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24/01/2007
Arizona Auctions 2007 - Review
$140 million bonanza for RM and Barrett-Jackson

1966 SHELBY COBRA 427 "SUPER SNAKE" - Sold for $5,500,000
Showing there’s no end to the stateside passion for top-end motor car collecting, an awful lot of cars were sold last week – for an awful lot of money. Top seller was at Barrett-Jackson, the famous “Cobra To End All Cobras” finding a new owner, one who paid a record breaking $5,500,000.

Barrett-Jackson at Scottsdale

Over a period of six days, Barrett-Jackson alone sold over 1,200 cars having a total value of US$112,000,000 at its 36th Annual Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Event in Scottsdale, Arizona. All cars were entered as ‘No Reserve’, but the fact that our ‘Top 100 by Price’ table starts at the Cobra and finishes at $179,200 (for a 1960 Dodge Polara D500 Convertible) gives some idea of the colossal prices achieved for, in the majority, US muscle cars.

The top-selling Cobra, chassis CSX 3015 was one of only 23 427 Competition Roadsters built, and one of just two Super Snake Cobras. The other being CSX 3303 built for American comedian Bill Cosby – and subsequently written off in a suicide by a later owner. With a bullet-proof testimony of originality by expert Harley E. Cluxton, the car’s ultimate selling price reflects its rarity. Next Shelby Cobra up was the 1966 Shelby Cobra 427 Roadster CSX3301 selling for $935,000.00.

1971 Plymouth HEMI 'Cuda 2 Door Hardtop - Sold for $517,000
Highest ‘European’ at the B-J sale was 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster going for $632,500, but the sale was really all about the ‘matching numbers’ rare 1960s and 70s collectibles like the 1971 Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda 2 Door Hardtop that sold for $517,000, a Curious Yellow with factory black billboard stripes and a HEMI 4-speed manual transmission car catalogued as ‘possibly the best 1971 HEMI 'Cuda that the factory ever produced’. Two 1954 Dodge Firearrow Convertible Concept Cars were also sold, for a useful $1,100,000 each.

Please CLICK HERE to see the Top 100 results by value from Barrett-Jackson's 2007 Scottsdale sale.

1937/40 Duesenberg Model SJ Cabriolet 'on the block' and selling for $2,805,000
RM Vintage Motor Cars in Arizona

RM’s 114-car catalogue had a more international feel, and with only eight cars not selling (including, sadly, the headlining 1982 Porsche 956 Group C that was bid to $2,000,000) the Ontario-based company had another good sale; just a whisker off $30,000,000 in one day.

The 1937/40 Duesenberg Model SJ Cabriolet was the top seller at $2,805,000, while the much-fancied 1971 Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda Convertible was second, for $2,420,000, and perhaps inevitably a 1967 Shelby 427 S/C Cobra Roadster came in third at a whopping $1,430,000.

1963 Aston Martin DB4 GT - Sold for $1,265,000
Another good result was achieved for the 1963 Aston Martin DB4 GT, the last ’4GT built and sold by Aston Martin’s Newport Pagnell factory and one to ‘lightweight’ specification, for $1,265,000. Perhaps RM are keeping their powder dry for the Maranello sale in May, but the most expensive Ferrari was the 1957 Ferrari 250 Boano LWB Berlinetta at $726,000, while the international enthusiasm for rare racing Porsches, cars that can also do various events like the Goodwood Revival, Tour Auto and Le Mans Classic, justified the 1961 Porsche RS 61 Spyder achieving $880,000.

Of more ‘attainable cars, both the 1972 Lancia Stratos H.F. and the 1972 Ferrari 246 GT Dino sold for $137,500, while the RHD 1967 Aston Martin DB6 Volante found a new owner at $220,000.

Please CLICK HERE to see RM Auctions complete January 19 2007 sale results.

Editor's Note: A date for your diarys - RM Auction in association with Sotheby's will be holding the Legenda e Passione Auction at Maranello on May 20th this year, surely likely to be one of the events of 2007.

Text: Steve Wakefield
Photos: Barrett-Jackson/RM Auctions

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