In an effort to prove that it's not some shady operation that wheels and deals behind the scenes, the Barrett-Jackson auction house decided to subject itself to an independent audit from accounting firm Deloitte and Touche.
Guess what? D and T found no irregularities, no questionable conduct and nothing that would otherwise raise questions about whether cars at B-J auctions are in any way manipulated on the block.
The report was ordered in part because some other automotive auction houses have been accused of shady practices like not paying off consignors on time and artificially boosting auctions with fake bidders.
Barrett-Jackson
Categories: Car Auctions
According to a report in the Phoenix Business Journal, the Barrett-Jackson auction company is set to announce a new California event based in Orange County. This would be in addition to the current events in Las Vegas, Palm Beach and Scottsdale. An official announcement is expected later this week, but early reports suggest a late June or early July time frame.
Phoenix Business Journal via SportscarMarket
Categories: Car Auctions
The upcoming Las Vegas installment of the Barrett-Jackson auction is coming this weekend and Ford will be offering up a couple interesting SVT vehicles.
One is a 2000 SVT Cobra R that was used by Ford Racing as a pace car for a short time before being tucked away into storage. It's #2 of the 300 Cobra Rs made that year and is clearly in immaculate condition. Although its 385-horsepower 5.4-liter V8 seems tame by today's standards, anyone who has driven one of these track-ready beasts knows that this was one of the coolest Cobra Mustangs ever built.
Also on the block will be a Ford GT that was used by SVT to test various components and overall durability. It was the second GT built and was converted for a short time to Canadian specifications. It's now back in U.S. trim and full road legal. Look for the Mustang to cross the block on Friday night while the GT will make its appearance on Saturday. More pics after the break.
Barrett Jackson
Continue reading Barrett-Jackson: Ford To Auction Off Two Early SVTs.
Categories: Car Auctions,Classic Cars,Coupes,Ford,Sports Cars
Prior to the big Pebble Beach concours on Sunday, all the contestants are invited to a cruise through the Monterey peninsula to show off their priceless rides on the road as they were meant to be seen. This most often goes by without a hitch as nearly all the cars are impeccably maintained. This poor car was not one of them.
Sports Car Market
Categories: Car Auctions,Classic Cars
The Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races start today, the annual celebration of history's most significant race cars.
Some 30,000 people are expected to see the racing and cruise the paddock at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca over these next three days. It's the central event of the Monterey Peninsula's Classic Car Week, which includes car shows, auctions, and simple reunions between friends.
Some 450 cars are in attendance, and many of the drivers new to the event took familization laps yesterday. As Mark Peters, the head instructor for the day, noted, "There are drivers here like John Morton and Brian Redman who originally raced these cars that we are now seeing in historic events.
"And then there are also participants here who, when they were younger, saw those gentlemen drive and admired them and now have reached a milestone in their lives that lets them live the fantasy of driving like their heroes."
Continue reading 2009 Monterey Historics: Porsche-fest.
Categories: Car Auctions,Carnival of Cars,Classic Cars,Motorsports,Porsche,Sports Cars
Why own a regular old Bugatti Veyron when you can have one with a little provenance? Like say, this one currently owned by Formula One driver Jenson Button. We're sure he's taken good care of it, that is when he wasn't out beating it to within an inch of its already short life.
Steve Hurn Specialist Cars: Bugatti Veyron
Categories: Bugatti,Car Auctions,Celebrities,Coupes,Luxury Cars,Motorsports,Sports Cars
General Motors announced the start of its new collaboration with Ebay today. The program allows California dealers to sell cars directly on a co-branded site as well as through standard Ebay listings.
Although many dealers use Ebay already, this program is designed to simplify the process by using "Buy It Now" pricing. Potential buyers can also submit offers to individual dealers.
Granted, this isn't the most innovative program in the world, but it can't hurt. Anything that makes buying a General Motors vehicle easier is bound to help in the long run, so look for this program to go nation wide before too long.
IL News: California GM Dealers to List Cars on Ebay This Week
Categories: Auto Industry,Car Auctions,General Motors,Trends
This Shelby Daytona Cobra coupe (CSX2601) is one of the original six built by Carroll Shelby to take on Ferrari in FIA's World Manufacturers Championship GT class. And this particular Cobra was driven to victory by Bob Bondurant at the 12 Heures du Reims in Reims, France on July 4, 1965.
Perhaps you recognize this car, which was on the auction block at Mecum's Spring Classic Auction in Indianapolis less than two months ago. However, it failed to meet the reserve price there, so Mecum is trucking it to Monterey for its first ever auction during the Monterey Historics weekend. The auction starts at 10 a.m. August 15 at the Hyatt Regency in Monterey.
Mecum says somebody bid $7.5 million for the Cobra after the Spring Classic auction, but evidently, that didn't count. Any guess how high the bidding will go in Monterey?
Categories: Car Auctions,Classic Cars
One of the more unusual collections headed for Monterey this summer is the Nick Alexander Collection. A well-known Los Angeles car dealer, Alexander amassed what is considered one of the world's finest collections of pre- and post-war wood-bodied wagons. He even built a restoration shop near of one his dealers just to work on the various cars over the years.
In August, RM Auctions will offer 52 different vehicles from the collection, all with no reserves. In other words, if you've always wanted a classic woody and you have the cash, this is the chance of a lifetime.
RM Auctions
Categories: Car Auctions,Classic Cars,Convertibles,Ford,Mercury
Are GM's best days are behind it? We'll see soon enough. In the meantime, why not take a moment to remember some of the company's most sought after vehicles of the past.
Collector car bible Sports Car Market has assembled a slide show featuring the General's Top 10 auction vehicles of all time. Led by the 1953 Futurliner Parade of Progress bus which sold for an astounding $4.3M a few years ago, it's an impressive lineup of cars from top to bottom.
Sports Car Market: Top 10 GM Sales of All Time
Categories: Car Auctions,General Motors
If Mr. Bugatti's own Type 57 Coupe doesn't satisfy your rare-car desires, RM Auctions will be selling two legendary Harry Miller racing cars in August during the weekend of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. The first is the bespoke 1931 Miller V16 and the second is a 1927 Miller 91 -- a remake of the Frank Lockhart racer that set a land speed record of 160.01 at Muroc dry lake.
The V16 was the only V16 Miller ever built, and was collecting dust for ages somewhere in a storage facility before being swept up by Chuck Davis in 1978. Now with a light gray livery, the car has been meticulously restored to resemble a 1932 Indy 500 racer. It's been 30 years since it last changed hands, so it's expected to bring top dollar when it hits the block at the Portola Hotel and Spa in Monterey in August.
Joining the Miller V16 beast is the rear-wheel-drive 1927 Miller 91. It features a custom-built Miller engine from the Frank Lockhart land speed car and has been completely restored.
Categories: Car Auctions
Last month we showed you the 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa that managed to fetch $12.1 million amidst a recession. Now check out the next potential record breaker. It's a 1936 Bugatti Type 57C Coupe owned by Ettore Bugatti himself and it's scheduled for auction at Pebble Beach in August.
The vehicle's history is a lengthy one. It was originally built for Bugatti as a birthday present, and then survived WWII tucked away in Molsheim on the French-German border. Following the war (and Ettore's death) the lime-green-machine was revamped with new interior accessories, a one-off engine and tranny combo and a few other improvements under the hood. It changed hands a couple times over the next fifty years, but - most surprisingly - has maintained its flawless state and never been restored.
Mark the weekend of August 15-16 on your calendars if you're into high-end collector cars as this Bugatti will be just one of many up for sale by Gooding & Company at its annual Pebble Beach auction. -- Mike Lysaght, Contributor
Categories: Bugatti,Car Auctions,Celebrities,Classic Cars,Coupes
The official bible of the collector car world, Sports Car Market, has a nice little slide show of top auction cars of the year so far. Leading the way is the 1957 Ferrari 250 Testarossa that recently pulled down $12.4M at an auction in Maranello.
Not surprisingly, it's one of four Ferrari's that made the list. Other entries include a Talbot-Lago, a Duesenberg and a couple of Bugatti's. Nice stuff if you've got the scratch.
Sports Car Market: Top 10 Cars of 2009
Categories: Bugatti,Car Auctions,Ferrari,Sports Cars
In the same Maranello, Italy, auction that included the last production Ferrari F430, a much, much, much more valuable car, a 1957 Ferrari 250 TR, went for 9,020,000 Euros. Recession... what recession? This is apparently a new world record for most expensive car sold at auction.
Of course, there's more to this 250 Testa Rossa than the obvious fact that it's a really old car and an incredibly beautiful one at that (thanks, Scaglietti). Like most of the 22 Ferrari 250 TRs built in 1957 and 1958, this one, chassis number 0714TR, had an active racing career in its prime. Notably, it finished in the 1958 1000km Buenos Aires endurance race, though it didn't win -- that honor went to 250 0704TR.
Categories: Car Auctions,Ferrari,Motorsports
