<VV> Barrett Jackson

[Dave Keillor]

>Barrett Jackson is destroying the old car hobby in their search for
profit.

So, how is B-J "destroying" the hobby?  They are a for-profit company,
so searching for profit is their main reason for being.  Yes, some
people with money to spend are currently spending some of that money on
the cars of their youth (and Lincolns and Pierce Arrows were NOT the
cars of their youth).  How is that bad?  Or is a capitalist,
supply-and-demand driven economy an evil thing?

I remember back in the early to mid-80s when the Japanese economic
bubble was at its peak and Japanese buyers were purchasing tri-five
Chevies at insane prices.  People at the time said they were destroying
the market.  The Japanese buyers were driven by American 50s nostalgia,
but when their economic bubble burst in the late 80s, so did tri-five
prices and demand.

The current muscle car mania (especially Mopars) will pass as economic
conditions change, boomers age, and fads fade.  What will be the next
fad, or will there be another fad?  I don't know, but the things I fear
the most are increasing regulation that is taking away spare parts
sources (junkyards), and the greens taking aim at classic cars.

Another major impact to the old car hobby will occur when the cars of
the 80s and beyond reach the age when they should be entering the
"collectible" stage.  Will anyone want to restore these jellybean
look-alikes, and even if they want to, will they be able to do so?  The
extensive electronics and heavy use of plastics will present major
challenges.  Something as simple as a Corvair trunk light has generated
more posts on this list than I care to count.  What happens when the
light is controlled by a computer rather than a simple mercury switch?

In the long term, Barrett Jackson is nothing more than a bubble in the
pee-pot.

Dave Keillor