BJ Auction Ferrari Boy

[Bill Pritchard]

Pretty If you look on a map, it's obvious they are not intent on drawing large numbers of visitors to the facility

[Rainer]

Interesting that there is no mention of Lewenthal on the website. Sure could use all his notoriety in the hobby to generate publicity for the museum.

[rsatz28]

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Interesting that there is no mention of Lewenthal on the website. Sure could use all his notoriety in the hobby to generate publicity for the museum.

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If you believe this article, he is only the agent for the car/museum owner.

http://www.internetautoguide.com/auto-news/25-int/9938/

"It is our Mona Lisa," stated John S. Hendricks, new owner of the car and the museum's creator. "This GM dream car uniquely embodies the revolutionary design spirit of the legendary Harley Earl, the 'daVinci' of Detroit. The 1954 Olds F-88 concept vehicle is, I believe, America's finest example of rolling art to emerge from the post-war era," said Hendricks.

John S. Hendricks and his wife, Maureen, personally attended the auction. When the bidding surpassed the pre-set bid limit for Mr. Lewenthal, Mr. Hendricks had to give visual cues to Mr. Lewenthal amid the near-pandemonium atmosphere which erupted on the Barrett-Jackson auction stage as the bidding soared past $2 million on the way to setting the $3 million record.

John S. Hendricks is the founder and chairman of Discovery Communications, Inc. the leading global real-world media and entertainment company. Hendricks created the Discovery Channel in 1982 as the first cable network in the United States designed to provide high quality documentary programming enabling people to explore their world and satisfy their natural curiosity.

[csx289]

Lewenthal is the type of guy that gives the hobby a black eye.

To go to an auction, act like a big swinging you-know-what pit-bull type and act like it was a gift from God that you "won" a car is ridiculous.

It is like going to Wal-Mart and running outside, falling on the ground with tears in your eyes saying "I can't believe how lucky I was to buy all of the widgets they had for just four times the posted price! I'm so emotional, those widgets will have such a good home! I'm the king of widget buyers!"

I have built some impressive collections for people over the years. It never occured to me to throw common sense out the window and throw away my clients money trying to let it be known that we were going to pay too much for any car we wanted. I guess I just don't get it?

Just my take on the whole deal. Then again, I didn't start the Discovery Channel so I am not the guy with the brains in this equation. Obviously.

Colin

[427TJ]

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Lewenthal is the type of guy that gives the hobby a black eye.

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At the auction level it is not a hobby anymore, it is business, pure and simple.

The televised specatcle of B-J and the hype-up of prices on our once-affordable musclecars has forced the "hobbyist" out of the equation, unless he wants to put the family in hock to play the auction/high-priced car game.

Auction buyers buy musclecars mainly as investments. I'm sure buyers enjoy the cars but they probably bought them with an eye for making money selling them later on. The "hobbyist" watches B-J on TV and/or attends the show just for the spectacle and the social aspect, as I did, but his musclecar is more of an emotional thing, a time machine that takes him back 20, 30, 40 years and he (or she) loves driving it and working on it on weekends. But, like it or not*, musclecars are fast becoming the playground of well-financed people, far above the level of mere "hobbyist."

(*Like it: sellers. Or not: buyers.)

As for Mr. Lewenthal, it appears to me that he helps hype the whole B-J spectacle and therefore he helps hype car prices upward, which is what any seller wants, right? (again, buyers don't but sellers do.) He may act somewhat distasefully in front of the cameras but that's sometimes what it looks like when light (TV lights in this case) is shed on such business deals. Sellers should be thankful that guys like him are becoming TV celebrities and thus bringing more attention and more bidders to the B-J spectacle. Who here would refuse Mr. Lewenthal if he won your car, especially after he had bid it up into the stratosphere? I'd sell a car to him in a New York minute, just give me the money sonny. Sounds distasteful but that's just business.

[rubbinisracing]

He cost his client A LOT OF MONEY with his actions and by taunting the guy from Tennessee....easy to tell it wasn't his money. He may have lost his gig as he was very quiet this year!

[Xplantdad]

I noticed at BJ this year that he was pretty full of himself? You know..."a legend in his own mind"? There were people making comments left and right about him...oh well.

Some people crave the need to have more than their 15 minutes of fame...

[Charley Lillard]

Actually at Barrett-Jackson I think there are lots of people buying cars beacuse it is a great place to find a car. There are plenty of investors but also plenty of buyers just buying a car for the fun of having a old car and the variety at Barrett-Jackson is amazing.