While fellow OCW staffers Ron Kowalke and Meredyth Albright were out in Arizona, covering the Scottsdale-area auctions, I stayed back, manned the phones, answered the e-mails and somehow found time to prepare the latest issue of Old Cars Weekly.

While here, I received periodic updates from Old Cars Weekly asking, “Did you see what this XXX sold for?” and “Can you believe XXX sold for that much?” Through these updates, and following Ron and Meredyth’s return, I was able to piece together a few observations about what cars people are spending their money on.

One of the first calls I received was on a 1980 Pontiac Trans Am Turbo with a 301-cid V-8 that sold for around $70,000, and a 266-mile 1974 Chevrolet Spirit of America Impala two-door hardtop that fetched $30,000. Since the Chevy had such low miles, I’m not surprised by the dollar amount. Low-mileage originals continue to get big bucks, and probably always will, just as it should be. But the T/A is surprising. It’s good to see “later” muscle cars getting these kinds of dollars, but before you start complaining that price guides have your circa-1980 Firebirds undervalued, realize that not EVERY 1980 Firebird is worth this much. These cars (and by “these cars,” I mean 1970s and early 1980s muscle cars) have been undervalued for some time, so we may see the level of attention being paid to these cars escalate as the teenagers who enjoyed them in the 1970s and ‘80s get more disposable income and start shopping for a collector car. If you’ve got one, hang on to it. If you’ve always wanted one, now’s the time to buy.

When it comes to pure muscle cars, and by that, I mean 1960s and early 1970s GTO’s, Super Bees, Challengers and Mustangs, the market has clearly regained its sanity. Half-million-dollar Hemi ‘Cuda coupes are no more, and that’s the way it should be. Bidders were clearly overpaying for these cars at more than half-a-million bucks, and only the brave admitted that in public. (At Barrett-Jackson’s 2006 January sale, a Hemi ‘Cuda fetched $650,000, and two other Hemi ‘Cudas were in $400,000-500,000 territory.) These days, the cars are trading for around the $150,000 mark, and that seems fair. And ignore those panic-inducing journalists just looking to create waves when they cry, “The muscle car market is dead!” It’s not, and they’re morons. Muscle cars possess the universal combination of features collectors of every era look for, and will always look for: performance, beauty and rarity. As long as people are refining dead dinosaurs into fuel, you’ll never be able to buy a Hemi “anything” for $10,000 again. But you probably won’t lose your shirt if you drop your life’s savings of $150,000 or less on a Hemi Challenger.

If you’re an investor, the Arizona auctions did show you something to fear: clone prices are collapsing. I say “Amen.” These cars should NEVER have been worth six figures. Ever. So, put down your torch and leave the original 396-cid V-8 in your Chevelle or 340-cid V-8 in your ‘Cuda, because your Hemi or SS-454 clone will never be worth as much as your car was with its original smaller-displacement muscle car engine. Want proof? How about a $68,000 1970 Hemi Challenger clone at this year’s Barrett-Jackson sale? I thought so. And if you ask me, that’s still at least $28,000 too much. Or, ask Drew Alcazar of Russo & Steele, who noticed the downward trend of clones in early 2007, if not earlier.

Truth be told, clones were already coming down last year. At the January 2007 Barrett-Jackson auction, a 1970 Challenger R/T SE Hemi clone fetched $115,000, showing how much clones were already coming down from the $150,000-plus range.

If muscle cars are down, where’s the money, you ask? Classics with a big “C.” People looking to spend big bucks on old cars must have finally pulled the switch and seen the light bulb turn on. While many people were drinking and bidding on muscle cars, Classics were fetching the same kinds of dollars some muscle cars were getting at the “pre-market correction” peak.

Most knowledgeable car collectors never agreed with the idea that a mass-produced car with a performance engine (think Hemi ‘Cuda) was worth as much as a Classic car, especially those with hand-built bodies from renowned coachbuilders on performance-oriented chassis (think Duesenberg). And while some muscle cars go back to more realistic prices, many Classics have continued to rise in value.

Since I’m a Duesenberg nut, some examples are Duesenberg sedans for around $250,000 to 500,000, depending on body style, coachbuilder and provenance. In 2008, we’re seeing starting prices for sedans in $500,000 territory, and up. Want examples? At Gooding Co.’s January sale in Arizona, $1 million even was paid for a Murphy Clear Vision sedan. At the 2007 Kruse fall sale in Auburn, Ind., a Rollston sedan fetched $875,000 on the block.

Packards are another good example. At the widely attended Otis Chandler sale in Oct. 2006, the money was flying in a fashion that can, at the very least, be called “insane.” There, Chandler’s 1934 Packard Twelve Dietrich coupe sold for $1 million. At RM Auction’s January 2008 sale, one of the few other matching 1934 Twelve Dietrich coupes sold for $1.8 million.

Before you go out and find of the other 1934 Packard Twelve Dietrich coupes of the handful built, stop. Think. Remember, investing in cars is just as risky as investing in the stock market. Perhaps even riskier. My advice is this: buy something you like, and something you can afford. Study values of your car in price guides (like Old Cars Price Guide), other publications, classified ads, auctions prices, etc., before you write the check. This way, your risk is greatly reduced. And don’t buy a car because it may be worth more in the future, buy it because you want to have fun and meet people.

Many of the people I know with million-dollar cars didn’t buy them because they wanted to make money, they bought the cars because they liked them. And they still do. When it’s time to sell, they’ll make out very, very well. But that’s the furthest thing from their mind. And when you’re behind the wheel of your car, its value should be the furthest thing from yours, too.

J-149, chassis number 2174, a LeBaron phaeton, at the RM Auctions sale in Scottsdale. It fetched $1.7 million. (Meredyth Albright photo)




J-334, chassis number 2302 (with bellhousing J-281), a LaGrande phaeton, at the 2008 Barrett-Jackson sale. It fetched $1 million. (Meredyth Albright photo)

Some readers of this blog may already know that I collect vintage photographs. Many of these are used in Old Cars Weekly and some of my book projects. Generally, I look for photos with fun compositions that include interesting cars from the late 1920s through the 1960s. 

Any photo with interesting cars catches my eye, but generally, I look for photos with Cadillacs, Willyses, Fords and "big C" Classics, such as Duesenbergs and Lincolns. To find these photos, I scour swap meets, the classifieds in Old Cars Weekly and peruse a few Web sites to discover such treasures. In the course of such hunts, I run across other cool items that aren’t necessarily what I collect, but are fascinating nonetheless. One of those items that I recently ran across was a new, in the box MotoMeter for a Duesenberg Model A that sold for $2,200! Since it’s an item that you don’t see everyday, I thought I’d post it here.

The item was found on eBay, and since the auction ended, you’ll probably have to be signed in to eBay in order to view it.

If you're into old pics, too, watch this blog ... you never know when a few of them will show up on this page!

What do you think about this press release stating certain luxury car owners get special parking privileges at a sports arena? Is it unfair to other car owners? Is it the wave of the future? There was a period when Cadillac owners received special treatment without a corporate buy-in. My, hot times have changed.

PRESS RELEASE:
LEXUS CUSTOMERS NOW HAVE RESERVED PARKING AT WACHOVIA CENTER IN NEW DEAL WITH COMCAST-SPECTACOR
 
(Philadelphia, PA – December 10, 2007) Lexus drivers in the Greater Philadelphia Region now can have priority parking at the Wachovia Center as part of a new sponsorship package between Lexus and arena owner Comcast-Spectacor.
 
“Lexus continues to be a great advertising partner of ours,” said Comcast-Spectacor President Peter Luukko. “As we continue to look for new and exciting opportunities for our fans and our sponsors, Lexus remains a terrific partner.

“As a result of this new arrangement, we’re able to offer our customers who drive Lexus cars an opportunity to park in a specially designated space with other Lexus owners.”
 
As part of the new three-year advertising and sponsorship package, Lexus drivers can park in a designated Lexus parking spot in either of two lots in the Wachovia Center (C-Lot and E-Lot). Additionally, these new parking sections will feature Lexus advertising prominently featured on the light polls.
 
The new sponsorship package also includes advertising signage inside the Wachovia Center where Lexus already owns the naming rights to the arena’s private, exclusive courtside club. Lexus commercials will also air during Philadelphia Flyers and 76ers broadcasts on Comcast SportsNet. Additionally, Comcast SportsNet will now air a Lexus sponsored “Sports $ense” segment regarding the financial sports news.
 
Comcast-Spectacor (comcast-spectacor.com) is the Philadelphia-based sports and entertainment company which owns the Philadelphia Flyers (NHL), the Philadelphia 76ers (NBA), the Philadelphia Phantoms (AHL), the two arenas in which their teams play, the Wachovia Center and Wachovia Spectrum, four Flyers Skate Zone community ice skating and hockey rinks and Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia. In addition, Comcast-Spectacor is also the principal owner of Global Spectrum, the fastest growing firm in the public assembly management field with more than 70 facilities throughout the United States and Canada; Ovations Food Services, a food and beverage service provider; New Era Tickets, a ticketing and marketing company for public assembly facilities; Front Row Marketing Services, a commercial rights sales company; and 3601 Creative Group, a full-service in-house advertising agency. In a partnership with Disson Skating, Comcast-Spectacor annually produces 10 nationally televised figure skating spectaculars on NBC.

Recently, I was forwarded a link to a CNN article featuring famous musician Neil Young and his plight to install an electric/biodiesel powerplant in his 1959 Lincoln.

Apparently, the car’s 430-cid V-8 gets 10 mpg, and Johnathan Goodwin, who is yanking the engine in order to install the hybrid engine, says the new power source will get 100 mpg. He expects the change to take 45 days.

Now, I’m all for doing things to make sure our kids have as clean of a place to prosper as we did (I’m an Eagle scout who has planted more trees and picked up more garbage than there are old-car fallacies to be shared), but this article used Young’s project as a chance to attack the old car hobby. Phrases written or quoted by author Sean Callebs include “gas-guzzling,” “big polluter,” and “old, inefficient,” and, like many other who make similar assumptions, infers that American cars are gross polluters.

American cars are not necessarily gross polluters. I don’t keep up on modern cars, but even I know that, since at least the early 1990s, Ford has been selling cars that run on E85, and GM has been experimenting with electric cars on the road for years. And Honda, Toyota and Nissan all offer large SUVs, some even big trucks with “gas-guzzling V-8s,” to people just interested in driving them only to pick up kids from soccer practice or fetching basil from the local Piggly Wiggly. Why aren’t these companies considered guilty of offering “gross polluters?” If these companies are so good, why can’t they offer a car that gets the kind of 50-mpg-range gas mileage that Geo Metros offered in the 1990s? People who make the assumption need to visit more than a Honda or Toyota dealership to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the modern automotive market.

But I digress. Our old cars are not used frequently. Therefore, the amount of fuel they actually burn and the pollution they create is negligible. I seriously doubt Young is driving his Lincoln enough to worry about the amount of fuel it consumes.


Also, car collectors keep their cars in a finer state of tune to better preserve and enjoy them. And good running cars get better gas mileage and spew less emissions. Many non-car people treat their cars like appliances and don’t do preventative maintenance. Their cars only go in the shop when there’s a problem or their cars stop working altogether.

And when it comes to being gross polluters, I’m not sure this is true, as I have never seen an emissions test for a 1959 Lincoln, Model T or 1965 Corvette. My personal emissions test experience is limited to a 185,000-mile 1978 Chevrolet Malibu Classic coupe with a 305-cid V-8 that always passed with flying colors. At the same time, I knew many people with much newer four-cylinder cars that struggled to come under the limits dictated by the test.

Furthermore, re-using old cars instead of using new energy to build new cars saves energy. Even crushing cars takes energy, not to mention the power used in processing the metal.

There are many collector cars that get good gas mileage, and by that, I mean fuel ratings in the 20 mpg range or better. Corvairs, Ramblers, Model T’s and A’s, and even many big, six-cylinder-powered 1950s and 1960s sedans can get good gas mileage.

So let’s stop letting uneducated citizens make assumptions about old cars. In today’s dark, political climate when everyone’s rights can be robbed by a loud but influential minority, give people the facts and call them on the carpet when they abuse them.

After giving a presentation last weekend to the Minnesota Region of the Antique Automobile Club of America, I noticed that the interest in auctions seems to be growing even more. I'll credit that to the televised auctions that have been cropping up with increased frequency. From my experience this weekend, I can only assume that the interest is wide-spread, so I figured readers of this blog would be interested in the press release I just received and posted below:

Russo & Steele's Monterey sale will be aired on ESPN Classic beginning tomorrow, Nov. 20, at 10 pm EST. It looks like the auction has been cleverly broken up into themed episodes, including "fast Fords," "Super Shelbys," "Chevy Performance" and "Mopar Mania."

I've always advised people to attend a couple auctions before bidding just to see first-hand how it all works, and this is a good way to get a primer before buying a bidder's pass and raising your hand in the air. Of course, there's no replacement for being there in person, either.

If you check out this televised auction, let me know what you think!

After a two-year hiatus, I’m looking forward to walking the newly remodeled fields of the Antique Automobile Club of America Eastern Fall Meet at Hershey. When I’m not combing the grounds for Cadillac parts, I’ll be looking forward to meeting readers at our spaces in the Orange Field (spaces 24-28) and the Green Field (spaces 1-2). I hope to see many great car parts for our Swap Meet Showdown contest and hear great tales of car part conquest. Several contributing authors to Old Cars Weekly will also be meeting at the Old Cars Weekly spaces at Hershey, so if your timing is right, you may get to meet one of your favorite authors.

But there’s more to Hershey than walking through acres of parts and cars for sale and taking in the Saturday-only car show. There’s also The Hershey Auction at the Giant Center by Kruse International, which will be held Oct. 11-13 to benefit the AACA Museum. A new RM Auctions sale at The Hershey Lodge and Convention Center on Oct. 11-12 will offer an additional opportunity to check out great cars, and in a dry setting if the weather at Hershey follows its regular wet pattern.

If you’re still looking for more action at Hershey, you’ll be happy to learn the Blackhawk Exposition Sale has returned to Hershey. Rob Williams will be setting up some of the collection’s finest automobiles in the Great American Hall of the Hershey Lodge. Many of the hobby’s most important figures gather around the spectacular cars of the Blackhawk Collection to socialize and gaze on beautiful metal, and to contemplate the prospective purchase of one of these fine cars. This display will be open evenings Oct. 11-13. You can bet I’ll try to attend all of these great events at Hershey, and if I’m lucky, I’ll do it with a Cadillac part in one hand and a Hershey bar in the other!

While at the Barrington concours in Barrington, Ill., last weekend, I encountered several examples of a feature that drives me absolutely nuts: club award badges drilled into the firewalls and cowls of vehicles.

The cars being drilled into aren’t just daily drivers – they’re pristine show cars that have been judged among their peers as top-flight examples of their kind. Often times, they are also very valuable cars, in both the historic and financial sense. For the quality of their restorations, cars and their owners have been rewarded with a tiny badge, which is great. But permanently affixing them to the body of a car is not the way to preserve that car for history.

I’m not going to mention the specific club badges I have seen through the years affixed in this manner, because many well-respected clubs are “guilty” of producing these badges.
In earning these badges, the club is rewarding the owner for bringing the car back to its original configuration. All of the wires must be of the correct type, the interior fabrics must be of the original style and the appearance must be as it was in the period the car was built. But adding one of these badges, which were not created in the time period the car was built, is adding a non-original feature. So, by judging a car as being so correct, isn’t it hypocritical to add an item that detracts from the car’s correctness? If it were a non-club badge permanently drilled into the car or even bolted on, wouldn’t the car be docked points for this feature?

I’m not fortunate enough to own a high-point car, but even I have an issue with drilling parts into my daily car or even modifying its appearance or mechanical function in even a temporary way. When I see it on a Classic car or other high-point car, it blows my mind.
Am I overreacting? I don’t think so. What do you think?