If you’ve been to Barrett-Jackson’s market-defining January event in Scottsdale, and you think you know what to expect, a visit to the summertime Sin City version may raise an eyebrow or two. If you’re there to buy and/or sell a car (or three), the ability to get to the cars without fighting through hordes of jewelers, jet-airplane salespeople, and artists of varying quality is delightful. What’s more, everything fits in a single room at the Las Vegas Convention Center; there’s no wandering around between buildings and outdoors into larger tents. You wouldn’t have wanted to be outside in Las Vegas June 22-24, 2023, anyway, with its triple-digit temps during the event.
The numbers over three days look impressive on their face. Thirty million bucks after charity and automobilia are added in? Massive! Nearly 500 cars and a near-$59,000 sale average all appear to be strong numbers on their own, and on site it felt like brisk business was being done. That’s the glass-half-full view. The glass-half-empty crowd will look at last year’s strong numbers (and the year before that) and note that both ’21 and ’22 were $48 million weekends. In ’21, the average sale was just above $65k, while ‘22’s Vegas average was around $72,000. While buyers probably dug the lower average price at the weekend, thirteen grand less per car is going to affect the bottom line at some point.
Half of the non-charity Top Ten sales were built in the 20th Century (and all of them in the 1960s, for that matter). The top overall sale was a 2019 Ford GT Lightweight Edition clocking in at $990,000 out the door; the top ’60s model was one of the two ’68 Ford Mustang “Eleanor” tribute models that worked their way into the Top Ten for the weekend, selling for $352,000. (Last year’s top seller was a 1970 Plymouth Hemi Superbird that topped the charts at an astonishing $1.65 million). All pricing includes the 10 percent buyers’ premium. Please note that Barrett-Jackson does not allow people to approach the cars, so our grading – and corresponding values – are approximations.
The Numbers
Photo: Jeff Koch
Total Sales: $29.2 million
Sell-Through: 100 percent
Average Sale: $58,871
Top Classic Car Sale:1968 Ford Mustang “Eleanor” tribute, $352,000
Legend
Condition: #1=Excellent; #2=Very Good; #3=Average; #4=Poor; #5=Major Project
Reserve: Minimum price owner will accept
High Bid: The highest offer made (but vehicle did not sell)*
Selling Price: What the vehicle sold for*
Average Selling Price: Average market value of vehicles in similar condition
*All prices shown for sold lots include the buyer’s premium of 10 percent. Unsold lots include only the highest bid, when available.
1994 Chevrolet Corvette
Photo: Jeff Koch
- Condition: Original/#2
- Reserve: None
- Selling Price: $11,550
- Avg. Selling Price: $15,000
This one is for everyone who thinks that big auction houses have ruined the market for the little guy. Here’s a tip: figure out what lots aren’t going to be on TV or check the first hundred lots of the event. There are bargains to be had. Witness: 300 horsepower for less than $12,000 out the door, for a clean, late C4 (with overdrive, four-wheel disc brakes, six-way power seats, removable roof panel, air conditioning, new tires, and more). An odometer showing 65,000 miles probably hobbled the sale slightly, but that mileage on a small-block Chevy is nothing.
1987 Ford Mustang GT Convertible
Photo: Jeff Koch
- Condition: Refurbished/#2
- Reserve: None
- Selling Price: $11,000
- Avg. Selling Price: $15,000
Ford sold a lot of fuel-injected five-liter Fox bodies between 1987 and 1993, so enthusiasts can afford to be choosy. Ordinarily, this automatic GT soft-top would be a $15,000 ride, despite the adjustable coil-overs that have been installed, but a salvage title (water damage in 2022) put paid to that. Everything looked clean and didn’t seem musty, but who can tell what water did to the electrics and electronics? It didn’t matter; someone took the chance. What does it say about the five-liter Fox-body market that a salvage-title ’Stang would sell so close to the value of a comparable cleanly-titled one?
1969 AMC Javelin SST
Photo: Jeff Koch
- Condition: Refurbished/#2-
- Reserve: None
- Selling Price: $19,800
- Avg. Selling Price: $20,000
AMC’s sporty entry into the pony car fray of the late ’60s is oft overlooked. “A solid survivor,” said the paperwork on this 390/automatic example. It also said the lime green SST was cleaned up—and, well, let’s just agree to disagree on that. Recent mechanical work (carburetor, brakes, shocks) should have made it a fun driver while an enthusiastic owner-restorer may seek to divest in the layers of patina that were present. A couple of high sales this year have driven the average for a mint-restored example of the early Javelin north of $40,000, but average beasts like this remain around half that, which is right where this example sold.
1967 Chevrolet Impala SS Convertible
Photo: Jeff Koch
- Condition: Refurbished/#2
- Reserve: None
- Selling Price: $26,400
- Avg. Selling Price: $50,000
This Impala ragtop presented well—with a bench seat despite it being an SS. Clean paint, unfussed-with interior, patina-less brightwork, an odometer that promised less than 57,000 original miles… all appeared in order. Other ’67 SS convertibles we’ve seen sell this year have been in the $50,000+ range; indeed, a few small-block hardtops have topped this convertible’s sale, which is odd. So, what happened? Was the 275-horse 327 less interesting in a world full of SS427s, original or otherwise? All we can think is, assuming all was in order with this Impala, the new buyer scored a deal.
1976 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am
Photo: Jeff Koch
- Condition: Restored/#2+
- Reserve: None
- Selling Price: $35,200
- Avg. Selling Price: $38,000
Behold! A four-speed, 400-cube, limited-slip-equipped Trans Am from an era before Smokey and the Bandit existed. Other than an aftermarket stereo tape deck, it presented as new. It was said to be given a complete restoration in September of ’22, including rebuilding the original engine and bringing the rest up to like-new condition. This is the third time this car has changed hands in the last two years: in February ’22 it sold at auction for $23,500; at Barrett-Jackson in Palm Beach earlier this year it sold for a strong $64,900; and in Las Vegas it reached the sale figure seen here.
1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28
Photo: Jeff Koch
- Condition: Restored/#2+
- Reserve: None
- Selling Price: $82,500
- Avg. Selling Price: $90,000
Look, at this point there’s no reason why any ’69 Camaro at any auction you visit shouldn’t be perfect. Just about every part you could ever want or need has been reproduced; it’s all down to how you (or the shop you commissioned) puts it all together. This one looked the part, in Daytona Yellow with black buckets and gauges in the console, and 4.10 gears in the 12-bolt rear end. The engine was said to be a period-correct block rather than the original, which may account for some of the discrepancy between the sale and the average.
1973 Chevrolet Camaro Z28
Photo: Jeff Koch
- Condition: Original/#2
- Reserve: None
- Selling Price: $42,900
- Avg. Selling Price: $45,000
An original—and judging by the description, exceedingly honest—California owner/seller. Original engine rebuilt! Bondo in the front valance! Some paint chips on the passenger’s side! Matching-numbers distributor in a box! The seat belt buzzer isn’t buzzing! Minor things considering the rest of the presentation: original orange paint, factory stripes, lack of vinyl top to dry out and trap rot, a four-speed stick, a binder full of receipts and paperwork, an original collapsed mini-spare… all of this surely helped. That said… did the seller’s honesty help? Or would keeping stumm have yielded a greater result against the average?
1979 Chevrolet Corvette
Photo: Jeff Koch
- Condition: Original/#1-
- Reserve: None
- Selling Price: $29,700
- Avg. Selling Price: $20,000
Another red Chevy with mitigating factors. At the time of sale, this L82 ’Vette was a two-owner car with less than 6,000 miles. It was red and minty fresh. The tires appeared recent. It sold for 50 percent north of the average. Issues? Even with L82 optional engine, these were some of the lowest-powered V-8 Corvettes ever built, and with nearly 54,000 built, they’re the most plentiful ever made (even beating out the ’84 and its 18-month sales run). Someone bought this one to play the flipping game… and lost. This very Corvette sold for $24,000 just three months after they bought it for the figure above.
1992 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 25th Anniversary Edition
Photo: Jeff Koch
- Condition: Original/#1-
- Reserve: None
- Selling Price: $20,350
- Avg. Selling Price: $27,500
How to parse this one? On the one hand: a red Camaro. Anniversary edition, if that matters to anyone (and judging by how little Chevy did to make it special, it didn’t even matter to them). A V-8 engine and stick-shift (in this case, the factory-equipped five-speed). On the other: mileage somewhere around 90,000 (despite how the car looks – you’d swear the odometer read a tenth of the actual mileage), and a CARFAX that shows a theft incident from 2003. Wrecked and restored? Stripped for parts and reconstituted? Or just a quick joyride? Who could tell? It wasn’t a terrible result, considering.
1968 Plymouth Road Runner
Photo: Jeff Koch
- Condition: Restored/#1
- Reserve: None
- Selling Price: $110,000
- Avg. Selling Price: $150,000
This was one of 62 Hemi Road Runners built for 1968, and one of eight hardtops (introduced late in the model year) known to exist. It was said to be the only one of those eight painted Matador Red, and the only example with radio delete. It was also said to retain its numbers-matching drivetrain. A list of accolades as long as your arm accompanied the Plymouth—magazine feature stories, MCACN accolades, and more. Looking at it, you’d scarcely believe it had been restored for a decade and a half—they didn’t look this good rolling out of Highland Park when they were new. It sold at auction in 2018 for $165,000, with recent pricing for Hemi Road Runners just shy of that mark.
1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302
Photo: Jeff Koch
- Condition: Original/#1-
- Reserve: None
- Selling Price: $94,600
- Avg. Selling Price: $95,000
An original-owner car from its late-1969 delivery through sale and presented complete with period documentation from its California dealership, this Medium Lime Metallic Boss 302 retained both its matching-numbers engine and – just as crucially, for collectors – Ford’s factory-installed evaporative emissions system. It had the options people want to see on a Boss: Shaker hood, Sport Slats, trunk spoiler, and more. It rolled on a set of modern radials, which are great for drivability but less great for correctness, but they’re also too easily swapped to proper re-pop rubber to be an issue. Although, with an out-the-door auction price within a single slender percentage of the sale average, why bother?
1970 Dodge Challenger R/T
Photo: Jeff Koch
- Condition: Restored/#1
- Reserve: None
- Selling Price: $61,600
- Avg. Selling Price: $120,000
It’s all in the wording. “Original VIN and data tag are intact,” said the paperwork… but do they match how the car presented? “Powered by an upgraded 440/375-hp Magnum,” said the signage. Hmm… The VIN shows that while this was a real R/T model (no big deal – one in four Challengers were in ’70), this one was born with a 383 in its K-frame. What was here was lovely – panels were gapped properly, and the finishes were properly bright and dull in the right places. Yet, before we could get this report to print, this Challenger sold once again at another auction – for $55,000. Caveat emptor, kids.
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