BEHIND THE SHADES: Barrett-Jackson President Steve Davis on Collectibles of the Future
June 15, 2018
Posted by Barrett-Jackson
Barrett-Jackson President Steve Davis
Steve Davis’ dark glasses protect his eyes from a light sensitivity condition – but that doesn’t hinder his vision of the collector car market.
Let’s cherish these incredible times, the way the collector car world is evolving; a time when we can walk onto a car lot, open the door of a car with 600+ horsepower, turn the key and drive it off the lot. That used to be something only a select few race car drivers experienced. Ten years from now, do you think we’ll still be able to buy a car with that kind of horsepower? With a manual transmission? We’re now experiencing the pinnacle of performance, and it can’t continue forever.
The new Ford GT, a race car for the streets, is a perfect example. Cars like this will become more collectible as fewer become available. The GT, the last ZR1 Corvettes, the Dodge Demon – these unique contemporary cars were collectible even before they got into the public’s hands. They’re all highly desirable vehicles that are produced in limited numbers and, as a result, the demand is much greater than the supply.
A 2019 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 sold for $925,000 at the 2018 Scottsdale Auction to benefit Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation/Building for America’s Bravest.
These cars were born with DNA that makes them collectible almost immediately. The Ford GT won LeMans. There may be similar cars for less money, but those cars didn’t win LeMans back in the day, nor were they brought back to life purposely to return to LeMans and win again. The history that car embodies plays a huge factor when it comes to the value of the car, and ultimately is what differentiates and makes the car so collectible.
It appears the Corvette will be going through a transition; the next generation rumored to be equipped with a mid-engine configuration. If that’s indeed the case, today’s last front-engine Corvette, making the most horsepower to date, is absolutely going to be a collector’s item down the road.
The new world, let’s face it, is going the way of the electric car. One day, that will be the norm. When that happens, the milestone cars we’re lusting for today will be even more desirable and collectible, not less.
This 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon sold for $151,800 at the 2018 Palm Beach Auction.
Barrett-Jackson has been able to create a renaissance of awareness with each new wave of collectors coming into the hobby. They attend a Barrett-Jackson auction and witness what’s being sold, vintage-wise, over the block, allowing them to appreciate what the cars were back in the day, and their connection to the next generation of collector vehicles. Add to that the manufacturers’ latest and greatest cars being previewed at Barrett-Jackson, along with prototypes and concept cars being unveiled at Barrett-Jackson and VIN 001s being sold at Barrett-Jackson – that is a formula for future collectibility.
At the 2014 Las Vegas Auction, we created quite a stir when we sold the 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat VIN 001 for $825,000 for charity. That’s a clear example of the DNA of the old and the new coming together on the auction block, generating enough excitement and awareness that people are going to want to go out and buy those cars.
SOLD! 2017 Ford Shelby GT350R – $73,700 at the 2018 Palm Beach Auction.
Back in the “old days,” during the height of the muscle car era, when you were buying a Corvette, or a GTO, or a Shelby, you weren’t buying it because it was collectible – you were buying it because it was your dream car and you absolutely wanted to have it because it was the hottest thing on the road. In fact, that is why it became collectible.
For me, my love and appreciation of the automobile was a way of life. When I wasn’t polishing one or dreaming about one, I was reading a magazine, buying a Hot Wheels car or building a model. As a kid, I couldn’t afford the car of my dreams, but if I knew a guy three streets over had one, you’d better believe I’d go out of my way when I was coming home to see if it was in the driveway! This is the passion that ultimately creates collectibility.
My advice to people buying collector cars has always been to buy what you like, buy the best you can afford, and buy it because you want it and you’re going to love it. Don’t buy something with the idea that you’re going to make money and have that be the motivation. There are very few cars where that actually works out.
Future collectibility will be based on supply and demand; that’s a very simple formula in the collector car world. But a big part of that demand will be driven by the provenance, the history, the DNA of the old cars that are being carried forward and living and breathing under the hood of all the new cars people are lining up to buy today.
If you’re contemplating a collector car purchase – enjoy the moment and the vehicles you have to choose from. There’s never been anything like this before.
