The classic car hobby is one of the greatest hobbies to have because it brings together people of all different ages, opinions, and economic backgrounds. There are not many hobbies that have such a wide-variety of participants. Unfortunately, thanks to Barrett-Jackson, that is all about to change.
It wasn’t all that long ago that you could go out and pick up an old Chevy Camaro or Ford Mustang for a few hundred dollars and drag it home. Take several months worth of weekends and a few hundred dollars and you had yourself a decent running, driving beater. You could then drive it around, attend the local cruise-in, and work on the car along the way to get it to that pristine restored condition you dreamt about.
Then along comes Barrett-Jackson. For those of you that don’t know (all three of you), Barrett-Jackson is the largest series of collector car auctions in the world. Barrett-Jackson Auctions sells the nicest collector cars, brings in the largest audiences, and is a world of fun to attend. Sounds great, right? It is a fantastic idea, and makes a huge amount of money for those lucky enough to get your car in the auction. Unfortunately, it is these huge price tags that are killing the hobby.
Barrett-Jackson has a TV series that airs on the SPEED network that follows the higher dollar cars that come through the auction. I watched an auction the other day where they sold a rare, drag-raced, LS6 Chevelle for 1.1 million dollars. This car was in fantastic shape and had a huge amount of history that made this car unique, which validated the huge price tag.
Unfortunately for the average classic car fan, not everyone understands this. Some teenager that just inherited his grandfather’s rusted out 6-cylinder Malibu now thinks he’s sitting on a gold mine. Since Barrett-Jackson’s TV show has gained popularity, the prices of classic cars seems to be skyrocketing at an unnatural rate.
This rise in prices is driving out the lower income individuals and replacing them with high-dollar collectors that buy the car “built” instead of doing the work themselves. These guys are fine and have a right to own those cars, but these are not usually the people that show up at your local cruise-in and answer any question some new hobbyist has, thereby helping to spread the hobby.
Now, if an average guy wants to join the hobby, he has to pay an outrageous price for a car that would normally be considered “too far gone” for restoration. He then has to spend years and money that he can’t afford scraping together old parts to try and restore the car.
I don’t know how far this will go or where the hobby will go from here. I hope we find a way to keep the “average Joe” involved in this fantastic hobby. Without the variety of people that you come across, the classic car hobby won’t be the same.
November 20th, 2006 at 1:25 pm
I understand what you are saying but couldn’t disagree more. All Barrett-Jackson does is get the best cars avialable (you said that), and present them in an auction format at ‘no reserve’, simply meaning being sold to the highest bidder. What happens is the result of when the marketplace and capitalism taking over. We don’t make anyone do anything, neither the seller or the buyer are forced to participate at any level and the cars bring what they are worth in that environment, not a penny less or more. I believe that the American automobile has been undervalued for years and what we are experiencing is an adjustment in the marketplace. The cars we are selling and the cars we don’t sell represent true Americana and are part of our American legacy and deserve to be appreciated, restored and enjoyed by furture generations. Consider what has happened in the real estate market since 1969, those prices and values have risen as well. You can’t buy an acre of land anywhere in the US for what it was worth then. If we are guilty of anything it is for creating an awareness to the hobby and this wonderful world of automobiles and for that I couldn’t be prouder.
Gary Bennett
Barrett-Jackson
December 29th, 2006 at 9:12 am
Wow, a comment from the source themselves.
I agree with alot of what your saying, and the headline and tone of the blog entry is a little more cruel than my point. I love your tv shows, and watch them regularly.
With that said, reading over my original post my view on the tv show comes across a little harsh so I will soften it a little here.
The problem that exists is that many that own these cars have no real knowledge about them or there value. They can’t see the difference between there old beater and the pristing camaro that just sold for a hundred thousand dollars.
I don’t necessarily feel that the blame for this falls on Barret-Jackson themselves. However, they are the medium through which these inaccurate assumptions are spread. The argument with this is do you blame the cable company for what comes on your TV? Not usually. Regardless, as they said on spider ma: “with great power comes great responsibility”.
I will give Barrett-Jackson credit where credit is due. They seem to spend a lot of resources gathering great cars, validating the cars, and bringing in quality bidders. With a less responsible company, the problem could be much worse.
However, I would like to see continued resources going toward educating people about the true value of there classic cars.
I have no problem with someone getting what a car is worth. However, when a car is going to require $20,000 worth of work to be worth $20,000 then it is not worth anything.