Three of the cars I captured while at the Houston Mecum Auction last week where top ten sellers and are shown below. The car that garnered the biggest price - an astonishing 7 million dollars - was a 1964 Ford GT-40 prototype with Shelby's version of Ford's 289 mill, but although we looked at this car several times, I never photographed it for reasons I don't remember . Perhaps, I was simply overwhelmed by the 1000 cars to be explored .

The fourth car I've included in this post is a 1963, fuel-injected, custom Corvette, built by Chevy's Engineer Design Group for then Chevrolet general manager, Bunkie Knudsen. One of the bigger-than-life characters that dominated the American auto industry in the '50s and '60s, Knudsen (when reviving Pontiac in the mid '50s) is the man that reputedly coined the phrase, "you can sell an old man a young man's car, but you can't sell a young man an old man's car." In any case, the 'Vette shown here was retained by Chevy when The Deuce lured Knudsen into what turned out to be a brief stint at Ford, and the car subsequently fell into disrepair as it passed through the hands of various owners. In the early '80s, it was discovered and restored over many years to its original condition and spec. The car reached $775,000 at the auction but that didn't meet its reserve and the car apparently wasn't sold, since it wasn't listed among the top-ten sellers on Mecum's website.

Jer

2008 Ferrari 430 which sold for $170,000 (I would castigate these guys for turning their backs on a Ferrari if they weren't looking at a Porsche ):





1960 Porsche 356B Cabriolet which sold for $145,000:

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1970 Plymouth Superbird which sold for $135,000:



Bunkie's Baby:

[scratchpaddy]

One of the bigger-than-life characters that dominated the American auto industry in the '50s and '60s, Knudsen (when reviving Pontiac in the mid '50s) is the man that reputedly coined the phrase, "you can sell an old man a young man's car, but you can't sell a young man an old man's car."

How ironic! In my lifetime, Pontiac's final years, they were trying to sell Buicks to young people.

Great pictures, though. I went to Barret-Jackson's a while ago, but most of the cars weren't nearly this high-dollar. I really like that 'Vette. A friend of a relative up in Wickenburg has one of those. I got to take a ride in it once, but we had to cut it short, since it was getting dark, and those nice pop-up headlights didn't work.

[Bob Harris]

never knew that about the Vette, thanks for all the great narrative you contributed her Jer, bet you had a ball visiting the auction. That 356B would look great in your stable I think, loves those pieces of art.

[eaglem]

I love looking at these muscle cars whether they be USA or European.

[RichardS]

Three of the cars I captured while at the Houston Mecum Auction last week where top ten sellers and are shown below. The car that garnered the biggest price - an astonishing 7 million dollars - was a 1964 Ford GT-40 prototype with Shelby's version of Ford's 289 mill, but although we looked at this car several times, I never photographed it for reasons I don't remember . Perhaps, I was simply overwhelmed by the 1000 cars to be explored .

I was embarrassed that I missed photographing so many cars at the RACV/AOMC Classic Showcase on 2014-03-30. There were around the same number of cars as at your Mecum. I put it down to the same effect as you. If you've got at least 50 MGAs, which one(s) do you shoot? And, oh, look, there's a 1909 Minerva over there. One of the MGAs won "best English post war vehicle" which only adds to the embarrassment.

Too much goodness and too confusing. I'll have it under control next year. I hope

I don't blame the guys turning their backs on the Ferrari. Mid-engined V8 Ferraris are very sexy, but they're everywhere and all you need is money. Those painted go-fast stripes are just wrong. 356 Porsches, OTOH, need some passion and a lot of work to keep in that condition. They are slow and underpowered by modern standards and some of them still have 6 volt electrics. But they're beautiful and were built by car people, not marketing people.

I wonder what they would have thought about my friend's 356 SC cabriolet?

Bunkie's Corvette looks beautiful. I love the way the four pipes of the exhaust manifolds (headers) don't quite blend into the side pipes. Beautiful curves on the headers, but then there's no finesse in the way they hit the side pipes. It says "prototype" to me and I find it fascinating.

Thanks for showing, Jer.

Richard.

[Sailor]

How ironic! In my lifetime, Pontiac's final years, they were trying to sell Buicks to young people.

Great pictures, though. I went to Barret-Jackson's a while ago, but most of the cars weren't nearly this high-dollar. I really like that 'Vette. A friend of a relative up in Wickenburg has one of those. I got to take a ride in it once, but we had to cut it short, since it was getting dark, and those nice pop-up headlights didn't work.

Thanks! This was my first experience with an auto auction, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Jer

never knew that about the Vette, thanks for all the great narrative you contributed her Jer, bet you had a ball visiting the auction. That 356B would look great in your stable I think, loves those pieces of art.

It was fun, brother Bob, and the Knudsen car was one of the show's "big draws" - lots of great history there.

Jer

I love looking at these muscle cars whether they be USA or European.

Me too, EM - I love 'em all!

Jer

I was embarrassed that I missed photographing so many cars at the RACV/AOMC Classic Showcase on 2014-03-30. There were around the same number of cars as at your Mecum. I put it down to the same effect as you. If you've got at least 50 MGAs, which one(s) do you shoot? And, oh, look, there's a 1909 Minerva over there. One of the MGAs won "best English post war vehicle" which only adds to the embarrassment.

Too much goodness and too confusing. I'll have it under control next year. I hope

I don't blame the guys turning their backs on the Ferrari. Mid-engined V8 Ferraris are very sexy, but they're everywhere and all you need is money. Those painted go-fast stripes are just wrong. 356 Porsches, OTOH, need some passion and a lot of work to keep in that condition. They are slow and underpowered by modern standards and some of them still have 6 volt electrics. But they're beautiful and were built by car people, not marketing people.

I wonder what they would have thought about my friend's 356 SC cabriolet?

Bunkie's Corvette looks beautiful. I love the way the four pipes of the exhaust manifolds (headers) don't quite blend into the side pipes. Beautiful curves on the headers, but then there's no finesse in the way they hit the side pipes. It says "prototype" to me and I find it fascinating.

Thanks for showing, Jer.

Richard.

I'll admit I was overwhelmed, Richard . Next year, I'm going to be more methodical by studying the consignment list a bit more energetically and thus pick out my choice targets before I get there.

Porsche 356s, particularly from the '50s, are really bringing in big bucks at auctions these days - there's just something about that elegant simplicity that makes them fascinating.

Bunkie's car is indeed amazing - a historical marker of the American auto industry in a different era!

I'm glad you liked the shots - I'll be posting some more in a few days, but I need a bit of a breather before PP anymore, although when I think about that gorgeous BMW Z8 . . . . . . . . . . .

Jer

[wtlwdwgn]

More good ones Jer. Too bad about missing that GT-40. I was stationed in Germany in the mid 60s and got to watch Shel and the boys race them, the Cobras, and Daytonas too. Back then all the cars had to be licensed for the road so it was fun to see California plates on the GT-40s and Cobras, and Texas plates on Jim Hall's Chaparrals!

[Sailor]

More good ones Jer. Too bad about missing that GT-40. I was stationed in Germany in the mid 60s and got to watch Shel and the boys race them, the Cobras, and Daytonas too. Back then all the cars had to be licensed for the road so it was fun to see California plates on the GT-40s and Cobras, and Texas plates on Jim Hall's Chaparrals!

Hey, Steve, thanks much. I've would've loved to have seen 'ol Shel in Europe in those days giving Enzo fits . I'll be posting shots of some of Shel's creations in due course.

Jer