Stable Prices and Devastation: The Story at Arizona Auctions
Story by Nigel Matthews, Photos by Author and Gerry Frechette
There are probably two major stories that came out of the Arizona Classic car auctions this year. The first is the stabilizing of prices, which is probably not a surprise, and the second is the horrendous damage done by a storm that blew through the Sonoran desert at North Scottsdale Road and the Highway 101 loop.
First let’s take a look at the auctions and some prices.
RM Auctions, which has grown into the world’s largest collector car auction house, posted over $19.6 million in total sales, with an impressive 89 percent sales ratio. RM is a huge Canadian success story, one that I take great pleasure in mentioning whenever possible.
Headlining this year’s two-day auction was a rare 1963 Aston Martin DB4 GT, one of only six GTs built with a factory lightweight body and the last GT built at Aston Martin’s Newport Pagnell Factory. The gavel fell at $1,001,000 and it was the dominant vehicle to sell at this year’s event. RM opened this two-day event on Thursday evening with “The British Invasion.”
Gooding & Company garnered $33.9 Million in total sales during its two-day Scottsdale auction. The sales ratio was excellent with a total of 114 out of 125 lots sold.
Gooding was the only auction house that managed to produce multiple million-dollar-plus sales, which included a 1956 Jaguar D-Type Sports Racer selling at $3.47 Million, 1959 Ferrari 250 GT Series 1 Cabriolet at $2.145 Million, 1934 Duesenberg Model J Disappearing-Top Convertible Coupe at $1.815 Million, 1936 Hispano-Suiza Type 68 J12 Cabriolet at $1.54 Million, 1932 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Series V Gran Sport at $1.54 Million, 1959 Costin Lister Jaguar Sports Racer at $1.1 Million, and a 1965 Shelby 427 S/C Cobra at $1.028 Million.
Barrett-Jackson’s 39th Annual Collector Car Auction recorded $68 million in total sales which was an 11-percent increase from last year. I am sure that under the present economic times and the USA not being out of the woods yet, Craig Jackson is happy with the 11-percent increase, but the figures are nothing like those of 2007 ($107.9 million) when the market was at a high and Mopar Madness was in full swing.
This year, there was not one single million dollar sale and the high seller of the week was not a four-wheeled road vehicle but a 1929 Hamilton Metalplane H-47 airplane which sold for $671,000. The 40 hours of live television coverage made for some very entertaining arm-chair coverage for those not lucky enough to attend.
Silver Auctions, which takes place in the parking lot of a casino in the foothills at Fort McDowell, is a smaller auction venue where the prices are suited to the new collector or someone looking for a bargain. The high seller of their auction was a 1932 Studebaker St. Regis Brougham 2-door, sold for $103,680.This top-selling collector car is extremely rare and a great driver. It has been professionally and tastefully modified. Dual side mounts, a factory rear-mounted trunk, auto meter gauges, tilt, heat and A/C, power disc brakes, Ford differential, 87 T- Bird front sub frame clip, power steering, six 10-spoke chromed original wheels, and ebony black paint. The exterior appearance did not give away the modern crate motor with tuned port injection and headers that make beautiful noise through dual exhaust and 700 R4 automatic transmission with floor mounted Genie shifter.
The devastation that took place at Russo & Steele in the corner of the Sonoran desert on Jan. 21 will go down in the classic-car history books. This will certainly be an unforgettable event for Drew Alcazar, the owner of Russo & Steele, who had to survey hundreds of damaged vehicles when the winds dropped. What a way to celebrate the auction’s tenth anniversary!
During that Thursday afternoon, the wind and rain became more intense and by 6 pm, the winds were blowing fiercely. By then, most in attendance had taken shelter in the sturdy main auction tent.
Try to imagine the enormity of two open-sided parallel tents large enough to house 600 vehicles. Now imagine a gale-force wind storm. You know what it is like trying to hold an umbrella in a severe storm. With that much canvas and open sides you had one great big umbrella.
The first tent to go was on the north side of the auction site. It almost went straight up into the air and then took off northbound to land on Highway 101. The second tent collapsed. It had aluminum tent poles the size of telephone poles, which landed on top of the cars inside.
The following day must have been the longest for the vehicle owners because they were not permitted entry to the auction site. The conditions were far too dangerous and the clean-up was under way. Plastic car covers were flown in and every car on site was covered from the elements after what was left of the tents was removed and the debris picked up.
Early Saturday morning, I was at the auction site. Not knowing what to expect and proceeding out of the main tent onto the desert holding area, it then sank in – it was like being hit in the head with a two-by-four.
Two cars would be intact without as much as a scratch, but the car between them would be badly damaged, more than likely caused by a falling tent pole or flying debris.
One witness told me that a 1,500-kilogram (3,200-lb.) concrete block used to secure the tent was dragged 13 metres (42 feet) down the desert floor as the tent took off.
I was astounded to discover that some owners did not have any insurance coverage at all on their valuable vehicles.
Human kindness never ceases to amaze me. Car guys are especially good in a crisis. Three of the vehicle owners, and I have no idea if their cars were perfectly intact or damaged, ran their cars through the auction on Sunday to support Alcazar and donated 100 per cent of the money from the sale to the Scottsdale Fire Department and the Scottsdale Boys and Girls Club.
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