Speedvision-Barret-Jackson GN comments

[GSX-PKV]

Last night during the 1st night's coverage of the Barrett-Jackson auction, the three announcers commented (it went something like this...) that any car that was mass produced, is really not usually a good candidate as a "collectable car".

They went on to say there are exceptions like ZR1 corvettes, which one announcer said originally was pricey, costing over 60k. And then they said... and then there are those Buick Grand Nationals with the turbos... They all agreed they like GN! I have Tivo, so I re-played it so my wife could hear it!

Later in the show, a low mileage 86 vette could barely raise $10,000! Think about it, our cars cost half of what a Vette cost new and now, a clean, low mileage TR is worth about double what the Vette is worth! We buy the caars for fun, but they look like good investments also. Paul

 

[TurboRegal84]

Paul,

Keep in mind...Our cars are fairly "New" for collectors to peak interest in them. I would guess that once the 1984-1987 TurboRegal's Turn 20-25 years old, and the GM parts start drying up the value will increase greatly.

Stock Unmolested Turbo Regal's are already becoming hard to find, just imagine how hard it will be to find a stock 1987 Grand National with UNDER 50K on the odometer in 5 years.

 

[gmpower6]

Them two bone heads said post 83 cars were mass produce and didn't see to many collecters. Said pre 83 were better. Then the zr1 comment followed by the grand national with the big v-6 hahahaha.

Yeah that 86 vette brings 10,500 and cost over 25,000. What the hell who care if it was owned by johnny carson.

Some of the guy's bought not one car but as many as three going threw the auction line. Damn must be nice.


Sean

 

[turboscott]

I was coming on here to comment on the same exact discussion. The whole thing was brought up because an emailer asked what cars within the last 20 years would be considered collectible cars 20 years from now so he could buy one while they are still cheap. I was so pissed when they said MAYBE some of those Buick Grand Nationals with the BIG V6 turbo. I bought my car with 10,056 miles and I paid more than the original sticker price. Only 16 years old and went up in value, sounds like a collector to me. And they CLEARLY know nothing about the GNX's. Maybe they should hire commentators that know what the hell they are talking about?

And as far as mass production. They said anything over 5000 is mass produced. Well 20K GN's is mass produced to them but in relation to other models in the 80's it is low. I am sure there were more cars produced in 87 than in the 60's because more people are driving. So, 20K is probably proportional in 87 to the 5000 in the 60's. And what about the TTA and 1555 cars? Sounds like they have potential to be a collector some day, no?

 

[GN One Day...]

Originally posted by turboscott
Maybe they should hire commentators that know what the hell they are talking about?

That's kind of harsh. There's a big difference between knowing a good bit about a LOT of cars that are collectible and specializing on 1. A specialist wouldn't be able to comment on but 1 or 2 cars in the auction. Sounds like they appreciate the Buicks from what the other guys said here.

I missed the GN bit, I tuned in right at the E Type before Carson's Vette. They did nail the Vette price at about $10,000 before it started. Guess being Carson's car really didn't mean much. It was in good shape though. I was surprised that that E--Type went for so much less than a fully restored one. I know the restorations are expensive, but I'd love to get one 97% original with low mileage. Especially if it's 1/3 the price.

 

[FlyinGN]

I listen to these guys every year make tons of mistakes on anything american and made during the musclecar era. Even Brock Yates knows very little. That surprised me.. I thought he was pretty sharp but hes knows very little about american muscle. I laugh so hard every year at the comments and mistakes they make. They need a commentator who knows American musclecars. They have that goofy English guy who knows the foreign and classics.. Get rid of Brock and get Paul Zazzerine in there!!

 

[Lee_Burough]

I heard the comments about the "BIG" Buick Grand National V-6 too

I wanted to e-mail them about the TTA and how 1555 Pontiac GTA's were taken off the production line and sent to an outside vendor who put these cars together by hand with a refined "BIG" Buick V-6 installed ....But then, prejudice is prejudice.

These guys are intertaining to listen too, but, while they may have an ocean of car knowledge....Its only an inch deep

It IS fun to watch....I see some cars I've known in my early life, even some cars I've owned.

 

[fitz3820]

I was glad to hear that they mentioned the GN last night, we all should be proud and happy that we were mentioned at all.

They said "maybe" about the future values of Turbo Buicks because GNX's have so far been terrible investments, would have been much better putting your cash into a money market at 3%. The future may be different though...


The announcers don't know everything about every car, yeah we know about muscle cars but how much do you know about Mercers or Bugattis, Alfa's or Jags?

Alan de Cadenet knows a bunch about cars, you get that from racing at Le Mans for over 15 years!

Cool show, 6 hours of coverage tonight!

Mark F. 87 GN 11.9 @ 115

 

[FlyinGN]

no fitz, they know NOTHING about musclecars. Way less then I do about classic and foreign cars..

try me


The announcers don't know everything about every car, yeah we know about muscle cars but how much do you know about Mercers or Bugattis, Alfa's or Jags?

]

 

[strikeeagle]

One observation they made was that 50's, 60's and 70's cars were hot because they represented nostalgia to the boomers, and that 30's and 40's cars were cold because they did not.

Extrapolating, TRs may be of greater interest to collectors when they (TRs, that is) get to be, let's say, 30 to 50 years old - 2017 to 2037. Like I'll care then?

The problem with TRs, as I see it, is that they are neither rare nor plentiful. Therefore, they won't have the appeal of either a '69 COPO Camaro, or a '69 Chevelle SS. Going back to the musclecar era, lots of folks owned a hot Chevy or coveted a hot Chevy, and those folks are older now and have discretionary $$$ now and want one again. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think things will set up like that for TRs.

Value-wise, the TR's saving grace is its reputation on the street and strip as an "ax-wielding barbarian".

 

[FlyinGN]

strike. do you realize how many 69 Chevelle SS's were built? I can tell you that in 68 (which was way less popular then the 69's) that 57,500 were built.. WAYY more then an 87 GN for sure..

 

[FlyinGN]

update. I found 69 SS production figures..
86,030 made.. About 4 times as many 87 GN's were made.. How rare do u thing the 87 GN's are gonna be in 15 years??

Originally posted by FlyinGN
strike. do you realize how many 69 Chevelle SS's were built? I can tell you that in 68 (which was way less popular then the 69's) that 57,500 were built.. WAYY more then an 87 GN for sure..

 

[bishir]

The Vintage Mustang is one of the largest mass produced cars of all time. Ford sold almost a million of them in the first two years alone. The rarer, performance versions were still made in relatively greater numbers than most other cars, but vintage Mustangs hold their value well. There are still a lot of them around too.

 

[fitz3820]

Flyin' - you are probably right, they could stand to get someone that knows a bit more about muscle cars - they seem to be popular at the B-J auction and are what the boomers are into.

It is fun to watch people that can throw money around like that, God bless 'em.

Mark F. 87 GN 11.9 @ 115

 

[1ARUNEM]

Bishir (James), we will have no choice but to ban you if you keep up the Ford talk...

I caught the last hour as well. Someone STOLE that Chevy 3 window coupe.

The 97 Henessey 600 viper went pretty (considering) cheap as well.

 

[GN One Day...]

Originally posted by FlyinGN
I listen to these guys every year make tons of mistakes on anything american and made during the musclecar era. Even Brock Yates knows very little. That surprised me.. I thought he was pretty sharp but hes knows very little about american muscle. I laugh so hard every year at the comments and mistakes they make. They need a commentator who knows American musclecars. They have that goofy English guy who knows the foreign and classics.. Get rid of Brock and get Paul Zazzerine in there!!

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying those guys are the best to have, just that it's hard to get someone who knows good trivia/specs about all the cars that will roll up on the block. Personally, I wouldn't have a C&D editor on there at all. We're lucky he doesn't compare every car to 9 others and declare a BMW or Accord the winner. Or a truck.
Peter Egan from Road & Track knows his stuff, that would be my choice as for a mag representative.
If they really want someone recognizable, there's always Jay Leno or Dennis Gage. Then throw in someone from Hemmings or a top shelf auto appraiser. I wouldn't expect anyone to know all the right tidbits about every car that goes up there though, there's too much variety.

 

[JoyOf6]

Geez, turn the sound off and maybe enjoy it anyway.

Personally, I neither care nor expect the turbo 3.8s to get properly cited or cited at all in mass media. Stay in the shadows, surrounded by conflicting information, fine by me. It'll be a dark day when someone outside of the Buick fraternity engages me in conversation at the track and actually knows what the fudge he's talking about. Where's the fun if that day comes?

One of the perks of the Barrett-Jackson for me is seeing teams of 30- and 40- something bidders with their shades stashed in their slicked back hair (Lounge Lizard Central), or the 50- and 60-somethings with their ball caps and deep pockets. Great caricatures.

Art

 

[salvageV6]

That's actually one show I do watch with the sound on.

I think they do an okay job for the coverage they are allowed to do. A few auctions in between commercials and special segments.

We don't have TR experts, we have goooorrrrroooooos.

Ford muscle cars, another oxymoron.

 

[fireberd350]

GN's are already collectables. No doubt about it. There are plenty of other post 83 cars as well.. one that jumps in my mind is the 92 Firehawk...and obviosuly the GNX, TTA, etc etc etc....

Those guys must not realize how dumb they sound, I don't consider myself to be very knowledgable of old musclecars but I seem to know more than these guys on most cars, and I'm only 20.

 

[strikeeagle]

Yes, that's exactly my point. I guess I did a poor job of expressing myself. If Chevy sold about 86,000 Chevelle SS's in 1969, then there are about 86,000 original owners and however many 2nd owners and 3rd owners and so on kicking around who miss their Chevelle SS's. That's why mass produced cars like Camaros and Chevelles and Mustangs are hot at auctions - a huge pool of ex-owners = big demand.

The flip side - 69 ZL1 Camaros sold in '69. Each is worth 100's of thousands of dollars because they're so rare. At the same time, maybe a guy had a '69 Z-28 or 350 or 396, but he coveted that aluminum 427. Big demand, small supply.

TR's, on the other hand, are kind of a middle numbers car. Not a bazillion former owners trying to find another one, and not so rare that one can't be had.

Did I make my point? If Buick were at the top of the heap like Chevy, GNs would be analogous to Chevelle SS's and GNXs to ZL1 Camaros.