I again had the honor of writing some catalog descriptions for Broad Arrow’s RADIUS at the Monterey Jet Center auction on August 17-18, 2023. This is certainly one of the auction highlights of the year since it is in conjunction with Monterey car week. As always, Broad Arrow gives me a variety of subjects to research and write about! Some of the catalog texts I wrote are below:
1948 Divco Twin Coach Half Ton
1962 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 3.8 Roadster
Quite simply, the 1973 — 74 Trans Am Super Duty was the fastest, most powerful automobile from the company that built excitement. Tom Goad, Pontiac legendary Project Manager, said of the Super Duty, “These were by far the strongest-running production Pontiac V8s of all time, even with the low compression ratio required for lower-octane, regular-grade gasoline.” And when you have one, like Broad Arrow auctions did in March, preserved from new with all original equipment (down to the tires), it’s sure to set records.
You can read my review of this auction in the June 2023 issue of Sports Car Market magazine. Selling for $173,600, this was a smashing Super Duty sale.
I was hoping John Maher’s 1969 Corvette ZL1 would set the record for highest Corvette sale at auction. $3 million Ferraris are almost expected at auctions today, yet Corvettes rarely break seven figures, much less $3m. But the 1969 ZL1s are shrouded in mystery — it was known two were built but with Maher’s one-of-a-kind ZL1 automatic convertible the total is clearly three. In the end this Corvette broke the $3m mark but did not set the record, two 1967 L88 Corvettes sold for more in the past, but it is now the highest priced C3 Corvette ever and certainly worth every penny. You can read all about it in the Market Moment I wrote in the May issue of Sports Car Market magazine, which will be published in a few weeks.
I was again asked by Broad Arrow Auctions to provide some of the catalog descriptions for their upcoming Amelia Island auction, March 2 – 3, 2023. Every vehicle has a story, and the challenge for me again is to tell that story in an engaging and accurate way in 400 words or less. In its first year, Broad Arrows’ three auctions were very successful — not surprising since the company is loaded with auction industry veterans. For example, Carl Bauer, the Director of Development for Broad Arrow, is an absolute expert on Porsches, and writes most of the texts on those lots. To be included in this group, and to support this important upcoming auction, is a true honor!
This week I’ve begun to write catalog texts for the upcoming Broad Arrow Group Palm Beach 2022 auction November 18-19. Broad Arrow Group is a new auction house made up of industry veterans. What I like is their mission of “a shared vision of bringing a new level of simplicity, transparency, and accountability within the collector car industry.” That’s sadly rare in this business. Their main auctioneer, Lydia Fenet⎘, is quite amazing, too. Writing the story of an automobile — and making it very attractive to potential bidders — in as few as 150 words is quite a challenge, but I write similar captions for our annual Motorbooks Muscle Car⎘ calendar in less than 80 words, so I’ve had some experience. Some of the texts I’ve written that are still available are…
Why would a 1970 Plymouth Superbird Hemi that normally sells for around $500,000 suddenly sell for $1.5 million? The ‘Bird wasn’t even exceptional quality. Simply, two bidders got into a war. When one bid $1.1 million, the other jumped to $1.5 million. War over! Add the buyer’s premium and this was a record breaking sale for a Superbird by large measure. Read all about it in the October 2022 issue of Sports Car Market magazine: www.sportscarmarket.com⎘.
