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3 Cars Pull Over $1M Each At Auction

automagonthenet | 20 January, 2008 22:02

A million each – that’s a handsome amount to catch at an auto auction. It also reflects the financial capability of the persons participating. So where do you think auto bidding could be as rewarding as that?

Where else but at the week-long Barrett-Jackson collector cars sale in Scottsdale, Arizona!

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 told AFP Sunday.

The AFP release continued:

Shoppers pull out $1 million for a brand new 2009 Corvette ZR-1 before the 10-12% 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, 3 times the estimate. A second GT500 once owned by Shelby's son earned $330,000, a gain for the seller who paid 24,000 for it in 1991.

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, 50% 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.

Earlier, watchers in the industry were quoted as describing the market as soft in the face of a sharp US economic slowdown, especially for muscle cars popular with US collectors. They have expressed high hopes that shoppers from abroad would drive the action, nonetheless.

"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, a car specialist. 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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