mid-year crisis

Ray Allen's 70 Chevelle just went for $1,150,000 at BJ. Is this a good thing??, that MUST make my '65 ragtop worth at least a couple hundred thousand

Drew Papsun

Hello Stephen,
The world knows all about the 1970 Ray Allen Chevelle. What do we know is anything about your 1965. It is a very low miles 396 ? or a FI ? Documentation ? paint and trim combo ? Last year at the 2006 Mecum Bloomington Gold Auction a 1965 Corvette sold for $200 plus.
Regards,
Drew Papsun

steemin

Ray Allens 70 Chevelle LS6 Convertible was sold last year @ BJ Scottsdale. That car had a very interesting history setting several national 1/4 mile records for its class and according to the owner "Has never been beat"
Scott

mid-year crisis

I'm not trying to take anything away from Ray Allen's chevelle, my point is that, I'm a middle class guy, car enthusiast forever. God knows when I will ever make my first million, let alone be able to spend it on a car.These BJ auctions create alot of hype and no doubt are having an impact on those of us who can and cannot afford our "dream cars"...I'll be happy if I can afford those new rims I've been looking at for my car this year I'm just wondering if the consensus is that it is good, or bad for the "hobby" that we all love

Steve

oldschoolvette

I think its bad because it inflates the cost of the hobby. On the other hand its good because people are getting outrageous money for non correct cars and crazy money for correct ones. some of both I guess mostly bad for my wallet

Ironcross

A absolute joke. Actually more like 1.3+ mil after the 15 % buyers commision is factored in. Plus the seller has to pay the same as the buyers commision too. I also believe what I saw was a column shift on this car. Was that a correct observation?

Injected Stingray

A lot of the LS-6 Chevelles were column shift and bench seat cars, they cost less and were lighter.

AZDoug

A fool and his money are soon parted.

An inflated car value, based on fleeting celebrity, is nothing to invest in.

In 40 years, nobody will remember who Ray Allen was, or will care,a nd that Chevelle will be worth about as much as any other old drag Chevelle is.

Doug

SVXr

I was fortunate enough to inherit my mid-year. I'm 26 in grad school and if it wasn't for my
Father I don't think that I would have or will ever have the means to buy another mid-year. I
watch BJ for entertainment as an automotive enthusiasts but every time I see a Vette go for
$150+ I sink into the realization that I will never get another one. And if the day ever came that I
could afford such a vehicle I might just find myself at the Ferrari dealership.

SVX

TEP061

Did you know that ford was going to buy ferrari in the 60s, well right before the deal was done ferrari pulled out of the deal. This pissed off ford and the owner at the time put many dollars into a car to kick ferraris ***. 3 years of race domination the GT40 was born. That car didnt loose a race but till this day doesnt sell for over a million. The chevelle is top of american muscle but indeed overprice. what ever our feelings about these cars and prices you have to love the fact that we live in such a messed up country that the cars cost this price.

Jim Dillon

Actually I attended the RM auction in Monterey 2005 and if my memory serves me one of the GT 40s hammered down at a bit over $2,500,000. That evening a few cars went in the million plus range and it is fun to watch people spend that kind of money. Some of those people have real big money and what you and I think is expensive is not quite the same to them. As to the Ray Allen Chevelle I think the money was crazy and BJ really milked it because the bidding stalled big time at $300,000 and Ray Allen felt it should go for $700,000 and so they kept working it. I do not believe it made that much difference because the guy that bought it (I believe his name is Ralph Whitworth) wanted it for his museum. He also has drag raced the car since racing it against his buddies. When you have that much money you better enjoy it while in this side of the soil. I also believe it will hold a good portion of its value because it does have real history as a winner in several classes. I raced BB Chevelles at the time and I remember the car and it was an automatic on the column. Mine was a 360HP 66 Chevelle convertible with an automatic on the column, although mine was not quite so successful. Today, I spend alot of time with racecars, pre WWI and history and winning makes old racecars more valuable than you think. I don't know about this Chevelle holding 1.1 mill because 250 GTO Ferraris went crazy in the eighties, supposedly one in Japan for $15,000,000 and allegedly resold in the nineties for a paltry $3,000,000 and Duesenbergs were all over a million and some are a bargain today at several hundred thousand. Regular drag cars will always be just that. I own one and I never expect it's value to go anywhere. And then I have an engine that set over a dozen world's records and it will always be worth a few bucks. History is more than just something in our lifetime and historical racecars including drag cars will continue to hold value. There are only so many winners.

Now in ten years what will the LAST STING RAY (as opposed to the Last Stingray) be worth after all the hype from TV and Proteam and BJ. And what about all of the Hemi cars. We could go on and on. Fun to watch whatever the result-Jim

lars

They're showing last year's auction right now - that was January 2006 that the Chevelle sold for 1,150,000. This year's auction starts in about a week - will be interesting to see what the prices do compared to last year - there should be plenty of C2s going across the block, and I'm sure the frenzy will be staggering.

mid-year crisis

...Good points Lars, and all. While I consider myself VERY fortunate to own "the car of my dreams"(whatever the condition), being human, I still get a little "discouraged" about hearing people buying cars for more than I will ever EARN in my lifetime. I agree though, it's kind of like a car wreck...you have to look, even though you know it may be "unpleasant". God bless America!! Steve

Shumdit

I think it's only an 8% buyers (and also sellers) comission at BJ. Still a ton of money.

TEP061

I often think about the cars that are offered today. I think about what cars are going to jump out and say 2006/7. The market is so much more complex now days. I hear stories about guys that where in high school and working a part time job affording a new Camaro big block. Now days that would never happen. So what do kids have to grasp on to? A 60 thousand dollar Shelby? That's the cheap end of high performance cars? American muscle just isn't for the blue collar workers anymore. While the majority could afford one or two in a life time as the price continue to rise the soul of these cars continue to leave.

mid-year crisis

VERY WELL SAID....I guess that's my point, being, where does it end???, this "hobby" isn't for the blue collar people that actually "work" on their cars anymore, it's going toward the "white collar investors" that "wouldn't know how to change their oil if they could" crowd. This scene is changing from the "What's the best way to do this" to the "what do I tell my mechanic to do" mentality. Keep it a "hobby", not an "investment".
Steve

JPatrick

OK, I guess I'm the stupid one here, but who the hell is Ray Allen??

The basketball player??

Jim Dillon

Ray Allen was a drag racer that raced his 1970 Chevelle LS6 convertible in NHRA competition as a Super Stocker (1970 National Record holder). He won several national events including the world finals and according to Ray Alloen he never lost a race.The engine was a Truppi Kling Competition prepared LS6 454 with an Turbo 400. Nice car and famous in his day in Super Stock circles. By the looks of him he probably is no better at hoops than I am-Jim

62Jeff

Years ago my family and I were actively involved in a local corvette club. We'd routinely have 15 or 20 people in a caravan heading off to a race. Many folks were in their mid 20's with their Suburbans, trailers, and vettes.

Then GM raised the price point of the new Corvette in an attempt to go after a different demographic.

Sure enough, over time the demographics of our club changed. The club went from a group of friends who would elect one of their friends to be President, to a group of middle management types that were used to having their own way and thus some of them really NEEDED to be President. Pretty soon I figured out that if I wanted to see politics, back stabbing, and childish behavior, I'd just go to work where I'm paid to put up with such behavior.

That having been said - as to the original question - In my opinion, overall the inflated prices that collector cars bring hurts our hobby. A Nabers quality restored mid-year sells for large $$ at auction and suddenly everyone with a mid-year thinks their car is worth the same money. This in turn drives up the cost of NOS and used parts because some of the parts vendors feel that their parts are key to the high dollar restoration and thus charge high dollar prices. Witness any set of NOS tires on e-bay.

True story: The first weekend in February of 2006 I had a wrecker meet me at my friend's house, to tow my newly purchased 65 from his house to mine. The wrecker driver looked at the car with wide eyes and open mouth, and said "Do you know what this car is worth? I just saw one sell for $225,000 on the SPEED channel yesterday". He was watching coverage of BJ. I didn't respond to his comment, because I wanted him to be very careful with my car, but it was the first inkling I had that BJ was going to have a big impact.

A Naber's-restored 57 vette sold at BJ for $173,000 last year. But just because Naber's painted my 62 doesn't mean I'm foolish enough to think my car is worth even half that amount. Unfortunately not everyone would draw the same conclusion.

I'm blessed with the ability to own 5 collector cars, purchased before the BJ craze took affect. One of these cars I've owned 28 years, another 26 years. None of them were purchased for BJ dollars, and yet I'm afraid if I sold some of them today, I'd be throwing future profits away, so I'm just going to keep them and enjoy them and thank my good fortune.

Jeff

JPatrick

Thanks, I feel better now. Never did care for the basketball player Ray Allen.