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GAA Fall Classic Auction 2021 in Prime Time

We sure learned a lot today watching this final day of the GAA Fall Classic Auction 2021 in Prime Time Saturday. The Automobile Palace was packed with excited buyers as the best of the best classic and collectible cars crossed the auction block here in Greensboro, North Carolina today. This was the wrap on a three-day sale, November 4-6, 2021. Collector cars are holding the high prices that they achieved early on in 2021. This is the sale that tells us what “blue collar” mainstream classic and muscle cars are worth. 

Here is a wrapup of some of the top cars and their sales prices as we watched today in the Saturday sale.

Cars-On-Line.com hosted an “auction watching party” today on their Facebook page. If you were watching with us on the GAA Classic Auction Live You Tube stream, you saw some interesting sales. The discussion there was interesting. Here is a link to the Saturday sale archived on You Tube. Relive the excitement of this afternoon’s sale. 

Cars-On-Line.com’s Car Show team watches the GAA Classic Auctions in Greensboro, North Carolina to get a gauge on the collector car market. GAA’s special auction facility, which they call The Automobile Palace, was expanded to over five acres of display area all indoors. The sea of cars here is endless. So much to see.

On Thursday they achieved a 91 percent sell-thru rate. That’s pretty phenomenal for any auction. The Saturday sale is Prime Time, with some of the finest classic and collectible cars on the planet congregated right here for the big sale. 

Top Ten Collector Cars Ready to Breakout

We have been watching as news service after news service publishes their “Top Ten Collector Cars To Buy Now” list.  Most of them are dominated by six and seven figure cars that the average collector will never get the chance to own. That’s depressing. So we thought it would be fun to publish our own Top Ten list, only this one would predict which cars are still affordable, but have the chance to break out in the near future. These are the cars you can buy now and expect to appreciate in value going forward.

  1. 1970 Chevelle Super Sport
    Our first car on the Top Ten has to be the 1970 Chevelle Super Sport. We have already seen what happened at the Barrett-Jackson Auction in Scottsdale this year. Chevelle Super Sports had been stuck in a range for many years. But starting with the Scottsdale Auction in March, blowout prices have been more the norm than the exception at national auctions. The fact is you can still buy No. 3 condition Super Sports at very affordable prices. This 1970 Chevelle SS 454 was just listed by Mershons in Ohio. Their asking price is $49,900. Expect its value to increase in the next year. It tops our Top Ten Collector Cars list, but there are more …

 

2. 1967-69 Pontiac Firebird Convertible.
Next on the list is the 1967-69 Pontiac Firebird Convertible. We feel they are under-appreciated in this market. Unlike their Camaro cousins, the Firebirds have not gotten the same kind of respect. They are poised for a breakout though. How do we know? We can’t keep them in our listings. As soon as they are listed they sell. That eventually causes price pressure and the trend line goes straight up. The one you see here is a 1968 Pontiac Firebird Convertible listed by Old Town Automobile in Huntingtown, Maryland. It was marked SOLD soon after it was listed. 

 

1969 Mustang Mach 1

3. 1969-70 Ford Mustang Mach 1
For decades now the 1969-70 Ford Mustang Mach 1’s with the Cleveland and Windsor 351 motors have been given little respect in the collector car market. That is about to change. They are the best bet in the collector car hobby to appreciate in value.  Beause they have been largely overlooked by collectors for years, they are still very affordable today. Find one such as this 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 being sold by a private seller out of Texas and you may get it for below $50,000. Depending on the condition, the upside could be substantial. A breakout is coming on these Mach 1’s. 

 

1969 Buick GS 400

No. 4  1969-71 Buick Gran Sport 
The 1969 through 1971 Buick Skylark Gran Sports were better handling cars than their GTO cousins at GM. And they were more powerful with tremendous torque. Yet they have never been in the same price category as the GTO’s. That may change soon. They are ready for a breakout. But right now you can still buy them for an affordable price. This 1969 Buick GS 400 is being offered for sale by a private party seller in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The asking price is only $31,500. 

1970 Oldsmobile 442

5. 1968-1971 Oldsmobile 442
Much like the Buick Gran Sport, the 1968 through 1971 Oldsmobile 442’s were amazing muscle cars. They had more power and more creature comforts than their cousin the GTO. But they never got the same respect in the collector car market in terms of collector value. The good news though is that their current pricing levels are still affordable. This Burnished Gold 1970 Oldsmobile 442 is currently offered for sale at Cruisin Classics, a collector car dealer in Columbus, Ohio. It has the 455 ci big block with a three-speed Turbo automatic transmission. 

6. 1977-85 Porsche 928
It is not lost on our readers that Porsche sports cars are among the most respected specialty cars in the world. But Porsche has often dabbled in producing lower end sports cars for the masses, i.e. the Porsche 914, Porsche 924, Porsche 944, etc. Although the Porsche 924 and 944 were not up to Porsche standards, they did it right when they produced the Porsche 928 starting in the late ’70s and continuing on to1995. We think of the Porsche 928 as a “future classic” with lots of uptrend in pricing to come. But they are very affordable now. Here is a 1984 Porsche 928 S being offered for sale at Carolina Muscle Cars in Benson, North Carolina. 

7. 1960-1977 VW Beetle Cabriolet
Last weekend a 1962 VW Beetle Cabriolet surprised the world when it sold for $110,000 at the Fall Auburn Auction in Auburn, Indiana on Labor Day Weekend. These cars started getting popular in the 1960’s here in the U.S.  For decades they have been stuck in a low price range in the collector car market here. But they may be poised to breakout based on the price action last weekend. This is a category to watch. 

1978 Datsun 280Z

8. 1975-1978 Datsun 280Z
We have known for some time that the early Datsun 240Z and 260Z sports cars were already collectible. That ship has already left the port. But the 1975 through 1978 Datsun 280Z cars are even more refined and are much more affordable. This 1978 Datsun 280Z was sold by a private seller for $21,900 after a full restoration. Watch for these cars to appreciate over time. There are not a lot of them on the market so they sell quickly. 

9. 1984-1988 Pontiac Fiero
The Pontiac Fiero was a short-lived experiment in mass producing a two-seater sports car. The idea was great but the performance never matched up to the hype until the final year. You can pick many of the Fiero GT models up for cheap. But the most valuable of the Fieros is the 1988 Pontiac Fiero Formula like the one shown here. It was the first of the Fieros to actually live up to the performance potential with a 2.8L V6. Since only 5,484 were built, there is a problem finding them. But if you do, they may be worth investing in for the future price potential. 

1981 Delorean DMC-12

10. 1981-82 Delorean DMC-12
For many years it seemed that Deloreans could not get any respect from exotic sports car collectors. But just recently we have noticed that somebody is buying up all the No 3 or better condition Deloreans for public sale. Could there be a breakout coming in the pricing of Deloreans? This 1981 Delorean DMC-12 was recently posted for sale by Beverly Hills Car Club in Los Angeles. But it just as quickly has been marked SOLD. 

There are more classic car and truck models looking like they want to break out in this market. But these are our Top Ten recommendations to watch. 

Fall Auburn Auction 2021

The Fall Auburn Auction 2021 is underway at the Auburn Auction Park in tiny Auburn, Indiana, the home of the Auburn Motorcar Company. In this historic setting RM Auctions will be selling over 500 collector and specialty cars and trucks this weekend. It all happens with the backdrop of one of America’s premier automotive festivals on Labor Day Weekend. 

The Fall Auburn Auction 2021 started on Thursday morning, September 2, and continues through Sunday, September 5, 2021. Everything ranging from American classics to European sports cars, muscle cars, hot rods, customs, and modern collectibles, will be offered in the historic sale. Here is a sampling of some of the top vehicles we will be watching as they cross the auction block on Saturday.

This is the 51st Annual Fall Auburn Auction in Auburn, Indiana. The auction docket for Saturday is full of top quality collector cars. You can watch with Cars-On-Line as the Live Stream of the auction will be available on the front page of the RM-Sotheby’s website here. Just click the video window to view the auction live. 

We were impressed with how many 1950’s classics were listed in the sale. There are also a good number of classic and exotic Porsche cars, muscle cars and customs in the auction inventory. Of course, the selection of real vintage motorcars is the best you will find anywhere. 

Cars-On-Line will host another Virtual Auction Watching party for our readers on Saturday. Follow our posts on Facebook and Twitter to monitor the cars and prices from the Prime Time docket. You can participate in the conversation as we note the featured top sales. You can even predict what each car will sell for as we talk about them there. 

The auction is part of the big Auburn Cord Duesenberg Festival held every Labor Day Weekend in Auburn. The Indiana city is the traditional home to the Auburn Motorcar Company. The weekend activities include the RM Auction at the Auburn Auction Park, a car show in Ekhart Park on Saturday morning and a parade through downtown Auburn on Saturday afternoon. There are car shows every night in the downtown square, and cruises and dinner parties are planned throughout the weekend. Of course, a visit to the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum is a must during the festival. 

Follow this link to find our coverage of the ACD Festival in previous years. 

 

NSRA Street Rod Nationals 2021

On the final day of the NSRA Street Rod Nationals 2021, the finale was the Circle of Winners in Freedom Hall at the Kentucky Expo Center. The top cars selected from the thousands that have come here from all parts of the U.S. and Canada were on display in the circle for all to see. These were the cars brought here by registered members who came to display their work at America’s largest street rod show.  The awards ceremony put the final touches on the NSRA’s “big party” here in Louisville, Kentucky, August 5-8. The weather was perfect (not too hot for once), and the atmosphere was electric with energy as street rodders look to the future of their favorite hobby. So many new builds to see and appreciate here. 

Click through the slide show below to see the Circle of Winners Awards Ceremony.

On Saturday afternoon they pulled the winning ticket out of the barrel for the lucky registered car show entrant who won the Give-A-Way car here at the NSRA Street Rod Nationals 2021 in Louisville, Kentucky. Thousands of show goers were packed into Freedom Hall at the Kentucky Expo Center hoping to be the winner of a special built custom 1932 Ford Hi-Boy Roadster Pickup. Minutes later we were photographing a happy Dick Steven’s from Isola, Mississippi as he received the keys from Gary Corkell, owner of One-Off Rods & Customs, the car’s builder. 

Here is a slideshow of that moment and the 1932 Ford Hi-Boy Roadster Pickup Give-A-Way truck. 

Late Friday evening here at the NSRA Street Rod Nationals 2021 they announced the winners of the two major awards which NSRA gives out every year. The NSRA’s Builder of the Year Award went to L&S Customs out of Prospect Hills, North Carolina for their work on a 1950 Chevy 3100 Pickup. And the NSRA’s Pro Pick of the Year is a 1950 Chevy Suburban Custom. Both awards were announced at the NSRA banquet on Friday evening. The awards go to the top street rods shown here at the NSRA big show. 

Here are the NSRA award winners, and a number of the other custom builders in a special display called the Builders Showcase:

The Builder of the Year award was accepted by Scott Sheets of L & S Customs, Inc.  He built the car for its owner, Keith Layne of Eden, North Carolina. We were able to catch up to Scott Sheets for an interview this weekend. Here is what he had to say about building this award winning 1950 Chevy 3100 Pickup they call the “Fast Layne 50.”

The Rumble in the Ohio River Valley

If you notice a little rumble in the background along the Ohio River Valley this week it is probably the arrival of 10,000 street rods and customs coming for the NSRA Street Rod Nationals 2021. Converging on the city of Louisville, Kentucky, it is considered the world’s largest street rod show of its kind. And it is just the medicine we need to beat the COVID bug once and for all. 

In the past week some doubt was shed on whether this event would be altered by a new mask mandate imposed by Kentucky Governor Andy Bashear. But it turns out the mask mandate is being applied only to government buildings and institutions. “This place is packed,” our photo journalist, Bob Boberg told us. “They are looking at at least 10,000 registered custom cars and trucks here this weekend.” There were already 7,000 registered on Thursday. That’s a pretty good turnout for the 52nd Annual National Street Rod Association event. We are seeing everything from old school hot rods to high tech state-of-the-art builds. There is plenty of eye candy here in Louisville. 

Through the lens of Bob Boberg’s camera we thought we would give you a taste of what the sights were like here on the grounds of the NSRA Street Rod Nationals 2021. Click through the slider below to view the “beauty shots.”

As you can see, our Cars-On-Line Car Show team is here and getting some great photos and videos here at the Kentucky Expo Center in Louisville, home of the NSRA Street Rod Nationals 2021. In one of the halls in the Expo Center we spotted 35 of the top custom car builders in the country  displaying their latest builds. Outside on the grounds of the Expo Center there are thousands more custom built street rods, classic cars, old school hot rods, classic customs and custom muscle cars all on display in a giant car show. 

Cars On Line’s Car Show team is reporting on the NSRA Street Rod Nationals for our readers. Keep this page bookmarked all weekend as we will be adding photos and videos in real time. The NSRA is one of the oldest and largest street rod clubs in the U.S. They really know how to put on a car show. Watch for our posts on Facebook and Twitter.  If you love the American hot rod, you’ll want to see the NSRA Street Rod Nationals 2021 through our camera lens.

 

Readers may be interested in our coverage of past NSRA Nationals in Louisville. Click here to review previous NSRA Street Rod Nationals.  

GAA Classic Auction Summer Edition

The GAA Classic Auction Summer Edition 2021 was smokin’ here on “Prime Time” Saturday. The GAA Classics office confirmed to us that they had sold 616 cars in the three-day auction for a spectacular 91 percent sell-through rate. That is amazing! It was all part of the GAA Classic Auction, July 22-24, 2021 in Greensboro, North Carolina. 

A Tuxedo Black 1970 Chevelle SS LS6 454 with white stripes sold for $250,000 at the hammer on Saturday. That followed a 1958 Corvette Resto Mod which sold for $190,000. Both were the top sales of the day in successive sales. The Corvette Resto Mod went to an international buyer over the internet. “Put your hands together,” the auctioneer cried. “The cars goin’ to Saudi Arabia.” That is just an indication of how hot the collector car market seems to be right now. Top cars are going for top money. The rush is on!

Here is a slide show of some of the most important cars we were watching for sale here on Saturday: 

By the time the smoke had cleared on the GAA Classic Auction Summer Edition on Thursday they reached an amazing 90 percent sell through rate. Not many collector car auctions can boast of that kind of sales performance. So it was with great anticipation that we watched the Friday session at the Greensboro auction. And it did not disappoint. 

Here are some of the top sales for the first two days.

You know, we found something out about the collector car market this weekend as the GAA Classic Auction Summer Edition proved an outstanding success. We watched closely as the GAA Classic Auction went into “prime time” on Saturday. When you watch the nationally televised auctions like the famous Barrett-Jackson Auction there are so many one-off cars and resto mods in their inventory that you don’t learn anything about actual “blue collar” collector car values. But as we watched the GAA Classic Auction this weekend we noted how your “bread and butter” classic 1950’s vehicles and muscle car era cars were selling. 

Cars-On-Line.com’s Car Show team was on hand here in Greensboro, North Carolina to bring you all the action as over 650 cars are scheduled to cross the auction block.  GAA’s special auction facility, which they call The Automobile Palace, was expanded to over five acres of display area all indoors. The sea of cars here was endless. So much to see.

We asked our readers to stay tuned to this page to find out what these vehicles sell for. It is a great way to keep up on collector car pricing. Classic car dealers from throughout the Southeast were on hand to buy special cars for their inventories. They tell us prices are already skyrocketing. We are predicting that collector car values will surpass their pre-COVID levels. After all, if it wasn’t for COVID, collector car values would have gone up already last year.   

Here is a video walk-around of some of the cars we will be watching in Greensboro on Friday and Saturday. The video was produced by Bob Boberg of eClassicAutos.com.

Online bidding was done through a company called Proxibid, an online bidding platform. The buyers fee is 11 percent on vehicles sold over $10,000 and $800 on vehicles sold for $10,000 and under. The percentage is a little higher, 15 percent on mini-bikes with a maximum fee of $800. The buyer’s fee on memorabilia is 15 percent. 

Cars-On-Line readers were able to watch the auction with us on a live stream. Click this link to review the three days individually on You Tube. 

 

2021 Iola Car Show and Swap Meet

We are here at the 2021 Iola Car Show and Swap Meet in rural Iola, Wisconsin this weekend. This is where the tried and true, hard core collectors go to find old car parts. It is the last bastion of Americana. You never know what treasures you’ll find here. The Iola Car Show reflects the American dream. So much of who we are is wrapped up in the things we did and things we experienced. Most of our dreams revolve around the cars we loved. That’s why there is an Iola Car Show. 

Our favorite displays from the 2021 Iola Car Show include the Blue Ribbon Concours and the Lindsay Collection Showroom. But there are cars displayed all over the north end of the 300-acre grounds. Here is some of what we saw displayed here on Saturday:

The tiny rural Iola, Wisconsin community will be overrun by 120,000 collectors and spectators from all over the Midwest and Canada this weekend. It is one of the largest swap meets in the world with 4,200 vendor spots on 300 acres of grassy slopes. It takes days just to go through the parts meet.  In addition, there will be 2,200 cars on display. 

Here is a short video clip of what it is like to be at the Iola Swap Meet:

Our Cars-On-Line.com Car Show team will be covering the 2021 Iola Car Show this weekend. Watch for our updates on this page with photos and videos of the top collectors and their cars. Or you can follow us on Facebook or Twitter to read our posts.  

Taking a break from searching the car corral area for good deals, we caught some of the excitement at the Cruise in Review portion of the afternoon’s activities. Captain Bob and Arlo, personalities from Wisconsin Hot Rod Radio, were talking about the the cars in this short video. 

Celebrities here today talking with fans included Linda Vaughn, Jo Coddington, and Big Daddy Dan Galits. The legendary chopper, Gene Winfield was on hand signing autographs. 

 

MSRA Back To The 50s Weekend 2021

This week, after the Back To The 50s Weekend 2021, our Facebook followers voted to pick their favorite as Best of Show. Their pick was the Lowe ’33, a 1933 Ford Roadster with ultra styling and a flawless custom body. It was shown at the Back To The 50s Weekend by John & Kim Lowe of New Richmond, Wisconsin. It received the most “Likes” from our Facebook fans this week. 

Throughout the past week we selected the “best” cars from the following categories: Best 50s Classic, Best Resto Rod, Best Street Rod, Best Muscle Car, Best Radical Custom, Best Custom Truck, Best Paint and Best Pro Street. Then we asked our newsletter readers and Facebook fans to vote for their choice as “Best of Show” by using their “Likes” on our Facebook page. Our readers know that Cars-On-Line finds all the top cars at the show and lets its Facebook followers pick the winners in each category. 

We’ve waited a really long time for a good car show … but we got one when we traveled to see the Back To The 50s Weekend 2021. The Minnesota State Fairgrounds was rockin’ with music and hot rod motors as the show got into top gear on Saturday. Good ole time Rock N Roll set the backbeat for an old car party like you have never experienced before. 

Here is a video of what it looked like this weekend at the Fairgrounds in St Paul for the incredible Back To the 50s Weekend 2021:

Rated the No. 1 Car Show in the Country in 2019, the Minnesota Street Rod Association’s big Back To The 50s Weekend 2021 is being held this weekend, June 18-20, 2021. And America is ready for the world’s biggest hot rod reunion. USA Today is taking a poll again for the best car show in the country. A lotta’ people are voting for this show as being No. 1. 

Since the 2020 show had to be cancelled because of COVID, there was some question as to whether all the hot rodders would return this year. There was no need to worry. The place was just packed. All the streets were crowded with spectators who were shoulder to shoulder walking throughout the Fairgrounds. They expect to have 12,000 hot rods, classic cars, custom cars and muscle cars cruising the streets inside the massive Fairgrounds. It will take over 2,000 volunteers from the MSRA to put on this event. (Luckily the MSRA is the largest car club in the country.) Over 400 vendors are on hand to show and sell their products. 

Every year the Minnesota Street Rod Association (MSRA) puts on the biggest collector car show in the country. Back to the 50s Weekend 2021 is the 47th Annual car show and swap meet. There is nothing like it anywhere else. You’d swear you’ve been transported back in time as you walk through the streets of the Minnesota State Fairgrounds and see nothing but classic cars all around you, girls dressed in poodle skirts and hot rods cruising constantly.  It is so cool to revisit the 1950s and 1960s with all the cars and trucks you might have seen along the streets of any American town. Each year, Cars On Line.com reports on all the action at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds as hot rods, classic cars and classic customs cruise the fairgrounds complex.

For 2021, this will be the 47th Annual Back To The 50s Weekend. Once again they are in the running to be named as the No. 1 car show in the country by USA Today. You can vote for them by entering the USA Today poll, picking them as the Best Car Show in the country. Click here to enter your vote for Back To The 50s Weekend. 

2021 Amelia Island Concours

Let the champagne fly! The top awards here at the 2021 Amelia Island Concours D’Elegance have been announced. The Best in Show Concours d’Elegance Trophy was awarded to a 1926 Hispano-Suiza H6B Cabriolet displayed by Jill and Charles Mitchell of Stuart, Florida. A 1974 Shadow DN4 presented by James Bartel of Key West, Florida took home the Best in Show Concours de Sport Trophy. 

This 1926 Hispano-Suiza H6B was given Cabriolet Le Dandy coachwork at the Henri Chapron Works in 1931. Hispano-Suiza produced 2,350 H6 cars from 1919 to 1933. The H6 featured an aluminum, overhead camshaft 403 ci straight six cylinder engine. 

The 1974 Shadow DN4-1A is the Championship winning Shadow racer from 1974. It was driven by Jackie Oliver and won four out of five races during the final shortened season of the original Can-Am. The short history of the Shadow racing team is shrouded in mystery. Here is a link to an article on the Shadow Racing Team and its founder, Don Nichols. 

Some of the finest classic motorcars in existence were seen crossing the showfield here at the 2021 Amelia Island Concours D’ Elegance, May 20-23, 2021, at the Golf Club of Amelia Island. In its 26th year, the esteemed concours has become one of the top two car shows in the country where you will see rare vintage motorcars. (The other is the Pebble Beach Concours in California.) Each year it draws the top cars in the classic car hobby to compete in concours judging.

Sunday afternoon, the 2021 Amelia Island Concours D’Elegance was held here at the Golf Club of Amelia Island. Incredible collector cars were on display all day. Cars-On-Line was here to publish the first photos of the Best of Show Concours D’Elegance and the Best of Show Concours de Sport, two of the most coveted awards in the world of classic automobiles. We also captured historic vehicles that you never see anywhere else. Bob Boberg of eClassicAutos.com, noted that you could go to ten of the top museums in the country and not see all of what was on display here today. 

For instance, here is a look at the cars in the Hispano Suiza display alone. These cars were a themed display honoring the legacy of the Hispano-Suiza cars over the years. 

The Hispano-Suizas were produced by a Spanish automobile company founded in 1904. The motorcars were assembled mostly in Paris, France from 1919 until 1933 at the Bois-Colombes factory.  They were early in the adoption of all-aluminum engines, power assist drum brakes, and momentum driven brake servos. 

“The Amelia” draws more than 300 rare vehicles from collections around the world to the Golf Club of Amelia Island, on the Ritz-Carlton complex, for a celebration of the automobile like no other. During the four-day event there will be car tours, black tie parties and seminars with noted experts in their fields.

Our Cars-On-Line Car Show team brought you photos and video from the Concours all weekend. On Saturday, the RM Sotheby’s Auction was open only to registered bidders. View the top five sales in the auction slider belore. On Thursday we watched the Bonhams Auction where some vintage iron crossed the auction block. View the slider below and see what these vintage motorcars were selling for:

Our photographer, Bob Boberg of eClassicAutos.com, did a video montage of images he captured so far during the Amelia Island experience. Click the video window to experience a taste of Amelia.

On Thursday, the Porsche Driving Experience included auto-cross racing with brand new Porsche cars, and an opportunity to cruise through Fernandina Beach to view an exclusive private collection. Reliable Carriers also hosted the Eight Flags Tour of Amelia Island. Complimentary test drives are available from various auto manufacturers.

Watch for our posts on Facebook and Twitter this weekend, and stay updated on all the action from the 2021 Amelia Island Concours.

Click here to review last year’s winners at the Amelia Island Concours. 

 

Spring Raleigh Classic Car Auction

The Spring Raleigh Classic Car Auction swung into high gear early as heavy bidding emerged on a special 1981 Jeep CJ-7 Laredo that belonged to famous Indy Car driver Roger Mears. He was given this Jeep Laredo for winning the Baja 1000 race. When the hammer fell, the winning bid was $100,000. That was a great start to what turned out to be a big day here at the  Raleigh Classic Car Auction, April 30-May 1, 2021 in Youngsville, North Carolina. 

Classic Off-Road vehicles continue to capture high prices at these auctions. Although a 1993 Land Rover NAS Defender did not sell while it was on the auction block, a buyer pursued it through a post-auction sale. The sales price was recorded at $137,500. Technically, it was the top sale of the day. 

Here are the results of the Saturday edition, with all the prime time offerings at the Raleigh Classic:

Cars-On-Line.com was on hand to report all the auction action. Our readers followed our commentary on our Facebook page on Saturday. You can still click here to review our “Auction Watching Party” on our Facebook page. There you can comment and ad to the conversation. 

Over 300 high quality collector cars were sold at the Spring Raleigh Classic Car Auction, held at Michael Leith’s new Capitol Auto Auction facility. It is the perfect spot for holding this type of event. The brand new facility and the spacious seating layout makes for a very safe environment for a serious collector car auction. 

Here is a list of the top cars we were watching from the Raleigh auction inventory with links to review history and photos of the vehicles.

A very interesting collection of rare American microcars was offered for sale at the Raleigh Classic Auction on Friday. The collection of rare cars includes some extraordinary examples of American Austin Bantams. They are part of the estate of Dr. Charles Love.  Click here to read the press release on the Charles Love Collection sale as part of the Raleigh Classic Auction in April. There was also a notable selection of classic woody station wagons in the sale. 

Our photo-jounalist, Bob Boberg of eClassicAutos.com did a short video preview of the auction cars on Thursday. Click the video window below to see what is in store for us here at the Raleigh Classic Car Auction. 

The Raleigh Classic Car Auction has made its reputation on having a good assortment of highly original and low-mile cars, many coming from estate liquidations each year. They say over 70 percent of the vehicles listed in their brochure have low actual miles or are 100 percent original. 

Cars-On-Line newsletter readers remember the Raleigh Classic as one of our favorite auction events. This collector car auction sale has the reputation of bringing in some of the most desirable collector cars in the country. This is a much revered auction sale with collectors from all over the Southeastern states congregated to buy quality collector vehicles. Many here are collector car dealers restocking their inventories. This auction is famous for some of the nicest low-mile collector cars available on market today. 

The Spring Raleigh Classic Car Auction opened to a car hungry crowd of buyers on Friday. Car collectors were eagerly bidding on the top cars here in Youngsville, North Carolina on the first day of the sale, running April 30 to May 1, 2021. This is one of Cars-On-Line’s favorite auction venues because of the quality of cars they draw at this sale. With over 300 cars and trucks in the auction inventory, there were about 150 that went through on Friday. 

Here are some of the top collector cars and trucks in the sale on Friday. We were told that the sell-through rate on Friday was over 90 percent:

Following the Barrett-Jackson Auction last month and the Carlisle Auction last weekend, the price action seems to indicate that collector car prices will be on the rise this spring. With the Raleigh Classic Auction now on the books we can see what collector cars will be going for post-Covid. Think of it as taking the market’s temperature (to use a medical analogy.)

Carlisle Spring Auction Draws Top Cars

A 1957 Ford Fairlane E Code Skyliner Retractable was the featured car here at the Carlisle Spring Auction in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. And now the world knows why. This stunning collector car on display here at the Carlisle Expo Center on Saturday was the top sale of the event. When it crossed the auction stage the bidding was heated. Onlookers were fascinated as the top went up and down. It soon became obvious it was going to sell for over six figures. By the time the smoke had cleared it sold for $127,500. 

The Ford Retractable was one of only 38 E Code Skyliners produced by Ford Motor Company in 1957. It was the only year the E Code dual quad 4-barrel carburetors were offered by Ford. The Skyliner is one of the rarest Fords in existence. It has been restored and won the AACA Junior, Senior and Grand National awards.

After the auction, the Carlisle Auction staff announced that they had recorded record sales with a 72 percent sell through rate on auction offerings. Over 400 cars were offered in the Carlisle Auction this year. It was an interesting two days of auctioneering, proving that the collector car market is alive and well here in America’s historic southern Pennsylvania. 

Click through the slider below and take a look at the top cars and prices here at the Carlisle Spring Auction.  

Our Cars-On-Line Car Show team was on hand to cover the Carlisle Spring Auction, April 22-23, 2021 for its readers. Car collectors worldwide were watching this week as the collector car market is poised to see prices rise. After a COVID imposed year of restrictions, car collectors have been hoping that classic car values would make a comeback. The auction results are a confirmation that things are getting back to normal in the collector car hobby. 

Sun and warm weather finally arrived  just in time to make Friday and Saturday a little more welcoming for car show goers. Throngs of people and long lines were experienced each morning getting into the Carlisle Fairgrounds where the Carlisle Car Show and Swap Meet is being held, April 21-25, 2021. The famous Carlisle classic car swap meet is one of the top places in the country to find old car parts. Traditionally, the giant swap meet is what draws classic car collectors here from all over the Eastern side of the U.S. There were 8,000 parts vendors on the 82-acre Carlisle Fairgounds this week.

Click the video window here to get a taste of what a giant classic car swap meet is like:

Carlisle Events, the promoters for all the car shows at Carlisle during the year, said they were glad they had taken the chance and gone ahead with this event despite the head winds of the COVID pandemic. And swap meet vendors were certainly appreciative of their courage in putting on this show this month. Over half of the car shows that you would normally have a chance to go to this year have been cancelled. It was so good to be out at a car show again, enjoying the smell of the exhaust and getting that feeling when you hear a cammed up engine rumbling by. 

The promoters for the two-day Carlisle Spring Auction have posted some of the auction inventory on the Cars-On-Line website during the past two months. Follow this link to see more of their classic car and specialty car inventory. 

Our readers can also view the entire two days of the Carlisle Spring Auction on YouTube.com  by following this link. 

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