Antique car buyers get bargains

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The world-renown Barrett-Jackson auction sale of a Trenton man's very collectible cars didn't go as well as hoped. And on top of it all, one of two men who accompanied the cars to Scottsdale, Ariz., got sunburned.

Rod Berry of McCook, who, with Clint McKenzie, took Milo Smith's 1937 Pierce-Arrow limousine and his 1928 Packard roadster to the auction said this morning that he and Smith were disappointed in the selling price of both cars.

The Pierce-Arrow brought $52,920, which includes an 8 percent buyer's premium. Barrett-Jackson officials had appraised it at $250,000. The Packard brought $85,320, which also includes the buyer's premium. It had been appraised at $110,000.

"They sure didn't bring what they were supposed to," Berry said. "Milo was disappointed."

Both cars sold to buyers bidding on the internet, so Berry said he does not know who bought either car.

Berry said both cars sold in the first hour of selling on Saturday morning, which may have hurt their chances, he said. "The cars in the afternoon and evening brought a lot more money."

Berry said he thought the cars' sales were to have been televised, live on the Speed channel, but they weren't. That, too, may have been to blame for the low prices, he thought.

Both cars were running when they were sold.

"Oh, well, that's just the way life is," Berry said. "There's nothing we can do about it."

Barrett-Jackson sells cars at its annual sale with no reserve, which, company and auction officials believe increases bidding activity.

Berry said he never wants to go through such a thing again. "It's a rat race down there," he said. " ... 200,000, 300,000 people. And I even got sunburned."

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Barrett-Jackson sold about 1,600 collectible cars at sales Tuesday through Sunday. The Speed channel televised 33 hours of the sale.

The Barrett-Jackson Classic Car Auction Co. started with a friendship between car buffs Tom Barrett and Russ Jackson, who sponsored a car show in 1967 and, in 1971, the first of many classic car auctions. The sales have expanded to live-airing on the Speed channel and live internet bidding.

Russ Jackson died in 1993 and Tom Barrett in 2004; Russ's son, Craig, continues the Barrett-Jackson legacy, according to the Web site.