Barrett Jackson Auction Callaway Corvettes & Other News - Inside Track

The recent Barrett-Jackson Auction in Scottsdale, Arizona, was a great place to find top-of-the-line vehicles and super-rare exotics like Callaway Corvettes. On hand for the festivities were employees from Callaway Cars, including owner and founder Reeves Callaway, who put four of his super-rare, super-hot Callaway Corvettes up for auction.

Among the Callaway cars that sold during the auction were the exotic racing C7 Corvette, a Speedster, a Sledgehammer, and the amazing C12 Corvette. All of the cars created quite a stir among buyers and resulted in the highest prices ever garnered for Callaway cars. Amazingly, one buyer, Richard Berry, purchased all four cars for an astounding total price of $685,000.

The excitement over the Callaway products has netted more than a few calls to corporate headquarters for the purchase of C12 Corvettes. According to spokesmen, there have even been some inquiries to purchase older-model Callaways, including Speedsters and Sledgehammers. It appears good taste never goes out of style regardless of the Corvette in question. Watch for a story on the rebirth of a '91 Callaway Speedster in next month's Corvette Fever.

Corvette Power Tour CelebrationIf you're planning to participate in the '04 Hot Rod Power Tour that concludes in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on June 11, we encourage you to participate in the '04 Corvettes on the Isthmus event.

With over 1,200 Corvettes registered in 2003, the event has moved to Wisconsin Dells at the Ho-Chunk Casino & Convention Center, and will take place June 10-13. Planned events include a vendor's midway, road tours, a car corral, a swap meet, and driving events. Over 2,000 Corvettes are expected to attend. Representatives of Corvette Fever will be in attendance searching for feature vehicles.

For more information, visit www.corvettesontheisthmus.com or e-mail registration@corvettesontheisthmus.com for registration information.

On The BlockFlorida Corvette Auction NewsThis month, our Corvette auction road tour took us to the Mecum Winter Classic Auction at the NCRS Regional event in Kissimmee, Florida. Sixty-two of the 95 registered Corvettes that crossed the auction block were sold, with the majority of the cars in good to excellent restored condition and only a few in average condition and/or "needing work."

The high bid of the auction went to a '67 Rally Red roadster with the optional 427/400 engine, factory A/C, both tops, optional wheels, side exhaust, four-speed transmission, and the tank-sticker documentation. Unfortunately, it was a no-sale at $83,000. Close behind was the high sale of the auction at $81,500 which went to a '67 Lynndale Blue convertible with a 427/435 engine, side exhaust, redline tires, radio-delete, and Bloomington Gold documentation.

In the early Corvette department were two sales worthy of mention. A Tuxedo Black '60 roadster in immaculate restored condition with the optional 283/270 dual-carburetion engine and NCRS documentation sold for $66,000. A rare '54 Sportsman Red roadster, one of only 100 built, in excellent restored condition with reportedly only 55,000 original miles sold for $65,750.

Several mid-year ('63-'67) Corvettes broke the $50,000 barrier and all were equipped with optional high-performance engines. On the low end of the scale, a '64 Satin Silver convertible in average-street driven condition equipped with the 327ci-250hp engine sold for $22,100. Also in the lower price classification was a '67 convertible in good condition that sold for $35,250 with a non-original 350/300 engine.

The C3s ('68-'82) were well represented with 32 Corvettes sold to the highest bidders. The high sale of $35,000 was reached on a documented Monza Red '70 T-top with the LT1 engine. A '75 roadster with 29,000 original miles, the base L48 engine, automatic transmission, air conditioning, both tops, and optional wheels found a new owner at $23,000.

A '78 Pace Car with the L82 engine and automatic transmission with weak paint sold for $12,000. An '82 Collector Edition requiring paint and interior work sold for $5,500. The high sale for the C4 Series ('84-'96) was $22,500 for a '90 ZR-1 with 36,000 miles. Another '90 ZR-1 with 44,000 miles sold for $17,600. One '93 Ruby Red Anniversary roadster with a six-speed transmission and 33,000 miles sold for $21,600.

In the C5 ('97-'04) generation cars, several good buys surfaced, including a "new" '03 Torch Red roadster with only 5,000 miles, which sold for $38,000. A '98 black coupe with 76,000 miles and $6,000 custom wheels represented the low end of the C5 models and sold for $18,200.

The following is a listing of the Corvette sales at the Mecum Auction.