So as not to pollute the Wayne Carini thread further with examples of crazy price bubbles, I present the $235,000 VW bus:
So as not to pollute the Wayne Carini thread further with examples of crazy price bubbles, I present the $235,000 VW bus:
WWWCS? Prices are now on the rise and $500,000 could soon be the norm.
When ever I watch the big time auctions on TV I wonder what the bidders do for a living and how I can do what they are doing. Do they sell Hawaiian shirts? because the majority of them always seem to be wearing one. Very rarely will you see someone with a suit, unless it is all just a fake reality TV show.....
Shill bidding perhaps? I have recently read that it is a known feature of high end art auctions, often called "chandelier bidding" when the auctioneer simply acts as though a bid was placed. It is an entirely possible scenario to have an "auction" with only one active bidder in that type of environment. Are these auto auctions employing a variation of the same?
I had always thought that tactic was flat out illegal in most auction settings but it is apparently happening in many fine art auctions. I think the whole industry smells a bit fishy...
Maybe the bids are real and all the Hawaiian shirt bidders are drug dealers or mortgage fraudsters laundering money. The older I get, the more skeptical I become that everything I see is above board.
Bull berkeleying E36 M3!
Classic cars are some of the best investments out there right now. Check the las test issue of Classic. Thus the pricing, especially for the best example in the world of iconic vehicles.
And I have no doubt the auction houses are taking full advantage.
In reply to Keith Tanner:Wow! I bet the DeLorean and PT Cruiser owners are ecstatic!
Those guys might wear a suit 5 days a week, you think they want to wear a suit on their vacation?
Auctions are a dick swinging contest for these guys.
The fat guy with the Hawaiian shirt, ponytail and glasses doing all the bidding just might be the guy's proxy as well.
Shawn (fat guy in a hawaiian shirt at the auction)
In reply to Trans_Maro: Around here the guys who wear three-piece suits all week have a different recreation. They wait for beautiful Saturday mornings then have their big adventures.
First off they put on their do-rag with a pony tail rug underneath, their magnetic earring, torn up jeans, & boots with chains. Then they climb on their Harleys and ride a mile or two to the local. Then spend most of the day bragging about how bad they are or were. Well before dark & the serious DUI cops are out, they ride the mile or two back home & put their gear away for another big day.
We have a 1966 Walk-Through VW Van in the tent right now that we've been resurrecting for the past six years or so. It was worth around $2,000 when we started, now it's worth $12,000 in rough shape. It'll go for close to $35,000 when we're done with it.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1689606
(Not ours. but pretty much the same deal.)
Strange but true . . .
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