Sold! To The Deepest DreamerThere's nothing like a high-end car auction to gauge the health of the economy. No one is there out of need. Desire, yes, but to buy wheels for mere transport? No. Transactions are willing, sometimes desperate, surrenders of money. Some bidders are driven by speculation, but these aren't the penny stock boys; they're gamblers on a much grander scale. Most who attend this kind of tent circus, however, are tugged in by their heartstrings, questing for a physical connection to some emotional need.
For me, it's a cherry 1964 Dodge Dart. If I hear about one offered for auction, I'm there with checkbook and, if necessary, pink slips and mortgage. I would do almost anything to take home that slant-six-powered connection to my free and easy teen years- especially if it had, like mine did, baby blue paint.
I thought about this grail of a Dart while looking over the results from January's Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, Ariz., a town where the money never sleeps. Quickly turning to the Dodge category, I found that a bunch had been up for auction, but no Darts. As I scanned the list further, I began to marvel at how much people were paying for cars that, for me, strike a big neutral spot in my brain's emotional cortex.
For instance, the most expensive car sold that day was a 1938 Lincoln Zephyr V12 Coupe street rod, rolling away to the jingle of $432,000. Okay, homeland history, a bunch of cylinders, slick two-tone paint. But a rod? In my noggin, neutral response. Number two and three most costly? Mercedes gullwings, both from 1955, one fetching $394,200 and the other $367,200. Milestone cars; beauty, history and that three-pointed star. But almost four hundred grand? For one car?
What if I could split those bucks into separate piles, small and tall, so that I'd drive off with a whole stable instead of loading just one lone SL into a transporter for its long drive home to the collection. What could I get for...heck, let's round it off to $400,000. Could I be happy with a different car for each day of the week, or would a couple of more expensive machines suffice?
Lots of cars in the Top 75 beckoned, but a '67 Daimler Limousine DS420 was the cheapest of that lot ($97,200!), so I fantasy-shopped from the rest of the list. I've always wanted an Aston Martin, but not a DB6 (a '67 model went for $87,480). And I've long adored the Austin-Healey 3000, but the '65 at auction that originally cost under $4,000 seemed a bit dear at $70,200.
Avanti, Bentley, Buick, Cadillac, Callaway ($216,000 for a '97 C7R GT1 endurance racer!) and Chevrolet (a'55 Bel Air custom sport coupe pulled in $226,800) passed my eyes without sparking interest, save for a '66 Nova SS hardtop. A friend owned one when I had the Dart, so I definitely felt tugs from that direction ($38,988). Chrysler, Citron-Maserati ($15,120 for a '72 SM), Cord, Daimler and Delage? Flatline on the emotional scale. Delorean? Is notoriety enough? Not for me, nor for this crowd. Neither of the two '82 models could muster even $15,000. The Dodges, Dual Ghia, Edsel and Excalibur (neoclassic...shudder!) were quickly forgotten as the Ferraris came into view. The '51 Vignale caused goosebumps, not to mention astonishment at its $355,000 price, but I would have thrown my bones in the direction of the '67 Dino ($18,360). Fiat and Ford? Forget it, unless a '54 Ford wagon came up. It didn't. Gardner, Gem, GMC or Harley? Hardly. Skip Heinkel, Hudson, Hummer, Jaguar, Jeep, La Salle, Lamborghini, and go straight to Porsche. I'll take the '64 356 SC Cabriolet for $91,800 (my precioussss...) and the last of the 3.3 Turbos, a '79 Porsche 930 ($19,980). And I've still got $270,000 left to spend. Let me at those Ferraris again...