I was checking the auction list and noticed they are auctioning an 09 ZR1.
" Chevrolet presents the very "First Retailable Unit Built" Corvette ZR-1 for auction at
Barrett-Jackson on Saturday, January 19, 2008 all proceeds from the auction will benefit The United Way...
SOLD ON BILL OF SALE ONLY "

 

anyone care to guess what that car will fetch?

I'll say $200K

 

I say $350,000

The buyer (who is likely a collector like the guy who bought the Last 67 for $600,000) gets a charity tax receipt and he/she will sock it away....

 

Buyer will most likely be a fellow named Ron Pratt.
He bought the Super Snake last year for Over $5 million and the Futureliner Bus the year before for $4 million.
Several years ago he bought over 50 cars at the auction to start his collection!
As far as price - whatever he decides to spend!

Dave

 

I've been watching Barrett Jackson this past week on the Speed Channel. I'd be very surprised if it hit $100K.

 

You must be watching a rerun of a previous auction, it doesn't start in Arizona until Tuesday January 15, 2008.
I see they are selling the first Challenger and Shelby GT 500 KR, I wouldn't be surprised to see Ron Pratt buy them all!

Dave

 

isin't that sticker price in the U.S.?

 

Does it matter? Auction bidders are a finicky lot. Cars that should be going for thousands are going for a lot less. It's not a car market right now. Classics are not demanding the coin they should be.

 

GM donated the car for the auction. Proceeds to go to charity. Supposedly, this is supposed to be serial #0003 or something like that. And according to GM, MSRP will be approximately $120KUS. But I do not know what the starting bid will be or if there is a reserve.

 

There is NO reserve at Barrett-Jackson, starting bid is whenever the first guy raises his hand. They’ll probably start calling out the # at 100g and go down till the first bid is made

Because all the $ will go to a charity and this is going to be a historic car, I'm willing to bet it'll go up to 500g providing they have enough celebrities jumping around the car at auction time.

 

 

Some cars do have reserves as some do not sell right away. Some cars end up on the block 2-3 or more times if the bid's don't go high enough. It's the owners discretion what he or she wants for their car, and where they want the bidding to start.

 

I remember watching a show about the Scottsdale Barrett Jackson where they mentioned that there was no reserve on all of the cars, was just on Barrett Jackson’s website and can’t find anything to back that up. Maybe it’s just on the busy days where none of the cars have a reserve. I know how a normal car auction works, I did buy my vette at the rm auction in Toronto same day bidding on a ZL1 Camaro went to 450k and didn’t sell.

 

I was at that RM Auction I remember the ZL1.
I was at Barrett Jackson on the friday last year. Their auctions are no reserve. If you don't want to let your car go for the bid you have to buy it back which will cost you buyers and sellers commision. Last year that was 16% on top of the bid price.

 

Barrett-Jackson has several events throughout the year. The Scottsdale event is a No Reserve auction. Other auctions do have reserve cars.

http://www.barrett-jackson.com/event...r/howtobid.asp

"In addition, we suggest checking the comparative sales of similar vehicles through magazines, value guides, the Barrett-Jackson website results, and other sources. Owners Clubs are also a valuable source of information. Barrett-Jackson has made every effort to screen our consignments and assure high quality with realistic reserve prices. As the seller provides information, be sure to determine the authenticity, quality, condition and value of your purchase. If available, talk with the seller of the car at the event. Ask questions about the car and its history. Proud owners enjoy sharing their experiences. Many collectible cars have been sold to new owners because of the initial relationship between the seller and the buyer."


Corvette ZR-1
Mustang Shelby GT500KR
Challenger SRT8

 

But you always see the bidding going the other way too. Every year there is a few millionaires fighting it out and stupidly driving the pricing through the roof. This isn't because of current value or expected value. It's more for personal pride, ego, exposure, dominance, power - Barrett-Jackson loves it because its good for T.V. and for it's business.

 

Too true. But I just don't think we'll see that action for the new ZR-1. Maybe if the buyers could get a tax exemption. Now maybe if they had a 1955 Ferrari 500 Mondial or 375 on the block, we'd see a fight.

 

As Craig Jackson and B-J has so many cars to choose from, several years ago he went from the 'reserve' to all non-reserve and jacked the price up of commission at the front end to meet the short fall on the other end.

Now don't forget that there is that older man with the young grandson that also has very deep pockets, as well as Allan ?? with the private jet that like to get in bidding wars with Ron Pratt. Allan (not the Ferari man) will walk away whereas the older man likes to spend, spend, spend.

It's amazing that several years ago this auction was mainly cars from the 20's and 30's like Bugatti, Auburns, etc. Now it's muscle car and what are parents drove in the 50's and 60's and we were ashamed to be seen in as kids and teens. If we only had the foresight and money to hold onto those cars we'd be as rich as Ron Pratt.

 

Not having the foresight and money is what leads to these objects becoming valuable ... because they are rare.

Comic Books are a great example ... if everyone back the '30's thought that Action Comics #1 - featuring Superman's first apperance ... would be worth a lot some day, and they put them in some sort of plastic wrap bag ... and stored them in some climate controlled room until the 80's ... and there were millions of copies of that book available on the market today ... then it would be worth about it's cover price ... instead, there is a very limited supply, and there are more people out there that want it, and some of those collectors have very deep pockets, and are willing to spend upwards of a million bucks to own a copy.

Back in the 80's speculators thought that investing in comics would be a good plan ... prices escalated ... no capital gains tax charged against comic book purchases and sales ... people started buying multiple copies of comics they thought would be the next "Action Comics #1" putting them in bags, not even reading them for the art! And thought they would be able to pay for their next house ... problem was ... all these other speculators were doing the same thing ... supply never became really scarce ... prices were driven up artificially, and when everyone decided to start cashing in ... nobody was there to actually pay the speculated price ... values crashed ... comic book companys and store folded up ... now the main companies make their money from licencing properties to movie companies and toy companies .... someday, the cycle will start to repeat ... the speculators moved on the sports cards, then bennie babies ... not sure where their money is now ... but at some point it will return to comic books.

Getting back to cars ... as soon as someone publicly states that something is going to become a collectors item ... and people start treating their car like an investment ... rather than a means of transportation and in our case "FUN!" then the car will never become as valuable as it potentially could have ... because in the future, there will be too great a supply.

Now let's say in 2030 .... the year my baby becomes an antique ... and it happens to be the only 2005 Corvette C6 Silver Convertable left in existence ... then even with over a million and a half km's of mileage on ODE (based on current driving trends) ... there could be some rich guys/gals out there that remember as a kid seeing this cool car driving around Mississauga ... maybe in a Tim Hortons parking lot ... and decides s/he has to have it ... let the bidding war commence! Only the bidders can determine the "value" of the car ... because the "value" is totally personal ... nobody can put a price on memories ... and nobody can predict price speculation - only ego and financial resources of the people happen to be bidding can determin that!

After saying all that .... I can't wait to watch the auction!

 

By 2030 RICERS will be getting the big bucks, us corvette lovers will be in nursing homes.