GM Futurliner rewrites Barrett-Jackson record books, hammers to $4.1 million
The 1954 Oldsmobile F-88 concept that fetched $3 million dollars last year (to become the highest-hammered auction price paid at Barrett-Jackson) has had its reign ended by a 56-year-old bus. More specifically, the 1950 Futurliner, a brilliant General Motors concept vehicle used in the company's Parade of Progress. Billed as "a matchless symbol of the American auto industry at the height of its power and influence,' the Harley Earl penned streamlined transporter made a startling $4.1 million as 20,000 attendees stood and cheered. The frenzied bidding rejiggered the Arizona auction house's 35-year-old record books by more than $1 million dollars.
Another significant Harley Earl design, the Pontiac Bonneville Special (also featured as part of GM's Parade of Progress), rang in at a not-too-shabby $2.8 million. What's more, the magnificent pair were purchased by the same bidder for his private collection.
Among a slew of other notable lots, the market for rare and original musclecars continues to go 'supernova,' with a 1970 Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda convertible commanding $2 million, and a 1970 Chevy Chevelle LS6 convertible, "...considered the most significant Super Stock drag racer of that era," realized $1.15 million.
[Sources: Arizona Republic and Barrett-Jackson]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Dan 11:13PM (2/26/2006)
A comment about the Futurliner and it's new owner.
I happend to be in Arizona this past weekend visiting a friend and the topic of the Futurliner came up, my friend said he new were it was and if we stopped by and were lucky enough to find the owner there he might let us see it. So we drove over there and not only was the owner and his wife there they graciously invited us in and handed us a cold drink, then he unlocked the Futurliner and let us climb up and look inside. He then let us walk through his collection of well over 100 very rare cars which included Howard Hughes car various COPO and motion Camaros including the red one sold this year, Hemi Cudas a Hemi Super Bird many famous movie cars,tons of Hot Rods,six Boyd Cottington cars inclusing the Junk Yard Dog and other cars built on that series and tons of other stuff. The building is probably about 30,000 sq sf and there is not a spec of dirt on anything, every car is perfectly restored or preserved. So if you find yourself in AZ you might try to catch them there, you won't find more down to earth or nicer people anywhere and you won't see a more amazing collection. As for the above comment about some one getting in over there head I can assure you that this gentlemen did not. his collection is valued at over 110 million dollars so 4 mil is just a drop in the bucket...
Reply
Bert 2:53PM (1/22/2006)
The sale was reportedly rolled back to 4 Million. This was noted on-air by Craig Jackson towards the end of the SpeedTV broadcast, 23h30 GMT -5, Eastern.
Currently the Barrett-Jackson website lists the sale at 4.32M which when adjusted for 8% commission reflects a 4M hammer price. See http://www.barrett-jackson.com/auctionresults/common/bj06results.asp lot 1307.
There will surely be more information available when the SpeedTV Sunday coverage starts in the next few minutes.
It is probably a misunderstood bid or the person who bid 4.1M tried to wiggle his or her way out. Last night the buyer was reported, by Craig Jackson, that the new buyer was the same as the 1954 Pontiac Bonneville experimantal.
Reply
Bert 4:10PM (1/22/2006)
Well, SpeedTV just spoke to one of the B-J VPs (Steve?) and it seems that after "due dillignence" the correct bidder was found to be the 4M$ bid.
It is probably not a late bid issue, as the higher bid (4.15M, 4.2M...) would most likely have have gone through.
I still think there was a 'finance' issue behind all this. Someone got in way over thier head and found a way to gracefully back ou.
Reply
Rick M 4:11PM (1/22/2006)
Holy crap, that is a lot of dough. I was lucky enough to spend a couple of days at the auction and I must say that it was one of the best car-junkie experiences I've ever had. That Futureliner van was easily one of the most impressive vehicles of all the jaw-droppers on display.
Check out my photojournal of my visit to B-J, with two days at Barrett-Jackson, and one night at the Phoenix Pavillions cruise night:
http://www.atascadero.name/2006_phoenix/
Awesome.
Reply
Rick M 4:13PM (1/22/2006)
oops, link got tweeek'd.
http://www.atascadero.name/2006_phoenix
Reply
far jr 4:26PM (1/22/2006)
Is GM the owner of these pieces of memorabilia being sold? Could be the unofficial going out of business sale?????
Reply
emulous1974 4:38PM (1/22/2006)
Wow, imagine being the auto enthusiast that you are today but being able to spend 4 million on a vehicle that you probably only drive once a year.
More power to the person that did it, I may be jealous, but my jealously never turns negative.
Reply
Bert 4:40PM (1/22/2006)
I think I remember SpeedTV saying that the Futurliner came from private hands.
They also said that the Olds F88, sold last year for 3M$; The Pontic Bonneville, sold this year for 2,7M$; The Chrysler Elegance, sold for 1,1M$ (IIRC), all came from private collectors.
Reply
devin 5:51PM (1/22/2006)
Does anyone happen to know if/when the first Shelby GT500 will be auctioned off? I couldn't watch yesterday, so it might have been then, but I just wanted to find out what it went for.
Reply
Mike 7:33PM (1/22/2006)
The first Shelby GT500 went for $600,000, with the money going to the Caroll Shelby Children's Foundation.
Reply
Mike 7:46PM (1/22/2006)
Is anyone else shocked by the massive increase muscle car prices over
last year. As I recall, the crowd was dazzled last year by the sale
of a 1970 hemi cuda (red coupe, early production magazine test car)
for roughly $360,000 (from memory so could be off by a bit?). At the
time, that was supposed to be a record price. This year, it seemed
dozens of such cars hit that mark, with an astonishing $2 million for
a 1970 Cuda Hemi convertible, $410 k for a 1967 Shelby GT500, $486k
for a ZL1 Camaro, $700 k for a 70 Cuda Hardtop, $650 k for a 1971
Hemi Cuda Convertible, etc, etc., etc. It seems as if overnight the
Hemi Cuda has become the new Duesenberg, with Shelbys, COPOS, L88's, Cobra Jets, and all types of Hemis not far behind.
As a muscle car lover myself (especially 1967/8 GT500's and 1967 Corvette 427's!!), I can't help but wonder what these prices will mean. Will these cars no longer be driven due to their massive values? Certainly this bubble will burst soon enough like the Ferraris did in the 1980's, but how much more could these cars potentially bring before that happens?
Just wondering what any other muscle car fans think of this???? Any comments? Check www.barrett-jackson.com for all the results.
Reply
laserwizard 9:09PM (1/22/2006)
What is surprising is thinking of anyone paying a million for a Honda, Toyota, or Nissan in 40 years. They may sell well, but they are ultimately worthless.
Reply
Mark 11:23PM (1/22/2006)
What's amazing about the Futurliner is that the example (#11) sold at B-J was not so much a restoration as it was a resto-mod with lots of short cuts, the wrong drivetrain, incorrect exterior details, inaccurate cockpit, interior, systems, tires, etc... I think the seller had it pegged correctly at about $600k; "irrationale exhuberence" by those of means apparently took hold of that particular auction.
To see what an authentic restoration looks like check out www.Futurliner.com They really did their homework on #10 and it was done as a museum restoration project, not a commercial venture. In short, if the Futurliner sold at B-J was truly worth $4m, imagine what the far more authentic one owned by NATMUS should command.
Reply
Car-la 1:03AM (1/23/2006)
I was also amazed by the prices the musclecars commanded. I'd checked earlier on, where a Hemi Cuda Convertible went for $1M, but $2M? Those cars are getting ridiculously expensive.
Nonetheless, congratulations to all the new, lucky owners o any of these cars.
Reply
Todd 2:24AM (1/23/2006)
I'm really dissapointed with the older set now-a-days. There was a beautiful Packard Roadster #727, one of 129 mind you sold for $60K, while a boring 1969 Chevelle SS 396 auto convertible went for $69K?
The only thing I'm hoping for is that if this keeps up, I'll be able to afford a duesenburg.
Reply
rip 4:46AM (1/23/2006)
Nice to see that the baby boomers pattern of wretched excess and corruption of a collectible is alive and well. Baseball cards(actually all sports memorabilia), comic books, fine art, and muscle cars...
The explosion of prices for 50's and 60's cars, especially muscle cars, is largely due to former "summer of love" boomers that are now very wealthy capitalists looking to relive their youth.
It will be interesting to see if an Celica Alltrac or Nissan 240sx or maybe a Prelude or Monte Carlo will go for 500k+ in 20 years. Or if a Supra will go for 1mil. For some reason, I don't think so... the gen x-ers don't seem as selfish and self-absorbed. But they are materialistic, so I could be wrong.
BTW, this is not a knock on muscle cars at all. There were some very fine and rare vehicles that came out of the those eras.
Reply
VW-Guy 8:32AM (1/23/2006)
I agree with some of the comments here. Some of the prices are/were just stupid. Don't get me wrong, anyone who can spend that kind of money on a fun vehicle/speculation has TONS of money. I mean if you can write a check for $150k (or $1mil plus) and up for a car you've definitely got many millions more behind it.
Having said that, some of the spotty quality muscle cars went for more than pristine 356's! Even more than for some truly nice and interesting rods. I mean c'mon, muscle cars may be the oxygen bar fad of today but a lot of cars that had value in my eyes only got bid up to just a little over what they are really worth.
As a commentor said above, I'm jealous but not in a negative way. If I was there with lots of money burning a hole in my pocket, I would have scored a fleet of cool cars that all together wouldn't have cost more than one quality muscle car. Doubly so for the speculators, we're probably at or near the ceiling of the muscle car values, time to get in at the bottom on the up and comers.
And I like 60's vette's as much as the next guy, but c'mon BJ, enough of them!!!
Congrats to all the buyers and sellers. Astounding stuff all round.
Reply
amp 9:34AM (1/23/2006)
I watched a few hours of the auction here and there. I'd have to say the hands-down, biggest surprise that I saw was the '70 Hemi Cuda convertible #13 mentioned that went for over $2M. (http://www.barrett-jackson.com/auctionresults/common/bj06results.asp see lot 1309). Then just a few cars later, Elvis's old Lincoln limo (Lot 1316) went for less than $600k. I'm no Elvis fan, but my common sense tells me that those two figures should be swapped.
Reply
Meek 9:45AM (1/23/2006)
laserwizard-
"11. What is surprising is thinking of anyone paying a million for a Honda, Toyota, or Nissan in 40 years. They may sell well, but they are ultimately worthless."
Comparing a one of a kind Concept Vehicle to mass production autos? Terrible arguement, your bias is showing.
Reply
Bert 11:02AM (1/23/2006)
Meek,
A '70 Hemi 'Cuda is not a concept car. An LS6 Chevelle is not a concept car. They are both terrific examples of what homologation rules are for.
I would dearly love to see more stringent homologation rules for series that purport to represent street cars. (e.g. WRC, NASCAR) This would allow Joe Blow the chance to go out and buy something close to what he sees raced.
The last great homologated cars, IMHO, were the Ford Sierra Cosworths, Audi S1 and the like. About the closest thing today are the 911 GT3's, 360 CS, etc.
But is paying 2M for a Hemi 'Cuda as crazy as paying 500$ for 1 share in Google? All it takes is 2 people to want something and the auctioneer can laugh all the way to the bank. I think there was alot of hype put in to those cars and a lot of 'I will buy this car' emotion, getting people in way over their heads.
I think the SpeedTV annoncers said it right... "How much is that car worth? As much as anyone is willing to pay for it."
Reply