Barrett-Jackson ejects Keith Martin/For all you Barrett-Jackson fans...

I agree for the mosst part, but to my mind a really serious collector will do what is needed to find the car he wants, and deal directly with the owner.
A true enthusiast who wants to sell his car will know what it is worth and know who wants it, so no need for a broker.

 

In a country of 300 million people it is like searching for a needle in a haystack to find a specific car that you want. Auctions are an efficient method of advertising to the world that a car is available, and well run auctions that are not trying to create false value by chandelier bidding and other fraud represent a fair way to determine a point of eqilibrium in the market for a car (where buyer and seller agree on the value)

 

I've been to a lot of auctions over the years. If you want to see a real car auction go to Manheim on a Friday. Cars get less than a minute on the block, hammer comes down. (actually a rubber hose). 20 + lanes going at the same time.

But that is a different type of auction. Of all the collector auctions not take anything away from any other auction, but I would have to pick Gooding as the best. The quality of the is top notch, the presentation is first class and the estimates are not exaggerated.

Joe

 

I'll admit that 99% of the sports cars I have owned are low end. I've had well over 100 in my lifetime, and NEVER bought one at an auction. If you are really serious, it's not that hard to do. my way through college and graduate school. Get involved in clubs and model registers, or just do the work yourself.

Personally, I rather use a broker I trust and respect and pay him a finder's fee/commission than get caught up in the kind of nonsense that exits at places like B-J. I have no interest in freak shows. I would feel far more confident paying someone like Marcel 20% than deal with the clowns in this business.

It's not just auctions like B-J that bother me; articles on cars are often presented in magazines as just that; they are really nothing more than a marketing effort. Sports Car Market, C&SC, and T&CC and many other magazines do this every month.

 

I respectfully disagree. I always have and always will tell it like I see it, and let the pieces fall where they may...

 

Just a circus with a tent filled with shady car dealers and buyers with more money then brains. Re-creations for over 100K, you have to be kidding me, years ago, Mr. Martin (not my favorite, far too opinionated from trying to corner the “Sports Car Market”) would NEVER have stood behind these cars and their prices, guess they found his high bid.

 

Based on what I've been told, things didn't actually go down the way Davis is representing them. As was mentioned earlier, there are 2 sides to every story.

 

There are some odd things that go on there in my opinion. The internet bidding and phone bidding is one of the key spots where this can take place. How does the bidder on the floor know that there truely is another guy on the phone bidding up the car? Samething for the internet stuff. Do they have some kind of verification process from an outside party to be sure the bids are real?

And this Ron Pratt fellow who on earth is this guy? Does he have a relationship with Craig Jackson some how?

Those gravity races were really cool BTW...

 

I met Keith right after he made the the transition from the Alfa pub to the general car collector rag. Whenever I run into him now he is personable, engaging, and friendly. I am not sure what went on, but based on what I have seen and read I would probably take his side. The BJ auction (in contrast) is more a reality show than a true enthusiast event. Or maybe it is a circus:

Grossly obese men chomping on cigars.....competing with hyperactive nouveau riche clowns in Ferrari suits.... for cars that will lose a quarter of their value if driven. There are less expensive ways to get your 15 minutes.

 

I was there and I have to agree with Martin this year. The pacing of the cars was off, and most of what ran was pretty average Wed. through Fri. They ran the vast majority of the showcase cars Saturday night, which was odd, because usually they space them out fairly evenly over "prime time" both days.

The chandelier bidding was absolutely laughable. I was on stage to check out lot#1290, the 71' Cuda custom. It stalled (in fairly dramatic fashion, I mean uncomfortable silence) at $350K, which was obviously less than the owners were looking for, but in my mind was a pretty fair value given the quality of the car. It then gets a $500K bid out of nowhere, 1 more quick bump to $525K, and sells for $535K + commissions.

The car is then rolled out for a pre-scheduled interview with the seller right outside of the main tent. To be honest I almost couldn't believe what I had just seen. Earlier in the day, the auctioneer was scolding the crowd (Volkswagon on stage at $27K) that they were being too "slow" with their bids and BJ had a lot of cars to run that day so everybody should pick it up a bit. He then gavelled it at the $27K and acted pissed off that it didn't bring more. I almost choked.

I've attended the auction as a registered bidder the last 5 years, so I haven't watched it on live TV, only the reruns. This year I noticed a night and day difference in the event, but then again, maybe the light just came on.

Just my honest opinion.

 

Maybe I was too harsh then, I thought he was eating a complimentary B/J buffet and had a bottomless B/J champagne goblet in his hand! LOL!

Point well taken on the bidding method......even if you were going for a known rare car no way to avoid paying too much........

B/J guys sound like they know the jig is up, and keep puffing hopefully at the sails......

 

I was one of the old farts helping Keith gain Alfa knowledge when the publication was strictly Alfa. There were a number of others. At best, the most any of us ever got was free copies of the publication.

As the publication grew, Keith started paying certain people but not others for articles/information, and got more and more involved with the dealer/broker types than the historian types. Eventually, he became nothing more than one of the B-J style "celebs". Certainly he knows far more than he did 15 years ago, but IMO he is no "expert" (as in the vein of Marcel Massini and others).

Keith is not a bad guy, but I think his ego took over. Now, he is rejecting the hype and BS that is B-J and other similar circuses that he desired to be a part of. He now seems to have "seen the light" and wants to be "legitimate". Not ever going to happen.

It's like the local independent bookstore fighting Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and all the others combined. Keith will continue to operate, but 90% of the public is going to continue to be far more interested in going and being involved in the circus that the classic car industry has become.

 

So how did the 70- 1/2 Trans Am do??

Always had a soft spot for that one...passed on one, in '74 cuz' the motor had done blowed up........

I was unaware of the dealer installed Ram Air IV option at the time...it would have fixed it right up!

*tires screaming....big black marks on pavement*

 

I actually had a Ram Air IV I purchased new in 1970 at a dealer than no longer exists in Santa Monica, California. I paid something like $4200 out the door. The Ram Air III was about $200 less. There was also a Doug Nash optional high-rise intake manifold with a Holley 4-bbl, and gearbox modification, but I'm not sure if that was actually a "factory" option, or more like a Motion Performance option, but it was called a Ram Air V.

 

Pratte Development Company is one of the nation's largest wood framing and concrete foundation companies with extensive operations in Arizona and Nevada. They also have (had) a joint venture with Pulte called Pratte Building Systems which has been used as a MBA study example by Arizona State University's W. P. Carey School of Business.


Beyond "best customer" status, does he have a relationship with BJ? I don't really much care actually......

Publicly, Pratte has help build two of the fastest growing cites in the US.

 

Ok so I had some free time and decided to compare the year over year auction results. I took the non car items out of '07 and I think these numbers are pretty accurate.

2007
Mean 87,128.47
Median 57,200.00
Mode 49,500.00
Total 108,387,819.00
Stdev 183,084.60

2006
Mean 90,390.43
Median 56,700.00
Mode 54,000.00
Total 99,700,645.00
Stdev 194,645.05

 

Thanks for the analysis!!

Very interesting.....standard deviation > mean.....

Lumpy distribution with clusters around....let me guess.......$70K, $100K, $200K, $300K

 

I enjoyed the post. I was there all week with a friend selling a high end car. He was also a customer of odd auction proceedures" he was selling the "Ramchargers Hemicuda" appriased by a great many sources at well over $1 million dollars. The Auctioneer slammed the gavel after 70 seconds of active bidding after 1 special bidder, while a sea full of other bidders were exceeding his 300K offer by large margins. Somehow all the other bidders were not recognized and a new buyer got the car for 300K ( what luck). Several unhappy higher bidders and witnesses expressed their concern. The car is actually being held by until proper resolution can be had. I think Keith exposed a game and seems to be true.

 

I don't know any of these guys.... but I do watch B-Js spectacle from time to time and subscribe to Keith’s SCM. How can anybody compare the quality of SCM to B-Js auctions? The auctions are fluff and bull. SCM is based upon evaluation of actual sales and markets. Nothing's perfect but B-J isn't even worth watching.

 

I have no idea why anyone would want to be involved in this scene.

 

'Because they can'.

Too many other places to shop:

http://www.russoandsteele.com/

http://www.rmauctions.com/

http://www.kruse.com/home/main.asp

http://www.wwgauctions.com/

 

If this can actually be proven, I would sue B-J for everything they have.

 

I guess some people like circle jerk contests.

 

DodgeBoy:

I'm sorry to hear about your friends predicament. Even if he get's his car
returned without having to pay the 20% (?) fee, all the time and effort he
used to prep, ship etc. to B-J was for nothing. I wish him well in his efforts.

Mark

 

i promise you that i want to believe this account...but until we see or hear from the owner and find a way to better substantiate...this stuff should not be posted.

again, i am so sick of the bj movement...it is not good for the long term health of the market many of us love and hold closely.