Autoblog

REPORT: NHTSA attempting to stop GM Heritage Collection selloff at Barrett-Jackson

Chris Paukert — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Auctions, Etc., Government/Legal, GM

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]

REPORT: NHTSA attempting to stop GM Heritage Collection selloff at Barrett-Jackson originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 10 Apr 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Barrett-Jackson 2009: The Pace Cars

Drew Phillips — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 20:01:00 EST

Filed under: Auctions, Chevrolet

Click above for a high-res gallery of pace cars from Barrett-Jackson

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.

Gallery: Barrett-Jackson 2009: The Pace Cars

Barrett-Jackson 2009: The Pace Cars originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 19 Jan 2009 20:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Barrett-Jackson 2009: Bargain Buys Under $10k

Drew Phillips — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 11:28:00 EST

Filed under: Auctions

Click above for Barrett-Jackson's bargain buys under $10,000

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.

Gallery: Barrett-Jackson 2009: Bargain Buys Under $10,000

Barrett-Jackson 2009: Bargain Buys Under $10k originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 19 Jan 2009 11:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GM Performance manager to advise Barrett-Jackson bidders

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 08:28:00 EST

Filed under: Concept Cars, Classics, Auctions, GM

GM will be "thinning the herd" of its Heritage Collection at this year's Barrett-Jackson auction, beginning January 13th in Scottsdale, AZ. As many as 250 historically significant cars, trucks and concepts are slated to go under the gavel, a few are bound to be sold well under their true value, and wise bidders are planning ahead for just such an occasion. It seems that the auction house will not be providing specific information on many of the models ahead of time, even if they may differ from the production cars they're based on in significant but unseen ways. This being the case, a few savvy shoppers have retained the services of Mark McPhail, the recently retired manager of GM Performance Engineering. Perhaps we should keep him on speed dial ourselves, ya know... just in case.

[Sources: Lansing State Journal, Ideaologists]

GM Performance manager to advise Barrett-Jackson bidders originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 08:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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