Word 'round the auctionhouse campfire is that the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration is attempting to put the kybosh on a planned sale of many General Motors Heritage Collection vehicles this weekend. NHTSA is apparently calling for the halt because it fears that many of the vehicles slated for sale at Barrett-Jackson's Palm Beach auction are not road legal, yet new owners may attempt to drive them on public roads anyway.

Oddly, in both the past and at present, both GM and BJ have been very forthcoming that many of these collectible vehicles are not road-legal, selling them with disclaimers that they have salvage or display titles and that they cannot be registered. That apparently isn't sufficient for NHTSA, which likely fears that some successful bidders will attempt to plate vehicles which may or may not have all of the required safety equipment to be roadworthy.

According to Sports Car Market (via Inside Line), both parties are actively pursuing a resolution, but according to Il's report, it may not happen fast enough – about 100 GM Heritage Collection cars (click here for a list) are scheduled to go under the hammer beginning today and running through this weekend.

UPDATE: We've just received this statement from Barrett-Jackson's PR agency – "The Acting Administrator of NHTSA, Ron Medford, has communicated to Barrett-Jackson that previous issues concerning the sales of the GM Collection have been resolved and all sales can go forward."

[Source: Inside Line]

This year's New York Auto Show promises a few surprises

April might be best known for its rain and resultant flora, but we hope sunshine prevails. After all, April marks the beginning of the IndyCar season with an undercard of ALMS in St. Petersburg, as well as a follow-up race for each series in the shadow of the Queen Mary from Long Beach, CA. NASCAR powers through Texas, Arizona and Alabama, Grand-Am makes stops at VIR and Thunderbolt, and Formula 1 visits Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai and Bahrain. We also get the New York Auto Show as well as other motor shows in Vancouver, California's Ontario, Albany, the Inland Empire, Denver and elsewhere.

There will be auctions in Palm Beach, Toronto, and Carlisle, vintage drags in Fontana, a GoodGuys stop in Del Mar, the Copperstate 1000, Top Marques Monaco, and the Street Rod Nationals up in Bakersfield, as well. If none of those events appeals to you, check the Google Calendar after the jump for even more listings, all with detailed info and links. We've tried to list the highlights as well as a few smaller events that we hope will be of interest to you. Feel free to use the comments section to add or modify listings.

There was a plethora of pace cars this year at Barrett-Jackson, mostly coming from General Motor's Heritage Collection. Some of them we would love to have in the garage, like the 2007 Corvette Indy pace car pictured above or a 2003 Corvette that paced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and we'd even sport the 1996 Chevrolet Camaro Brickyard pace car. On the other side of the spectrum is a 1998 Pontiac Grand Am M&M pace car covered in confetti or a 2001 Oldsmobile Bravada pace truck. In the "so uncool that it's cool" category is the 1977 Oldsmobile Delta 88 that paced Indy and a 1990 Beretta that was the only Chevy concept car to pace the Indy 500.


Photos copyright ©2009 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.

Although muscle cars are usually in the spotlight at Barrett-Jackson, there were quite a few interesting supercars that caught our attention as well. First up was a Saleen S7 Twin-Turbo done up in stunning Beryllium custom paint. This particular car served as a press vehicle for Saleen and was featured in the movie Redline (who cares?), and Iron Man (cool!). Did we mention it also has the one-and-only 1,000-horsepower upgrade done by the factory. The winning bidder took the car home for $412,000. For a little more than half that much, another bidder took home one of the ultimate supercars of the last decade, a 1993 Jaguar XJ220. Other examples sold in the past few years have gone for a mere fraction of the original list price, and we think this car was well sold at the coincidental price of $220,000, perhaps due to its DOT/EPA certification. For those looking for a supercar on a budget, there was a 1996 Vector M12, one of only 14 built with just 6,388 miles, that sold for a mere $94,600. Other exotics that crossed the block included a Hennessey Venom 700R that sold for $115,500 and an Ultima Can-Am purchased for $51,700.

Don't forget to check out this past weekend's complete coverage of the 2009 Barrett-Jackson Auction in Scottsdale by clicking here.


Photos copyright ©2009 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.

If you only watch the Saturday night highlights on SPEED, you might think only those with deep pockets can afford to buy cars at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale. Not true! There are dozens of cars that can be purchased in the four figure range, most from the GM Heritage Collection this year, with many selling for far less than $10,000. Take, for instance, a 1989 Geo Tracker "Boom Box" custom with a kickin' stereo system that sold for $5,170, or a cool 1991 Chevy Caprice Classic purchased for a mere $3,630. There were even some "historically significant" vehicles like the first Saturn ever made, a 1991 SL1 that sold for $3,850, the one millionth Saturn, a 1995 SC2 coupe that sold for $7,150, and the brand's second millionth vehicle, this time a 1999 SC2 coupe that went for $8,470. Taking the honor of the cheapest car sold at Barrett-Jackson this year was the above vehicle: a 1985 Oldsmobile Calais outfitted with Michigan State badging that went for just $2,475. The description states that the car is "perfect for the Michigan State fan", but we don't know why you wouldn't just take a decent car and put the badges on yourself. Click below to see 10 bargain buys from Barrett-Jackson this year that even we could afford.

Don't forget to check out this past weekend's complete coverage of the 2009 Barrett-Jackson Auction in Scottsdale by clicking here.


Photos copyright ©2009 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.

What's the price of fame? When the subject turns towards famous movie cars, a vehicle's presence on the silver screen invariably adds some intrinsic value to the vehicle's worth, and there are few movie cars in recent memory more recognizable as Eleanor, the 1967 Ford Mustang fastback from Gone in 60 Seconds. According to the studio, a total of eleven Eleanors were created for the flick, and only three of those machines made it through filming unscathed. The car you see here is one of those machines, used for close-ups with Nicholas Cage. In this case, the car's sundry list of components isn't all that important, but for those that care, there's a 351 cubic-inch Ford V8 underhood, mated to an automatic transmission. The gavel fell, fees were tallied and the car's new owner was exactly $216,700 poorer after Saturday night's bidding was finished.

Don't forget to check out this past weekend's complete coverage of the 2009 Barrett-Jackson Auction in Scottsdale by clicking here.


Photos copyright ©2009 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.

While the main focus of Barrett-Jackson is the cars, quite a few charities benefited from the sale of many of the cars. Several people donated money to charities even when they didn't buy a car, proving that many of the bidders have hearts just as big as their wallets. This Monte Carlo SS NEXTEL Cup car driven by Jeff Gordon was a prime example, raising thousands of dollars for Rick Hendrick's charity to benefit the National Marrow Donor Program. Hendrick himself is a survivor of leukemia, and has used his success to help others facing life-threatening diseases. Of course, the buyer's $550,000 (after auction fees) did get something in return: a #24 DuPont Monte Carlo SS that was raced 14 times in the 2006 and 2007 NASCAR seasons, winning two races and capturing four top-five finishes. The car also includes a race-winning engine, Certificate of Authenticity, race day photos and videos, and a personal invite from Hendrick to come hang out with the team at one of the races during the next season. More details on the car in the official description after the break.


Photos copyright ©2009 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.

While the 2010 Shelby GT500 disappointingly failed to cross the block, Mustang fans were still treated to a pretty good show when a 2009 FR500CJ Cobra Jet roared up on stage. Behind the wheel was none other than legendary drag racer John Force, who personally testified to the car's capability on the dragstrip. This particular car is the prototype and the very first one built with the FR500CJXX1 serial number. We didn't expect the FR500CJ to fetch as much money as the first production Camaro, but we were thoroughly surprised when it trounced its fellow pony car with a final bid of $375,000, or $412,500 after auction fees. Follow the jump for a full description of the car, and check out the high-res gallery below.


Photos copyright ©2009 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.

Ford's F-150 SVT Raptor isn't much like a normal truck. One look at the machine, with its copious amounts of front and rear suspension travel, super-wide stance, unique front fascia and bright orange paint quickly proves that point, but the truck on display at Barrett-Jackson last night had a few more tricks up its sleeve in order to grab some extra bids: a truckload of kids. Specifically, the Raptor's bed was full of children that stood to gain from the sale of this machine, which is the first retail production model of its kind, as all proceeds above the Raptor's MSRP will be donated to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. After the gavel fell and all associated fees were paid, the truck went for $143,000 -- likely a hefty sum over the Raptor's as-yet unannounced base price. See the official auction description after the break.


Photos copyright ©2009 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.

Way back in the day, things took place a bit differently. Exhibit A: Chevrolet's Central Office Production Order system, which allowed dealerships a back door around GM's officially-sanctioned packages and options. For instance, it was possible to order a Camaro right from the production line that featured an engine that was otherwise reserved for the range-topping Corvette. Perhaps the best-known of these unique products came from Yenko Chevrolet, and bidders at Barrett-Jackson had a very nice group of these rare machines to choose from.

First up was a 1981 Camaro Z/28 that sold for $79,200.00, which was followed by an LT-1-powered 1970 Nova "Deuce" that went for $110,000.00. The compact Nova was followed by three 1969 Camaros, the first of which was a COPO 9561 with the L72 427/425hp engine that sold for $132,000, which actually strikes us as a pretty good deal. Next up was a COPO 9560 with the famed aluminum 427 ZL-1 engine, which sold for $319,000. Lastly, another COPO 9561 hit the block, though this one's status as 1 of 3 that was sold specifically for drag racing in the NHRA helped it earn $297,000.



Photos copyright ©2009 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.