Three Cars Sell For Over A Million Dollars Each
Three cars sold for more than a million dollars each at the premier US car auctions, with a one-of-a-kind 1963 Chevrolet Corvette from Italy’s Pininfarina pulling in 1.6 million dollars, the auctioneer said Sunday.
The week-long annual Barrett-Jackson sale of collector cars in Scottsdale, Arizona also saw buyers put out one million dollars for a brand new 2009 Corvette ZR-1 — the first to hit the market — before the 10-12 percent commission charged by the auctioneer.
And another one million dollars was bid for one of the sale’s oldest cars, a 1928 Duesenberg dual cowl Phaeton, a favorite of Hollywood stars of the time.
Legendary race car builder Carroll Shelby, 85, was on hand at the sale to see his own personal 1969 GT500 Ford Mustang bring in 675,000 dollars, three times the estimate.
A second GT500 once owned by Shelby’s son earned 330,000 dollars — a handsome gain for the seller who paid 24,000 for it in 1991.
They were among some 1,100 collectible cars up for sale this year at Barrett-Jackson’s 37-year-old sale. The week-long auction closed Sunday.
Highlights also included the 1966 Ford Thunderbird used in the iconic film “Thelma and Louise,” which the two stars drive over a cliff into the Grand Canyon in the film’s last frames.
That earned 65,000 dollars, 50 percent above the estimate, but far behind another well known Hollywood car, the 1969 Dodge Charger “General Lee” from “Dukes of Hazzard,” which sold for 450,000 dollars.
Sales generally appeared weaker this year than last, though final figures won’t be known until Monday. In 2007, 16 cars topped the half-million dollar mark, while this year only 11 reached that figure.
Industry figures had earlier described the market as soft in the face of a sharp US economic slowdown, especially for muscle cars popular with US collectors, but had expressed hopes that buyers from abroad, especially Russians and Middle Easterners, would drive the action.
“The Russians are becoming real players. A lot of bling, they love Mercedes and Corvettes,” said Mark Hyman of Hyman Ltd. Classic Cars.
“The market for the quality, the best cars, is strong,” said Tom duPont, who publishes the duPont Registry, which specializes in fine cars.
“There’s a limited number of supplies, a fairly significant number of bidders or buyers, and on top of that you have the impact of the imbalance of the US currency, which is making these cars very attractive to European and Middle Eastern buyers.
“Particularly when it comes to high performance European supercars, and classics.”
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a dodge played a big role in last Wim Wenders’movie
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/2735/wenders01kj5.jpg
well, no cadillac, John, seems they are’nt too high priced, may-be one is waiting after your sparings
January 20th, 2008 at 4:40 pmdid that include the tru coat? cause if not you gonna get that oxidation… and thats bad
January 20th, 2008 at 8:21 pmSurprisingly enough old cars don’t really do that much for me, I want a new Cadillac. They don’t squeek and the sound systems are state-of-the-art.
January 20th, 2008 at 9:27 pm