A look at the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale 2019 auction items
Wayne Darby is the consummate car guy. He operates a successful car and truck wholesale business in Delta, B.C., and is a muscle-car enthusiast with a significant collection. He is used to taking risks.
This year, he’s all in — almost doubling the number of collector vehicles he has shipped to Arizona for the Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale that runs Jan. 12-20. Last year he took 28 collector vehicles and learned some tough lessons. The 1970 Plymouth Hemi Cuda he thought would bring between $200,000 and $250,000 at auction sold with a winning bid of only $175,000. Ironically, the buyer is from the Vancouver area.
Vowing to take only cars that are in the $50,000 to $100,000 value range, he has pared down his costs and expectations.
“There are only so many buyers for a $300,000 car but lots of buyers for a $50,000 car,” he says.
In mid-December, 45 collector cars worth an estimated
$4 million were loaded into enclosed transport trucks at Darby’s Chevrolake Motorcars warehouse on Annacis Island in Delta to cross into the U.S. with a Scottsdale, Ariz., destination.
Twenty-seven of the collector vehicles belong to Wayne. He is representing the other 18 for Canadian owners who know their cars will be properly prepped and represented and then offered for sale in prime spots at the famed Barrett-Jackson Auction.
“People keep calling me to take their cars down there, but I don’t have any more spots,” the 71-year-old former Richmond firefighter says.
The most valuable car he is auctioning this year is rocker Sammy Hagar’s modified 1967 Shelby GT500 with a 427-cubic inch engine coupled to a fivespeed manual transmission. The late builder-racer Carroll Shelby autographed the dashboard.
Darby has been a collector of Chevrolet Nova models, a mid-size car from the 1960s that could be ordered in muscle form: small car, big engine. He has sent five examples to auction, including his pride and joy, a 1963 Nova convertible modified to look like a 1966 model with a high-horsepower V8 engine.
“It’s hard to say goodbye to them but I don’t have time to drive them and it’s time for a change,” he admits.
When buying cars to take to the auction, he always looks at what he would like to own himself. “If I like it, there’s a good chance other people will like it too and it will bring a good price at auction. Collector cars are a better investment than the stock market right now,” he says.
Putting it all on the line, Darby bought an entire collection of Chevrolet SSR (Super Sport Roadster) pickup trucks featuring retractable convertible roofs and seven Chrysler Prowlers, each having travelled less than 100 kilometres.
He will auction four 1969 Camaro Z28 models, among the most desirable muscle cars of that era. Other rare and desirable cars include a pair of baby Thunderbirds: a sage green 1956 model and a white 1957 example that was the third-to-last twoseater Thunderbird built.
Two 1955 Chevrolet pickup trucks are among the group of Canadian cars going to auction in Arizona: a stylish white Cameo Carrier and a modified example.
Pickup trucks, resto-mods and station wagons are hot-ticket items in the collector vehicle world. So a 1968 Chevrolet Caprice went on the transport truck. Painted beige with faux wood panels, the low mileage beauty is powered by the highhorsepower 427 engine.
Possibly the most interesting cars are both from 1949: A tiny British-built Anglia powered by a 600-hp Chevrolet ZZ4 crate motor, and a fully customized Ford convertible, also powered by a high-horsepower Chevrolet V8 engine.
Darby says selling cars at auction is a “crapshoot” because it is hard to predict the market.
But he feels sales and prices will be strong again this year.
He’s betting on it.