Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale 2013

[Robert Hall]

Spent several hours this afternoon at the annual B-J event...was a sunny 75 degree day in dusty Scottsdale.

Indoors, the new car displays from Ford, Chrysler, and GM were impressive--- lots of new Mustangs in a variety of trim levels--GTs, Shelbys, Boss 302s, and aftermarket tuners versions....really liked the MKZ, first I'd seen in person..nice interior, really interesting exterior design, esp. the rear. Loved the various SRT Mopies (Challenger, Charger, 300, JGC)...saw the new Viper for the first time, very impressed.

At the GM stand, the new Silverado looked quite good in longbed crew cab form in a taupe color. The Hot Wheels Camaro SS was fun. Checked out a brown Encore---very interesting Juke-sized CUV with a really great interior. Liked the design of the new Impala, first one I'd seen. The two tone dash design is a bit strange, though. Sat in the the ATS and XTS, the XTS looks much better in person and up close, nice interior.

The auction this year still had a vast array of '60s-70s muscle cars (loads of Mopies, Chevys, GTOs, etc) as in recent years and plenty of '50-60s full size cars, but there was also a nice group of classics--'30s Duesenbergs, Packards, Issotta-Fraschinis, Rolls Royces, etc. Some '50s concept cars--the Chrysler Diablo and Packard Mitchell as well as the Hudson Italia were standouts. Loads of '60s Shelbys, incl. the '68 'Green Hornet' coupe prototype/testbed, several '69-70 Boss 302s and 429s, Saw the '66 Batmobile briefly, it was so crowded around it I couldn't get too close.

Good times...been popping the Aleves tonight though, I'm too out of shape for so much walking...knees, ankles, shoulders aching.

As far as celebs, I saw Bob Varsha.

Watching the TV coverage on Speed now, Rick Hendrick just bought a '68 L88 Corvette Owens Corning road racer..I saw that car today, beautiful car. Ed Wellburn is on the podium w/ a red 2014 Corvette they are auctioning off, I didn't see it there today. The Batmobile sold to a local guy for $4.2M, who said he's putting it in his living room...

Edited January 20, 2013 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[balthazar]

Have caught a few bits of the auction yesterday on TV, seems to me prices have gone up a bit on the staple stuff vs. 2009 when it seemed sharply down. Factory-correct '58 Impy convert @ $110K, IIRC.

BTW- the Hudson Italia was production rather than a concept; very very rare, but 26 built. I've seen 2 to date, love the design on them- neat details.

It certainly would be cool to go in person, tho I doubt I'll ever get out that way. Have fun, take pics.

[Robert Hall]

I saw that '58 Impala convertible...there was a gorgeous '58 Bonneville ht in black & red. I don't recall seeing any '59-60 Buicks, but there was a gorgeous '59 Olds 88 convertible, and a rather ghastly customized '59 Olds 88 ht in bright yellow, with a weird custom grille and blingy wheels. One GM I particularly liked was an unrestored red & white '69 Bonneville 4dr ht. Lots of 1st and 2nd gen Camaros, not many Firebrids.

I enjoyed studying a black '57 Chrysler 300C ht and red '60 Chrysler Saratoga 2dr ht, I love the 'Forward Look' cars, and the details like the mirrors etc are fascinating..

I've never seen so many '67-68 Shelbys at one time, fewer '65-66 ones than last year.

Didn't take any pics this year, was rather tired today and it was pretty crowded.. I downloaded the 4 PDFs of the catalog, better pics than I would have taken.

Edited January 20, 2013 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[balthazar]

I saw elsewhere (where I plug in for B-59 news) that a '59 LeSabre convert went for $74K. It was a sweet dark blue top over med blue body, blue interior.

http://www.barrett-jackson.com/application/onlinesubmission/lotdetails.aspx?ln=799&aid=466

Agreed on the 'Exner-Era' MoPars- but this general period is fantastic for details (not just MoPar).

Good point RE the catalog & quality pics.

[Robert Hall]

Agreed on the 'Exner-Era' MoPars- but this general period is fantastic for details (not just MoPar).

Definitely...I spent time looking at the door handles, hood ornaments, emblems, gauges, etc on a number of '50s cars today, absolutely fascinating....like the low mileage '50 Olds 4dr sedan, '55 Caddy Eldorado, the '58 Bonneville, '57 Ford Fairlane Skyliner, '59 Lincoln convertible (what a beast). I think I could literally spend hours studying some of these cars, there is so much surface detailing going on... found myself standing between a '64 Caddy Coupe de Ville and a '61 Lincoln 4dr sedan and just absolutely absorbed in the details..

Edited January 20, 2013 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[ShadowDog]

That was an interesting few hours I had the television on in the background with those cars. Quite a few exceptional late 60's era muscle cars, and a number of seven-figure sales.

Rick Hendrick made off with no less than four cars that I saw. He won the bidding on the '68 L88 Vette for $1M. He also won the bidding on the being the owner of the first 2014 Stingray that will come off the assembly line with the 0001 VIN number. The price? $1.1M that GM is donating the proceeds to benefit the College of Creative Studies. There was also a perfectly restored '69 Camaro that he scooped. Can't remember the price. Funny how the Chevy guy ended up with George Bush Jr.'s F150 King Ranch for $300K. Those proceeds were going to a veterans assistance program.

I was rather surprised at how relatively inexpensive some of those cars were selling off for. But the one-off and ultra-rare cars definitely fetched a huge price. I thought the 71' Cuda for $1.32M was an amazing piece.