Groovy Miura P400 is just over the horizon at RM London...

Excited about this spectacular Ferrari 250 GTB?

Was it only just yesterday?

California seems so far away now...

Trying to push that King Cobra over the top

That's Ian Carpenter of BidBet on the left and Michael Holmes of RDLA on the right. 

Chip Lamb gave a terrific insider tour of the Rick Cole auction

Yesterday was a blur. One great moment that I actually thought to photograph was our walking tour of the Rick Cole auction. Chip Lamb joined us in explaining the finer points of so many wonderful Ferraris, Jaguars, Mercedes, etc. to a magazine reporter who is going to assemble a story about technology in yesterday's cars and today's auctions.

Our Bonhams game was exhilarating

I finally got some points on the board...but barely.  Everyone's favorite Ferrari 250 GTO went surprisingly cheap...just maybe 1/1000th of Bill Gates' net worth. Sigh.

http://www.ipropgames.com/bidbet

Our First Game Was Hilarious!

We just wrapped up our first Fantasy Auction based on today's Bring A Trailer auction.  I was destroyed. I was not in the top ten of the leaderboard! I was very far down on the second page of GOOSE EGGs. What do I know about Collector Car Pricing? Sheesh. Still, it was a lot of fun being embarrassed like that. How about you join our next game for the Bonhams auction that runs tomorrow night?

Speedsters cannot keep up

It is funny to me that while most Porsches have accelerated off the horizon in the past few years, the ones called Speedsters aren't keeping up.  Maybe Monterey 2014 is when they catch up? Watch BidBet to see.

 

Let's do some warm up laps

This beautiful 1972 Datsun 240Z closes later today on eBay Motors. Several bidders have already taken it up into five figures. Together, they are moving the price up towards the seller's optimistic guidance of $30,000 (Buy-It-Now). How far will it go? For a high performance street car I would use three things to triangulate an estimate; comparables, replacement cost and needs.

There are not many cars out there right now which seem particularly comparable. This race car has too much provenance (or history) to be considered an equal. And, you can see that it hasn't sold at this very high asking price, despite being featured on Bring A Trailer. So that's not very instructive.

To build this car one might start with a $10-$13K driver like this one up on Hemmings.    Suspension upgrades and roll cage might come to $10K without valuing the owner's time very much. Then the Dave Rebello engine work is at least a $15K proposition. Without considering anything else, it's easy to see why the seller set the BiN price at $30K. 

And finally you have to discount this car for its needs. Seller describes the roof as needing a clearcoat. A glass out paint job on this car would run at least $7K in the Bay Area (possibly less elsewhere). It doesn't need a glass out paintjob, but if you are the buyer that is what you are going to say you think it needs...

Taking all this into consideration, I would peg it at $22-$24k. Now we have no way of knowing if the seller's reserve is realistic until the auction runs its course. Let's all watch and see...

This BMW Isetta at Mecums could go anywhere...

I'm not saying it can do the Dakar Rally or anything...but cute microcars in bright, friendly colors like this can do amazing things at auction. Will it sell for $25K as comparable listings on Hemmings might suggest? Or will it go halfway to the moon for $50K+? Come back to BidBet before Thursday and make your guess...

1957 BMW Isetta 300

Don't forget about eBay Motors

Next week all the world will be watching the auction action in Monterey.  This could be a great time to catch a deal on eBay Motors.  We'll try to post some affordable classics like these up on BidBet too.

1975 Triumph TR6

1975 MG MGB

427 or 289? That is the Shelby Cobra Dilemma

I am more of a 289 FIA Cobra man myself, but this gorgeous 427 Shelby on offer at RM Auctions this coming Friday almost has me converted.

If you like this muscle machine as much as I do, go to http://BidBet.Bid to join me in guessing its value.

Spectacular Green Dino

I know that I should never buy a car just because it was made in a rare and pretty color. I have done that before and it always ends in tears (of 90 weight and bondo). Still, the metallic green Ferrari 246 Dino that Rick Cole is selling next weekend in Monterey is just spectacularly tempting...

If you like it as much as I do, be sure to guess how much it will sell for on http://BidBet.bid. 

If only...

Which is the one car you would give up all others for?That is the question petrolheads often fantasize about.

This 1969 Ferrari Daytona Competition coupe at Bonham's is my answer (this week.)  If you like it as much as I do, be sure to come back Monday night and guess how much it will sell for on BidBet.bid.  

Hero Cars

I am getting excited for Monterey Car Week. The cars I really like this year are the Hero cars, built and driven by amazing men who seem like automotive superheroes to me.

My favorite is the 1970 Brabham-Cosworth BT33

Followed closely by the 1968 Gurney Eagle Indy car

And, although it appears that Ol Shel himself never raced it, 

I cannot leave out the 1964 Shelby King Cobra