The January 2010 collector car auction season in the Arizona desert has come and gone.  Thousands of cars were bought and sold, millions of dollars changed hands, and the weather was some of the worst on record for the region.  Despite the sluggish economy and wild weather, the beginning of the 2010 collector car auction scene can be deemed a success.

Most people who follow the collector car markets closely, or even on the periphery, know about the annual Barrett-Jackson auction conducted in Scottsdale every January.  It has become a staple of SpeedTV’s schedule, both the live broadcasts and the edited re-broadcasts shown periodically throughout the year.  Craig Jackson, his auctioneers, car wranglers and high profile buyers and sellers are the celebrities of the collector car sales industry.

However, fewer people realize that during that same week there are three other collector car auctions conducted around the Scottsdale area.  The auction houses of Russo & Steele, Silver and RM also conduct collector car auctions during that same week. Although these three other auctions are smaller than Barrett-Jackson, they are still seen as significant events.

The Barrett-Jackson broadcast illustrated the severe weather in the region.  Winds blew steadily and gusted at speeds up to sixty miles per hour, nearly four inches of rain fell, flash flooding developed and there was even a reported tornado in the area.  These collector car auctions make use of massive scale tents in which to conduct their auctions and under which to display the cars to be sold until it is their turn to be on the auction block.

Unfortunately, one of the storage tents at the Russo & Steele auction site succumbed to the storm during Friday night. The tent lifted from its tie downs and supports, dragged across hundreds of cars staged beneath the tent, and blew out onto Highway 101 dragging metal parts and tent poles along.  The damage to cars ranged from some chaffing caused by the tent fabric to serious damage from the tall, steel tent support poles falling directly onto vehicles.  Hagerty Insurance, a collector car insurer, was on the scene Saturday morning to assess the damage, which is estimated at over $1 million in claims. Thankfully, nobody was injured during the incident and most of the cars are likely repairable, however there may be some total losses. It is suspected some consignors were not insured, as the auction does not provide insurance for the cars. The auction did manage to get under way by Sunday, and extended into Monday to get all of the cars to the block.

Despite these difficulties, the auction managed to sell $6.88 million in vehicles (down from over $17 million the past two years), with a sales percentage of 39% and an average sale price per car of $48,000. The RM Auctions event in Phoenix sold $18.2 million in vehicles, with an impressive total sales percentage of 89%.  Additionally, the Silver Auctions event was the same weekend and the Kruse International event was held the previous weekend.

Each of these car auctions is unique, with each auction house catering to different niches and markets.  Barrett-Jackson, with total sales of $68 million (an increase of 11% from 2009) and an average per car of just under $55,000, is the only auction which has absolutely no reserve prices on any of its vehicles.  A “reserve” is a price which is set by the owner such that if no bidder offers a price at or above that reserve, the vehicle will not be sold but will remain with its seller/owner. 

The “Top Sale” of the auction wasn’t even a car though, but a 1929 Hamilton Metalplane which sold for $671,000, the sole airworthy example remaining from a very short production run of twenty nine units.

The next twenty top sales vehicles at Barrett-Jackson were a very eclectic mix.  The two highest-priced cars were original Shelby Cobras (Lots #1317 & #1303), both powered by 289 cid V8’s, which sold for $478,500 and $410,500, respectively.  Shelby Cobras have a very long and well established record of high dollar sales, based upon their incredible performance, race ready looks, extreme rareness, and amazing racing history. It also didn’t hurt that the man himself, Carroll Shelby was there in attendance.

Eight of those top twenty were musclecars from 1966 through 1970.  The top vehicle among this group of immaculate fire breathers was a full bore rottiserie restored 1970 Plymouth Superbird (lot #1289) which featured a 426 cid Hemi engine mated to a 727 Torqueflite automatic transmission. 

Superbirds are very rare birds indeed, produced along with its Dodge Daytona clone, simply to homologate the body for NASCAR racing purposes.  Superbirds are associated with Richard Petty, who dominated the 1970 NASCAR season driving a powder blue one. The design used the basic Mopar B-body design and added an aerodynamic nose, outrageously high rear wing, aerodynamic rear window design and front wheel well air extractors.  Rare by any standards, only 77 were built with the 425 horsepower hemi engine and automatic transmission.

Rounding out the top twenty cars were two immaculately restored pre War models, a 1935 Cadillac Fleetwood and 1937 Cord Phaeton, an amazing 1941 Lincoln Zephyr Coupe transformed into a hot rod, an ultra rare Kaiser Darrin convertible, a resto-modded 1956 Chevy Bel Air convertible, an unusual 1958 Corvette that’s party a resto-mod and partly restored, a very specially ordered 1966 Shelby Mustang GT350, a one-off 2011 Mustang pace car, a limited edition 2008 Corvette factory-built with a 427 cid LS7 engine and a 2008 Mustang FR500S racecar.

The final car in the top twenty is an extremely unique Watson Roadster (Lot #1292) which was custom-built by street rod builders Randy Grubb and Michael Leeds.  These two visionaries came across two vintage M47 Patton Tank engines, which are 1792 cid aluminum air cooled V-12’s which produce an estimated 910 horsepower and 1500 lb-ft of torque.  The first engine was used to build the “Blastolene Special”, which was completed in 2002 and immediately sold to Jay Leno.  This car sold for $280,500 and was the second, and last, Blastolene Special.  The body is an open wheeled design which resembles 1950’s Indy race cars.  The vehicle’s stunning body is over twenty two feet long and overall weight is in excess of four tons, due to very heavy tank engine and Greyhound bus transmission.  This is the sort of car that has come to symbolize the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction – completely over the top!

The RM Auction was conducted in Scottsdale at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa, a very fitting location for RM’s typically high end collection of cars for sale.  The highest-bid vehicle did not even sell - an incredible 1940 Chrysler Thunderbolt which was bid up to $1,175,000 but failed to reach the seller’s reserve!

The theme of RM’s 2010 auction at the Biltmore was “The British Are Coming” and that proved to be prophetic as five of the top ten sellers were British. 

The highest selling vehicle was a 1963 Aston Martin DB4 GT, which went for $1,001,000.  This lightweight coupe featured a 302hp six cylinder engine with a close ratio four speed transmission, capable of 0-60 barely six seconds and a top speed in excess of 150 mph.  The handling was extraordinary for the time, thanks to a fully independent front suspension, a live rear axle and four wheel disc brakes.  Only 75 DB4 GT models were produced from 1959 though 1963, making this car extraordinarily rare.  The eighth highest seller was a 282-hp Aston Martin DB5 GT which went for $429,000.

At number two was a $632,500 1967 Shelby 427 Cobra, powered by a 427 cid Ford V8 tuned to produce around 500-hp with an all aluminum body, capable of 0-60 in barely four seconds and 0-60-0 runs of less than ten seconds, a record that stood for decades. 

Three Rolls-Royce models made the top ten: a 1933 PII Continental, a 1934 Phantom II Continental Sedanca and a 1963 Silver Cloud III.  Similarly, two early ‘30s American made Duesenberg Model J cars held down the third and fifth positions among RM’s top sellers.  The ninth highest position was taken by a well optioned, mocha colored, 1933 Chrysler CL Custom Imperial which looks very much at home beside the two Rolls-Royces.

The fifth highest sale at $429,000, was a stunning 1954 Mercury XM-800 Dream Car built for display at the 1954 Detroit Auto Show.  This car possesses a well documented and history.  By 1957, its car show display days were over so the Ford Motor Company gifted it to the University of Michigan’s Automotive Engineering Lab for training and education.  In the mid ‘60s the University sold the XM-800 to a private owner and he moved the car to a rural farm where it was stored in a rented barn space.  At some point the barn storage was needed for other matters and the former Dream Car was pushed outdoors where it sat neglected for several years until it caught the eye of a young car enthusiast who purchased it from the farmer with hopes of restoring it.  This young man never restored the car, but his actions preserved it for over twenty years until he sold it to the most recent owner.  This owner painstakingly researched the XM-800 and restored it back to its original condition and beyond – unlike the original 1954 version, it is now fully functional and drivable.

The XM-800 Dream Car included many forward thinking design and style kudos such as the forward canted A-pillars, aerodynamic fender skirts, and sweeping curves due to the use of fiberglass body panels.

From airplanes and cast off Show Cars to lavish luxury and neck snapping performance, the 2010 Arizona auto auctions once again prove that men really are still smitten with their cars.

By Steven Hennis

Steven is a freelance writer.

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