Wow, what a title – we have been one of the last industries to be hit with the latest economic crunch but nonetheless the effects shall trickle down.  Anyone watch the 5 days of Barrett-Jackson classic car auction held in Scottsdale, AZ last weekend?  Was it me or was this a buyers market or what?  If you still have your job, still have your home, still have somewhat of a future in your life in 2009, then this auction was for you.  On the other side, let’s hope this auction does not set precedence on our cars that we want to sell in 2009 in classified ads, at car shows, on Ebay, etc.

The prices were so bad that some very nice vehicles could be purchased just to have a nice vehicle to use on sunny days – not collect – to use.  Heck, did you see Evil Knievel’s beautiful 1999 Featherlite Motor Coach?  It looked brand new (ok, 10 years on the drivetrain – but how many miles?), sold for $60K.  Even the modest car collector can use that to haul some collector cars around rather than preserve it in a museum.

I bet the average hit per car was 40% of its value if this were the 2008 Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction.  40% - heck, why sell your car?  I would guess anyone involved with this type of buy/sell extravaganza should be able to ‘sit’ awhile longer before giving their car away.  Unless, the greatest of all fears happens, the market doesn’t turn and they cut their losses BEFORE it gets worse.  Did you ever want a 1969 camaro, any style, any rare combination?  This was your year.  How about a beautiful restored late 50’s – early 60’s Corvette for 5 figures?  How about a restored Buick GSX for under $40,000?  $30,000 could have purchased a number of very nice cars.  What happens at home?  We think we have a $15,000 ‘driver’ before the auction started and ended up with a $9,000 ‘driver’ before the sunset on the first day.  STOP THE AUCTION – SAVE THE INDUSTRY!  Even the announcers tried not to over react by saying cautious statements such as, “I am about ready to get on my cell phone and start bidding” or “that is a heck of a purchase.”   I do appreciate the less than loud reaction by the announcers because that can cause widespread panic in our community.  Like what I am doing here.

Let’s not make this an all sad story – some cars were surprisingly up in value or set market pricing.  This held true with several of the new prototype cars produced in 2008 by the OEM’s.  Then again, I am sure Ford Motor Company was upset to see the baja pickup (I forget the name) sell for what seemed to be little more that what the probable purchase price will be in the dealer showroom.

Oh well, I guess with every collector hobby there are ups and downs.  Maybe the prices over the past years have been a bit ridiculous and this needs to happen to bring the car prices down to levels that even a modest retired person can afford.  Let’s hope the trend stops soon and we can begin the slow price increase in our sacred market.  That is what is going to happen – a rapid drop always leads to a slow rise.  Don’t panic – let’s not crash this market like the banks managed to crash the Dow Jones and Wall Street.  Let’s not crash Gasoline Alley or wherever we call our Dow Jones.  Just go home and make sure you spend your economic stimulus check every time you get it even on car parts just to help keep the economy rolling forward.