At the Barrett-Jackson auction held this month in Scottsdale, Arizona the top five highest selling cars were just awesome. Whether you had a chance to see them on TV, in person during the eight days of the show or before all the ropes were in place (like us), you just knew these were drop dead perfect cars.
The cars were all awesome vehicles and had the right history and look to become stars. Now what will become of these cars and how often the public might chance to see them again is anybody’s guess.
Remember the prices reported here include the buyer’s commission of 10%. So when you heard the auctioneer gaveling the car sold at $3.5 million dollars, Craig Jackson collected a quick $350,000 in addition from the new buyer. Plus from the selling price he collects a similar ten percent from the seller, so he grossed a commission of $700,000 on one sale. Nice gig, huh?
Number Five
The fifth highest selling car was this 1963 Shelby Cooper Monaco King Cobra, sold for $1,650,000. While “Cobra” is in the name, it ain’t a Shelby Cobra. This was a purpose built sports race car, one of six, that Carroll Shelby developed off the English Cooper Monaco for SCCA’s Fall Series (later known as Can Am). Ironically these cars were only competitive for the first year, before others figured out tricks to outpower the Cooper. This unit is claimed to be the only original surviving factory team car in existence
Number Four
The fourth highest selling car was the 1998 Ferrari F300 which went for $ 1,870,000. It brings over 750 horsepower from a nearly 3 liter V10 engine, seven speed paddle shifter, and four wheel disc brakes. Ironically this car never raced in F1 competition. It was Ferrari’s test car. Hence why it is so expensive to have a racing team/s in any series. Still it is a beautiful and rare car.
Number Three
The third highest selling car was 1955 Mercedes Benz 300 SL Gullwing which went for $2,090,000. Dang, we love all variations of gull wings! It has a 3 liter inline six cylinder and historic direct port fuel injection. The design speaks for itself and is timeless.
Number Two
The second highest selling car was the Corvette, “Rebel” selling for a cool $2,860,000. This was one of four made by Chevrolet with the racing specs. After a great history of racing it was scrapped in 1972 and disappeared before Kevin Mackay, a well known restorer, found it. It came with a L88 engine with open chamber heads, a rock crusher Muncie M22 4 speed and a dual disk clutch
Number One
And the highest selling car at the Barrett-Jackson Auction w as the 1967 Corvette L88 that sold for $3,850,000. For the limited production freaks, there were only TWENTY L88’s made in 1967 and this was the only red on red model. Perhaps more surprising is, the odometer is only showing 11,800 miles on the odometer! The seller is a well known name in Corvette circles and he certainly brought a real award winner to Barrett-Jackson.
Oh by the way. Think Craig Jackson doesn’t know his cars and the market? Four of these five cars were among the cars featured on the inside pages next to the front and rear cover of the Salon Collection catalog!
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It turns out the Hollywood magic must have worn out and the painted on Goodyear logo and Eagle name were removed showing the true brand of these tires – Pirelli.
For the past three years, at the end of the SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) Show on Friday, some of the cars on display drive out of the show onto the surrounding street in front of the Las Vegas Convention Center. It has become known as “The Cruise” and has become very popular, even amongst weary, dog tired show goers.
This year SEMA had an emcee and a DJ spinning some tunes. Because it gets dark early in Las Vegas, SEMA even arranges for some portable lights so the cars can be easily seen.
Some cars tossed out sponsor t-shirts or hats to the crowd and Chip Foose came over to say hi and thanked the crowd for attending. SEMA was even selling a limited number of hats, embroidered to commemorate the Cruise
