My Barrett Jackson thoughts

[Damn True]

I agree with that statement 100%...I see it happening all the time to!

The world is full of failed builders (cars and choppers) who've tried to do just that.

There is a reason why Bobby Alloway can just start working on some old hulk and have it sold before the first bit of rust is fixed. His reputation brings the customers.

[Travis B]

The world is full of failed builders (cars and choppers) who've tried to do just that.

There is a reason why Bobby Alloway can just start working on some old hulk and have it sold before the first bit of rust is fixed. His reputation brings the customers.

you have to have a name w/o people won't pay the big bucks for a car..I went to school with a bunch of guys that thought they were going ot leave there and be the next chip foose...I have heard of 3 of them failing to this date!

[Damn True]

Those guys may very well have had more talent in their little finger than Foose. But, "Dude I'm gonna start a [Hot-Rod, Chopper, Bicycle, Surfboard etc.] shop." will fail 99 times out of 100.
You have to build the rep first. The best way to do that is by sucking up some pride and working for someone else. Like Foose did when he was with Boyd. Build a reputation (which becomes a customer base) over time.

[Bill Howell]

My take on the auction is this. I feel that while our style cars will never bring the money a low mileage, matching numbers car will, the fact is there are only a few of those cars left. However, this auction has proved that unlike the reto days of the past, the prostreet days, protouring cars, built right, with the correct proven parts may actually be a break even process now. Who knows, maybe in a year or two, we can actually make money on fresh cars. I built my car to drive, so profit has never really been a driving force, however, after I enjoy it this year, I may run it through next January just to see what happens. If I can play with it a year, then break selling it, that is a hell of a lot better than I can do with a new Porsche or Viper. Looking at the difference in attention last year, compared to this year, if the trend continues, Protouring style cars will be doing real numbers at BJ soon. Again, I do not think the majority of cars built on this site are built with the intention to sell for profit, but hopefully you can break even now if you finish a quality car. That can only be good news. After seeing the Saturday stuff sell, it was easy to become jaded Sunday, but when protouring cars were bringing 70K to 8OK, that is still nothing to sneeze at. May not be much profit, but good return anyway.

[73z-6sp]

Uhhh...

[DeepBlue68]

This is totally off-topic, but did anyone see that old 30-something Willys with the gigantic chromed-out supercharged engine sticking through the hood that burnt holes in the carpet on the block when they revved it up? That was freakin amazing.

One thing that I laughed at was while that car was being bid on, the Speed guys in the booth were talking to the guy down on the auction block. One thing they asked him was something to the effect of "what category does this car fall into? Pro-Touring, Pro-Street, Resto-mod?" I almost s*** a frisbee when they said Pro-Touring. I don't know if they were saying that just to use the term and sound knowledgeable, or if they seriously didn't know whether that car was P-T or not. Luckily the guy down on the block said "undoubtedly pure Pro Street." I had a big sigh of relief after that one. I guess the Barrett Jackson's bread and butter is (1) factory original nut and bolt restorations and (2) traditional 30's hot rods, so the announcers are never gonna be anything close to an expert on Resto-mods, Pro Touring, etc.

[Bill Howell]

This is totally off-topic, but did anyone see that old 30-something Willys with the gigantic chromed-out supercharged engine sticking through the hood that burnt holes in the carpet on the block when they revved it up? That was freakin amazing.

One thing that I laughed at was while that car was being bid on, the Speed guys in the booth were talking to the guy down on the auction block. One thing they asked him was something to the effect of "what category does this car fall into? Pro-Touring, Pro-Street, Resto-mod?" I almost s*** a frisbee when they said Pro-Touring. I don't know if they were saying that just to use the term and sound knowledgeable, or if they seriously didn't know whether that car was P-T or not. Luckily the guy down on the block said "undoubtedly pure Pro Street." I had a big sigh of relief after that one.

I saw that too, lol
It was a resale also, followed the six shooter challenger on Sunday. First sale was a no sale. I bet he got a bill for the melted carpet, I also bet it sounded really good inside the tent when he revved the motor and burnt the carpet.....

[vintageracer]

All you need to do is look at the 72 GTX "R" built by Bill Stroppe for the Daimler/Chrysler display at the 2003 SEMA show to see what an almost new "Pro-Touring" car will bring at auction with few miles and LOT"S of magazine/media coverage . That BEAUTITUL Red/Red car sold Sunday for $65,000! That amount is easily less than 1/2 of the original build cost of that car!

In "MY" opinion this was an absolute STEAL if you like that car and "I" do like that car. This car "was" the star of the MOPAR booth at the 2003 SEMA show. The car has been in EVERY magazine worth reading and in many print ads. The selling price for this car was LESS THAN THE LABOR BILL TO BUILD THE CAR! The buyer got a FREE car, FREE parts and a lot of FREE labor!

This particular 72 GTX car, numerous high profile street rods and several other 2 year old high end, magazine famous Pro-tour/Street Rod cars sold CHEAP at this sale. What's neat and new today quickly gets old in this ever changing hobby. If you build a car that's new, fresh and innovative with any thought of selling the car within 1 year, SELL IMMEDIATELY! Be a whore and take the big money as it is a VERY good chance that the value of your prized car will drop MUCH faster than you think! If you keep it 1 year you WILL lose money. By lose money I do not mean you will get less money than when the car was new and fresh. I mean you will lose all that profit you would enjoy by an immediate sale AND get far less money than you have invested building the car!

Just one man's opinion who was there all week!

There were lot's of bargains in the Phoenix paper. I bought 3 cars and another guy with me bought 3. All were purchased by riding and looking at cars or at the BIG Saturday car show on Indian Bend Road. There was over 1,000 cars at the local show and most were for sale just by asking.

The prime time TV coverage does not do this auction justice. Sure, there are cars that bring HUGE money. There are also LOT'S of cars that are very reasonable or cheap.

If you will go to BJ to purchase a car WITHOUT any specific car in mind before you arrive, you will find a nice car at a deal! With so many nice regular/collector/special interest cars for sale there it would be hard not to find a nice car for your personal enjoyment.

[Bill Howell]

Was the car show at the Pavillions?

[Damn True]

I bought 3 cars and another guy with me bought 3.

What'd ya buy?

[vintageracer]

1 70 GTO
1 70 Cutlass Convertible
1 65 Lemans Convertible rolling body
1 71 Buick GS Convertible
1 70 Pontiac Trans Am
1 70 "Boss Hog" Cadillac Convertible

Tried to get a 70 Malibu convertible and a 72 Malibu convertible but either I was too cheap or they were too stubborn????

Yes Bill, the car show is every Saturday at the Pavillions!

I was a guest at a superb car collection owned by a gentleman who bought my 70 Buick Stage 1 Convertible last year. He had a private party on Sunday with "Unbelieveable" as the only way to describe his collection! He is also the gentleman who sold the 70 Hemi Cuda Convertible for $2.2MM.

[Bill Howell]

1 65 Lemans Convertible rolling body

Posers like us.......

[USAZR1]

Guess there's two ways to look at this:
Are you building someone's dream or a profit/loss statement?

[lftnwhls]

Did anybody here the announcer say to the other announcer say "why is a 327 so much more sought after than a 409?"

I spit my drink halfway accross the room how did these guys get the job.

It only makes an original impalla worth like 15K more having the 409.

[ProdigyCustoms]

The announcers are a joke. And they speak so with such conviction, like they really know what they are talking about.

[southernfriedcj]

1 70 Pontiac Trans Am

Is it for sale?

Jim

[Travis B]

What's neat and new today quickly gets old in this ever changing hobby. If you build a car that's new, fresh and innovative with any thought of selling the car within 1 year, SELL IMMEDIATELY! Be a whore and take the big money as it is a VERY good chance that the value of your prized car will drop MUCH faster than you think! If you keep it 1 year you WILL lose money. By lose money I do not mean you will get less money than when the car was new and fresh. I mean you will lose all that profit you would enjoy by an immediate sale AND get far less money than you have invested building the car!

Just one man's opinion who was there all week!

.

You pretty much hit the nail on the head with that statement...we build most of our cars to sell and usually we have them gone in the first 2 to 3 months of completion!

[Nine Ball]

I don't use BJ as a gauge to the industry or to tell me how buyers will react. The honest truth is that some of these big name cars were overpriced last year and sold. Some pro-touring cars have excellent craftsmanship and an impressive parts list, but are built using cars that aren't as desirable as others, or painted colors that turn off half of the potential buyers. Being too different can sometimes hurt your sale, its been proven many times.

I've seen cars that have had tons of coverage sell pretty good after just performing a wheel swap. We all know that a simple $2000-4000 wheel/tire swap can completely change the look of a car and disguise it as something new, as long as the car isn't too unique and identifiable on its own. Bill's GTO or Prodigy couldn't do that of course, they are too unique.

Screw taking your chances on BJ with these cars. Put them on ebay and set a reasonable reserve price. If it doesn't sell, it doesn't sell. Doesn't cost you anything. Ebay sees PLENTY of buyers with cash in their pocket. You will probably even get offers before the car hits reserve. Thats how I sold my red '69, I was offered my reserve price on the 2nd day of a 7-day auction. I basically sold my car for the value of the parts and car, no labor. But, I had fun racing it, doing the long haul on Power Tour with it, and taking it to several shows and cruises. I got it into PHR and CHP magazines, and felt that I was "done" with the car and wanted to start something new.

Don't count ebay out guys, you don't need to risk the no reserve sales at BJ.

Tony

[vintageracer]

Tony,

I agree with that EBAY is a good selling vehicle for these cars. I think your post/statement supports my opinion about selling fresh cars immediately for top dollar as you stated in your post "I sold my car for the value of the parts and car, NO Labor". Granted, you may enjoy the work as a hobby however everyone's time is worth something and for many this may not be hobby but a profession.

Depending on the car you build, the labor expense can/does exceed the the cost of the "car and parts" in the build of most cars. If this is true, and "I" believe this to be the case, where you sell your car or what venue you use to advertise/sell your car really does not make any difference since the selling price may/will be the same.

The only difference I see between all other selling methods and a no reserve auction is that the seller no longer maintains control as to the decision/price at which the car sells in a "no reserve" auction. Many times keeping control is also NOT a good thing since in most cases the first offer you receive is your best offer and all of us know how many times we have said "Damn, I should have taken his offer"! At least the "no reserve" auction will eliminate "greed" on the sellers part since the seller no longer has to make the decision to sell the car since the high bidder will own the car. Kinda like "Texas Hold-um"!

Something to consider???

[Nine Ball]

I've had offers to build cars for private parties, and have considered it. The only problem I have is not having enough spare time to do it. I barely have time to work on my own cars, and enjoy not having to keep a deadline on those. I work in oil/gas as a Project Manager, so when I get home I don't want a schedule haha. But, you are correct, hobbyists that enjoy building cars will rarely lose money. We don't have the overheads to pay, and we don't bill for our hours. I did some calculations with Phil at BRP on the build cost of my car, and it would have been about $30K worth of labor at regular rates. Basically, $95-100K to duplicate my car. I sold the car for $60K cash, wired directly into my account. I probably could have held out for $70K (had offers after I removed it from ebay), but the buyer seemed too legit to pass up.

Honestly, if I were to build cars for a living, I wouldn't even build a car for myself. I'd make sure each car was paid in advance (at least 50% down) from a buyer, and just do the typical cost+% on any parts needed. Labor would be logged. It would be tough to build cars on your dime and hope they sell. Much less stressful knowing the car is already paid for.