Barrett-Jackson® Records Set – Sales, Attendance, Bidders, Charity Donations, Corvette Sale etc, etc.
By Rick Tavel© 1-20-2014 All photos courtesy of Barrett-Jackson
1967 Corvette L88 Crossing Block and Selling for $3,850,000 a New World's Record |
Prudhomme- "the Snake" - and transporter |
Simon Cowell's Bugatti Veyron sold for $,375,000 |
From the first days it was evident that enthusiasts came out
in force to spend their money at Barrett-Jackson’s annual Scottsdale auction
extravaganza. In addition to the increased
attendance, the opening days saw significantly
larger bids than prior years when the first days were known for entry level
“bargain” cars. That changed this year,
though there were still some bargains to be had for astute buyers on Tuesday
and Wednesday the top five sellers for the two opening days ranged from $75K to
$200K, not necessarily “bargain” territory.
The first two days sales topped $14M for 429 lots with a 25%
increase in attendance. And for the
first time ever the first two days of the auction had cars that were sold for
over $100K.
Thursday, normally a transitional day bridging the bargain
first days’ offerings with the much more expensive collector cars offered on
Friday and Saturday, turned out to be a preview of what was to come during the
peak days. Thursday’s attendance jumped
to 30% and sales topped $12M with the top seller being a 1955 Ford F100 pick-up
truck which sold for $220K. All of the top ten lots hammered down for over
$100K.
The momentum from the first half of the week continued
Friday and Saturday. Barrett-Jackson’s
on line web site crashed early Friday due to the huge number of users trying to
access the site and didn’t get back up and running until Saturday afternoon; but
it didn’t seem to impede bidding. Attendance
was still up almost 30% and sales continued to be strong.
2013 COPO Camaro $700K for Achilles Team |
On Friday two charity cars were sold raising over a $1M. The first was a 2014 Chevrolet Camaro COPO, lot 3011, which
hammered for $700K with all proceeds to benefit Achilles Freedom Team of
Wounded Veterans. The second was a1956 Ford F-100 Custom Shelby truck that sold for $450K to
benefit the Children’s Hospital of Saskatchewan Foundation. Barrett-Jackson traditionally has raised millions
for charity and 2014 achieved new highs; partnering with other corporations
Barrett-Jackson raised over $5M for charity throughout the eight day event
which kicked off on Sunday with an opening night charity Gala . This year several thousand joined the
celebration with entertainment provided by rock legend Bret
Michaels.
The $3,850,000 World's Record L88 |
Saturday was highlighted by the best cars of the
auction and Barrett-Jackson’s “blue chip” Salon Collection crossing the
block. These are high-value,
historically-important collector cars consisting of pre war classics and rare
significant post war cars. This year
there were 74 of these cars, 40% more than last year. Eight cars were hammered for more than $1M including
the highest priced car of the entire auction, lot number 5035, a 1967 Corvette
L88 which sold for $3.85M and set a new world’s record for a Corvette sold at
auction. Just minutes before the 67 L88
was hammered down, the famous Corvette racecar known as the “Rebel” lot 5022, a
1969 L88, sold for $2.86M including bidder fees, and nailed down the number two
car of the auction.
"Most condition 1, 2, and 3+ Corvettes sold at or above their valuation estimates."
The "Rebel" #2 seller for the auction $2,860,000 |
"Most condition 1, 2, and 3+ Corvettes sold at or above their valuation estimates."
For Corvette enthusiasts there were some bargains during the first three days of the auction for weak # 3 condition third and fourth generation cars, but throughout all days of the auction most of the #1, #2 and solid # 3 condition Corvettes from all generations sold at or above their valuation levels.
For Corvette enthusiasts there were some bargains during the first three days of the auction for weak # 3 condition third and fourth generation cars, but throughout all days of the auction most of the #1, #2 and solid # 3 condition Corvettes from all generations sold at or above their valuation levels.
Lance Miller's "Asteroid" hammered for $100K |
1960 Custom Lot 5008 $220K |
"First Gen Customs and Restomods were "HOT" and in many ways overshadowed the classic restored C1's."
1962 Pro Touring Restomod Lot 1314 |
One of the hottest categories of Corvettes were first generation restomods and customs. The high dollar, unique C1’s in many ways over-shadowed the stock first generation Corvettes. A beautiful 1960 yellow custom,
lot 5008, which took over 4000 hours to build sold for $220K, while a 1962 Pro Touring restomod, lot 1314, built on a C4 chassis sold for $200.2K while a 1961 dark gray metallic custom, lot 5011 sold for $269K. An absolutely stunning, totally stock appearing 1958 silver blue, silver coved restomod, lot 1305 sold for $198K.
Stunning silver-blue/silver restomod hammered for $198K Lot 1305 |
"BlackRay" hammered for $152K Lot 1288 |
The restomod, custom category wasn’t confined to first generation cars. An almost “stock” appearing custom 1965, lot 1288, built by the award winning Carr’s Corvettes & Customs of Dallas, and known as the “Black Ray,” was anything but stock under the skin and hammered for $152K ($167,2 with bidder fees).
World's Fastest Street Legal Car sold for $198K |
One of the most well-known second generation cars that crossed the block was the 1963 modified and widened Corvette coupe known as the World’s Fastest Street Legal Car, Lot 5027, which sold for $198K. The twin turbo engine produced 2600 HP and was clocked at 209 MPH in street trim.
As expected the real strength of the auction were the outstanding #1 and #2 first, second and third generation cars and these cars proved to be exceptionally strong, most hammering down above the estimated valuation. With that being said one of the better Corvette buys at the auction was lot #1311 a 1965
1965 Award winning "Bargain" $86K Lot 1311 |
1967 Coupe hammered at $100K Lot 1331 |
"One of the most important sales that will impact third generation L88 prices was the 13K mile survivor that sold for $880,000."
"One of the most important sales that will impact third generation L88 prices was the 13K mile survivor that sold for $880,000."
Third generation rare Corvettes weren’t so rare at
Barrett-Jackson this year. One of the
rarest was a 1968 L88 convertible, lot 1318, an all original 13K mile survivor
that was owned by the original buyer for thirty four years. The fully documented, matching number, blue
convertible also had the original bill of sale, window sticker, tank sticker,
protect-o-plate, all manuals and was sitting on the original tires. It took $880K to take it to a new home.
One of the twelve ZR2’s produced in 1972, lot 5018, sold for $495K while a 1970 LT1/ZR1, Lot 5009, in #1 condition and 1 of 25 built, found a new owner for $220K.
Several second generation condition #1 and #2 Corvettes brought good prices on Friday and Saturday. Though all five model years sold at or above the valuation prices it appeared that the least expensive cars were the 1964 and 1965 model years. That seems to be the case due to the highly desirable 427 cubic inch engine availability in the 1966 and 1967 model years. Second generation condition 1 and 2 cars with high performance engines commonly sold for $250K or more with some approaching or topping $200K.
"The FOX broadcast fiasco was the only disappointment of the entire auction and the
Barrett-Jackson team and the enthusiasts who depend on TV to see the auction deserved better."
It was impressive that there were so few problems with the new facility and the new layout during the auction and that is a testament to the planning and forsight of the Barrett-Jackson® team. However I would be remiss if I did not mention the horrible new TV coverage on the Fox Cable Network® which consisted of having to switch back and forth between four Fox owned cable Networks, FoxSports 1®, FoxSports 2®, FoxBusiness® and National Geographic® and two hours broadcast on the Fox® network. For those who could not attend the auction and rely on TV to see the auction, the Fox® format of having the event broadcast switch back and forth between channels, some of which many cable subscribers did not have access to was not only disappointing, it amounted to virtually throwing enthusiasts under the bus just for the sake of increasing subscribers to fringe Fox® cable channels by forcing them to buy larger cable packages just in order to watch the auction.
Though actual final numbers from Barrett-Jackson® will not be
available for a few days, this year’s event was clearly the most successful in
their 43 year history. Sales,
attendance, registered bidders and cars sold were all ahead of 2013’s
event. Sales for 2013 were up a
staggering 17% racking up $108M and this year’s event will exceed those numbers
by $5M, selling a staggering $113M, their largest Scottsdale event ever. It was evident that the 3500 registered
bidders weren’t holding back on the 1399 cars sold. The Barrett-Jackson® team has got to be
pleased (and tired) with their first auction of 2014 and the first in an all new facility. Based on the Scottsdale results it looks like
2014 is shaping up to be a promising year.
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