I have been watching the Barrett-Jackson auctions all week and where are the Cadillacs? I haven't seen one yet?
Situation normal for the Barrett Jackson Show... once it became a TV adventure it became fodder for the masses. If you do see a Cadillac cross under the lights it will likely be chopped, dropped, and shaved (not that that's necessarily a bad thing).
In the latest Self Starter Lars Kneller announces in the President's Message that we have partnered with BJ and acquired space at their venues and member discounts. I suppose the exposure will be a good thing. But I was saddened to go the back cover of the magazine and not find the usual full-page Cadillac advertisement. It was replaced by a BJ advert. Didn't quite grab me like a high quality shot of a CTS-V sliding sideways! So I flipped back through the entire issue to reaffirm what I thought I had (or had not) seen; no Cadillac advertising anywhere. Has Cadillac cut back on ad spend or have we lost some of their involvement and support? I suppose we should thank the folks at BJ for picking up the slack in their absence.
Have you noticed how weak the prices are?
Friend of mine said this went through there. He thought it sold for 55 grand.
Is that a factory original color? Looks more like the popular color combination of the '76's
This might be the true color. Cameras always mess it up.
Just found the 3rd picture of the paint chips. Looks like they had a light color like that.
BJ just sold a 59 Eldorado seville at $38k and back to back a 59 convertible that brought $70k.... both appeared to be fair prices in today's market... the Seville looked very nice and for 1 of 900 made, sounds like a deal to me.
B. Como
#21042
Considering the engine in the 55 Eldorado (yellow) at Barrett-Jackson is painted Ford blue, I'm not sure they were too worried if they painted it a factory (exterior) color. According to Barrett Jackson's website it sold for 55K +10% commission.
If you want big numbers on 50s Eldorados they must be in perfect, or overly perfect "factory" condition. See the blue 56 Eldorado convertible at RM Auction's sale (today) that went for $286,000. http://www.rmauctions.com/CarDetails.cfm?SaleCode=AZ11&CarID=r170&Currency=USD
It will be interesting to see how the full classic Cadillacs do Barrett-Jackson.
That '55 Eldo had a number of things wrong with it that were obvious even from the
few pics shown.
-- Missing rear quarter spear (bead) mouldings
-- Wrong top material (they used canvas, should be nylon)
-- Incorrect caps on Sabre wheels (gold was not used with chrome Sabres)
-- Questionable exterior color (a bit off in shade, appears to be)
I'm sure a close inspection would reveal many more things. But, as another poster
said if you want top Dollar for a '50s Eldo it has to be restored "right". This one
skipped a few steps.
The '56 (mentioned by the previous poster ) that sold at R&M was a really nice,
perfect restoration. The engine compartment and everything shown was "right".
Mike
The 56 Eldo Biarritz that sold was my car. I considered it to be the best original 56 Eldo anywhere. It was amazing. Charley Lloyd was the second owner, I was the third. I talked to the daughters of the original owner who was from Dillsburg, Pa. He purchased the car in late 56, it was probably a leftover. The daughters really wanted to see the car again, as when they were children, they had to sit in the rear seat, and never touch any part of the car. Actually, the only restoration work I did was a complete repaint, because the touchup work that had been done on the car was horrible. Also, I plated the aluminum bumper ends in the rear, although they were very solid, the plating had plumb peeled off. I sold the car to Jim Covert who then lived in Florida. I did not inquire of Jenkins interiors, because the car had the most beautiful original interior I had ever seen. Jim, the ultimate restorer, would have nothing but a perfect restoration,and of course redid the interior as part of his total restoration. His detail man told me how he spent two weeks doing many of the recalls on the transmission, indeed the transmission was a nuisance, I had small problems with all transmissions on the 56's I owned (4) except the Hess and Eisenhardt wagon. Jim also installed an aftermarket air conditioner, with original 56 controls mounted under the dash as the car would have been if it was a factory installation. After Jim finished the car, he insisted I drive it home to show my wife. It was amazing, I am sure the car never performed that well when it was new. That car sold at RM here in Florida about three years ago for around $260,000. As I recall, the mileage was around 50,000.
http://www.barrett-jackson.com/application/onlinesubmission/currentcarlist.aspx?aid=403&sd=01%2f18%2f2011&ed=01%2f18%2f2011
here is the car list in scottsdale just put cadillac in the search to see how many,
Jessie
So whats with pushing the cars? Seems like with all the money there they could come up with some sort of conveyor if they dont want to run them. With the weight and quality of some of the cars it seems that they could be risking damage by pushing them.
I would guess with the number of cars that go through, they may be concerned about Carbon Monoxide.
They may also be worried about liability issues if one of the cars should get out of control and run into the crowd. The number of people on stage at B-J is already excessive.
I always wondered that when I used to watch the Macom Auctions.
Only takes one mistake to change everything.
Bruce. >:D