The prices at BJ are totally unrealistic. The '69 Z/28 is not worth 50k anywhere anytime. The 67 427/435 Vette brought 135k. It was a 80k car, maybe a little more, but it was way over-restored. I've had one for thirty years and follow that market closely. The buyers are not savy car people and they showboat and get caught up in the moment, like the idiot that bought the Z/28! The annoucers are terrible, especially the English guy who knows nothing about American muscle cars. But, it is great entertainment. I made my wife watch it for three hours with me and she had to put up with all my comments. It's on for 6 hours today and again Sunday. I got my tape going. Dennis
Today was the first time I've seen any BJ auctions ever. Some very nice cars rolled thru there today. I have to say I did not care for the event personally, other than to see the cars themselves. I really got sick of watching the BJ staff working the crowd, trying to raise the applause level, and goad the bidders into even more ridiculous prices. And you could just about see the dollar signs in the auctioneers eyes and grins when some of today's cars broke into the 300k range, and one even went for 400k. I see one goal for the BJ people, raise prices to the max. But then, I guess that's what they do...
auction most likely , the ultra-high priced cars , z28 , 67 vette 427/435 , are going in to museums or private collections . love that zephyr that sold for $400,000 ! the '58 fuel injected impala was restored by a company in phoenix that brings 3 or 4 restored to the barr-jack auction every year . in 2000 , they had a two-toned blue '57 belair convert, fuel injected that went for over $80000 . check the prices on the hemi muscle cars - way over $100000 . unreal . looks like the prices of our muscle cars have gone up . also , did anyone notice the over-abundance of commercials ? seemed like maybe 16 minutes/hr .
One of stepfathers friends, bob sold a car for Tim Lally Chevrolet,a big block corvette that did $120k! He said that catalina drag car with 389 cu in on it in gold leaf was unbelievable! NIce stuff and just goes to show you how collector cars really are worth big $$$$$!!!!!!!! Ill keep on dreaming of owning a hemi car for now!:beer
I was lucky enough to go today. The event is always spectacular and the cars always go for too much money...most of them. To me, watching people pay too much money is OK. I go to enjoy the cars and atmosphere of the event. If you have ever been to a big auction like this one (any Kruse event included), the auctioneers are supposed to encourage more bidding from the crowd. The bidders generally know what they are doing. A bidder's pass is 300 bucks at B/J. The auction folks work very hard. It's really imnteresting to watch them encourage the bidders...all part of the fun.
I didn't miss a minute of the auction. It lets the general public know what nice cars will bring in real money. It helps to raise the price of all our cars.
Which is good for some of us, and bad for some of us. Most of us Buick lovers are nowhere near being in the same league as the typical buyer at B-J. There are 2 sides to the issue of increasing prices.
Really enjoyed the auction and saw maybe 11-12 hours of it. Ran out of drool. Question for an Olds buff- What is the difference between a W 31 and a W 32 car?
Did'nt watch the whole auction so I don't know if these went through. These were at my storage place here in Mass. The owner saw he was putting them up for sale at BJ or Kruse. The 62 Biscayne is a Z11 car- aluminum fenders aluminum heads 409 stripper car restorer but I guess one of three made by the factory. The Chevelle is an LS6 in Beige with a Green Bench interior. NO options beside a radio and PS. The cowl induction and hood pins were left off the ordersheet. Never restored Not a Chevy guy but I can appreciate history. I have interior pics and engine pics if anyone is interested in me posting them. Paul
The W list includes several high performance options, but the W-30, W-31, and W-32 were performance packages. The W-30 was the hottest 442 (biggest engine, special heads, hottest cam, special intake and exhaust), the W-31 was the hot rod 350 car. They were originally known as Ram Rod 350's in '68 and '69. The W-31 was the hottest small block and could run down more than one unsuspecting big block! The W-32 was the 4-speed 442 engine put into the automatic version of the 442. It was a little on the radical side as far as the cam was concerned for power brakes. Anyone else have anything to add?o No: Oh yeah, forgot to mention option W-45 and W-46, the Hurst/Olds! :3gears:
Many thanks, Rusty. Back in the day (and now for that matter), I was in love with 455's and didn't pay a lot of attention to the others. Question for you. I saw what was described as 1 of 3 '69 W-32,4 speed convertables sold at the Barrett-Jackson auction last weekend. Beautiful car. Does that make sense to you? Was this a case of being able to order what you wanted back then?
I recently looked on the results page of the Barrett-Jackson auction and it was listed as an automatic. The 400 would have been the correct motor for the car. The 455 did not come around as "The Engine" for the 442 until 1970 (same as the GS), but 515 '68 and 906 '69 H/O's were able to sneak out with the factory's blessing!:3gears:
Like others said, the announcers were bad. I remember them repeatedly saying it was a 4 speed car. Then again, I watched many hours of the auction!! With that many produced in '69, what was this car 1 of 3 of?? Surely there were more than 3 convertables. Maybe it was 1 of 3 blue convertable W-32's made on Thursday with A/C. Thanks for the info.:Brow:
