to spending $20k-plus
more for the lumber wagon).
#15-1957 DESOTO ADVENTURER convertible.
VIN: 50417567. Gold & black/black vinyl/
gold vinyl, black & white nylon. Odo: 35,902
miles. 345-ci V8, 2x4-bbl, auto. Sold on a Cana-
114 AmericanCarCollector.com
#34-1965 DODGE CORONET A990 Lightweight
Hemi 2-dr sedan. VIN: W051249555.
Black/beige vinyl. Odo: 888 miles. 426-ci V8,
2x4-bbl, auto. Documented by Chrysler’s historical
group in 2012 as a “Coronet Hemi-Charger”
that was shipped new to Grand-Spaulding Dodge
of Chicago. Stated that the indicated miles are
correct from new. Unrestored but repainted in
the original black after being campaigned as
“the Hustlin’ Hemi” in the 1970s. Mostly original
components and configuration. Stock steel wheels
with period-correct tires, Plexiglas side windows.
Reproduction carpet, but otherwise all-original
interior. Retains its primary original engine components
(including the alloy heads and magnesium
cross-ram intake manifold), although the
motor was rebuilt in recent years. Cond: 2-.
#36-1971 PLYMOUTH ’CUDA convertible.
VIN: BS27V1B255342. True Blue Metallic/black
vinyl/black leather. Odo: 54,607 miles. 440-ci
V8, 3x2-bbl, 4-sp. Options include Six Pack induction,
3.54 Trak Pak differential, Hemi suspension,
power steering, rally instrumentation,
tinted windshield, sport hood with hood pins,
power top, woodgrain steering wheel and AM
radio. Restored to Mopar concours judging standards
in 2006, attaining a 95.42 of 100 score at
the 2007 Mopar Nationals, and going into controlled
storage since then. Bare-body repaint
done intending to duplicate the imperfect original
build quality. Engine bay and undercarriage
are concours ready as presented—down to replicated
inspection tags and factory overspray on
clean exhaust manifolds and repro battery. Light
soiling in repop seat pleats, but only showing
minimal wear on carpet below pedals. Cond: 2.
NOT SOLD AT $675,000. This ’Cuda was
bought by Canadian hockey hall of fame goalie
Ed Belfour as a present to himself when he
signed his first NHL contract in 1987. Having
bought it as a disassembled project, it took retirement
from the NHL to find time to restore the
car. Now moving on to other endeavors, he decided
to put it up for auction. As it is one of five
’71 ’Cuda Six Pack 4-speed drop-tops, he was
likely looking at closer to three-quarters of a
million for it. Not sure if that’s doable in today’s
market. I’m more tempted to think that anyone
who HAS to have it will contact him in the private
market rather than when it is the featured
car trolled at other auction houses. A
Page 114
GLOBAL
ROUNDUP
Selected Sales Combined in One Comprehensive Report
American Highlights
at Six Auctions
Bonhams
Scottsdale, AZ — January 16, 2020
Auctioneers: Rupert Banner, James Knight
Automotive lots sold/offered: 88/108
Sales rate: 81%
Sales total: $8,436,720
High American sales: 1992 Dodge Viper RT/10
roadster and 2005 Ford GT coupe, each sold at
$285,500
2017 Ford GT coupe, sold for $923,500 at
RM Sotheby’s in Phoenix, AZ
RM Auctions
Hershey, PA — October 10–11, 2019
Auctioneer: Brent Earlywine
Automotive lots sold/offered: 199/208
Sales rate: 96%
Sales total: $15,218,500
High sale: 1930 Cadillac 452A V16 Fleetwood
sport phaeton, sold at $1,221,000
Buyer’s premium: 10%, included in sold prices
Report and photos by Jeff Trepel
Mecum Auctions
Kansas City, MO — December 5–7, 2019
Auctioneers: Mark Delzell, Jimmy Landis,
Matt Moravec, Russ Conklin
Automotive lots sold/offered: 392/579
Sales rate: 68%
Sales total: $8,479,350
High sale: 2005 Ford GT coupe, sold at $247,500
Buyer’s premium: 10%, included in sold prices
Report and photos by Brett Hatfield
MAG Auctions
Peoria, AZ — January 10–12, 2020
Auctioneers: Gary Dehler, Rob Row, Jeff Stokes,
Jerry Daisey
Automotive lots sold/offered: 130/329
Sales rate: 40%
Sales total: $2,635,226
High sale: 1968 Shelby GT500 KR fastback, sold
at $167,400
Buyer’s premium: 8%, included in sold prices
Report and photos by Sam Stockham
116 AmericanCarCollector.com
1948 Tucker 48 sedan, sold for $2,040,000
at Gooding & Co., Scottsdale
Buyer’s premium: 12% on first $250; 10%
thereafter, included in sold prices
Report and photos by Michael Leven
RM Sotheby’s
Phoenix, AZ — January 16–17, 2019
Auctioneer: Maarten ten Holder
Automotive lots sold/offered: 128/143
Sales rate: 90%
Sales total: $30,346,210
High American sale: 1930 Cadillac 452A V16
Fleetwood sport phaeton, sold at $1,105,000
Buyer’s premium: 12% on first $250; 10%
thereafter, included in sold prices
Report and photos by Carl Bomstead
Gooding & Company
Scottdale, AZ — January 17–18, 2020
Auctioneer: Charlie Ross
Automotive lots sold/offered: 124/138
Sales rate: 90%
Sales total: $36,169,560
High American sale: 1948 Tucker 48 sedan,
sold at $2,040,000
Buyer’s premium: 12% for first $250k; 10%
thereafter, included in sold prices
Report by Joseph T. Seminetta and Jack
Seminetta. Photos by Joseph T. Seminetta
SOLD AT $423,500. A dramatically impressive
car from the era when Oldsmobile embarked on
a madcap excursion to compete with top-of-theline
Packards and Pierce-Arrows. Utterly enormous
in scale, with a 505-ci six, 42-inch wheels,
130-inch wheelbase and Rushmore searchlights
that look like they could have come from a lighthouse.
Ex-Barney Pollard. The body was separated
and destroyed in a fire at Pollard’s
warehouse. Thus, the engine and chassis are
original to this car but the body is a re-creation
built in the early 2000s, prior to Muckel’s ownership.
While the sales price was not insignificant,
the car hammered at $155k below the low estimate.
The price was probably fair to both parties.
RM Auctions, Hershey, PA, 10/19.
#395-1909 PACKARD MODEL 18 NA limousine.
VIN: 9353. Eng. # 9353. Dark green &
black/black leather. RHD. Odo: 7,727 miles.
Claimed “mostly original survivor” from the Jim
Bradley Collection, repainted around 65 years
ago! Paint is now rather flat but still serviceable,
#406-1908 OLDSMOBILE LIMITED
Prototype tourer. VIN: 14. Eng. #
60014. Dark blue/tan cloth/red leather. RHD.
Odo: 2,268 miles. Another near-perfect Brass Era
car from the John Muckel Collection. Flawless
paint and brass. Leather a bit older but sumptuous.
Every mechanical and cosmetic component
beautifully presented. Not one significant deduction
to be found. Cond: 1.
CLASSICS
8
TOP 10
Page 115
ROUNDUP
GLOBAL
much better than on Lot 412, the 1916 Packard
Twin Six. Amazingly solid door-shut for a
110-year-old car. Interior in quite decent condition.
I was surprised though, that the rear compartment
seat was originally done in leather;
usually the chauffered of that era sat on soft and
cool/warm cloth seats. Engine not seen. Cond: 3.
SOLD AT $107,250. The Model 18, built from
1908 to ’11, was a relatively smaller version of
the 4-cylinder Packard 30, designed for those
who wanted Packard quality in a car designed
for urban driving. According to the auction catalog,
this car is one of 11 surviving Model 18s out
of 802 built. It has a known ownership chain and
survives thanks to a series of very attentive owners.
While not 100% original, it appears to be
more usable than Lot 412. I found a couple of
previous sales of Model 18s with prices that were
generally consistent with this car, although none
were directly comparable. This car was well sold
at more than $20k above its high estimate, but
the opportunity to buy a mostly original Model
18 does not come around every day. RM Auctions,
Hershey, PA, 10/19.
#438-1925 LOCOMOBILE MODEL 48 Sportif
tourer. VIN: 19112. Eng. # 19107. Claret &
black/black canvas/black leather. Odo: 16,055
miles. Another outstanding Ruger Collection car
offered at no reserve. I will concede at the outset
that I could not find a single obvious flaw on this
gorgeous Locomobile. Engine rebuilt after Ruger’s
acquisition of the car in 1999. Cosmetic
restoration by Fran Roxas in 2007–08. No deterioration
since that I could see. Lavish instrumentation
and controls of particular note. Cond: 1.
for the engine rebuild and body restoration. For
a relative pittance, the buyer has one of the best
cars you could buy in 1925, plus the outstanding
restoration work. Spectacularly well bought. RM
Auctions, Hershey, PA, 10/19.
#449-1925 MARMON D-74 roadster. VIN:
D25017. Light green & dark green/black cloth/
brown leather. Odo: 64,203 miles. High-quality
restoration, time and place unstated in catalog.
Paint and brightwork done to a very high standard,
with little apparent deterioration. Bright,
distinctive colors but not lurid. Premium-quality
convertible top is well fitted. Inside, the leather is
settled in, as they say, but in no way shabby.
Especially handsome central instrument cluster.
OHV engine, advanced for the era, not observed,
but looks almost pristine in catalog photo.
Cond: 1-.
handful survive. All of the photos or illustrations
of 1927 Lincolns that I found showed chrome(or
more likely, nickel-) plated radiators and
headlight nacelles, but they were painted black
on this car. I was not able to determine if this
was an original cataloged option, a custom order
or the preference of a later owner. This was a
very long auction (over five hours on Friday
night) and I wondered if some cars that were
near the end suffered. Sold close to the modest
low estimate and seems like a lot of car for the
money. Well bought. RM Auctions, Hershey,
PA, 10/19.
SOLD AT $96,800. In 1925, the Marmon D-74
was priced on the same level as a contemporary
Cadillac, slightly above a Packard Six but slightly
below a Packard Eight. This was a very substantial
(136-inch wheelbase) yet sporting roadster,
beautifully proportioned. Both the underlying car
and the restoration are of impeccable quality.
Well-equipped with three-lens taillight, rumble
seat, golf-bag door and dual rear spare tires.
Overall, a beautiful presentation. Sold for
slightly above the low estimate, and I think the
buyer has received excellent value for his money.
RM Auctions, Hershey, PA, 10/19.
SOLD AT $112,750. The Locomobile Model 48
was one of the most expensive American cars
you could buy in 1925, and this was the sporting
body. Equipped with a massive 524-ci inline 6
and then-novel four-wheel brakes. Ruger liked
to drive his cars, and according to the catalog, he
could not abide by the original transmission in
this Locomobile, so he had a Ford truck transmission
(vintage unstated) bolted in. That might
be considered a demerit by some purists, but an
advantage for those who want to drive the car.
The catalog stated that there is $300k in receipts
#459-1927 LINCOLN MODEL L 2-window
sedan. VIN: 43904. Blue & black/black leather/
blue leather. Odo: 22,450 miles. Auction catalog
infers that this Lincoln was restored early in the
21st century; if so, the restoration is holding up
very nicely. Superb panel fit. Well-applied paint
now shows some inevitable microscratching. All is
in order inside—except for cracks in the steering
wheel. Beautiful blue leather. Interior hardware
looks good, but most is not quite in concours
condition. First year that Henry permitted fourwheel
(mechanical) brakes as standard on Lincoln;
previously they were a special-order option.
Cond: 2. SOLD AT $37,950. Conservatively
elegant design by LeBaron, body probably built
by Murray. One of 400 originally produced with
this body style, probably no more than a
#421-1929 AUBURN 8-120 Speedster. VIN:
2950505. Eng. # MD28801. Two-tone maroon/
red leather. Odo: 78,657 miles. Restored under
Jack Dunning’s ownership in the 1980s and
showing almost no deterioration since. Paint
shows a tiny bit of bubbling and lifting on the
deck behind the seat, and one wear spot on the
hood, but otherwise looks great. Interior, which is
more stark than I expected, is virtually flawless.
Good to see correct, painted wire wheels instead
of the usual over-chromed wheels. Excellent
underhood, but happily shows signs of use.
Cond: 1-.
SOLD AT $341,000. The very first car purchased
by Jack Dunning, bought by him in 1959
when it was a mere 30 years old (think about
this: a year-one Miata is now just as old). Amazingly
well-preserved, quality restoration, and a
multiple AACA, CCCA and ACD award winner
over a 30-year period. High-quality examples of
the iconic 1935–36 851/852 Speedsters, as well
as early ’30s V12 Speedsters, sometimes sell for
almost three times the price of this car, but this
model is more rare. Sold for close to the high
estimate, but I consider this car to be very well
bought. RM Auctions, Hershey, PA, 10/19.
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#14-1931 PACKARD DELUXE EIGHT Series
840 coupe. VIN: 190041. Two-tone light brown/
brown cloth. Odo: 54,076 miles. Restored some
time ago; now showing numerous signs of wear
and tear. Paint with thin spots, some recent
touch-ups, lots of stippling, cracking on roof.
Staining from radiator overflow corroding finish.
Overspray around rumble seat. Vinyl roof insert
very good. Interior wood, dash, steering wheel
may be original. Dual sidemounts, Pilot Rays,
Adonis hood ornament. Recent freshening of
fuel/cooling/brake/wiring systems. Cond: 3+.
5
#122-1935 CADILLAC 452D
Imperial convertible sedan.
VIN: 5100043. Diana Cream/tan canvas/brown
leather. Odo: 389 miles. Once part of famed Dr.
Barbara Atwood Collection. Restored years back
by Steve Babinsky and still shows well. Only 50
V16s built in 1935, and this was one of six Imperial
convertible sedans among them. Engine rebuilt
in 2016. Fitted with authentic Master radio,
as listed on build sheet. Leather interior showing
a bit of wear and a few minor issues with paint.
Bright work in good order. A stunning, Classic-era
Cadillac. Cond: 2+.
pearing in favor of more weather-tight body
styles such as convertible sedans. So any 1935
Packard phaeton is rare. But this was a sport
phaeton, Packard’s designation for the dual-cowl
version with a second windscreen for rear-seat
passengers. This particular car was a bit of a
mystery because Packard cataloged the sport
phaeton body only on the larger, more expensive
Super Eight and Twelve chassis. However, RM
presented convincing evidence, including the
body tag, that this car was originally built as a
sport phaeton. Considering its rarity and condition,
I thought this exquisite Packard should
have garnered bids closer to or even above the
$200k low estimate. RM Auctions, Hershey,
PA, 10/19.
SOLD AT $56,000. Older resto, perhaps from
1970s based on livery. “Hang-around brown”
motif not flattering, but car is still good enough
to show locally. A very stately car, and not so
nice that the new owner can’t drive the wheels
off it. Bought with enough room to spring for a
high-quality respray, so it can be shown regionally.
Even if you buy into the notion that the
market for this type of car is dying, this car was
rather well bought. Bonhams, Scottsdale, AZ,
01/20.
#120-1933 CADILLAC 452C All-Weather
phaeton. VIN: 5000082. Blue/tan fabric/blue
leather. Odo: 89,208 miles. A well-maintained
example of the famed Cadillac V16. One of only
125 produced in 1933, and one of only four allweather
phaetons believed to have survived.
Mechanical restoration in early 2000s, with Pebble
Beach presentation. Was Rose Bowl grand
marshal’s car in 2012. An elegant design with
copy of build sheet. Cond: 2.
SOLD AT $472,500. This was last seen at the
RM Sotheby’s Andrews Collection May 2015 sale,
where it realized $605,000 (ACC# 6784085).
Prior to that it sold at RM Auctions’ January
2009 sale for $473,000 (ACC# 1643113). The
ride this Cadillac has been on follows the classiccar
market of the past decade of so. A very desirable
Full Classic that sold for under the money.
RM Sotheby’s, Phoenix, AZ, 01/20.
#420-1935 PACKARD EIGHT dual-cowl
sport phaeton. VIN: 1201206. Silver/black
cloth/red leather. Odo: 51,308 miles. Lovely,
sporting Packard with recent repaint and interior.
Panel fit and paint are superb. Chrome is
not as fresh, but more than nice enough. Gorgeous
red leather contrasts beautifully with silver
exterior. Slight deterioration to leather at door
tops. Instrument cluster shows mild but appropriate
patina. Convertible top not seen but looks
good in photos. Very clean engine compartment
but does show use, which should reassure potential
buyers. Starts and runs smoothly and quietly.
Cond: 2+.
#143-1937 CORD 812 SC phaeton. VIN:
81231851H. Eng. # FC2530. Cigarette Cream/
tan Wexford cloth/red leather. Odo: 22,377
miles. An original supercharged example that
has been restored to perfection. Same owner for
66 years, with the last 20 in the family barn. An
extensive three-and-a-half-year restoration followed.
Correct dual whitewalls and pre-select
transmission. Received Buehrig Award for Best
810/812 in the 2017 and 2018 ACD Club’s National
Reunion. Sparking Cigarette Cream livery
and luxurious red leather interior. A smash!
Cond: 1-.
SOLD AT $263,200. Price paid was as expected,
but far less than what the “Sportsman”
sold for at the cross-town auction. Fully documented
with ACD Category 1 Certification. New
owner has tough decision as to drive or continue
to show; a decision I wish I faced. A wonderful
supercharged Cord. RM Sotheby’s, Phoenix,
AZ, 01/20.
SOLD AT $257,600. Price paid seems most
reasonable for a stunning V16 in desirable body
style. The styled engine is a work of art, and will
make a fantastic CARavan car. Well bought.
RM Sotheby’s, Phoenix, AZ, 01/20.
118 AmericanCarCollector.com
NOT SOLD AT $170,000. By 1935 most buyers
did not want to deal with side curtains, so the
phaeton body configuration was rapidly disap-
#105-1938 CADILLAC SERIES 75 convertible
sedan. VIN: 3271507. Maroon/tan Haartz
cloth/tan leather. Odo: 66,507 miles. Wears an
older restoration that still shows reasonably well.
Older respray in lacquer. Seating with a bit of
wear, and paint has some issues. Claimed to be
“routinely serviced and driven since 2004.” A
quality driver. Cond: 2-. SOLD AT $50,400. The
Series 75 rode on the massive 141-inch wheelbase
that it shared with the V16s. They were
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nificent dash with trademark Buick “Sonomatic”
radio. Beautiful hardware throughout. Steering
wheel has cracks in spokes and sill plates show
wear. Engine compartment not seen. Cond: 2.
bodied by Fleetwood, while the others had Fisher
bodies. Only 58 convertible sedans were built in
1938. In an auction full of V16s, this was a relative
bargain. A solid driver that will be a fun ride
on the next CCCA CARavan. Use and enjoy! RM
Sotheby’s, Phoenix, AZ, 01/20.
#390-1940 FORD DELUXE convertible. VIN:
185770052. Black/tan cloth/brown leather. Odo:
12,841 miles. Very fine example of an iconic
pre-war Ford. Paint is smooth and deep. Chrome
beautifully plated, but now with a few minor
flaws. Quality convertible top, well-fitted. Some
rubber gaskets nearing sell-by date. Inside, the
seats show a little patina. Well accessorized including
factory radio. Art Deco speedometer is
interesting, if unreadable. First year for column
shift for Ford. Cond: 2+.
NOT SOLD AT $50,000. I loved this car as one
you can drive and show. Not quite in concours
condition, but its demerits are minor and easily
resolvable. However, to be candid, it bombed at
this auction. It previously sold at this same auction
in 2009 for $93,500 (ACC# 1672318). This
year it could garner a high bid of only $50k versus
an estimate of $80k–$100k. Yes, late-1930s
and early-1940s American cars are not a hot
segment in the market right now, but, come on,
people, this is no mere Buick Special sedan, it’s
a Roadmaster convertible phaeton! Only 312
examples were built in 1941. If a beautiful car
like this is worth only $50k in the market, sign
me up to buy the next one. RM Auctions, Hershey,
PA, 10/19.
GM
SOLD AT $77,000. In general, “ordinary”
1930s cars, including several Fords, were rather
weak at this auction. There are just too many old
people trying to sell Model As and V8s to too few
young people. This car was an exception, hammering
at exactly its low estimate and selling
all-in at mid-estimate. The car needs nothing to
show, and hopefully nothing to drive to the
show. The 1940 model has enclosed seating for
four (as opposed to a rumble seat on the 1939
model), so the whole family can go to the show.
A good result for both seller and buyer. RM
Auctions, Hershey, PA, 10/19.
#452-1941 BUICK ROADMASTER convertible
phaeton. VIN: 13928872. Royal Maroon
Metallic/tan cloth/maroon leather. Odo: 381
miles. Handsome 4-door convertible restored in
2005. High-quality metallic paint now showing a
few chips and other flaws. Similar for brightwork.
Quality convertible top beautifully fitted. Removable-glass
center side pillars don’t seem to be in
car but may be locked in trunk. Inside, leather is
soft and supple but slightly soiled in front. Mag-
120 AmericanCarCollector.com
#23-1949 CHEVROLET DELUXE woodie
wagon. VIN: 20GKE12776. Eng. # GAA367165.
Black/brown vinyl. Odo: 85,698 miles.
216-ci I6, 1-bbl, 3-sp. In consignor’s ownership
for several decades. Restored very nicely some
time ago, but not overdone. Paint very good but
now heavily polished and thin. Chrome starting
to pit; most will buff out. Trim good, but some
dents, waviness. What looks like original wood is
not overly shiny but rich and warm. Seats broken
in. Bakelite knobs, switches very good; white
steering wheel without cracks. Missing one wheel
skirt. Sold at no reserve. Cond: 2-.
faint semblance of logic, and my wife’s willingness
to forgive. Alas, I did not tempt marital
fate—even while it was failing to get even a
sniff at the low estimate—and another suitor
stole this car. To the bold go the spoils. Extremely
well bought. Bonhams, Scottsdale,
AZ, 01/20.
#111-1955 CHEVROLET BEL AIR convertible.
VIN: VC55A064756. Onyx Black/white
vinyl/red & beige vinyl. Odo: 23,774 miles. 265ci
V8, 4-bbl, 3-sp. Received a complete restoration
in 2018. Onyx Black sparkles, but trunk fit
off a bit. Powered by optional “Power Pack”
265-ci, 180-hp V8, through a 3-speed manual
with overdrive. New top and interior. Fitted with
optional bumper guards, rocker moldings and
gas-filler guard. An attractive offering. Cond: 2-.
SOLD AT $44,800. This was last seen at RM
Auctions’ August 2019 Auburn sale, where it
realized $60,000 (ACC# 6911848). A few short
months later the seller took a $15k hit. The life
of a car flipper is not all milk and honey. RM
Sotheby’s, Phoenix, AZ, 01/20.
#354-1961 CHEVROLET CORVAIR 95
Rampside pickup. VIN: 1R124S120464. Red &
white/gray vinyl. Odo: 90,301 miles. 140-ci H6,
4x1-bbl, 4-sp. Paint done to a decent standard,
with matching red wheels that are finished only
on the outside. Decent chrome with some pitting
on the polished front grille and door emblems.
Aftermarket gauges with custom wood trim.
Newer upholstery, missing brake-pedal rubber.
Textured bed in body color. BFG Radial T/A tires
are 11 years old. Clean underbody with some
leakage around transaxle and a custom spraypainted
exhaust. Cond: 3+.
SOLD AT $30,240. I LOVED this very honest
car, and long before it approached the block—
to tepid interest—my mind had parked it at the
intersection of automotive yearning, a very, very
NOT SOLD AT $19,000. I hate that Ralph
Nader killed the Corvair, but his witch hunt
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wasn’t even aimed at the pickup where the first
line of defense in a frontal collision was your
feet. Never mind that; I like these trucks just for
their sheer goofiness. This one was a nice,
driver-quality rig complete with Retro-Sound
cassette stereo and genuine Naugahyde upholstery.
You won’t get too offended at a little wear
if you drive this one, but I don’t think it has seen
many miles over the past 10 years, judging by
the tires. High bid would have been wholesale
money. It’s obvious there is more money in this
restoration, but Corvair values just never really
justified expensive restorations. Alas, the bid was
still a little light. MAG Auctions, Peoria, AZ,
01/20.
#176-1965 BUICK RIVIERA 2-dr hard top.
VIN: 494475H926481. Black/black vinyl. Odo:
74,612 miles. 425-ci V8, 4-bbl, auto. Has balky
clamshell headlamp closures. Bucket seats front
and rear with center console. Vinyl interior in
decent condition and paint with a few very minor
issues. A solid presentation. Cond: 2+.
Window sticker in driver’s quarter window shows
MSRP of $3,736 and sold out of Bend, OR.
Cond: 2-.
NOT SOLD AT $35,000. If you are into acres of
quarter-panel metal that is almost impossible to
get straight again after an accident, this car is for
you. If you are into custom wheels on old cars, this
car is not for you, but the stock eight-lug wheels
were in good order. I have always dug these big
tuna boats, though, and while the skirts are a little
frumpy, the pearl paint and red interior make a
statement without being gaudy. The real detractor
is underhood, where corrugated wire looming
covers the brake-booster hose and various hard
lines. Yuck. Some room for improvement, but a
nice car. High bid was pretty close to the money it
should take to change hands. MAG Auctions,
Peoria, AZ, 01/20.
SOLD AT $35,840. An elegant car that Sergio
Pininfarina once described as “one of the most
beautiful American cars ever built.” This was last
seen at the June 2019 Portland Mecum sale,
where it failed to sell when bid to $40,000.
(ACC# 6408080). Prior to that it did sell at the
June 2018 Leake sale for $42,900 (ACC#
6874981). Heading in the wrong direction, as the
seller got slapped around a bit and lost $10k or
so. Sometimes the dog just doesn’t hunt. Decent
deal for the buyer, however. RM Sotheby’s,
Phoenix, AZ, 01/20.
#341R-1966 PONTIAC BONNEVILLE convertible.
VIN: 262676C120779. White/black
vinyl/red leather. Odo: 88,402 miles. 389-ci V8,
3x2-bbl, 4-sp. All the power options, eight-lug
wheels, leather interior with console. Nice restoration
of a well-optioned car. Well-done white
paint with a modern, heavy metallic pearl. Slight
waviness in quarters. Convertible top changed to
black from white. Three out of four original-style
T-3 headlights. Underhood is superficially clean
but shows fisheyes everywhere in too-shiny black
paint. Cowl tag sloppily masked off. Some engine
paint discoloration around exhaust ports and
EGR crossover, which is typical. Engine reportedly
rebuilt within 500 miles. Nicely done interior.
#358R-1971 CHEVROLET K10 Cheyenne
custom pickup. VIN: KZ1412607714. Gray &
white/black leather. Odo: 132 miles. 6.0-L fuelinjected
V8, auto. Automatic overdrive trans, lift
kit, four-wheel disc brakes with Hydro-Boost, modern
20-inch wheels, custom exhaust and painted
chassis. Chrome has been refinished and is some
kind of wavy. Grille shows road rash; Bowtie is
pitted and crazed. Passenger’s door fit is way out
at the back and trim hits front fender. Okay repaint
with rough edges around the inside of door
jambs. Power bucket seats with a console stolen
out of a more-modern Chevy. Digital gauges and
a modern radio with vintage knobs. Low-rent
billet steering wheel with fake wood. Underhood
dusty, with exposed wiring that should have been
loomed a little bit better. Slick gas-filler cap hidden
behind rear marker light. Cond: 3.
NOT SOLD AT $36,000. While square-body
Chevy pickups are gaining momentum every day
in the market, these previous-generation trucks
are still holding their own and are still twice as
expensive as Fords. This truck was nice from only
two feet away and represents a decent driverquality
rig, especially with the chosen drivetrain
components. In reality, there’s nothing terribly
unique about LS conversions. They are certainly
MUCH better driving, and that is where the execution
of the details comes in. Unfortunately,
this truck just didn’t have the details to get the
price, and bidding stopped at $36k. Considering
the parts cost, I would not have taken the bid
either, but I don’t see it doing better anywhere
else, barring excessive bidder intoxication. MAG
Auctions, Peoria, AZ, 01/20.
#T71-1977 CHEVROLET C10 Custom Deluxe
pickup. VIN: CCL447S184967. Light blue/blue
vinyl, plaid cloth. Odo: 22,799 miles. 350-ci V8,
2-bbl, 3-sp. An absolute time capsule. Doesn’t
look as though it has covered the miles on the
odometer. Light blue paint appears as it did
when new: shiny with a bit of orange peel. Engine
bay is clean and houses the requisite 350.
Truck bed shows next-to-no-use, with only a few
light marks on the original paint showing use.
Bench seat looks as-new, dash has no cracks, sill
plate has only a couple of heel scuffs. Remarkable
condition for a vehicle built for work.
Cond: 2.
NOT SOLD AT $15,000. It might surprise
sports-car owners, but many pickups are still
used as work vehicles. They are pressed into
service, whether construction, agrarian, delivery
or some other endeavor. The cabs have become
like luxury cars, but the beds always show how
they are really utilized. As clean as this Chevy
was, it was the bed that surprised me most.
Growing up in the lumber biz, most of our trucks
showed more wear after a month than this did
after more than four decades. Top money bid
here was likely too much of a bargain for the
consigner to let go of an exceptionally clean
pickup that will almost surely go up in time.
Mecum Auctions, Kansas City, MO, 12/19.
#F4-1987 GMC CABALLERO pickup. VIN:
3GTCW80HXHS800812. Light Sandstone Metallic/
light tan cloth. Odo: 7,841 miles. 305-ci V8,
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4-bbl, auto. This is a nearly new Caballero. Paint
shows well, with most of the factory gloss. Very
light towel marks can be found, but otherwise
excellent, particularly when considering GM’s
paint quality in the ’80s. Engine bay is clean,
with the maze of wires and hoses typical of the
time. Truck bed doesn’t appear to have ever had
anything in it. Interior is almost new as well,
with only the Mylar chrome trim on door panels
peeling to give away its age. Cond: 2.
tive” horsepower lower than the pressurized V6
also found in the Grand National. Honestly, It
didn’t feel like it to me back in the day, but the
V6 car is the one to have and the TTA (Turbo TA)
will still have a following in years to come as
great examples come to market at the right
venue. Still, this is a nice-looking used car with
some minor detail work needed. Just drive and
enjoy it. Seller was a dealer friend, and was
right to let it go at this money. Fair deal for all.
MAG Auctions, Peoria, AZ, 01/20.
CORVETTE
SOLD AT $14,300. Final year of GMC’s version
of the Chevrolet El Camino. This had obviously
been kept in climate-controlled storage. Most of
these usually saw hard use, and it is rare to find
them in even decent shape. This automotive
example of a mullet was almost perfect. A great
museum candidate, and the purchase price
seemed a bargain. Mecum Auctions, Kansas
City, MO, 12/19.
#355-1989 PONTIAC TRANS AM GTA
coupe. VIN: 1G2FW2180KL254077. Red/Saddle
leather. Odo: 85,725 miles. 5.7-L fuel-injected
V8, auto. T-tops and WS6 Performance Package.
Repainted in 2005 per owner, and shows some
dirt inclusions and overspray in door jambs.
Front license plate rub marks on nose. Reconditioned
wheels look nice with decent tires. Vinyl
repop seat covers on collapsing foam. Driver’s
seat control panel coming loose. Rear carpet fit is
off, and rear seat foam showing round edges.
Weatherstrip looks original and hard. Scratched,
purple window tint. Trunk fit off. Cond: 3.
#109-1963 CHEVROLET CORVETTE SplitWindow
coupe. VIN: 30837S108329. Daytona
Blue/black leather. Odo: 54,102 miles. 327-ci
340-hp V8, 4-bbl, 4-sp. A beautifully presented
Split-Window in desirable 327/340 configuration.
With AM/FM, power windows, knockoffs, leather
seats. Some cracks and patchy areas over thicker
paint. Nice chrome. Beautiful interior. Missing
ownership history. Does not claim to be matching
numbers. Cond: 2.
$100k. It’s a different market right now, so unless
one has to sell, it’s probably best to wait it
out. RM Sotheby’s, Phoenix, AZ, 01/20.
#S158-1967 CHEVROLET CORVETTE convertible.
VIN: 194677S122843. Sunfire Yellow/
black vinyl, Sunfire Yellow hard top/black
leather. Odo: 37,526 miles. 427-ci 390-hp V8,
4-bbl, 4-sp. NCRS Top Flight certification, Bloomington
Gold certification and MCACN Triple Diamond
Award winner. Paint, chrome, stainless are
all in exceptional condition. Engine bay is mint.
Black leather interior shows no wear, presents
as-new. Well optioned with power brakes, power
steering, AM-FM, teakwood steering wheel, hard
top and 4-speed trans. Documentation includes
window sticker and Protect-O-Plate. Cond: 2+.
SOLD AT $128,800. An earlier Split-Window
sold for a bargain price (Lot 55 for $81,760).
Bidders lined the room to see if this was an outlier
or a shift in the market. The bid pingponged
in the room between a Chicago dealer
and a private collector (who eventually took it
home). Final price paid was a bit rich given lack
of documentation and history. Gooding & Co.,
Scottsdale, AZ, 01/20.
SOLD AT $13,500. I almost bought one of these
in about 1994 but had my heart set on another
Mustang. These just felt too big and lumbering.
It is arguably the best-looking of the F-body
cars, though. This example came with the biggest
engine, which ironically was rated 15 “conserva-
122 AmericanCarCollector.com
#134-1963 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06
Split-Window coupe. VIN: 30837S114083.
Riverside Red/black vinyl. Odo: 27 miles. 327-ci
360-hp fuel-injected V8, 4-sp. A very rare Corvette
with Z06 Special Performance equipment
group and NO3 “Big Tank.” Only 63 were fitted
with the 36-gallon gas tank. The Z06 option was
deleted after only 199 produced, as Cobra was
dominating in racing. This example awarded
2014 Bloomington Gold and 2016 AACA Grand
National First. Restored to perfection and rare as
heck. Cond: 1. NOT SOLD AT $400,000. This
was the Corvette to own and was rare as all get
out with the 36-gallon tank, a/c and Z06 package.
Bid was off the mark by at least $50k–
NOT SOLD AT $130,000. This was not the
venue for this Corvette. As with most any collectible
car, the finest examples command a premium.
Market value for the lowest-powered of
the big-block cars would have been about
$110k, but for a copy with this many options,
coupled with documentation, condition, and multiple
best-of awards, that price would have been
far too low. The owner will likely do better selling
in a larger market. Mecum Auctions, Kansas
City, MO, 12/19.
#F159-2006 CHEVROLET CORVETTE
Z06 coupe. VIN: 1G1YY26E965102119.
Black/black & gray leather. Odo: 20,111 miles.
7.0-L 505-hp fuel-injected V8, 6-sp. Equipped
with the 2LZ Preferred Equipment Package that
includes seat-mounted side-impact airbags,
power telescopic steering, auto-dimming mirrors,
heated seats, luggage shade, memory package,
and a few other goodies. Shiny black paint shows
the usual towel swirl. Chrome factory wheels are
in good nick. Aftermarket window tint compliments
the black finish. Some heel scuffs on driver’s
door sill. Seat bolster shows less wear than
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one would expect given the low entry. Carpets
and door jamb could be cleaner. Engine bay is
clean. Cond: 2-.
trauma to the car, so no harm. Regardless of
your bent on this mild resto-mod, I’ll bet its a
blast to take on a cruise. A very good price for a
usable (and powerful) period piece—well
bought. Bonhams, Scottsdale, AZ, 01/20.
SOLD AT $29,150. This first year of the C6 Z06
was a quantum leap forward in performance
over the previous generation. With a unique
aluminum frame/magnesium engine cradle
structure, a fixed roof panel, specific body panels,
and a 427-ci engine yielding 505 hp, the Z06
was capable of sub-four-second 0–60 sprints.
This copy, with low miles and in better-thandecent
condition, traded hands far below book
value of $38k. Someone stole this Corvette.
Mecum Auctions, Kansas City, MO, 12/19.
FOMOCO
#29-1951 MERCURY EIGHT custom convertible.
VIN: 51SL62928M. Maroon metallic/
black cloth/burgundy leather. Odo: 5,824 miles.
460-ci V8, 4-bbl, auto. Show-quality paint and
cosmetics. Cloth top in good shape, save rumpling
from stowage. Leather nicely broken in.
Modern a/c. Wrapped, smaller-diameter Lecarra
wheel, modern steering column and perforations
in door for stereo speakers. Carpet and leather
in trunk. Power front discs a prudent add with
modern 460-ci Ford power. Door trim desperately
in need of polishing, with driver’s door
handle only significant demerit. Sold at no reserve.
Cond: 2.
SOLD AT $33,600. With low cost of entry and
an oversized presence, this very usable and stylish
car would be a hit anywhere you took it. As
the Ford marketing tagline in 1957 said, “Adventures
in Motion.” I still love seeing that extended
string of pastel Baby ’Birds when the
local T-bird club turns up at one of our local car
shows. A great value in the collector-car market
and well bought. Bonhams, Scottsdale, AZ,
01/20.
SOLD AT $52,640. My first impression upon
seeing this car was, “WOW. Nice to see one that
hasn’t been cut up and customized.” Then I realized
it had a 460 under the hood. I have to admit,
it’s a practical (and largely invisible) change
that can be undone without too much trouble or
124 AmericanCarCollector.com
#S157-1958 FORD FAIRLANE 500 Sunliner
convertible. VIN: G8DC136249. Raven Black/
black vinyl/black & white vinyl. Odo: 64,976
miles. 332-ci V8, 4-bbl, auto. An older restoration
that’s holding up reasonably well. Black
paint is shiny but shows ample buffer swirl.
Chrome looks to be original, with buff marks, but
no pitting. Missing radio antenna. Continental kit
bumper extensions don’t fit very well. Engine bay
is clean and squared away. Driver’s side door sill
is lumpy. Black-and-white vinyl interior is decent,
shows little wear. Polished bits on dash show
some light patina. Equipped with dealer-installed
a/c. Black vinyl convertible top in decent condition.
Great sunny-day cruiser. Cond: 3. SOLD AT
$28,600. Not as desirable or complicated as the
Skyliner, this more-affordable Fairlane ragtop
had several other options that set it apart. With
#27-1957 FORD THUNDERBIRD convertible.
VIN: D7FH107589. Sky blue/blue canvas/
two-tone blue vinyl. Odo: 25,801 miles. 312-ci
V8, 4-bbl, auto. Nice, driver-condition restoration
unwinding. Paint largely very good; some signs
of age, some orange peel on hood. Some gaps
actually wavy. Welting around fender skirts erratically
attached. Bumper chrome a little dull;
rest still shiny. Trim mostly nice, with a loose
screw, missing segment around door. Glass clear
and unmarked. Cloth soft top good but shrunken,
and won’t quite latch down fully. Two-tone interior
sound but slightly dingy. Power steering/
brakes/windows, Town & Country radio. Sold at
no reserve. Cond: 3+.
the massive Continental kit (doubling as back
porch) and a/c, this was a bit more than your
average cruise-in entry. Condition held this one
back, but it was certainly nice enough for a fun
car you could enjoy as you worked on it. A thorough
buffing and an antenna would have gone a
long way. As it was, someone went home with a
bit of a bargain. Mecum Auctions, Kansas
City, MO, 12/19.
#229-1963 SHELBY COBRA 260
roadster. VIN: CSX2047. Red/black
leather. Odo: 33,116 miles. 260-ci V8, 4-bbl,
4-sp. One of only 62 early, street-legal 260 Cobras.
One of 655 leaf-spring examples that was
built prior to rack-and-pinion steering being
offered. A respray in 2001 and again in 2019 to
original colors. Long-term, 46-year ownership in
climate-controlled facility. Fitted with optional
bumpers, sun visors, hood latches and aluminum
valve covers. An unusual, well-presented example.
Cond: 2+.
3
SOLD AT $577,000. The smaller 260 motor is
not as desirable as the later 289, and this was
reflected in bidding. Improvements were made
on the fly at Shelby American, so earlier examples
were lacking later refinements. Price
paid was slightly under the money, but still fair
all around. RM Sotheby’s, Phoenix, AZ,
01/20.
#37-1965 SHELBY GT350 fastback. VIN:
SFM5S441. Wimbledon White & blue/black vinyl.
Odo: 32,004 miles. 289-ci V8, 4-bbl, 4-sp. Low
mileage, numbers matching, and claimed in
original condition, with known ownership from
new. Always in California or Texas. Paint a wee
bit too good to have originated in Venice or from
Ford...well buffed with proper single-stage
sheen. Bumper chrome okay, with prep scratches.
Small, bright stuff straight, mostly good. Interior
looks mostly original save newish carpets; dash
TOP 10
Page 123
ROUNDUP
GLOBAL
wavy, instrument binnacle cracking, seat covers
older. With racing belts and wearing original
Cragar cast wheels. Cond: 2-.
#F128-1976 FORD F-150 Ranger XLT
pickup. VIN: F15YRB52283. Candy Apple Red/
red cloth. Odo: 13,493 miles. 390-ci V8, 4-bbl,
auto. Shiny Candy Apple Red finish presents well,
with some light towel swirl. Pickup bed shows
some minor marks from use. Door jambs are
clean. Interior appears nearly new, with no fading
or signs of real wear. Engine bay is as it
should be—tidy and original. Cond: 2.
on it. You ain’t gonna find one better and I can’t
imagine any sane person would invest in a restoration.
I am sure B. Mitchell Carlson would have
his paddle in the air on this, if he were here for
the bidding. Highly original example of a highly
pedestrian car. Think the National Lampoon
Family Truckster if it was bleached and stuffed in
the dryer on high. This feels like a pretty good
bid to me for a car that on the street is worth
whatever a 16-year-old, looking for his first car,
has in his pocket. MAG Auctions, Peoria, AZ,
01/20.
NOT SOLD AT $280,000. Decidedly unrefined,
these heavily decontented first-year GT350s are
near the very top of the Shelby Mustang food
chain—preceded only by the 36 or so R models—and
therefore command a huge premium
over their younger siblings. Other than a lessthan-concours-but-original
presentation, there was
no obvious reason this car fell so short of the market
or its reasonable $350k lower estimate. It’s a
real prize, and the consignor’s patience will be
rewarded. Bonhams, Scottsdale, AZ, 01/20.
#S109.1-1969 FORD MUSTANG Boss 429
fastback. VIN: 9F02Z198745. Wimbledon
White/black vinyl. Odo: 18,261 miles. 429-ci V8,
4-bbl, 4-sp. Paint appears shiny, but the surface
has overspray throughout. Panel gaps appear
as-original. Chrome is in good shape, with some
brush/swirl marks. Stainless shows some buffing
and sanding marks. The back glass has a few
scratches on the driver’s side. The engine bay
presents well, clean and correct. Interior shows
some slight wrinkling on the driver’s side seat
bottom. Cond: 2-.
SOLD AT $17,050. Seen previously at BarrettJackson’s
2019 Scottsdale sale, where it sold for
$16,500 (ACC# 6892523). These trucks were
purpose built, with few creature comforts. They
were intended to be work vehicles, and nearly all
of them were used as such. It is rare to find one
that not only has been kept in pristine condition,
but also shows fewer than 20,000 miles on the
clock. As classic American trucks have found
their groove, examples as clean as this one was
will only continue to climb in value. Fair deal all
around. Mecum Auctions, Kansas City, MO,
12/19.
#412R-1978 MERCURY BOBCAT wagon.
VIN: 8T22Z500713. White/blue plaid cloth. Odo:
22,760 miles. 171-ci V6, 2-bbl, auto. Blue plaid
interior in good shape. Clean carpets and uncracked
dash. Original paint and fake woodgrain
is in good shape, except for an couple of drip
spots on top of front passenger’s fender that
have been touched up. Door fit per factory. Trim
could use some rubbing compound, but in great
shape for age. Headlight trim buckets starting to
pit. Engine bay clean but with used-car-dealer
shine all over it. As original as they come.
Cond: 3+.
SOLD AT $231,000. This Boss 429 has been
seen at six auctions in the past three-and-a-half
years—most recently at the February 2019
Leake Oklahoma City sale, where it failed to
meet reserve at $210k (ACC# 6897345). Total
production for the 1969 model year numbered
just 857 units. In better-than-decent condition
courtesy of a body-on resto, this Boss ’9 had lots
of curb appeal. Likely an older refresh that was
holding up well. Miles were claimed original at
just a nudge over 18k. Tidy, sharp, everything
was there. The winning bid was spot-on. Mecum
Auctions, Kansas City, MO, 12/19.
#F136-1985 FORD MUSTANG GT convertible.
VIN: 1FABP27M1FF127635. Medium Charcoal
Metallic/black vinyl/two-tone gray cloth.
Odo: 7,619 miles. 5.0-L V8, 4-bbl, 5-sp. Factory
paint shows no untoward rock chips or nicks, and
retains much of its original luster. Glass and
weatherstrip still appear fresh. Gray cloth interior,
which wore notoriously quickly, still looks
new. The elastic on both door map pockets has
failed, just like it did on every other Mustang of
this era. Engine bay is clean and correct. Wheels
are like-new. With dealer’s bill of sale, build
sheet, owner’s manual and more. Cond: 2.
SOLD AT $18,150. Fox-body Mustangs have
turned the corner, value-wise. These were affordable
muscle, easily accessible, and as such,
were usually driven hard and far. Examples like
this one were the exception, not the rule. With
values on the rise, and the rarity and condition
being what they were, it was still a little surprising
this copy brought a premium price. Mecum
Auctions, Kansas City, MO, 12/19.
NOT SOLD AT $6,000. I guess if you have to
have one, here it is, and with only 22,760 miles
#S94-2006 FORD GT Hertiage Edition
coupe. VIN: 1FAFP90S26Y400864. Gulf Blue &
Epic Orange/black leather. Odo: 562 miles. 5.4-L
supercharged V8, 6-sp. As-new, with no apparent
flaws of any note, as it has covered fewer than
600 miles. One of only 343 Heritage Editions
produced in 2006, the second and final year of
the Camilo Pardo-designed (under Ford Creative
Chief Officer J Mays) GT. Cond: 1-. NOT SOLD
AT $400,000. The obvious upsides of one of
these rare Ford GTs are (relative) exclusivity and
high-performance driving. The downsides include
never being able to drive it or face
March–April 2020 125
Page 124
GLOBAL
ROUNDUP
MARKET MOMENT
1967 Chevrolet Corvette
327/350 Convertible
destroying its “value,” and the inevitability of
having to replace all the soft parts that go south
due to disuse. So many of these were tucked
away as investments; it seems sad they will never
be used as intended. As the market for the Heritage
Editions is in the mid-$400k range, the
seller had little choice but to turn down the high
bid. Mecum Auctions, Kansas City, MO,
12/19.
Mike Maez, courtesy of Gooding & Company
SOLD at $42,560
Gooding & Company, Scottsdale, AZ, January 17, 2020, Lot 32
VIN: 194677S118069
T
he onslaught of barn-find cars at auction
is beginning to slow, but it’s not yet
gone. And I am not sure it should be.
A a well-used convertible with a
matching red hard top, this Corvette
screams of a well-loved old car that has been
retired to the corner of a garage for decades.
While not powered by one of the larger 427-ci
engine options, it does have the L79 V8 with
350-hp and a 4-speed manual transmission.
Call that a drivable bonus.
It’s difficult to tell exactly what kind of shape the red paint is in thanks to the mandatory
coat of “barn find” dust, but the red interior with some faded orange-ish spots on the dash
plastics show a decent patina.
What path does the new owner take with this newly purchased ’Vette? Restore it like the
zillions of others? Turn it into a fully custom convertible? Or leave as-is?
The problem with a restoration is our red example will never be at the top of the Corvette
pecking order with its small-block V8. Additionally, with a current median of $75k for a ’67
Corvette L79 convertible, that only leaves $30k for a restoration. It won’t take much before the
costs no longer pencil out in your favor. Also, don’t forget that people are replicating patina
now.
The best bet here, at least in terms of resale
value, is to do some heavy cleaning, perform the
necessary maintenance and replace only what
needs replacement.
Do that and this ’Vette will be a great driver,
and it will stand out in any group simply because
it’s not a custom-show sled or an over-polished
restoration. It has character that only dings and
scrapes gathered through years of use can bring
— and leaving them in place is what will make it
special to a market still in love with barn-found
objects.A
126 AmericanCarCollector.com
AmericanCarCollector.com
#17-2006 FORD GT Heritage Edition
coupe. VIN: 1FAFP90S26Y400119.
Heritage Blue & Epic Orange/black leather.
Odo: 5,478 miles. 5.4-L supercharged V8, 6-sp.
Rare (one of 343) and attractive Heritage Edition
Ford GT, presented with all available factory
options. Two-owner example with medium miles.
Some recent mechanical work. As-new condition
throughout, except some minor seat-bolster wear
and worn exterior rubber. No obvious signs of
accident damage. Carroll Shelby signature on
dash. Cond: 1-.
9
SOLD AT $385,000. Ford GT lots were numerous
this weekend, with more than 10 selling on
Saturday alone at Barrett-Jackson. This includes
their Lot 1353, a lower-mileage Heritage Edition
that sold for $440k, including buyer’s premium.
This Gooding lot was not sold on the block for a
high bid of $345,000. Sale amended post-auction
for $385,000. This has to be considered well
purchased given other Ford GT sales this weekend.
Gooding & Co., Scottsdale, AZ, 01/20.
— Chad Taylor
#246-2017 FORD GT coupe. VIN:
2FAGP9CW8HH200040. Riviera Blue/
black leather & cloth. Odo: 2,870 miles. 3.5-L
turbocharged V6, 7-sp auto. Thought to be the
only 2017 GT finished in Riviera Blue, which was
a $30,000 upcharge. Also has $15,000 carbonfiber
package. Lacking the NVH panel from factory,
which exposes the carbon-fiber finish.
2
TOP 10
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ROUNDUP
GLOBAL
Complete with books and papers and optional,
serialized Ford GT indoor car cover. Cond: 1.
AMERICANA
SOLD AT $923,500. This was last seen at RM’s
Auburn August 2019 sale, where it failed to sell
when bid to $875,000 (ACC# 6912007). Offered
at no reserve, it sold here for a touch more. The
bloom seems to be off the rose compared to the
first, perhaps-not-so-legal sales. With a new GT
rumored to be just around the corner, these now
take a back seat. RM Sotheby’s, Phoenix, AZ,
01/20.
MOPAR
#F158-2004 DODGE VIPER SRT/10 convertible.
VIN: 1B3JZ65Z14V100025. Viper Red
Clearcoat/black cloth/black & light gray leather.
Odo: 12,131 miles. 8.3-L fuel-injected V10, 6-sp.
Sports a 2008 hood. Paint shows plenty of swirl,
but nothing that couldn’t be corrected with a
decent detailing. Aftermarket HRE wheels could
also benefit from a bit of polishing. Some wear is
evident on the driver’s side seat bolster, as one
would expect with a car this low. Aftermarket
short-throw shifter and shift knob. Black convertible
top looks to be in good condition. Engine
bay is clean-ish. Cond: 2-.
SOLD AT $335,000. Third sale in past two
years and heading in wrong direction. Sold at
2018 RM Sotheby’s Phoenix event for $365,000
(ACC# 6857872), and 10 months later at RM
Hershey for $357,500 (ACC# 6883431). A Full
CCCA Classic that is always welcome at shows
and concours, but with no likely appreciation in
near future. New owner has a delightful car for
tour or the show field. Well bought, at least for
now. RM Sotheby’s, Phoenix, AZ, 01/20.
NOT SOLD AT $37,000. The spiritual successor
to the Shelby Cobra, the Viper SRT/10 was relatively
raw and untamed upon its 1992 introduction.
Lacking ABS, a/c, traction control, or even
proper windows, it was all business. A couple of
generations later, and Dodge’s serpent had a
proper convertible top, had lost the sidepipes in
the door sills, and had become rather polished
for a 500-hp sports car. Top bid here was just
under average value for a slightly modified Viper.
Not sure a substantially higher bid could be
had without changing venues. Mecum Auctions,
Kansas City, MO, 12/19.
#F188-1947 STUDEBAKER M5 pickup. VIN:
M542193. Holiday Red & black/black vinyl. Odo:
48,520 miles. 170-ci I6, 2-bbl, 4-sp. Red body
shows some discolored spots just inboard of the
passenger’s side front fender, but is otherwise in
decent condition. Chrome bumpers have been
nicely refinished, but chrome trim shows patina,
particularly around the headlight bezels. Stainless
trim is showing its age, with a bit of haziness
on the hood center strip. Speedometer is dark,
and the odometer is quite difficult to read. Cab
side windows delaminating at the bottoms.
#149-1941 PACKARD CUSTOM SUPER
EIGHT One-Eighty Series 1906 Darrin convertible
Victoria. VIN: 14292016. Saratoga
Beige/tan fabric/tan leather. Odo: 22,371 miles.
One of just 35 examples for 1941 with distinctive
“Darrin Dip” on doors. Incorrect 1948 block replaced
with period-correct 1941 block in 1990.
Also received a respray and new brightwork.
New leather and dash plastic. Accessory bumper
guards. Known ownership from new. Now showing
signs of age. An exciting automobile.
Cond: 2.
Pickup bed resprayed with a red bedliner material
that matches the paint color of the truck well.
Cond: 3. SOLD AT $17,050. Rare to find in any
condition, these old Studes turn up at auctions
very infrequently. To find one as clean as this,
even with the flaws noted, was a bit of a treat. It
started up and ran with minimal fuss, and settled
into a steady idle. Owning classic vehicles is even
more enjoyable when they are practical and can
be pressed into service. Average retail for one of
these is roughly double what it took to buy this
one, although this price falls between some of
the recent auction prices. Fairly bought. Mecum
Auctions, Kansas City, MO, 12/19.
1
#121-1948 TUCKER 48 sedan. VIN:
1034. Eng. # 33541. Waltz Blue Metal-
lic/ blue leather. Odo: 6,241 miles. 355-ci H6,
1-bbl, 4-sp. Historically significant, largely original
Tucker 48 with über-low mileage and history
from new. Well-documented factory promotional
example featured in the “Tucker” feature film.
Suspension “upgrades” from stock. Original,
worn, soiled portions of the interior including
holes in seat panels. Decade-old repaint holding
up well over some wavy panels on passenger’s
side. Nice whitewalls. Cond: 3+.
SOLD AT $2,040,000. Opening bid of $1 mil to
silent anticipation. “Selling the car” announced
at $1.7 million, followed by “silence is wonderful”
by the auctioneer. Previously traded at
Gooding 2012 Amelia Island auction for
$1,320,000 (ACC# 4777938). Tuckers do not
come up for sale every day. While this was
strong, it is representative of the current market
price for a very rare lot. Gooding & Co., Scottsdale,
AZ, 01/20. A
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March–April 2020 127
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Keith Martin’s
Page 126
THE PARTS HUNTER
Pat Smith
Fast, Cool and Tacky
I hope the Hurst Scentaire didn’t end up in an Olds 442
#362764840108 1938 Chevrolet coupe, sedan, convertible polished grille. 12 photos.
em condition: Used. eBay Motors. Terrebonne, OR. 10/31/2019.
“This is a nice original 1938 stainless grille. It is not perfect, but about as nice as used gets.
rom the high Oregon desert.”
old at $895.
This seems like a lot of money if you haven’t priced ’38 Chevy parts recently. Modern street-
od-style grilles are nothing like the originals, but original-style car grilles aren’t available. You
an buy a few parts for one but not the whole shebang. The truck grille’s different, and you can’t
se a ’37 or ’39 either. Some minor work is needed here, but overall, this one’s very good. I’ve
een them go for more money than what this sold for, so I’d call this a fair deal.
#233395051468 1972 Buick GSX 800-cfm Rochester Quadrajet.
4 photos. Item condition: Recond. eBay Motors. Lexington, PA. 11/15/2019.
“You are bidding on a Rochester Quadrajet carburetor number 7042240. This is an original 800-cfm carb for
1972 Buick 455 engines. This one is set up for performance with #75 jets, #47B primary rods and BG secondary
rods. This carb has a fresh restoration, has been pressure tested and is ready to install.”
Sold at $275.
Buick only made 1,129 Skylark GS 455s in 1972, so this carburetor isn’t an easy find. Only a Stage 1 version
is more rare. This one was rebuilt and date codes to January 24, which places it nicely in the stream of the
production year. Price paid was pretty good even for an automatic carb. A 4-speed is going to be almost triple
the amount. This one was a deal.
#372848770098 NOS Hurst Auto Scentaire
circulatory air freshener.
12 photos. Item condition: New. eBay Motors. Santa
Cruz, CA. 12/1/2019.
“This is a New Old Stock Hurst ‘Auto Scentaire’
circulating auto air freshener. This was an accessory
that was actually made by Hurst, not just rebranded.
I have never seen another one of these. It came out
of the inventory of a speed shop that was closed in
the ’70s to early-’80s. The parts that were left on the
shelves were stored away until now. Don’t miss this
very rare opportunity to own a rare Hurst accessory.”
Sold at $260.
George Hurst watched his former company
wander into dubious territory with items like the
Auto Scentaire. It was basically an electric-activated
air freshener operated by heat sourced from electrical
current. You poured some Pine scent onto a strip
inside the unit and it pulsed this stuff into your car in
13-second intervals. Someone dug it enough to pay
$260 for it. Sacrilegious. I just hope this didn’t end
up inside a 442.
128 AmericanCarCollector.com
#22365114220 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air, 150, 210 licenseplate
lamp.
12 photos. Item
condition: New. eBay
Motors. Livingston, CA.
11/30/2019.
“1957 Chevrolet
Bel Air 150, 210 rear
license-plate light
GM# 898309. These
license lights are in
driver condition. Check
out the photos carefully
in the brand-new crispy Chevrolet box. I have three or four of them
left out of 20, so ask me for exact photos of the one you’re getting
and I can do that.”
Sold at $39.
Once in a while you can get a bargain like this. New Old Stock has
been competing with reproductions for a long time, and now we’re
seeing stockpiled parts from the ’50s being cut loose while they’re still
worth something. It’s happening to some 1960s cars as well. A repro
version ranges from $50 to $60, so this was a nice deal. A
Page 128
JUNKYARD TREASURES
Phil Skinner
Treasures in the Brush
With over 28 acres of vintage and later-model vehicles to choose from, chances are Purdin’s may have your desired part
Detailing
Purdin’s Auto Parts is a great source for vintage tin
I
n the early 1990s, Ray Purdin Jr. launched his first scrap and salvage company. He eventually established
Purdin’s Auto Parts outside of Hillsboro, OH.
Today, 50% of the business is pure scrap metal, recycling tons of aluminum, brass and other metals. But
for those who are looking for some vintage tin, there are some real automotive treasures hiding in the wilderness
here, too.
Altogether about 1,500 vehicles are waiting to give up parts at Purdin’s, but this yard is not for the faint of
heart. Most of the stock on hand is from the late 1970s and early 1980s, but if you take time to poke around in the
weeds, there are a few surprises.
There are a few areas that are a bit swampy, so a pair of mid-calf boots is highly recommended. Depending on
the time of the year, bring your own weed-whacker. When a part has been discovered, do not attempt to remove it
without checking in at the front office.
For those who can’t visit in person, Purdin’s has a worldwide customer base and will ship just
about any part to most anywhere on the globe. A
What: Purdin’s Auto Parts
Inc.
Where: 4501 U.S. Hwy 50,
Hillsboro, OH 45133
Phone: 937-364-3200
Web: www.usedautopartsinhillsborooh.com
When: Monday–Saturday:
9 a.m.–6 p.m.; closed
Sunday
This 1962 Chevrolet Corvair coupe is almost complete and available as a complete car or could be parted out
130 AmericanCarCollector.com
Page 129
I found several vintage military vehicles stashed
away at Purdin’s, such as this Korean War-era
Dodge M37 troop transport
Built in Ohio at Ford’s Lorain assembly plant, this
1962 Mercury Comet awaits a new owner to bring it
back to life
Ray Jr. and his son currently share the operation duties for Purdin’s Auto Parts
March–April 2020 131
Page 130
SHOWCASE GALLERY
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Email: Send photo (300 dpi jpg) and text, or text only, to classifieds@
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Snail mail: ACC Showcase, PO Box 4797, Portland, OR 97208-4797,
with VISA/MC or check.
50 words max, subject to editing. Deadline: 1st of each month, one month
prior to publication.
Advertisers assume all liability for the content of their advertisements. The publisher of
American Car Collector Magazine is not responsible for any omissions, erroneous, false
and/or misleading statements of its advertisers.
GM
1953 Buick Special convertible
1962 Chevrolet C10 Fleetside custom
short-bed pickup
S/N 136677B162510. Marina Blue/bright blue.
17,375 miles. V8, 4-spd manual. White top. SS
tribute, frame-on restoration. Rare 396/375, Muncie
M20 4-speed, new clutch, Sanderson headers,
Flowmaster mufflers, power steering, power disc
brakes, factory a/c. Center console with clock, Retrodigital
radio, SS gauges, blinker tach, rosewood
steering wheel. New chrome bumpers and Rally
wheels, trim pieces restored. 2018 engine and bay
refreshed. Over $80,000 invested, documented.
Featured at two car shows, three websites and carclub
ads. $54,900. Private owner. Contact Eric, Ph:
714.401.1034, email: ericver@verizon.net. Website:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0SWd1CQlNs.
(CA)
1970 Oldsmobile 442 W-30 replica
2-dr hard top
S/N 70249764. Red/red & white. 40,440 miles.
Inline 8, 2-spd automatic. Wonderful, original,
low-mileage Buick Special. The 50-year anniversary
for Buick. Outstanding condition. The
last of the straight 8s for Buick. Always garaged
and meticulously cared for. No disappointments; a
truly beautiful vehicle. $50,000. Contact Todd, Ph:
317.491.3514, email: tj@talonrc.com. (IN)
1954 Buick Skylark
Project car on rolling, restored chassis. Body in
primer. All major parts and paperwork included.
$20,000. Ph: 315.382.3742, (NY)
1959 Chevrolet Impala 348 Tri-Power
convertible
including air conditioning, power brakes, power
steering, dual exhausts, AM/FM radio, electric clock,
cruise control and tinted glass. $39,500 OBO. West
Coast Classics LLC. Contact Larry, Ph: 310.779.0526,
email: wcclassics@aol.com. Website: www.WestCoastClassics.com.
(CA)
1967 Chevrolet Chevelle SS replica
convertible
1963 Chevrolet Corvette 327/300
Split-Window coupe
S/N 30837S108028. Daytona Blue/dark blue. V8,
4-spd manual. Numbers-matching, very original,
iconic one-year-only Split-Window Corvette, finished
in arguably the most desirable color combination
offered. Beautifully maintained and carefully owned
by former exotic-sports-car service business owner.
Complete with original manuals and literature,
original-style wheels and original floor mats. See
weblink for additional photos. Contact Pat, Ph:
952.454.6618, email: pcotter33@gmail.com.
Website: jaguarguy.wixsite.com/corvette. (MN)
FOMOCO
1956 Mercury Montclair convertible
S/N 2C1440107928. Silver/white. 0 miles. V8,
automatic. Exceptional Pro Street example. Frameoff
restored C10 Fleetside custom short-bed pickup,
which is an original C10 Custom Cab big-window
short bed that has been restored and customized
with no expense spared. Brand-new crate motor;
built 350/310-hp V8 with 375 ft-lb of torque mated
to a 700R4 automatic transmission with overdrive.
Four-wheel disc brakes, power windows, custom
Vintage Air system molded into dashboard, with
custom gauges and tilt column, AM/FM/CD stereo
and custom seats. $42,500 OBO. West Coast Classics
LLC. Contact Larry, Ph: 310.779.0526, email:
wcclassics@aol.com. Website: www.WestCoastClassics.com.
(CA)
1964 Chevrolet Impala SS 2-dr hard
top
S/N 59B120807. Roman Red/red. 50,800 miles.
V8, automatic. Exceptional frame-off rotisserie
restoration and always completely rust-free original
Southern California example with every nut and
bolt replaced. Very few miles since restoration and
mostly all-original specs. 348 V8 with Rochester
Tri-Power and Powerglide automatic transmission.
Original Roman Red factory color paint, an absolutely
beautiful all-new and original-specification
red nylon and vinyl tri-tone colored interior with the
Impala’s competition-inspired steering wheel. Front
power disc brakes, dual exhausts, original wheel
spinners, power steering, power top, fender skirts
and Continental kit. West Coast Classics LLC. Contact
Larry, Ph: 310.779.0526, email: wcclassics@aol.
com. Website: www.WestCoastClassics.com. (CA)
132 AmericanCarCollector.com
S/N 41447U115970. Tuxedo Black/black. 0 miles.
V8, automatic. Exceptional and extremely rare.
Recent frame-off restoration of this highly desirable
original Southern California Factory SS 2-door hard
top (41447) with a date-correct 327 V8 matched
to a Powerglide 2-speed automatic transmission.
Professionally finished in the most striking Tuxedo
Black paint, matched to its original black SS bucket
seats vinyl interior (trim code 815) with center console
and floor shifter. Loaded with factory options
Honduras Maroon Metallic/Fawn. 45,378 miles. V8,
4-spd manual. An exceptional, NCRS Top-Flight
two-top convertible with its numbers-matching, fuelinjected
327 engine. Seven-time NCRS Top-Flight
award winner. Tons of photos, additional information
and documentation available online. $139,999
OBO. Hubert. Contact Ride Quality Motors, Ph:
805.202.4557, email: info@rqmotor.com. Website:
www.1962fuelie.com/. (CA)
S/N 344870E166189. Burnished Gold 58/black.
10,000 miles. V8, 4-spd manual. Engine and body
rebuilt and painted by local professional engine
and body shops. Power windows, locks and trunk,
Tic-Tac-Tach. All Ram Air components on engine.
Red inner-wheel wells, Rally 1 wheels. I have all
documents on all work done on car. Can give all
vendors who restored car. $60,000 OBO. Contact
Jerry, Ph: 262.497.3747, email: mr1970olds@
att.net. (WI)
CORVETTE
1962 Chevrolet Corvette 327/360
Fuelie convertible
S/N 56WA18506M. 469 miles. V8, automatic. An
absolutely exceptional comprehensive frame-off
restoration. Completely rust-free and restored
with great attention to detail. 312-ci V8 engine
in beautiful and striking Flo-Tone two-tone color
combination with a gorgeous matching interior. The
car had factory options including 312 V8 engine,
Merc-O-Matic automatic transmission, vinyl upholstery,
power top, electric clock, horn ring, chrome
window surround moldings, full-length body-side
stainless trim, rear fender skirts, rocker panel
moldings, heater and defroster, signal-seeking AM
radio, power steering, tinted glass, four-way power
front seat and power windows. $69,500 OBO. West
Coast Classics LLC. Contact Larry, Ph: 310.779.0526,
email: wcclassics@aol.com. Website: www.WestCoastClassics.com.
(CA)
1957 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner
retractable hard top
S/N E7KW171886. Flame Red over Colonial
White/red & white. 0 miles. V8, automatic. Rare
opportunity to own an absolutely beautiful, cosmetically
and mechanically restored example of a very
stock, original and fully factory loaded Skyliner
retractable hard top. Rare E-code 312 dual-quad
270/285-hp V8 engine. Factory air conditioning,
power windows, power brakes, power steering,
power seat, heater, dual spot lights, skirts and
Continental kit. $75,500 OBO. West Coast Classics
LLC. Contact Larry, Ph: 310.779.0526, email:
wcclassics@aol.com. Website: www.WestCoastClassics.com.
(CA)
Page 131
1957 Lincoln Premiere 2-dr hard top
S/N 57WA77301. Pink & white/pink, black & white.
73,000 miles. V8, 3-spd automatic. A true 1950s
piece of art and a great eye-catcher! Car runs and
drives very nicely. Radio and seat adjust not working,
but everything else does. $25,000 OBO. Contact
Stephen, Ph: 401.847.3989, email: srseiter@cox.
net. (RI)
1964 Jaguar E-type Series 1 resto-mod
coupe
Silver/black. V8, manual. Award-winning restomod.
High-performance 302 Ford Racing engine,
high-performance cam and Edlebrock fuel injection,
hidden weapons/gadgetry, proximity cameras/
alarm, plus many more performance and “007”
mods. Experience the unrivaled beauty of an SR-1
E-type with the power, convenience and reliability
that comes with modern technology. See weblink for
additional photos. Contact Gene, Ph: 612.298.5648,
email: gene.berghoff@gmail.com. Website:
jaguarguy.wixsite.com/restomod. (MN)
2008 Ford Mustang “Bullitt” Tribute
coupe
V8, Thomas Special design. Celebrity ownership.
Hemi, KLM speedo, Marchal sidelights, leather.
Seller owned 40 years. Excellent condition. Serious
inquiries only. Alternate phone: 323.327.6110.
Contact “CJ”, Ph: 818.754.1298, email: akira01@
pacbell.net. (CA)
1968 Dodge Coronet 440 2-dr hard top
manual. This could be the most iconic movie tribute
car ever. Ford made a limited production of these
numbered 2008 “Bullitt” Mustangs in honor of
the 1968 Mustang in the movie “Bullitt.” This car
is highly desirable, collectible, enjoyable (which I
can attest to) and a great value. It has always been
garaged. It has 53,008 miles. These Mustangs still
bring a premium price, for those who know condition
is everything. Given my Bullitt’s condition and
low mileage, I’m only asking $15,908. HIS. Contact
Harvey, Ph: 561.394.7247, email: Hoggfinancial@
bellsouth.net. (FL)
MOPAR
1953 Chrysler Ghia Special Sport coupe
2000 Dodge Viper GTS coupe
1963 Studebaker Avanti R2
Supercharged coupe
S/N 1B3ER69E0YB603091. 33,000 miles. V10,
6-spd manual. Purchased new in Portland, OR.
Occasional driver in good condition. Stock, always
garaged, never tracked. $47,500. Contact Kim,
Ph: 360.468.7390, email: Tanbark97@gmail.
com. (WA)
AMERICANA
1948 Packard Super Eight Victoria
convertible
S/N 22792625. Burgundy/black. 80 miles. Inline 8,
3-spd manual. 327 straight-8 engine, manual transmission
with electronic overdrive. Power windows,
top and seats. All in excellent condition. Appleton
spotlight. 80k-plus miles. Runs and drives great.
Undercarriage and engine as good as the exterior.
More photos and videos available. Clean CA title.
$51,000 OBO. Contact Richard, Ph: 949.291.6584,
email: rwendt@sti.net. (CA)
1960 Studebaker Lark custom wagon
S/N WH23F8G173967. Yellow/white. 61,000
miles. V8, automatic. Repainted July, 2017. All
original otherwise. Factory a/c, ps, Flowmaster dual
exhaust. Build sheet, new water pump, thermostat,
valve-cover gaskets, intake manifold gasket,
starter and battery. AM radio. Newer Cooper radial
tires. Options include bumper guards, drip-rail
and rocker moldings and longitudinal side trim.
Garage-kept. $24,000 OBO. Contact Richard, email:
ls3_camaro@yahoo.com. (OH)
Highlander Green/Charcoal. 53,008 miles. V8,
ADVERTISERS INDEX
American Car Collector .................................75
Barrett-Jackson.............................................21
Branson Collector Car Auction ......................17
Camaro Central ............................................77
Car Girl Art .................................................123
CarTech, Inc ................................................115
Charlotte AutoFair ........................................93
Chevs of the 40’s ...........................................81
Classic Auto Mall .........................................139
Country Classic Cars, LLC ............................123
Custom Autosound Mfg., Inc .........................71
Factory Five Racing.......................................23
GAA Classic Cars ...........................................69
Grundy Insurance .........................................19
JC Taylor .......................................................87
JJ Best Banc & Co .......................................101
JJ Rods ..........................................................79
Larry’s Thunderbird and Mustang Parts ........2
Leake Auction Company .................................3
Lucky Collector Car Auctions .........................33
Lutty’s Chevy Warehouse ............................131
McCollister’s Auto Transport .......................140
Metron Garage .............................................27
Michael Irvine Studios ..................................85
National Corvette Museum .........................123
National Corvette Restorers Society ............129
National Parts Depot ....................................67
New England Auto Auction .........................107
Obsolete & Classic Auto Parts, Inc. .............129
Original Parts Group ....................................15
Paragon Corvette Reproductions ....................6
Passport Transport .......................................65
POR-15 .........................................................25
Raleigh Classic Car Auctions .........................63
Restoration Supply Company .....................105
RK Motors of Charlotte .................................13
RM Sotheby’s ..................................................7
Ronald McDonald House ............................103
Russo and Steele LLC ................................ 4–5
Saratoga Motorcar Auctions .......................109
St Bernard Church ........................................71
Steve’s Auto Restorations Inc........................43
Streetside Classics .........................................11
Summit Racing Equipment ...........................97
Volunteer Vette Products ..............................37
West Coast Classics, LLC ..............................119
Zip Products, Inc. ..........................................45
zMAX ...........................................................119
March–April 2020 133
S/N R1454. Avanti Gold/Fawn. 83,349 miles. V8,
4-spd manual. An absolutely exceptional example
of this mostly all-original and stock supercharged
R2 with matching-numbers 289/289 hp 4-bbl Super
Jet Thrust V8 with 9:1 compression ratio. Original
Avanti Gold factory color paint with extraordinarily
rare and desirable factory 4-speed manual transmission.
Factory options include power steering,
power front disc brakes, AM push-button radio,
electric clock, heater and defroster. Reportedly one
of fewer than 500 factory 4-speed Supercharged R2s
ever built between the 1963–64 production years.
$75,500 OBO. West Coast Classics LLC. Contact
Larry, Ph: 310.779.0526, email: wcclassics@aol.
com. Website: www.WestCoastClassics.com. (CA)
1982 Avanti Motor Co. Avanti II coupe
S/N 60S1908. Bronze & cream/brown. 361 miles.
V8, automatic. Rare 2-door wagon, Nebraska body,
leather interior, first place concours d’elegance.
Fresh build August 2019, 361 miles, Chevy .030
with mild cam, 700R4, 9-inch Ford, Mustang II,
Art Morrison frame with air ride, 18- and 20-inch
wheels. No trades. $45,000 OBO. Contact Scott,
Ph: 419.564.3599, email: scott@scottsharrock.
com. (OH)
S/N RQB3388. Moondust Silver/red. 77,000 miles.
V8, 3-spd automatic. One of the last AltmanNeuman
Avanti IIs. Chevrolet 305-ci V8. Turbo
350 auto. All factory brightwork, trim and glass is
in great condition. Original spare wheel and tire.
SW gauges that remain fully functional, including
factory clock. This car was fitted with a factory
Blaupunkt radio. A/C converted to R134a. No rust
issues. Recent service: new valve covers and gaskets,
air cleaner, fuel pump, hoses and belts and rubber
trim. New engine oil, coolant and filters, full
transmission service including replacement of seals,
gaskets and flush and refill with new fluid, new
front brake calipers, pads and hoses. $20,000. Contact
Harlan, Ph: 804.543.4562, email: has250@
comcast.net. (VA)A
Page 132
RESOURCE DIRECTORY
Advertising/Marketing
Put your company in the ACC Resource Directory. Call 877-219-2605 Ext. 218,
or email advert@americancarcollector.com
Motorwerks Marketing. 480-2281881.
Founded on a passion for
the special interest, classic and
collector automotive marketplace,
Motorwerks is a full-service marketing
and creative agency. With
a focus on crafting a high impact,
highly effective, budget- and timesensitive
message, Motorwerks
brings a level of industry expertise
that is tailor made to meet your
brand’s objectives. We only
service clients in the Specialty
Automotive arena and like you, our
team are first and foremost true
automotive enthusiasts. Ask us
what we can do for you!
Info@MotorwerksMarketing.com
www.MotorwerksMarketing.com
(AZ)
Auction Companies
Barrett-Jackson Auction. 480421-6694.
480-421-6697. For over
four decades, the Barrett-Jackson
Auction Company has been
recognized throughout the world
for offering only the finest selection
of quality collector vehicles, outstanding
professional service and
an unrivaled sales success. From
classic and one-of-a-kind cars to
exotics and muscle cars, BarrettJackson
attracts only the best. Our
auctions have captured the true
essence of a passionate obsession
with cars that extends to collectors
and enthusiasts throughout
the world. A television audience
of millions watches unique and
select vehicles while attendees
enjoy a lifestyle experience featuring
fine art, fashion and gourmet
cuisine. In every way, the legend
is unsurpassed. N. Scottsdale Rd,
Scottsdale, AZ 85251.
info@barrett-jackson.com.
www.barrett-jackson.com (AZ)
Bonhams is the largest auction
house to hold scheduled sales
of classic and vintage motorcars,
134 AmericanCarCollector.com
motorcycles and car memorabilia,
with auctions held globally in
conjunction with internationally
renowned motoring events.
Bonhams holds the world-record
price for any motorcar sold at auction,
as well as for many premier
marques.
San Francisco: 415-391-4000
New York: 212-644-9001
Los Angeles: 323-850-7500
London: +44 20 7447-7447
Paris: +33 1 42 61 10 10
www.bonhams.com/motors
on several episodes of three
different reality TV series — “Fast
N Loud” on Discovery, “Dallas Car
Sharks” on Velocity and “The Car
Chasers” on CNBC Prime.
www.leakecar.com. (OK)
GAA Classic Cars Auction,
Greensboro, NC. 1.855.862.2257.
A classic, muscle and unique vehicle
auction experience. Offering
650-plus vehicles three times per
year: spring, summer and fall. All
presented in a climate-controlled,
enclosed, permanent, dedicated
facility affectionately called “The
Palace”. GAA Classic Cars brings
you a customer-oriented team
full of southern hospitality, a floor
team with many years of classic
auction experience and a selection
of vehicles that continues
to evolve and grow with each
sale. www.gaaclassiccars.com,
1.855.862.2257 (NC)
Lucky Collector Car Auctions.
888-672-0020. Lucky Collector
Car Auctions is aptly named after
Harold “Lucky” Lemay. Based in
the majestic, pastoral ground of
Marymount, home to the Lemay
Family Collection Foundation
near Tacoma, WA, the collection,
formerly the biggest in the world
according to Guinness, now hosts
an unrivaled event center, art collection
and charitable foundation,
which features two exceptional
collector car auctions a year.
www.luckyoldcar.com (WA)
Petersen Auction Group of
Oregon. 541-689-6824. Hosting
car auctions in Oregon since 1962.
We have three annual Auctions:
February—Oregon State
Fairgrounds, Salem, OR; July—
Douglas County Fairgrounds,
Roseburg, OR; September—
Oregon State Fairgrounds, Salem,
OR. On the I-5 corridor. We offer
knowledgeable, fast, friendly “hassle-free”
transactions. Oregon’s #1
Collector Car Auction. www.petersencollectorcars.com
(OR)
Gooding & Company. 310-8991960.
310.899.0930. Gooding &
Company offers its international
clientele the rarest, award-winning
examples of collector vehicles
at the most prestigious auction
venues. Our team of well-qualified
experts will advise you on current
market values. Gooding &
Company presents the official
auction of the famed Pebble
Beach Concours d’Elegance
in August, the record-setting
Scottsdale Auction in January and
a world-class auction at the Omni
Amelia Island Plantation in Florida
in March.
www.goodingco.com (CA)
Leake Auctions. 800-722-9942.
Leake Auction Company was
established in 1972 as one of the
first car auctions in the country.
More than 40 years later, Leake
has sold over 34,000 cars and
currently operates auctions in
Tulsa, Oklahoma City and Dallas.
Recently they have been featured
594-4418. Presented by the Owls
Head Transportation Museum, the
New England Auto Auction™ is
the nation’s largest and longestrunning
event in its class that
operates solely to preserve the
legacy of transportation’s earliest
pioneers. Over more than four
decades, NEAA™ has continuously
raised the bar by connecting
discerning enthusiasts and collectors
with rare and sought-after
automobiles.
Web: www.owlshead.org
Email: auction@ohtm.org
New England Auto Auction. 207-
Premier Auction Group.
844-5WE-SELL. The auction professionals
that have been taking
care of you for the last two decades
have partnered together to
create a team that is dedicated to
providing the utmost customer
service and auction experience.
We applied our 83 years of auction
experience to build a platform
ensuring that every aspect of our
company exceeds your expectations.
Join us for the Gulf Coast
Classic March 17 & 18, in Punta
Gorda, FL.
844-5WE-SELL / 844-593-7355
www.premierauctiongroup.com
info@premierauctiongroup.com
Raleigh Classic Car Auctions.
919-269-5271
Palm Springs Auctions Inc.
Keith McCormick. 760-320-3290.
Family owned and operated for
28 years. Producing two large
classic car auctions per year in
Palm Springs, CA. Each auction
features over 500 cars. Held in
November and February every
year. www.classic-carauction.com
BUY — SELL — SPECTATE
We are proud to offer some of
the most desirable, low mileage,
original and collectible vintage
automobiles nationwide. Offering
300-plus vehicles twice each
year in June and December — all
within modern, well ventilated,
temperature controlled and very
comfortable facilities. The Raleigh
Classic Car Auctions offers
honesty and unmatched customer
service for everyone involved to
make the buying or selling process
fun and stress-free.
WWW.RALEIGHCLASSIC.COM
INFO@RALEIGHCLASSIC.COM
Page 133
RM Sotheby’s, Inc. 800-2114371.
RM Sotheby’s is the world’s
largest collector car auction house
for investment-quality automobiles.
With 35 years’ experience, RM
Sotheby’s vertically integrated
range of services, from restoration
to private-treaty sales and
auctions, coupled with an expert
team of car specialists and an
international footprint, provide an
unsurpassed level of service to the
global collector car market.
www.RMSothebys.com (CAN)
W. Yoder Auction. 920-787-5549.
W. Yoder Auction holds the only
semi-annual collector car auction
in the state of Wisconsin open
to the public where anyone can
buy and anyone can sell! But we
don’t stop there. We specialize in
collections and sell it all! Contact
us today. info@wyoderauction.
com. Learn more about us at
wyoderauction.com and like us on
Facebook.
Russo and Steele Collector
Automobiles. 602-252-2697.
Specializing in the finest American
muscle, hot rods and custom
automobiles and European sports;
Russo and Steele hosts three
record-breaking auctions per year;
Newport Beach in June; Monterey,
CA, every August; and Scottsdale,
AZ, every January. As one of
the premier auction events in the
United States, Russo and Steele
has developed a reputation for its
superior customer service and for
having the most experienced and
informed experts in the industry.
Fax: 602.252.6260.
7722 East Gray Road, Suite C
Scottsdale, AZ 85260.
info@russoandsteele.com,
www.russoandsteele.com (AZ)
Worldwide Auctioneers. 866273-6394.
Established by John
Kruse and Rod C. Egan, The
Worldwide Group—Auctioneers,
Appraisers and Brokers—is one
of the world’s premier auction
houses, specializing in the
procurement and sale of the
world’s finest automobiles
and vintage watercraft. www.
worldwide-auctioneers.com (IN)
Buy/Sell/General
Precious Metals: Fine Motorcars
of San Diego. 619-515-2220.
We are one of the Premier Classic
Exotic Dealerships in Southern
California since 2004. Owned by
Dr. Perry and Judith Mansfield,
we buy, sell, consign and provide
auction management. American
Classics, Vintage European,
Modern Performance. Help with
exhibiting client vehicles at car
shows. Our showroom hosts
private events, art shows and
club meetings. Precious Metals
is passionate about making your
car experience first class. Contact
David Young 619.515.2220,
sales@pmautos.com,
www.pmautos.com (CA)
McCollister’s Auto Transport.
800-748-3160.
We have transported thousands of
collector vehicles over the past 35
years all across the United States,
whether they are moving an
exotic, street rod, vintage racer or
muscle car. With our experienced
drivers trained to ensure the finest
protection and our customized,
lift-gated, air-ride trailers, we make
sure your vehicle safely arrives
on time. www.McCollisters.com/
AutoTransport
California Car Cover Company.
800-423-5525. More than just
custom-fit car covers, California
Car Cover is the home of complete
car care and automotive lifestyle
products. Offering the best in car
accessories, garage items, detailing
products, nostalgic collectibles,
apparel and more! Call 1-800-4235525
or visit Calcarcover.com for a
free catalog.
Saratoga Motorcar Auctions.
Located in Saratoga Springs,
NY, the fourth annual Saratoga
Motorcar Auctions returns
September 18 & 19, 2020.
Proceeds help to fund the educational
programs of the Saratoga
Automobile Museum.
To consign a vehicle, register to
bid, or to learn more about the
Saratoga Motorcar Auctions, visit
www.saratogamotorcarauction.org
Copley Motorcars. 781-444-4646.
Copley Motorcars has been
trading in sports and classics for
over 20 years out of its suburban
Boston showroom, specializing
in vintage Ferrari, MercedesBenz,
Porsche and Land Rover
Defender. And now a second
showroom — CopleyWest — has
opened in Newport Beach, CA.
www.copleymotorcars.com
copleycars@gmail.com (MA)
www.copleywest.com
pat@copleywest.com (CA)
West Coast Classics. 424376-5151.
West Coast Classics
are internationally renowned
California Classic Car Dealers who
specialize in buying and selling
of rare and classic European and
American classic cars. Southern
California location at 1205 Bow
Avenue in Torrance. We ship
throughout the world and will provide
you with unparalleled service
of your rare, sports, exotic, luxury,
collector or classic car needs.
www.WestCoastClassics.com
info@WestCoastClassics.com
(CA)
Classic Car Transport
Passport Transport. 800-7360575.
Since our founding in 1970,
we have shipped thousands of
treasured vehicles door-to-door
with our fully enclosed auto transporters.
Whether your prized possession
is your daily driver, a
vintage race car, a classic, a ’60s
muscle car or a modern exotic,
you can depend on Passport
Transport to give you the premium
service it deserves. We share your
appreciation for fine automobiles,
and it shows.
www.PassportTransport.com
Intercity Lines Inc. 800-221-3936.
Gripping the wheel of your dream
car and starting the engine for the
first time is a high point for any
enthusiast. We are the premier
enclosed auto transport company
that will ensure your car arrives
safely for that experience. For over
35 years our standards for excellence
have clients returning time
and time again. Trust the Best.
Trust Intercity Lines.
www.Intercitylines.com
Reliable Carriers Inc. 800-5216393.
As the country’s largest
enclosed-auto transport company,
Reliable Carriers faithfully serves
all 48 contiguous United States
and Canada. Whether you’ve entered
a concours event, need a
relocation, are attending a corporate
event or shipping the car of
your dreams from one location to
another, one American transportation
company does it all.
www.reliablecarriers.com
FOLLOW
ACC
March–April 2020 135
Page 134
RESOURCE DIRECTORY
Collection Management
Put your company in the ACC Resource Directory. Call 877-219-2605 Ext. 218,
or email advert@americancarcollector.com
minutes, can hold in their hands
any item in stock. Further, someone
with knowledge of, experience
with, and genuine affection for, the
car we hold so dear: Corvette.
www.zip-corvette.com (VA)
Events—Concours,
Car Shows
Blackhawk Collection, Inc. 925
736-3444. One of the world’s foremost
companies specializing in
buying and selling classic cars for
clients around the globe for over
45 years. Over the years, many of
the greatest cars in the world have
passed through the doors of the
Blackhawk Collection. Visit our
website at www.blackhawkcollection.com
Corvette Parts &
Restoration
Paragon Corvette
Reproductions. 800-882-4688. At
Paragon, you’ll receive the finest
quality of 1953–96 Corvette parts
and experience in the industry.
Our catalogs and website are filled
with hundreds of helpful schematics,
photos and tech-tips. Our
Vintage Department has a treasure
chest of NOS and used parts.
Look up our Stick With Us
Discount Program and our firstonline-order
savings. Call us or
visit www.paragoncorvette.com
to order today. (MI)
Volunteer Vette Products. 865521-9100.
1953–2013 Corvette
Parts and Accessories. Supplying
Corvette restoration parts and
accessories for 30 years. Visit our
website at
for all years, makes, and models
of collector vehicles. Since 1976,
we have provided superior service
and broad, flexible coverage.
Experience our quick quoting and
application process, as well as our
“Real Person” Guarantee every
time you call. Email: Info@
AmericanCollectors.com
www.AmericanCollectors.com (NJ)
Leasing-Finance
J.J. BEST BANK & CO. provides
low-rate and long-term financing
on classic cars ranging from 1900
to today. Visit our website at www.
jjbest.com or call 1-800-USA-1965
and get a loan approval in as little
as 5 minutes!
Lajollaconcours.com. Earning
the reputation as one of the
finest internationally renowned
classic automobile showcases
in the United States, the La Jolla
Concours d’Elegance continues to
attract discerning car enthusiasts
from around the globe. Experience
World Class Cars and World Class
Experience on April 17–19, 2020.
Register and purchase tickets
at lajollaconcours.com, or call
619.233.5008, for more information.
(CA)
Grundy Insurance. 888-6478639.
James A. Grundy invented
Agreed Value Insurance in 1947;
no one knows more about insuring
collector cars than Grundy! With
no mileage limitations, zero deductible*,
low rates, and high liability
limits, our coverages are
specifically designed for collector
car owners. Grundy can also insure
your daily drivers, pickup
trucks, trailers, motorhomes and
more — all on one policy and all at
their Agreed Value.
www.grundy.com (PA)
www.volvette.com and take advantage
of the Free Shipping offer
on orders over $199.00. You can
also speak with us directly by calling
865-521-9100. New parts are
added daily, so if you can’t find it,
give us a call. (TN)
The Quail, A Motorsports
Gathering. 831-620-8879.
A prominent component of
Monterey Car Week, The Quail
is a world-renowned motorsports
event featuring one of the world’s
finest and rarest collections of
vintage automobiles and motorcycles.
The Quail maintains its
intimacy and exclusivity by limiting
admission through lottery ticket
allocations. Admission is inclusive
of six gourmet culinary pavilions,
caviar, oysters, fine wines,
specialty cocktails, champagne,
and more. Web: signatureevents.
peninsula.com. (CA)
Insurance
Hagerty Collector Car
Insurance. 800-922-4050.
Collector cars aren’t like their latemodel
counterparts. These classics
actually appreciate in value,
so standard market policies that
cost significantly more won’t do
the job. We’ll agree on a fair value
and cover you for the full amount.
No prorated claims, no hassles, no
games. www.hagerty.com (MI)
Premier Financial Services. 877973-7700.
As a serious sports car
enthusiast, you’re always seeking
a better driving experience. Your
high standards should also apply
to car financing. Since 1997,
Premier Financial Services has
been recognized by countless
owners for our integrity, deep understanding
of the sports car market,
high level of customer service
and ability to tailor flexible leasing
solutions. If you’ve never considered
leasing, let us explain how it
could be your best financing alternative.
If you’ve leased from others
in the past, let us show you
how we’re different. Either way,
you’ll benefit from starting or ending
your search for a better financing
experience by contacting us at
877-973-7700. Learn more at
www.premierfinancialservices.com
(CT)
J.C. Taylor Insurance. 800-3458290.
Antique, classic, muscle or
modified — J.C. Taylor Insurance
has provided dependable, dynamic,
affordable protection for
your collector vehicle for over 50
years. Agreed Value Coverage in
the continental U.S., and Alaska.
Drive Through Time With Peace of
Mind with J.C. Taylor Insurance.
Get a FREE instant quote online at
www.JCTaylor.com (PA)
Zip Products. 800-962-9632. Zip
customers know that the voice on
the other end of the phone is a
true enthusiast. Someone who, in
136 AmericanCarCollector.com
American Collectors Insurance.
1-866-887-8354. The nation’s
leading provider of specialty insurance
for collectors. We offer affordable,
agreed-value coverage
Putnam Leasing. 866-90-LEASE.
For over 25 years, Putnam
Leasing has been the leader in
exotic, luxury, and collector car
leasing. This honor comes from
Putnam’s unique ability to match
the car of your dreams with a
lease designed just for you. Every
Putnam Lease is written to provide
maximum flexibility while conserving
capital, lowering monthly
payments, and maximizing tax
advantages. It’s Putnam’s way of
letting you drive more car for less
money. For leases ranging from
$50,000 to more than $1 million,
with terms extending up to 84
months, visit www.putnamleasing.
com or call 1-866-90-LEASE. (CT)
Page 135
Museums
LeMay Family Collection
Foundation. LeMay Family
Collection Foundation at
Marymount Events Center near
Tacoma, WA, hosts an epic backdrop
for your next event. Home to
500 fabulous collector cars, worldclass
art exhibits, and assorted
ephemera, consider your next
event here. Weddings, swapmeets,
conventions, auctions. The
facility can likely exceed your expectations.
Visit during the 37th
annual open house along with
13,000 other enthusiasts. 253-2722336
www.lemaymarymount.org (WA)
National Corvette Museum. 80053-VETTE.
The National Corvette
Museum in Bowling Green, KY,
was established as a 501(c)3 notfor-profit
foundation with a mission
of celebrating the invention of the
Corvette and preserving its past,
present and future.
www.corvettemuseum.com (KY)
Parts—General
Custom Autosound
Manufacturing. 800-888-8637.
Since 1977 providing audio solutions
for classic cars, trucks and
street rods. Covering over 400
applications, our radios and speakers
fit the original locations without
modifications. Keep the classic
look of your vehicle while enjoying
state-of-the-art audio. Check out
all of our products at
www.customautosoundmfg.com
(CA)
Original Parts Group Inc. 800243-8355.
At Original Parts Group,
we are proud to be the largest USA
supplier of in-stock restoration parts
for your classic GM A, B, C, E and
G-body vehicle, including newly
released Cadillac CTS, ATS, STS,
Escalade, EXT and XLR. 100%
privately owned to serve you better,
since 1982. We are devoted to quality
parts and customer service. Visit
OPGI.com today or call today to
order your free parts catalog. (CA)
Larry’s Thunderbird and
Mustang Parts. From our first
beginnings in 1969, Larry’s has
QuickSilver Exhaust Systems.
011 44-1428-687722. Our customers
are sophisticated enthusiasts
who choose our exhaust systems
for various reasons — originality,
durability, weight reduction and
enhanced sound. We’re the
default choice for many of the most
important classics. Originality is
important, but there’s no reason
why subtle improvements cannot be
introduced. QuickSilver use superior
materials and modern manufacturing
techniques unavailable when the
cars were new. http://quicksilverexhausts.myshopify.com
always strived to provide the
broadest line of high-quality parts
for the best prices. We have painstakingly
reproduced over 1,000
different parts for our 1955–1966
Ford Thunderbird, 1965–1973
Ford Mustang and 1954–1957
Ford Passenger Car product lines
and are never satisfied with less
than the best workmanship. Learn
more now at www.larrystbird.com
or call us at 800-854-0393.
Restoration—General
National Parts Depot. 800-8747595.
We stock huge inventories
of concours-correct restoration
parts for:
1965–73 and 1979–93 Mustang
1967–81 Camaro & Firebird
1964–72 GTO, Tempest & LeMans
1964–87 Chevelle, Malibu &
El Camino
1948–96 F-Series Ford Truck
1947–98 C/K 1/2-ton Chevy Truck
1966–96 Bronco
1955–57 Thunderbird
www.nationalpartsdepot.com
Classic Garage Automobile
Restoration. 208-755-3334.
Classic Garage is a full service,
classic car shop offering full-restoration
and partial-restoration work,
including custom builds. Our specialty
is high-end, show-quality
body and paint work. We work with
many reputable shops around the
country that send us their projects
for bodywork and paint. We also
offer classic car collection management,
storage, consulting and
classic car valuations.
www.classicgaragellc.com (ID)
Cosmopolitan Motors LLC. 206467-6531.
Experts in worldwide
acquisition, collection management,
disposition and appraisal.
For more than a quarter century,
Cosmopolitan Motors has lived by
its motto, “We covet the rare and
unusual, whether pedigreed or
proletarian.” Absurdly eclectic and
proud of it. Find your treasure
here, or pass it along to the next
generation. www.cosmopolitanmotors.com
(WA)
Hahn Auto Restoration. 724-4524329.
We take pride in offering
concours-level collector car restoration,
recommissioning, custom
builds and repair services. With
our experienced staff and cuttingedge
technology, we can restore
your car back to its original beauty
and help it perform better than
when it was first driven off the lot!
We understand how much your
classic car means to you and we
will treat your restoration or repair
with the quality care and respect it
deserves, getting the job done
right the first time. We believe that
a restoration should last a lifetime
and beyond, so we strive to provide
our clients with quality restoration
services that will last for
generations.
www.hahnautorestoration.com
CAR COLLECTOR
AMERICAN
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March–April 2020 137
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877.219.2605 Ext. 1
Manns Restoration. 636-9337008.
Since the 1930s, four generations
of the Manns family have been
reviving priceless family heirlooms
to be treasured by future generations.
Honesty and good work have
brought recognition and numerous
world class awards from across the
country. The unifying characteristic
of each project is the quest for
perfection. No matter what level of
restoration your project calls for, we
will always strive for Best in Show.
We offer a variety of services including
Metal Fabrication, Paint, Body,
Mechanical, Wood, Upholstery and
Interiors, and Electrical. mannsrestoration.com
(MO)
Pollock Auto Restoration. 610323-7108.
Experienced with BrassEra,
Pre-War, Post-War American
and European Classic Cars since
1955. Pollock Auto Restoration
performs virtually all restoration
services in-house. Our metalworking
and woodworking equipment
allows our skilled staff to re-create
any type of coachwork, which we
refinish in our state-of-the-art paint
spray booth. We have a large upholstery
department stocking many
years worth of materials. All chassis
and engine repairs are performed
by trained and talented technicians
and craftspeople. info@pollockauto.
com www.pollockauto.com (PA)
RM Auto Restoration. 519-3524575.
RM Auto Restoration is North
America’s leading classic car restoration
facility. Whether it’s a complete
“body-off” restoration, a partial
restoration, or a cosmetic upgrade,
our dedicated team of restoration
perfectionists provides an unwavering
commitment to deliver flawless
work, and to the highest cosmetic
presentation, every time.
www.rmautorestoration.com A
Keith Martin’s
Page 136
Millions in Minutes
SURFING AROUND
Carl Bomstead
CARL’S THOUGHT: Legendary championship golfer Jack Nicklaus won 18 major golf tournaments and over 100 other
events during his career. He was rarely seen without his 18-karat gold Rolex 1803 Day-Date on his wrist. He received
the watch as a gift from Rolex in 1967 and served as their brand ambassador. Phillips, at their December 10 auction
in New York, sold the watch in less than two minutes for $1,220,000 including the buyer’s fees. The proceeds were
donated to the Nicklaus Children’s Health Foundation.
The watch had been expected to sell for between $100,000 and $200,000. It quickly exceeded that estimate, but
was not close to the record for a Rolex that was set a few years ago when Paul Newman’s Daytona sold for $17,752,500.
Here are a few more timely items I found this month:
WM. MORFORD AUCTIONS 95.
LOT 3—MOPAR AUTO PARTS
NEON CLOCK. SOLD AT $2,006.
Date sold: 12/7/2019. This very cool
neon MoPar Parts and Accessories
clock displays well with strong colors.
It shows only minor wear and the
clock motor was stated to have been
updated. A practical and impressive
addition to a car barn full of Chrysler
products. Sold for the going rate.
EBAY #143412597506—
1963 CORVETTE ORIGINAL
SHOWROOM POSTER. Number
of bids: 32. SOLD AT $1,426.
Date sold: 10/23/2019. This
poster displayed the SplitWindow
Corvette with the futuristic
Los Angeles terminal in the
background with a rare empty
parking lot. The poster measures 15 by 19 inches and appeared to be in
decent condition with only a few minor issues. An impressive go-with if you
have the ’63 in the garage. If not, it’s an incentive to go find one!
WM. MORFORD AUCTIONS 95.
LOT 46—U.S. TIRES ADVERTISING
CLOCK. SOLD AT $2,596. Date sold:
12/7/2019. This very early clock was
painted wood and had a few scratches
and nicks. The painted-gold interior of
the numerals had been redone some
time ago and the pendulum had been
replaced. The “Tire-ly Satisfied’ statement
was rather old-timey but clever.
An unusual clock that sold for a rather aggressive number.
EBAY#163957208880—
FORD PORCELAIN NEON
DEALERSHIP SIGN. Number of
bids: 12. SOLD AT $8,600. Date
sold: 11/29/2019. This five-foot
Ford neon sign was double-sided
138 AmericanCarCollector.com
and finished with an unusual light blue outline. It appeared that the
porcelain had a few touch-ups, but nothing serious. Buyer has the choice of
displaying it as-is or splitting it and selling a side to help cover his cost. I’d
hate to see that happen, but it is not uncommon.
EBAY# 274098393718—MARATHON
PYRAMID ONE-GALLON OIL CAN.
Number of bids: 5. SOLD AT $4,100. Date
sold: 11/15/2019. This unusual Marathon
oil can with its pyramid shape is one of the
most desirable and collectible of all oil cans.
Condition is the determining factor when
considering value; as a trashed example,
after one bid, recently sold for $1,500. These
were not offered for long, as they were difficult
to display and expensive to produce. The
price paid was market-correct considering
the condition.
EBAY# 274095583376—
1941 STEELCRAFT CHRYSLER
PEDAL CAR. Number
of bids: 5. SOLD AT $1,226.
Date sold: 11/20/2019. This
very original pedal car was in
amazing condition, with only
a minor dent on the hood and
oxidization on the wheels. The original paint was also exceptional. Most
pedal cars are restored to the nines, so it is refreshing to find one so well
preserved. A real treat at a most reasonable price. Well bought!
EBAY#392528913162—1962
CHEVROLET IMPALA TIN TOY
BY ATC NR. Number of bids:
24. SOLD AT $1,531. Date sold:
11/17/2019. This delightful tin toy
was offered with a reproduction
box, which adds to the displayability
of the toy. It was in a very
unusual yellow livery and the tin
trim was in good order. The interior was highly detailed and the rubber
tires were in good condition. A desirable Impala in a seldom-seen color.
Price was spot-on. A