Car Auctions: Great For The Muscle Car Hobby or Killing It?

The 2025 Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale and Mecum Kissimmee auctions are now in the history books. Thousands of cars, old and new, have crossed the blocks, and millions of dollars have changed hands. We have to ask: are these collector car auctions helping the Street Muscle hobby or hurting it? More importantly, are they destroying the classic car hobby for the little guy?

These are legitimate questions, and we know people at both ends of the spectrum—those who buy at these auctions and even work at them and others who are so opposed to the concept that they won’t even watch on television. I’ve seen friends argue about this in person and go rabid on social media. It’s crazy.

The common arguments go something like this:

Pro: Where else will you find so many vehicles in one place, especially completed projects?

Con: Auctions drive up prices. After watching on TV, everyone with a ’69 Camaro rusting in their backyard will think it is worth $300,000.

Pro: These auctions are exciting events and are like big car shows.

Con: The people who buy at auctions are not real car people. They’re just guys with too much money.

Pro: There are plenty of good deals in almost every budget range. How and when you buy matters.

Con: These vehicles are all overpriced and the idiots who buy them are suckers ruining it for everyone else.

Are auctions a great place to buy a classic car or are they just hurting real car nuts?

Have a Heart, Man

True confessions time: when I was editor of Super Chevy Magazine (RIP), I spearheaded three charity builds that sold through Barrett-Jackson. The benefactor was the Armed Forces Foundation. We built a ’57 Chevy, a ’69 Camaro, and a ’70 Chevelle to raise bucks for injured veterans and their families. This was at the height of the post-9/11 era when these people were coming off real battlefields in Afghanistan and Iraq. As the son of a World War II and Korean War vet, I took our mission quite seriously and knew charity cars could do a lot of good.

Once upon a time, this was a $1,500 used car. We should have bought a half-dozen of them, but we didn’t. (Photo by Evan J. Smith)

And they did, to the tune of $880,000—all sold commission-free by the auction house. I met some of the bidders, including the guy who bought the Camaro and Chevelle. I can assure you he was a very sincere individual who spent $750,000 on those. His name was Dave Parker, and he owned a hugely successful business. He was also a Vietnam veteran. He paid half a million for the Camaro, which started life as a genuine SS, but not much else. After the magazine was done, it was a full-on Pro Touring build with a Chevrolet Performance LS7.

As things often do, there were other people interested, including a wide receiver from the Indianapolis Colts. When I met Dave after the auction, he had tears in his eyes and told me he wasn’t leaving without that car, no matter what the bidding went to. Yeah, he loved the Camaro but cared a heck of a lot more about the veterans who would benefit.

Does that make every ’69 Camaro worth a half-million bucks? Of course not. Did his purchase lead to a rise in ’69 Camaro prices? Maybe, maybe not, but those were skyrocketing long before (and long after) this Super Chevy project build.

Auctions make some people crazy, but where else will you find two collectible automobiles like this for sale at the same place? We want them both. (Photos by Evan J. Smith)

At the recent B-J auction, NASCAR team owner and car dealer Rick Hendrick bought the rights to order the first production Corvette ZR1 for an incredible $3.7 million. Now, this is a guy who owns a Chevy store, so he could have gotten one for cost. It wasn’t about how much; it was about the charity. The proceeds of the sale will go to the American Red Cross. According to Craig Jackson, Hendrick has purchased 38 charity cars for over $28 million from Barrett-Jackson over the years.

Is he super-duper-rich? Absolutely, but don’t try to convince me he’s not a car guy. Had he invested that $3.7 million, he could have probably doubled the money in a short time. It isn’t like he bought an old painting by a master that was sure to appreciate. He got a mass-produced Chevy.

But the Prices?!

OK, those are a couple of pros. Let’s look at a con, namely that auction prices drive up prices. No doubt they do to a degree. But watching on television does not tell the whole story. Someone may see a Boss 302 or 429 Mustang cross the block for $250,000, and assume it lifts the value of similar cars.

A 1970-1972 Monte Carlo might be your dream car, but if it does not fit your budget, an '80s-era Monte SS would be a great alternative. Of course, if you are looking for a late G-body, the '87 Buick Grand National was the quickest and is appreciating in value rapidly. If you don't buy one now, you may be shut out forever.

With the cost of a high-end restoration today, the seller of that Boss may have barely broken even or even lost money. Unless you do it yourself, a nice paint job can run 20 grand—or more. Factor in body panels and labor and, oof, it makes my head hurt.

It does not, however, make your cancer-riddled six-cylinder hardtop from ’69 or ’70 a $75,000 car, no matter how many auctions you watch. If someone has one as described for sale at that price, just ignore them.

Could Dave Parker have built a duplicate of the Project American Heroes Camaro for less, something similar but for half the price? No doubt. But this F-body mattered. It was more than just steel, glass, rubber, and aluminum.

Supply and demand still rule the world. These classic muscle cars were made over 50-60 years ago—some in very limited amounts. The newest vintage muscle cars, the ’74 Super Duty Firebirds, are 51 years old. They haven’t produced one since Richard Nixon was president. The folks who crave them run the gamut from 20-somethings who have read about them but may have never seen one in person to those who owned them new.

As the decades have passed, their numbers have dwindled, and at the same time, these Trans Ams and Formulas achieved legendary status. Do you think you should still be able to buy one for $4,000?

Thanks to how great they looked, sounded, and performed—not to mention the period they represent—muscle cars have far outpaced the rate of inflation, as well as other collector/antique cars. I looked at a ’67 GTO in 1978. It ran great, and the interior was very nice. But the body was rusty from stem to stern and was going to need a bunch of work, then paint. At $1,500, I thought the price was too dear, plus I just didn’t have the time or skills to bring it back to pristine condition.

Of course, today, this would probably be a $30,000 car as it sat then. Pontiac’s initial run of GTO production was 11 model years. Thanks to the demon rust, poor brakes and tires, racing, and general abuse from teenagers like me, who knows how many are still on the road? Those cars created a sensation when new, and people still want them today.

Don’t get the feeling I’m some kind of bucks-up enthusiast. I bought my first car at 17 while working in a gas station. Yes, I was a pump jockey. Never got a handout from my old man or anyone else. I traded that car, a ’71 Plymouth Barracuda convertible, for a ’69 Corvette coupe, and on and on it goes. If I were smart, my garage would be full of vintage iron—I knew those vehicles would appreciate in the ‘70s, and I knew it would continue in every decade since—but I spent most of my money on college, housing, kids, etc. I made my choices and don’t regret any of them.

This is a Ford factory photo of a 1970 Boss 429 Mustang. It is one of the holy grail of Mustangs. Just because one sells for six figures on TV at auction does not make your rusty six-banger worth major dollars.

Can rich guys be enthusiasts if they don’t work on their cars? Absolutely. I once met a surgeon who pioneered a procedure to transplant the hand from a cadaver on an injured soldier and make it function. Sorry, I don’t want him messing with sharp and dangerous power tools in his home shop. Other rich guys are usually too busy figuring out ways to make more money. That is their other passion.

Maybe if I studied economics and finance instead of journalism, I’d be well-heeled, too. Ya makes yer choices and ya gots to live with them.

As far as auctions go, there are often great deals to be had. Really. You don’t go to B-J Scottsdale on Super Saturday and expect to find bargain-bin cars. But get there on the first or second day, and there are moves to be made. Here are some cars I consider well-bought:

• 1965 Ford Mustang 289, Three-Speed Automatic: $27,500. The beauty of this car isn’t what it is, though it’s a looker, but what it can be. You could swap in a 427 Windsor over a weekend, but if you don’t have the jack for that title and insure it, then cruise in style until you make the swap. Or add a centrifugal supercharger and create a carbureted monster overnight.

• 1987 Buick Grand National, 3.8 Turbo: $30,800. If you are into modern muscle, this thing looks beautiful, and you can drive it while its value appreciates. There is a mania around these cars, and the generation that freaked out over them in the Reagan-Bush years has prices skyrocketing. Buy now, or don’t say I didn’t advise you. (Third-gen F-bodies are also catching fire.)

• 1967 Plymouth Sport Fury 426 Hemi: $22,000. No, Plymouth never built a Hemi Sport Fury in ’65, but the engine alone is worth the purchase price. I dig the two-tone paint and the classic mid-’60s Mopar interior and exterior.

There was a ’72 Monte Carlo that sold at the Florida Mecum event for $26,950. Would I rather have a ’72 Chevelle SS? No doubt, but that isn’t a bad price in this day and age.

Now, some (all?) of these cars may not fit your budget. What is your budget? This is critical. Very few people are buying these as daily drivers, which we did when they were just used cars in the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s. Is it time to shift our focus to modern, computerized, modern muscle cars, which can still be used daily, yet make fabulous hot rods?

Mustang fastbacks are trading at insane prices. Those with 428 Cobra Jet engines are even more expensive. A good alternative is a six-cylinder or 289/302 model. Buy wisely, add a top-end kit or stroker small-block, and you are in the Street Muscle business.

The beauty of auctions is there are hundreds of cars all in one place. There’s a certain excitement when a rare car or one of historical significance goes across the block. What will it sell for? Will it sell at all? If nothing else, I go strictly to look at the cars. I like to know what’s available and what people might want. It’s cheap entertainment.

Setting Expectations

Which brings up another point. Working in your home shop, a good rebuild/restoration/restomod project could take 3-5 years or longer. Buying at an auction means you can be driving your dream car that very day.

Naturally, let the buyer beware. Trust no one and verify what you are getting is actually what you paid for. Use your head, not your heart. Make sure the Six-Barrel Super Bee you are bidding on runs well and didn’t start life as a 318 Coronet. I think this applies whether you are at an auction, buying off Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, or anywhere else.

Have the rich ruined the old car hobby for you and me? Define “old.” When I bought my ’65 Dodge in 1992, it was a 27-year-old daily driver. The equivalent now is a car from 1998. I still think of that as a new car. Trust me, that B-body in ’92 was an antique, though one that drove exactly like a brand new 383-powered Dodge. Anything from the late-‘90s can be a reliable daily driver, and they can be had all day long.

Sure, fourth-gen Camaros and Firebirds are pricier than some, but a Z28 or Trans Am with LS1 power will run circles around most stock early muscle cars—and they’ll stop and steer unlike any earlier version. Buying from this era means you may end up in a four-door (Impala SS anyone?), a truck (Ford SVT F-150 Lightning, Chevrolet 454SS, etc.), or front-wheel-drive if you fancy Mopars.

The window is closing on affordable third- and fourth-gen F-bodies, but there are still great deals to be had. If you love the early MTV era, an ’84-96 Corvette can be a very inexpensive way to listen to your Duran Duran cassettes and CDs.

Here’s where the conversation gets tense. If you can only afford a $1,500-$2,000 project, you are officially priced out of the ’64-74 muscle car market. This would not get you a decent starting point at any point in the new millennium, though I am sure there could be exceptions.

You will need lots of free time and above-average skills in the shop to take on a project like this. Of course, if you have a garage full of related parts, this could be a great starting point. The completed project would be way more rewarding than buying a finished car, and you could save money in the process. Just be honest with yourself beforehand.

Ultimately, it is my belief that having these auctions on TV has raised the profile of our hobby. It has gotten the some people involved who probably couldn’t have previously distinguished a 4-4-2 from an MX5 Miata. Without new blood, though, the entire hobby will eventually wither away and die.

However you get your next Street Muscle machine, we hope you enjoy it, and it will please you for years to come.

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About the author

Jim Campisano

Jim's had a wildly varied career, from newspaper, magazine, and Internet writing to TV production and YouTube videos. Now, he's back at his first love: Automotive content creation because words matter.
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