Went to the Barrett-Jackson Auction today !!!!! 72 240Z up for bids !!!!

[Alex 240Z]

Few more photos !!!! I definetly enjoyed the atmosphere of the auction and will never see a collection of cars all in one place !!!! The prices were soaring and the bidding was heavy today !!! Speed TV was there yesturday and today !!!! I saw a few cars that sold for 80,000 another for 65,000 that had to pushed out of the auction area lot of dead batterys !!!! But afer all is said and donel I am very happy with my 1971 920 gold 240Z !!!!! So this will more than likely be my last two day auction experience !!!!!

[kinfish]

I also attended the auction and spoke to the owner before the car went up for bidding early Friday morning. He confirmed what "jimbeaux" said that he bought car at Scottsdale event last year. Owner said he lived in Charlotte, NC and brought 8 cars to be sold since he didn't have time to drive them all.

Car sold for $10,700 plus 8% buyer fee = $11,556.

Agree with Alex240Z that engine was never rebuilt. The A/C was dealer installed system and VIN #3074264. The buyer told me he was from Orlando and never owned a Z. He was simply spending some of the excess cash he made in the hot Florida real estate market. Engine did run smoothly but the engine compartment was far from being detailed.

BJ making beaucoup bucks at these events especially when bidding goes into 6 figures. Guy that sold the Z says he pays $500 for the right to enter a car into the auction and then pays 8% commission on sale price. Buyer also pays 8% commission. What a racket.

Did watch bidding on a number of vehicles and most shocking was bidding on a 1963 Triumph TR4 roadster ...... a light blue restoration ...... very well done but it sold for $90,000 ....... about 10 times what I thought it was worth.

[xray]

I need to list my Z with BJ when it's done being restored. $10k for a car that needs big work done (at least dash, suspension and engine bay from the supplied pics) to be a #2-3 car??? Screw EBay--lemme sell it at Palm Beach/Scottsdale, baby!

The folks who go there to buy cars really must get caught up in a frenzy. The prices they are willing to pay for some cars...

[lonetreesteve]

Xray,

If you decide to put your Z up for auction through BJ, I would recommend that you bring it to the granddaddy of all auto auctions -in Scottsdale. There are a lot more potential buyers there and a lot more from the West Coast, where people are more familiar with classic 240Zs.

[montoya_fan01]

I need to list my Z with BJ when it's done being restored. $10k for a car that needs big work done (at least dash, suspension and engine bay from the supplied pics) to be a #2-3 car??? Screw EBay--lemme sell it at Palm Beach/Scottsdale, baby!

The folks who go there to buy cars really must get caught up in a frenzy. The prices they are willing to pay for some cars...

First you'll have to ask B-J if they will allow your car in their auction. They don't accept just any car, and IF accepted, you'll have to agree to a NO RESERVE auction, pay them $500 and 8% of the final sales price. As the seller of the Z sold today found out, there is no guarantee of making a profit.

B-J is probably not the best place to try to sell a Japanese Sports GT.

[xray]

First you'll have to ask B-J if they will allow your car in their auction. They don't accept just any car, and IF accepted, you'll have to agree to a NO RESERVE auction, pay them $500 and 8% of the final sales price. As the seller of the Z sold today found out, there is no guarantee of making a profit.

B-J is probably not the best place to try to sell a Japanese Sports GT.

With the limited info available (pics in the thread), plus watching innumerbale EBay auctions, I would theorize that (a)the bar for allowing a Japanese GT into BJ auctions may be lower than you think, ( EBay has been closing auctions on similar cars for $5-7k, © the clientele at EITHER BJ location have WAYYYY too much money on their hands, and are (I would presume) a little starsturck by the "glitz," not to mention the intense pressure those folks put on bidders to pay big money for cars.

Seriously, you'd pay 10k for a 1972 (Ahem, "high VIN") car that needs pretty close to a full-on restoration done? (Engine bay, undercarriage, dash--who knows what else needs work. It's got shiny paint, I'll give you that.) I wouldn't (maybe 6-7k depending), but someone obviously will. And BJ knows how to attract that certain someone who wants to pay too much for a car. And I will pay $500 plus 8% to have the opportunity to make that sale to that special someone (especially if they've had a couple drinks, stand next to that brown-haired hottie chick, and have TV cameras shoved in their face...

$10,500 - $500 - $840 (8%) = around $9160 take home. Sure the dude took a bath on the sale, but that's more because he BOUGHT at BJ Scottsdale, not because he didn't get good money for his car at Palm Beach. Just guessing here, but I am not confident he'd get $9100 for that car on EBay...

With all that said, I'm very glad he got over 10k for the car. I think that BJ putting 20-footer Zs on the block may mean that they see a potential market in our cars... Not the next muscle car mania, but maybe gaining some ground on British roadsters, Alfas, etc.

It's fun to speculate, but it's only $0.02,

Steve

[montoya_fan01]

Living in CA, I wouldn't have paid $8K for that car (judging from the pics) and probably wouldn't even go that high. Lots of cars at least as nice to be had here for $8K or less. The point I was trying to make (as my opinion) was that (a) B-J won't (hasn't) accepted many Z's into their auctions over the years, ( the buyers (in general, but with a few exceptions) are more interested in Hot Rods, Muscle Cars, and High End Classics., © B-J decides the auction presentation order and a Z probably won't get a "prime" place, so it may be on the block at a time when the rich boys are still at their hotel with thier hooker(s), or at the bar "warming up" for the main event.

Yes, amusing to speculate, and I'm sure that some of those guys get jazzed by the lights, cute auctioneer's assistant (Amy), and trying to prove they have a bigger ummm, "wallet" than the guy they are bidding against.

I would like to see more Z's at B-J events, but I think it's going to be quite a while before that happens.

[Alex 240Z]

Montoya fan01 you pretty much summarized my feelings about Barrett-Jackson auctions and the value of that particular Z which was probable the only Japanese car at the auction. As for time of the auction for the Z it was about 10:30am !!! People definetly get caught up in the hype and it was a very interesting two days for me. Like I said a lot of rich uppity people there and the main reason I went was to see the Z and if they would have auctioned of the first day I would have not returned for another day but since it went the next day I had to see what the car went for and believe me if it would have went for a low rediculous price I would have kicked myself in the but for not registering to bid on it !!!!!!!!!! This car was a Califorinia car though and it still had the Calif. plates on it.

[AWC]

Interesting. Sounds like the auction is definitely the place to sell and not to buy. Too much dumb money floating around.

I wonder what the most profitable type of car to restore and sell is? It would have to be something with lots of unrestored examples, few restored specimens on the market, a broad market appeal, and readily available parts.

[Zup]

AWC---

"I wonder what the most profitable type of car to restore and sell is? It would have to be something with lots of unrestored examples, few restored specimens on the market, a broad market appeal, and readily available parts."

You must be thinking a early Z car----one of the few automotive examples that meets all of your criteria!

Jim D.

"Zup"

[lonetreesteve]

AWC,

I have been watching the BJ (Scottsdale) Auctions on the Speed Channel for a number of years now and the cars that have done the best by far are the muscle cars. There were a lot of them made back in the mid-to-late '60s and early '70s (nearly 82,000 '67 GTOs made & 88,000 '68 models). These muscle cars have gone through the roof over the last few years. You can restore one for $40k then turn around and sell it at BJ for $75k to $80k. The typical BJ buyer is wealthy and is of the youngest of the pre-Baby Boom generation (in their sixties) or is of the older half of the Baby Boom generation (born 1946-1956 or in their fifties) the vast majority of these guys are only interested in American cars and mostly muscle cars. The younger half of the Baby Boomers (born 1957-64 or in their forties) and the older Generation X buyers (in their thirties) who have owned Japanese cars or currently own Japanese cars will become come to the forefront as the older buyers start to fade. Once this starts to happen, you will see more 240Zs at BJ.

[jmark]

I agree Steve.