Unlike many gearheads I know, I haven\u2019t been glued to Speed Channel the past week watching the Barrett-Jackson Auction.
\nYes, it\u2019s an automotive spectacle, generates loads of money for charity and it\u2019s on my gearhead bucket list but I\u2019m really not a fan. Sure watching multi-millionaires add to their already impressive collections generates a little wallet envy which is bad karma I know. I promise I\u2019ll get over it when I make my first million. But my lack of enthusiasm for the event is not all sour grapes.
\nA few years ago I read a classified ad in an auto trader in which a guy claimed his car would sell for double his asking price if he wanted to make the effort of travelling to Barrett-Jackson. I remember thinking what kind of idiot would sell a car at such a discount just so he didn\u2019t have to spend a few days travelling to Arizona. Especially when he was claiming the payout would be so lucrative. That thought was quickly followed by the realization Barrett-Jackson auctions really could have a negative ripple effect in the \u201creal\u201d world classic car hobby we plebeians muck around in.
\nGuys like this joker were jacking up prices \u2014 and some suckers were paying those prices \u2014 simply by attaching the phrase \u201cBarrett-Jackson\u201d to the car. It was irresponsible, but I guess inevitable and certainly<\/p>\n
there\u2019s been a market correction the past two years.
\nBut Barrett-Jackson doesn\u2019t always mean big money.
\nSaturday (Jan. 23) I became even less of a fan of the event when JF Launier\u2019s R\u2019Evolution, his brilliant \u201955 Chrysler custom wagon (the Speed announcers kept calling it a \u201956 but the JF Kustoms website lists it as a \u201955 so I\u2019ll go with the builder) gavelled for just $175,000. (Buyer\u2019s premium, etc. mean it officially sold for $187,000.)
\nI know placing the qualifier \u201cjust\u201d before $175,000 seems crazy, but this is a car that was a runner up for the 2008 Ridler Award, the most prestigious award in hot rodding. This is a car that, among countless other honours and awards in 2008 was also named World\u2019s Most Beautiful Custom at the Sacramento Autorama. The car\u2019s impact led to Launier being named Goodguys Trendsetter of the Year \u2014 an honour bestowed previously to hot rod icons such as Troy Trepanier and Chip Foose.
\nWhen the car rolled onto the block, one of the Speed announcers said it was his favourite car at the entire auction, but it certainly didn\u2019t sell like that.
\nIn fact, when the gavel fell and Arizona millionaire Ron Pratt signed his name to yet another cheque (how many cars does that guy buy per auction?)<\/p>\n
I was stunned. A bone stock Model A sold for $165,000 a few cars before it. I don\u2019t care if it was once stolen by \u201930s gangster John Dillinger it shouldn\u2019t have been in the same universe as R\u2019Evolution. (Was it me, or was the Model A\u2019s time on the block noticeably longer than R\u2019Evolution\u2019s?). The car didn’t even to seem to generate much bidding excitement and seemed to stall at $150,000. At the end of the day, R\u2019Evolution wasn\u2019t even in the top 15 sellers. I think it definitely deserved a better fate.
\nMaybe Launier hasn\u2019t yet achieved the iconic status of Trepanier or Foose but I feel the car was just as good as anything that has come out of those shops. You have to wonder if being based in Canada means despite his talents and achievements, Launier never will.
\nThat would be too bad.
\nI guess bottom line is, despite what I feel R\u2019Evolution should have sold for, JF Kustoms received media exposure many shops in the world would love to have but could never afford.
\nLet\u2019s see what happens next.<\/p>\n
Unlike many gearheads I know, I haven\u2019t been glued to Speed Channel the past week watching the Barrett-Jackson Auction. Yes,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n