Tag Archives: auction

Bugatti Type 57SC Wins Arizona Concours d’Elegance

January 20, 2017 Route 66 Pub Co Leave a comment

To the surprise of few, a 1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic, won the “Best of Show” honors Sunday at the 4th annual Arizona Concours d’Elegance held at the Arizona Biltmore Resort on Sunday January, 15, 2017.

Bugatti Wins Best of Show

To win best of show, the car first took the honors for its class – The cars of Ettore and Jean Bugatti. Then the four top class winners were judged again for the Best of Show Award.

The low slung car, capable of a top speed of 122 MPH with a an inline eight cylinder engine with less than 200 ci is quite unique with the body seams joined at flanges by rivets. Originally it was thought that this prototype used the rivets as the metal ( a blend of magnesium and aluminum) is difficult to weld. Perhaps the builder was so taken with the effect that he needed up using the same process on the three Atlantic cars built on this design. This car was originally owned by Lord Victor Rothschild. It later had a supercharger added and it was imported to the states by 1946.

Bugatti Background

The car had recently been seen at Los Angeles’ Petersen Museum, but normally is on display at the Mullin Automotive Museum, which makes sense since Peter and Merle Mullin, Bugatti aficionados, are part owners of the car, along with Rob and Melani Walton (from the Wal-Mart clan). The car has won at other showings, including best of Show at the Pebble Beach Concours in 2003. The joint owners paid $36 million for the Bugatti. A different Type 57SC is owned by Ralph Lauren.

Arizona Concours d’Elegance

The entry field consisted of ninety cars, entered in seventeen classes. The grassy lawn of the palatial Arizona Biltmore was the perfect spot for the show and the proceeds from the show go to Make A Wish of Arizona. The Arizona Concours d’Elegance kicks off a week of classic car auctions in the Phoenix, AZ region. In a future article we’ll highlight some of our favorite builds and award winners. So be sure and sign up so you won’t miss the next article?

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Auctions, Uncategorized

Alumatub by Boyd Coddington Sells at Barrett-Jackson

January 18, 2017 Route 66 Pub Co Leave a comment

Alumatub, Boyd Coddington’s third all aluminum build sells at the Barrett-Jackson auction this week. This was the third in a series of aluminum bodied customs that Coddington produced. The top can come off to allow for a roadster feel.

Alumatub Specs

This one is powered by a Chevy small block 350 and sends power to the back through a Chevrolet TH350 transmission with a quick change rear end. The body work was done by famed master Marcel‘s Custom Metal and is hard to believe this was hand formed and not stamped out on a press. Our friends at Hot Rod sure loved it.

Alumatub Build

This hand crafted Boyd Coddington build was showcased on his TV show, “American Hot Rod” TV series which can still be seen on the Discovery Channel. After Coddington’s untimely death, it was thought that his builds would increase in value as his output was now finalized.

Alumatub Prices

Alumatub first sold at Barrett-Jackson in 2005 to Ron Pratte with a listed price, including commissions, of $170,500. He sold it ten years later for $187,000 in 2015. The current owner is selling this year and it’ll be interesting to see what it sells for.

Any guesses?

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Auctions

Hennessey Venom GT Selling at Barrett-Jackson

January 11, 2017 Route 66 Pub Co Leave a comment

Steven Tyler’s 2012 Hennessey Venom GT convertible is selling next week at the Barrett-Jackson Auction in Scottsdale, AZ. Tyler, from American Idol and Aerosmith fame, bought the first convertible that Hennessey built and is donating the proceeds to a child abuse group- Janie’s Fund which he created.

Hennessey Venom GT Spyder

The Hennessey VENOM GT convertible holds the top speed record for convertibles at 270.49 mph, set in 2014 at the Houston Space Center. 0-60 times is a scorching 2.7 seconds while the 0-200 mph time is a “sedate” 14.5 seconds. Hennessey Venom GT Front View

Hennessey Specs

How did Hennessey created such a speed demon? Take a 7 liter V-8 (Gm’s 427 ci LSX engine) and add twin turbos to created 1244 horsepower. Craft the mid-engine convertible out of carbon fiber, sitting on a composite/aluminum monocoque frame so it weighs in at 2,743 pounds. It is actually based on the Lotus Exige.

The car has a Ricardo 6 speed manual transmission, Brembo six piston brakes, electric assisted rack and pinion steering and adjustable coil overs. The car even has a JL Audio system. Hennessey Venom GT Rear view

It’ll be interesting to see what this supercar sells for at Friday’s auction spot. What’s your guess for the hammer price on this Hennessey Venom GT?

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Auctions, Uncategorized

Gordon Apker – RIP to a classy car collector

February 4, 2016 Route 66 Pub Co Leave a comment

Gordon Apker

It was announced by Sports Car Market that Gordon Apker died yesterday, February 3, 2016 in Scottsdale, AZ. Apker was a classic car collector and had developed quite a collection. Ironically this past month, the Barrett-Jackson Auction had helped sell some of his automobilia. Gordon Apker, in Barrett-Jackson’s press release was quoted that he wasn’t getting out of the collections and only selling a portion of his collection.

Gordon Apker and Shakey’s

You might not have known Gordon Apker by name but he was the former owner of the Shakey’s Pizza chain. In fact he was so proud of his business that some of his classic cars bore the secondary license plate with Shakey’s logo.

Gordon Apker’s Classic Cars

Apker’s cars focused on mid 50’s Detroit steel and he exhibited cars at the Arizona Concours d’Elegance

It would seem fitting to recognize Gordon by highlighting the cars he brought out there for the last two years.

Just last month, he brought out his 1957 Oldsmobile, Ninety Eight convertible. This black beauty had the famed Rocket V-8 engine, a 371 cubic inch with three carburetors. I loved the red accent line on this convertible.

Last year Gordon Apker showed this green 1952 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight two door hardtop. Not surprisingly both cars took home awards each year from the show.

Safe journeys, Gordon Apker.

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Auctions, Car show, Manufacturer news, Uncategorized

Shart Cat 67 Dart by Gas Monkey Garage

February 1, 2016 Route 66 Pub Co Leave a comment

Shart Cat is the name of Gas Monkey Garage’s 1967 Dodge Dart that was sent out to compete on a modified parking lot in Detroit, Michigan for an eighth mile drag race against Roadkill’s General Mayhem, a Dodge Charger. If you follow the Fast N’ Loud “Reality TV” show on Discovery, you know after some minor technical difficulties, the Dart driven by Aaron Kaufman beat Roadkill by over half a second. That’s time to make a cup of coffee in drag racing time speak.

Shart Cat Tensions

Shart Cat Hellcat Engine — Shart Cat Hellcat engine

In true reality television tension, after rushing to meet the impossible deadline, the Gas Monkey Garage crew made it up for the grudge match against the maker’s of General Mayhem. Naturally there were some technical, last minute problems to create even more drama. But when the lights came on, Kaufman’s foot went down and so did Roadkill’s hope. Roadkill used a 1968 Dodge Charger, also with a Hellcat engine, but without the drag racing standard two-speed Powerglide or trans brake. That lack of engineering and the lighter weight of a Dart probably doomed the Roadkill crew from the starting lights.

Richard Rawlings didn’t waste any time deciding to sell the Shart Cat at the Barrett-Jackson Auction in January, 2016. The TV episodes made it very clear that NOBODY has slapped a new Hellcat engine into anything without transplanting the entire electronic controllers and brains with it. Check out the typed instructions the auction drivers needed to follow to make the Shart Cat play nice.

Logo of Gas Monkey Garage

To be kind the body was rough, but I suspect that the bidders didn’t care about the exterior as much as being able to tout the car as coming from the Gas Monkey Garage stable. Heck Richard didn’t even pop for any expensive vinyl decals or wraps!

Shart Cat Sells

The buyer shelled out a final price with commissions of $74,800 to be able to place this Dodge in their garage. Would you have spent that much?

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Auctions, Car show, Uncategorized

Corvette Summer INSPIRED Model by Gas Monkey Garage

January 27, 2016 Route 66 Pub Co Leave a comment

Fans of Richard Rawlings and Aaron Kaufman from Fast N’ Loud will recall that a recent episode featured a Corvette that was in the style of the 1972 Corvette featured in the Mark Hamill (before Star Wars fame) movie “Corvette Summer”.

Corvette Summer

Let’s set things straight right away. The original Corvette from that movie was a right hand drive. Clearly the car that Gas Monkey Garage bought is a left hand drive car. So in the words of the Barrett-Jackson website for the car listing – “‘Corvette Summer’ inspired this car offered by Gas Monkey Garage.”

So if you didn’t listen closely to the episode or read careful the placards you may think differently. Never the less it is an interesting look.

Corvette Summer Inspired

The “growth” coming out of the hood is not even a grill or opening but has vinyl simulating an opening.

Somebody did take some time to craft a look a-like; but since it isn’t even a right hand drive I wouldn’t even try to call it a clone or re-creation.

If you follow the show on the Discovery Channel you know what they paid. It goes on the auction block on Friday, so we can see how well Richard does on the car right away.

What do you think Flip or Flop?

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Auctions, Car show, Uncategorized

Gas Monkey Garage 68 Corvette Hot Wheels

January 25, 2016 Route 66 Pub Co Leave a comment

Gas Monkey Garage has made some outrageous builds, but this season’s Hot Wheels 68 Corvette might take the cake. And you can take it home, if you score the winning bid at the Barrett-Jackson Auction on Saturday, January 30, 2016.

Gas Monkey Garage

The stars of “reality TV’s” Fast N’ Loud – Richard Rawlings and Aaron Kaufman – took a clean 68 Corvette that had a big block 427 cubic inch engine with a four speed and slapped on a Weiand blower to stick out of the hood.

The exhaust sticks out of the side as well. But the gold flake paint job and the wide rear fender flares really help to set this Corvette off for Gas Monkey Garage. The red line tires scream period correct and are a nice choice mated to the US Mags.

Gas Monkey Garage and Hot Wheels

The story for television was that Mattel’s Hot Wheels wanted Gas Monkey Garage to design and build a car that they could feature as a model. I’m thinking a line of exclusive Gas Monkey themed model cars coming soon to toy stores everywhere.

So the successful bidder can take the car back to his garage and soon have a Hot Wheels version as well. Or the losing bidders may just have to settle for the Mattel version, which probably gets better gas mileage.

1968 Hot Wheels Corvette

We have highlighted Gas Monkey Garage at the Barrett-Jackson Auction before. They always draw a crowd around their cars, once the show hit the cable “airwaves”.

Personally I think the Corvette begs to have a set of chrome side pipes slapped on it, but who asked me? I am asking you to post up what you think the winning bid will be. For the eagle eyed viewers, Craig Jackson is in one of shots in the slideshow below. Where’s Craig?

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Auctions, Uncategorized

Two Lane Blacktop Builder

February 5, 2015 Route 66 Pub Co Leave a comment

Two Lane Blacktop

Here is a link to a recent article that we did for eBay Motors on the original builder of the 55 Chevy’s for the cult classic movie Two Lane Blacktop.

Barrett-Jackson

The 55 Chevy recently sold at Barrett-Jackson in Scottsdale for $159,500. The builder has some great stories and we think it a shame he never provided more awesome cars for Hollywood.

What do you think of his build?

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Auctions, Car show, Uncategorized

Gas Monkey Garage at Barrett-Jackson Results

January 30, 2015 Route 66 Pub Co Leave a comment

Gas Monkey Garage came out in force at the Barrett-Jackson Car Auction this year. Richard Rawlings and Aaron Kaufman, the stars of Discovery Channel’s Fast N’ Loud, brought out seven vehicles that they have been part of at their Dallas, TX garage, in some way.

We have been fans of their antics since the first season and profiled one of their cars that was sold at Barrett-Jackson before their garage became so well known.

Spoiler alert

One of the cars is so new it has not even been seen on the show yet. So proceed only if you want to see all of Gas Monkey’s vehicles that sold at auction.

Prices

The prices listed include a 10% buyer’s commission. So if the winning bid was for $35,000 the buyer actually shells out $38,500 to Barrett-Jackson, which is what we list. And Barrett-Jackson typically takes a similar cut from the seller, so from a winning bid of $35,000 the seller would net $31,500.

66 Volkswagen “Shorty”

This bus must have been left outside in the Texas rain and shrunk. Interesting twist on the usual VW bus and hard to miss. Richard bought it for $2K and intended on putting $7,500 more into it. Sue charged him $3K to install the kit alone, so suspect he invested way more than $7,500. This was the only Gas Monkey garage vehicle sold on Wednesday. It sold for $38,500.

69 Ford Truck

The shop truck with a definite tinge of patina sold solo on Thursday. This has definitely seen some wear and there are even some minor holes in the bed so we know it has been put to work. It sold for $42,900.

68 Chevy Impala

This is brand new to the TV viewers, since it hasn’t been aired yet. It did not even meet the print deadline to be in the humongous Barrett-Jackson catalog! Green with a black vinyl top. Equipped with a crate ZZ5 engine and a two speed Powerglide transmission. Ride Tech suspension and Wilwood brakes with nice Intro wheels. Rumor has it the winning bidder can return to Dallas and be in the show, since he bid $50,600.

68 Shelby Mustang Convertible.

This baby even came with an AM radio/eight track player. But Rawlings’ crew couldn’t locate an eight track to test it out. It’s been repainted Lime Gold and uses a 302 V8 and a three speed. Ironically the catalog fails to mention any connection to Gas Monkey Garage but it still sold for $106,700.

86 Porsche 930 Renspeed

This baby is Rawlings’ friend Dennis Collins’ sale and is one of twelve built. The red color looks nice and there is only 9,000 miles on this baby. Nearly 30 years old and only 9,000 miles – go figure. It sold new for $168,000 and was last serviced in 2011. Dennis sold it for $165,000

64 Corvette

Another late entry that missed the catalog deadline. It is fuel injection with a 327 and a four speed and is a numbers matching car. It sports original Kelsey Hayes knock offs for a nice authentic look. The price went up to $77,000.

1971 Chevrolet Kingswood Station Wagon

This was used to help promote “Ugly Kid”. It has a crate 454 engine and a 400 automatic with a supercharger (hence the hood alteration). On the show Richard sold it for $42,000 but later took it back from Ugly Kid. Love the Cragars wheels and the “wood” trim but honestly it is showing some age but still sold for $36,300.

Finally we saved the best for last

76 Chevy C-10

This truck was donated to a local Dallas charity and Dennis Collins stepped up to the plate on TV and bought it for $85,000. Now he flipped it at Barrett-Jackson and sold it for only $45,100. It uses a LS7 engine for power and has a 4L85E automatic .

Many folks on Rawlings’ “interweb” question the build but it looks solid; but Dennis should have had somebody tweak the hood better. The alignment is terrible.Driver’s Side Hood Alignment

Passenger Side Hood Alignment

Now I’d be guessing that Richard didn’t have to pay the full 10% seller’s commission, but that’s between him and Craig Jackson. So do you think Richard flipped out okay on these cars?

Enjoy all the pictures of the cars and trucks from Gas Monkey Garage

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Auctions, Uncategorized

1961 Corvette from Barrett-Jackson

January 28, 2015 Route 66 Pub Co Leave a comment

Here’s our recent story for eBay Motors on this nice resto-mod 1961 Corvette that was sold at Barrett-Jackson last week in Scottsdale, AZ. Two years ago we covered the sale of his Scooby Doo themed Mystery Van.

1961 Corvette

The builder started out with somebody else’s 1961 Corvette convertible and after removing the body ended up with this sweetie.

The resto-mod utilized a new LS3 engine from GM along with a new 4L70E four speed transmission. Nicely and tastefully done, this convertible screamed fun and power.

1961 Corvette Results

So with this rest-mod you end up with the classic styling of a 61 Corvette with all the modern touches and upgrades that make this fun to drive. The builder even installs power studs under the passenger wheel well to allow for a trickle charger to be discretely in place, if needed. The Corvette just screams that it is ready for whatever the road brings on.