ˆ Barrett-Jackson 2009: The Pace Cars

tags : barrett jackson , barrett-jackson , barrett-jackson 2009 , barrett-jackson2009 , barrettjackson , gm heritage collection , gmheritagecollection , pace cars , pacecars

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.

posted : 2/9/2009 @7:39:34 PM

ˆ Barrett-Jackson 2009: Bargain Buys Under $10k

tags : barrett jackson , barrett-jackson , barrett-jackson 2009 , barrett-jackson2009 , barrettjackson , gm heritage collection , gmheritagecollection

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.

posted : 2/9/2009 @7:17:49 PM

ˆ GM Performance manager to advise Barrett-Jackson bidders

tags : barrett jackson , barrett jackson 2009 , barrett-jackson , barrettjackson , barrettjackson2009 , gm heritage center , gm heritage collection , gmheritagecenter , gmheritagecollection , heritage collection , heritagecollection

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.

posted : 1/1/2009 @8:34:03 PM