Car show season

You can’t beat a small town car show in the summer. This past weekend I headed up to Rosalia Washington to help of old friend Jay, with the judging of his annual show. Last year Covid, made the event a no go, but this year things were back to normal. With almost 120 cars lining up both side of main street the judging was tough, but i picked a 1937 Studebaker, Z3 Rat Rod and 19631/2 Ford Galaxie 500 with the rare 427 engine option.

A classic small town main street, with the a vintage standing clock.

One of of my picks was this custom 1937 Studebaker pickup. It was one of only a 1000 produced in ‘37. Super rare, with a striking art deco paint job.

One of the most original ideas I’ve seen of a rat rod. This one started life as a BMW Z3, with modified front end and Chrysler body grafted on to the rear. Weird, cool and original.

Back to Sun Valley

I returned to Sun Valley, Idaho for Silver Auctions annual labor day auction again this year. With some of the restrictions easing up, it was the first large even held at the Sun Valley lodge this year. Social distancing and masks were required and because it was held in large open tent there was plenty of room for everyone to spread out. Around 90 cars were consigned with 75% of them going to new buyers. The top sale was a 2020 Corvette selling for $127,000.

The only color for a Corvette.

Rare Z! 900 sold for $10,500.

This 1987 Honda Prelude was an one owner car, it looked new and sold for $4100.00

Getting out

The dry weather has arrived in Portland just days after the summer solstice, hopefully our rainy June will be replaced with sunny days in July.

I did manage to squeeze one bike ride at the beginning of the month, I headed out of Portland in search of nicer weather in central Oregon. I was optimistic, so I headed east and managed to out run the rain. My luck held out the whole day until I was ready to cross back into Oregon at the Bridge of Gods. I got caught in one of the biggest, wettest rainstorm I’ve ever been in.

I got soaked! It was raining so hard the cars were pulling off the highway. I pressed on for the next thirty miles and was almost dried out when about ten blocks from my house, the Oregon weather gods emptied their clouds on me again.

I’m hoping to get out of town for another trip after the fourth of July, wish me luck!

Time to hit the starter button

The auction world is starting to slowly come back to life again! But it may not be like it was before the shut down. The wholesale car auctions are slowly clawing back to life again.

The independently owned auctions have begun running cars through the building but at half capacity and with dealers wearing masks and exercising social distancing. The larger corporate ones, are completely simulcast with no one in auction arena. Both seem to be working, so we’ll see what happens as we get into the summer.

All my fundraising events were cancelled in February, March, April and May. I’m not sure when these auctions will return to the time when patrons would sit shoulder to shoulder with 200-600 of their auction friends. I have an event in August which is held outdoors, it still a go so we’ll see how we do.

I’m back flying again, but I kinda miss my drives to Vegas.

Post auction

Last week I attended the Mecum Motorcycle auction in Las Vegas. I finished my car auction in the morning headed up to the SouthPoint Casino to catch the motorcycles crossing the block on Thursday afternoon. Mecum had a great assortment of bikes. Lots of choices whether your favorite was British, American, Japanese, Italian, Spanish or German they had something there for you.

You’ll be the first on to unwrap the Italian made Bimota.

Rickman Honda 750, was a favorite of mine selling for $18,000.

Rare High Pipe 305 Honda Dream, first one I’ve ever seen sold for $22,000.

Vintage motocross bikes are on of the hottest segments of the vintage bike market.

Sun Valley

My Labor Day weekend was spent working in Sun Valley, Idaho. I headed up to Idaho to help my old friend Mitch Silver with his 32nd annual Labor Day auction. Situated on the grounds of the Sun Valley Lodge over 125 vehicles crossed the block over the two day sale.

It had been over a decade since I had last worked this auction, it was great to see some of my old friends from the car business, and laugh about the old days when we were much younger. The weather was perfect and the crowds filled the tent on Saturday to look at and bid on a wide range of collector cars. I’m looking forward to going back next year.

This beautiful Rolls Royce sold for $54,000.

The rare supercharged Studebaker sold for $34,000.

The super sized motor home sold for $125,000.

Beauty and the Beast

The Ferrari 458 is both a beauty and a beast. The sleek curves of its body and thunderous power of its engine are reminiscent of both starlet and stallion in their primes.

While I have laid eyes on and auctioned off many a luxury car, a Ferrari always catches my attention. Its flawless lines and powerful purr make my head turn every time. This particular one, basking in the California sun at the auction last week, was no different.

Even if you are not a car buff, you would notice a Ferrari driving down the street. It has a uniquely beautiful appearance and you cannot miss the sound. When your neighbor starts his Ferrari, the whole block knows it and we all want to go along for the ride. If you ever get the chance to take one for a spin, buckle up Buttercup!

I like Aston's too.

A Very Special Delivery

Life is always changing.

Whether good or bad, things are always happening. In other words, things never stay the same. Otherwise, life would just get plain boring. Throughout the past 35+ years of my life; I have had some good times, bad times, and sometimes challenging times. But the fun times always outnumber the bad.

Some of the most fun I have ever had was on my first real high-performance motorcycle. In the spring of 1984, I bought my 1983 Kawasaki GPZ 750. Going on trips across the country, riding through the back roads here in the PNW, and best of all riding with my pack of long-time biker buddies. We had a great six years together before I sold it in 1990.

So a couple years ago, I started looking for another one. Maybe I was caught up in the fog of nostalgia. But I would always find myself checking out Ebay and occasionally traveling to motorcycle auctions and always coming home empty-handed.

A couple of weeks ago; though, my luck turned around. I found one on Craigslist, took one look at it, and I bought it. A one-owner bike with just 10K miles on it, it hadn't really been ridden much in the past ten years. Dirty and dusty, languishing in the corner of a garage of the original owner's son; it was a true barn find. Perfect!

It was all there, sitting in waiting for me. Now, all it needs is a little TLC. I can't wait to get it up and running, so I can take it for a real ride. More good times ahead.