By Jim Brennan

UDMan

The Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction has a reputation for getting top dollar from the buying public that attends this mega collection of vintage, performance, and significant vehicles. Many of these folks crave to own something a little different, or to recapture their lost youth. And why not? Where else on earth can you witness such a vast collection of machinery, all there just for you, if you have the money to back up your desire. You have cars and trucks from the early Brass Era, through modern concepts and customs, even a significant airplane.

But what if you’re not exceedingly wealthy, and can only afford about 1/2 of today’s average new car purchase (for arguments sake, lets call that about $22,000)? Could you actually take home something vintage, significant, or one-of-a-kind from the world famous Barrett-Jackson Auction. Why, yes you can, and here are some interesting examples.

Continue reading after the jump.

Continue reading "You Too Can Afford a Car at Barrett-Jackson. Yes you can!" »

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Check out all our pics from Detroit in the Events section. Thanks to Matt Wellumson and Mike Vann from Neuwerks for the great shots! I love this photo Matt took at the BlueSport unveil.

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

While I was in Detroit, I had the opportunity to sit down and talk to Susan Docherty, General Motors Vice President for Marketing at Buick, Pontiac and GMC. I mostly just wanted to talk about Pontiac. First of all, there is no plan for a Firebird. Sorry guys! Susan said that they are looking to focus the brand down to few models, much the way they took the Buick brand from eight to three models. So how many models will Pontiac end up with (from the current six, which incudes the new G3—basically a rebadged Aveo)? “Less than six,” is all Susan would commit to.

In our discussion Susan seemed to really focus in on the G8, the Solstice and the Vibe. Now, those are three very different vehicles, and to me, make for a somewhat confused brand image. The only one that really screams Pontiac to me is the G8. I like the Solstice, but it doesn’t really fit my idea of what Pontiac should be. And the Vibe seems more pratical than exciting. If it was up to me, I’d love to see a RWD G6, a Firebird, the G8, a two-door G8 with the GTO nameplate, and maybe a super hot hatch. But what do I know? It’s clear that the next year or two will be rocky for Pontiac. Susan emphasized that plans for the Pontiac brand have not been finalized. So stay tuned, and let your voice be heard.

Continue reading "Is There Hope For Pontiac?" »

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Bet you didn’t think it was possible to make an E-Type ugly, did you? You’re looking at the third E-Type imported to the States. The dealer who got it was so excited that they gave it this horrible paint job—way back in 1961. I’m normally for keeping weird old era-correct paint schemes, but in this case, I’m not so sure… Via Hemmings

By Jim Brennan

UDMan

Along with some significant (and not quite significant) vehicles available at the Scottsdale Barrett-Jackson Auction that GM Heritage Museum is disposing of, there is a group of racing and racing support cars that will be offered for bid. Most of these have been saved for the Finale on Sunday, in the hopes of achieving as much value as possible. A lot of these cars will be purchased for future vintage racing, or for racing museums, but I’m guessing that more than a couple will be actively campaigned in the very near future. Sit back, and buckle up your five point harness, here are some of the racing vehicles from the GM Historical Collection.

Continue reading "GM Racing Machines at the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Auction" »

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

Tokyo Auto Salon isn’t really known a great place to see classic cars. If vintage is your goal, you’d be better off waiting a couple weeks and going to the JCCA New Year Meeting in Odaiba instead. Nonetheless, there are always a handful of modified vintage machines at TAS, and this year’s offerings were pretty remarkable. This year’s classic car presence was lead primarily by G-Works Magazine, who had several examples in their booth. Let’s take a look at some of the vintage machines from Tokyo Auto Salon 2009. Continue reading at Speedhunters

By Mike Garrett

By Ron Honig

WaytooFurious

One of the highlights of the Kustom Nationals is the Chop How-To seminar that is held each year. This Mercury was given the treatment by the guys from John’s Rod & Custom Shop. Unfortunately I was not able to get any video of the event. It is an art form because it takes a lot to get the ‘geometry’ right when doing a chop. To get an idea of what’s involved check out this cool clip. And if you want to see another chop there’s this clip.

By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

To fans of rally racing, Group B rally cars hold the same reverence that vintage Fuel Altereds do for drag racing fans. Something along the lines of, “That actually happened?!” Like the golden age of the AA/FAs, Group B lived a short but exciting life as a rally class. When competitors started dying with some regularity, the FIA pulled the plug on the class.

So what were the Group B rules that allowed for such outrageous machinery? It was the classic case of not exactly opening Pandora’s Box, but instead, failing to wrap chains around it and submerge it in 13 feet of concrete. The rules were an engineer’s delight and guys took every liberty they could. Continue reading at Freiburger’s Junkyard

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

After staring at a lot of new Mustangs in Detroit I’ve decided that I still prefer the 2005 coupe to the 2010 coupe, BUT I prefer the 2010 convertible to the 2005 convertible. How about you?

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Seriously, how do they even compete with this new Caddy?