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2023 Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Auction Diary: Days Six and Seven

DPC is back on the road and covering the 2023 Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Auction. Part five of his odyssey from Phoenix to WestWorld of Scottsdale is available here.

Sincerest apologies for not posting a diary entry yesterday. Friday and Saturday are a hurricane for reporters and media types at the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction and I didn’t want to do a rush job on my favorite post to write.  

Using sunglasses to hide the bags under my eyes (Photo by David P. Castro)

It’s been a week of minimal sleep, perpetual hustle, skipping meals and subsisting on a diet with Monster energy drinks as the foundation of my food pyramid. I haven’t seen my family too much lately and I think my dog is upset with me for the long nights and early mornings. Who knew that burning the candle at both ends would upset a Siberian Husky? I don’t blame her because the last few days I’ve only been home to sleep, shower and find a change of clothes.

Covering events is fun, I love it and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I often apologize to the people I love (my pets too) during these long stretches in the press box but I have their unwavering support to chase my dreams and passion. My love for covering events and sharing the experience with you is because it took me about 17-years to get here. Let’s jump in the Wayback Machine and review my journalistic history.

I graduated from the University of Nevada (Go Wolf Pack!) in 2005 with a BA in journalism and assumed any media outlet would want me on its staff. I was completely wrong and took a claims adjuster job to pay the rent until I could find a steady writing gig to cover my bills. Nothing came to fruition, but I got steady freelance work covering the Arizona Coyotes, NASCAR, and the Barrett Jackson Scottsdale auction a few times. Years rolled by, and I kept chugging along working by day in the insurance industry and freelancing at night. My opportunity at The ClassicCars.com Journal came in 2022 and here we are now. I’m not bitter about taking a long time to make it as a writer. Quite the opposite because the sweet is never as sweet without the sour.

As I write this it’s Sunday afternoon and the last day of the auction. Even as this event winds down the crowds are here to take in one last day of a great collector car event. I figured people would be watching the NFL Playoffs this afternoon but the strong attendance here lets me know that our hobby is stronger than ever.

Even with the long nights, missing my wife and son, and a lack of sleep it’s a privilege to sit in the press box and write this for you.

Porsche 911 Dakar was supposed to be the 911 Safari

Porsche’s new 911 Dakar launched at the 2022 Los Angeles auto show last November was originally meant to be called the 911 Safari, according to the person in charge of the off-road sports car’s development.

In an interview with Edmunds published last week, Thomas Krickelberg, director of the 911 Dakar program, said the car was originally called the 911 Safari during the early days of development but Porsche had to abandon those plans after being refused permission to use the name by Tata Motors. Tata is the rights holder of the Safari name when it comes to automotive applications and uses it on a mid-size SUV sold in India.

According to Krickelberg, Porsche also needed permission for the Dakar name, as its rights for anything automotive related belong to the Amaury Sport Organization, the organizer of the Dakar Rally. This time a deal could be made.

The Safari name comes from the East African Safari Rallies in which Porsches were entered during the 1970s. The name has been associated with rugged 911s ever since the 1978 rally in which a 911 SC Group 4 racer was entered by Swedish rally champion Björn Waldegård, and in recent years some companies building rugged versions of old 911s have referred to the cars as 911 Safaris.

Porsche 911 Dakar
Porsche 911 Dakar

Similarly, the Dakar name is a nod to Porsche’s participation in the Dakar Rally, particularly Porsche’s victory in its first attempt back in 1984 using a 911-based 953 rally car. It was the first time a 911 had been fitted with all-wheel drive.

In his interview with Edmunds, Krickelberg revealed that his team was ready to launch a rugged 911 in 2016, when the previous 991 generation of the 911 was still in production. Porsche started investigating the idea as early as 2012 and built a concept based on the 991 generation, dubbed the 911 Vision Safari.

According to Krickelberg, the sales team didn’t think the project would be profitable. For the current 992 generation of the 911, the sales team were convinced after they decided to cut back on development costs and boost production from an original plan of 2,000 cars to 2,500 cars.

Should the program prove popular, there could be more rugged 911s, Porsche CEO Oliver Blume said last month in an interview.

This article was originally published by Motor Authority, an editorial partner of ClassicCars.com.

My Classic Car: 1960 Chevrolet Impala

My car guy dad had a wide variety of really cool cars in his days. Around the time of the mid-sixties popular TV Show Batman my dad had a a sleek black 1960 Chevy Impala 2-door hardtop that looked very similar to the Batmobile. That was the first of two ‘60 Impala hardtops my dad owned in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s.

It’s been my lifelong dream, ever since I learned to talk, to one day have my own ‘60 Chevy Impala 2 door. Sometimes dreams come true. In June of 2000, my wife Susan and I flew out to New Mexico to visit my eldest brother and look at a recently restored White ‘60 Impala 2-door hardtop! It looked just like my dad’s second ‘60 Impala.

My lifelong dream of owning a ‘60 Impala actually came true, thanks to my dear and kindhearted wife and best friend Susan.

I’m writing this on what would have been my dad’s 86th birthday, January 8. My dad passed on to be with the good Lord just a few days ago. My dad built and owned several really cool street rod and classic cars in his 85 plus years. He was a motorhead, a true hero, and a really fun and funny Dad!

-John G., Virginia

Do you have a classic car with a story to share? Visit this link and fill in the information to submit your story for a chance to be featured on the ClassicCars.com Journal.

This Week on AutoHunter

This week on AutoHunter, the online auction platform driven by ClassicCars.com, we have a collection of vehicles handpicked by our Journal writing team. Make sure you check out all of our listings ending January 30-February 3 here.

Monday, January 30

1965 Ford Mustang fastback

This 2+2 Mustang fastback is finished in Rangoon Red with white racing stripes. It’s powered by a 289ci V8 engine paired with a C4 three-speed automatic transmission.  Click here to view this listing.

2006 Pontiac GTO

Under the hood is an LS2 6.0-liter V8 engine paired with a four-speed automatic transmission. The black interior features eight-way leather front bucket seats, air conditioning, and an AM/FM/CD stereo with a six-disc in-dash CD changer.  Click here to view this listing.

Tuesday, January 31

2009 Cadillac STS-V

Power is provided by a supercharged 4.4-liter Northstar V8 mated to a six-speed automatic transmission. This black over gray Cadillac has 97,745 miles since new.  Click here to view this listing.

2007 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 

This Corvette has a LS7 427ci V8 engine upgraded with a belt-driven ProCharger supercharger, titanium connecting rods and intake valves, CNC-ported aluminum cylinder heads, and a hydraulic roller camshaft. The engine is paired with a six-speed manual transmission.  Click here to view this listing.

Wednesday, February 1

1986 Pontiac Fiero GT

A mid-mounted 2.8-liter V6 engine mated to a THM125 three-speed automatic transmission powers this Fiero. It rides on a factory-equipped four-wheel independent suspension and features new power disc brakes.  Click here to view this listing.

1968 Pontiac GTO

This car has good options and few options. The most important ones are 400 HO and four-speed manual. The hidden headlights are great, with Rally II wheels, console, AM radio and tinted windows rounding out the list.  Click here to view this listing.

Thursday, February 2

1970 Plymouth Duster 340

The Duster was the replacement for the 1967-69 Barracuda. The Duster 340 was the only performance variant of this model, capable of killing much more substantial machinery, even with the standard three-speed manual like this example has.  Click here to view this listing.

2002 Ford Thunderbird Neiman Marcus Edition

Department store Neiman Marcus traditionally offers a limited-edition car for the holiday. Most of them have not been affordable to the masses, but this one is different: a one of 200 Thunderbird convertible in black with a silver accessory hardtop.  Click here to view this listing.

Friday, February 3

1994 Land Rover Defender

A short-wheelbase Land Rover with a 2.5-liter turbodiesel inline-four and a five-speed manual sounds like a winner: easy-on-the-gas fun with a stiff upper lip. The only problem is you may need to be ambidextrous to drive it but learning to drive RHD may be fun too.  Click here to view this listing.

1977 Chevrolet Camaro Type LT

Sometimes it’s more about the story than the car. In this Camaro’s case, it’s a Type LT (“Luxury Touring”) that reportedly was originally imported to Germany (though the speedo in mph may suggest it went to a serviceman). Lots of odd accoutrements were added along the way, it seems, making it look like someone raided a Deutsch J.C Whitney catalog.  Click here to view this listing.

Pick of the Day: 2010 Toyota FJ Cruiser

While it’s a stretch to call a 2010 model a classic car, the Toyota FJ Cruiser is undeniably worthy of being called a future collectible. Its unique design, off-road capability, and limited-production special editions are increasing in popularity now that the FJ has been discontinued for about a decade.

The Pick of the Day is a 2010 Toyota FJ Cruiser listed for sale on ClassicCars.com by a dealer in Omaha, Nebraska. (Click the link to view the listing)

2010 Toyota FJ Cruiser 

The retro-styled FJ Cruiser launched in 2007 and had a lifespan through 2014 in North America. It was classified as a midsize sport-utility vehicle and came in four-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive variants. Under the hood resides a 4.0-liter V6 mated to either a six-speed manual or a five-speed automatic transmission. Power was rated at 239 horsepower for earlier models and 260 horsepower after 2011.

This 2010 FJ Cruiser is finished in a Sandstone exterior and has reportedly been Kansas-owned for the last nine years. It showed just over 100,000 miles on the odometer and is offered with “no issues, no stories, no excuses, and no disappointments,” according to the listing.

There are a few key engineering aspects that make the FJ Cruiser a strong contender for off-roading. It uses a short 105-inch wheelbase, a strong body-on-frame chassis, and a standard traction-control system called A-TRAC which acts as a locking differential when needed. The FJ shares chassis architecture with other Toyota models such as the Tacoma and 4Runner, and it offers almost 10 inches of ground clearance. Designers tested this vehicle out in Moab and other rugged areas prior to its launch, so it’s been vetted and proven.

2010 Toyota FJ Cruiser 

One of the interesting design features of the FJ is a short, nearly vertical windshield that uses three windshield wipers for maximum coverage. Another unique feature is the rear-hinged rear doors that can only be opened once the front doors are open.

The interior has been tweaked for all-weather, all-terrain capability: The surfaces are made of rubber materials, and an optional gauge pod at the top of the center dash has readouts with a compass, a thermometer, and an inclinometer.

2010 Toyota FJ Cruiser 

This FJ comes with special Trail Teams equipment which adds even more to the packaging. It was developed in partnership with Toyota’s inhouse performance division, Toyota Racing Development (TRD) and includes black-finished wheels with BFGoodrich all-terrain tires, Bilstein shock absorbers, and special blacked-out accents for the sideview mirrors, door handles, and bumper caps.

“You won’t find one this nice,” the listing concludes. The asking price is $32,900 for this FJ.

To view this listing on ClassicCars.com, see Pick of the Day.

Behind The Scenes: Exclusive Rides Owned By Ken Block and Other Racing Legends

Ken Block was one of the most well-known motorsports superstars in the world. His unique brand Hoonigan became a household name in the rally car world. To be a rally car racer, you need to have a certain sense of danger, and Block pushed that envelope every day. His love for the rally car circuit and motorsports helped his career spanning over three decades. With the untimely loss of Block in a recent snowmobile crash, the motorsports world will never be the same.

Block left his mark on the automotive world, thanks in no small part to his insane, unique car collection. Other racing legends in the industry have also been known to have expensive car collections. People like Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. love to drive in civilian life almost as much as they did on the racetrack. With a substantial net worth of millions of dollars, there’s no surprise that these car enthusiasts can afford whatever they want to drive. To celebrate Block and the mark he made on the car world, we looked at the fast and expensive rides owned by him and other racing legends here.

Photo Credit: Instagram

2013 Ford F-150 Raptortrax (Ken Block)

One of the perks of being a famous auto celebrity like Ken Block is that you have the money to build your dream toys. Block did exactly that with the 2013 Ford F-150 Raptortrax. The Raptortrax was a specialty truck designed to be a giant snowmobile. Block showed off the Raptortrax for Motor Trend Magazine and annihilated mountains of snow (via SV Off-Road).

Photo Credit: Instagram

The 2013 Ford F-150 Raptortrax was a purpose-built project by Block. The idea behind the truck was to build something that climbs even the snowiest mountains. The Raptortrax took everything great about the Ford Raptor to the next level.

The post Behind The Scenes: Exclusive Rides Owned By Ken Block and Other Racing Legends appeared first on Motor Junkie.

1932 Dodge Series DK Coupe Hot Rod

This 1932 Dodge Series DK is one of 651 five-passenger coupes produced for the model year and has been modified with a 360ci V8 and a three-speed automatic transmission, both of which reportedly sourced from a 1979 Dodge. The car is finished in two-tone bronze and cream over tan cloth upholstery. Other features include Kugel independent front suspension, disc brakes, power steering, an aftermarket climate control system, power front windows, a power-adjustable driver seat, an adjustable steering column, and wire wheels. The car is said to have spent time in Tennessee and was purchased by the current owner in 1997. This ’32 Dodge hot rod is now offered by the seller on behalf of the current owner with a custom-made floor plaque, marketing material, a framed photograph of the car, and a clean Oregon title.

The car is said to have been refinished in bronze and cream under current ownership and features purple body accents that wrap around the car and hood cowling. Additional exterior features include a chrome radiator surround, headlight buckets, and bumpers along with running boards, a vented engine cover, dual side mirrors, a receiver hitch, a rear antenna, and Dodge-branded taillight covers.

Truespoke wire wheels feature polished center caps and are mounted with Mazama Reputation tires that are said to have been recently fitted. Spare tires are mounted in the front fenders, and the seller notes rust on the spare tire covers under the top fasteners. The car features a Kugel independent front suspension, power steering, and power-assisted disc brakes at all four corners.

The cabin features replacement front bucket seats and a rear bench trimmed in tan cloth upholstery that extends to the door panels. Amenities include a Vintage Air climate control system, a four-way power-adjustable driver’s seat, power windows, and carpeted floor mats.

The leather-wrapped Grant banjo-style steering wheel is mounted to an adjustable steering column and fronts Classic Instruments gauges consisting of a 120-mph speedometer and auxiliary gauges for coolant temperature, fuel level, volts, and oil pressure. The six-digit odometer shows 68k miles, approximately 12k of which were added under current ownership. True mileage is unknown.

The 360ci V8 features a Walker radiator in addition to a chrome-finished alternator, fan belt pulley, and valve covers as well as a MagnaFlow exhaust. The fuel pump and battery are said to have been recently replaced.

Power is sent to the rear wheels through a 727 TorqueFlite three-speed automatic transmission and a Plymouth-sourced rear differential with a 3.23:1 gear ratio.

A custom-made floor plaque showing the car’s features along with marketing material and a framed photograph of the car are included in the sale.

Carbon-Fiber 1970 Charger and 1969 Camaro Just the Start of a Wave of Composite-Bodied Classic Muscle Cars

One thousand pounds. Half a ton. Way more than any strongman contestant can lift. That’s how much weight Finale Speed has been able to cut out of a 1969 Camaro by replacing its steel body with carbon fiber. And the company’s aiming to bring that supercar technology to pretty much any American muscle car.

“Carbon fiber’s been around for years,” said JD Rudisill, who founded Finale Speed in Yukon, Oklahoma, in April 2022. “It’s what they use in Formula 1, all the hypercars, because it’s just a fraction of the weight of steel. Half the weight and double the strength, is what they say. It’s just that nobody had used it on the classics.”

Other aftermarket companies have offered ready-made carbon-fiber components, Rudisill noted, and a handful do offer full carbon-fiber bodies, but Rudisill said that as far as he knows, Finale is the first company to offer full carbon-fiber bodies for 1968-1970 Dodge Chargers and first-generation Chevrolet Camaros.

The latter made its debut this past week at Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale auction as a complete car dubbed Viral, powered by a 650hp LT4 6.2-liter crate engine. The former has had a far more eventful few months. From the start, Rudisill wanted to work with Dodge representatives to license the second-generation Charger’s design, and even before those agreements were in place, he got an invitation to unveil the Charger’s bare carbon-fiber body at Dodge’s Speed Week event in August – the same event at which the company debuted its all-electric Charger Daytona SRT Concept.

“We just got there, and we’ve got Tom Sacoman (Director of Dodge Product and Motorsports) and Ralph Gilles (Stellantis Head of Design) crawling all over it,” Rudisill said. “I’m in shock. Then Tim Kuniskis sees it and says he wants it at SEMA, still unfinished and with a Hellcrate in it.”

Tim Kuniskis with the Finale carbon-fiber Dodge Charger body

Finale carbonfiber Dodge Charger

Finale carbonfiber Dodge Charger

Finale carbonfiber Dodge Charger

Finale carbonfiber Dodge Charger

Finale carbonfiber Dodge Charger

According to Rudisill and Finale’s Chris Jacobs, the company has been able to make such great strides in less than a year due to a number of factors. While Rudisill gives credit to the eight guys in the shop who came to the company from Rudisill’s prior venture (“The eight best guys you want working on carbon fiber cars,” he said), he also has 15 years of experience working with carbon fiber in automotive applications. Finale has also partnered with Brothers Carbon in Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin, which supplies the dozen or so pieces that Finale then pieces together into bodies.

(For what it’s worth, Brothers displays a complete carbon-fiber Bumpside F-100 body on its website. Speedkore has also built full carbon-fiber Dodge Chargers, but does not appear to offer the bodies separately. Kindig-It Design offers 1953 Corvettes with full carbon fiber bodies. Classic Recreations, which was already building carbon-fiber Shelby G.T.500s, also announced a full carbon-fiber Shelby Cobra body last year.)

Perhaps just as important, Finale employs a straightforward, old-school method for building carbon fiber bodies that dispenses with the time-consuming process of CAD modeling, 3D printing, and other high-tech prototyping solutions normally associated with carbon fiber. More like creating fiberglass body panels, the process starts with sourcing a body from which Finale can pull fiberglass molds, which then go to Brothers for laying up with prepreg (carbon fiber sheets with the resin already embedded in the carbon fiber weave) and curing in an autoclave. “With the prepreg, they just roll it out and trim it to fit,” Jacobs said. “It looks just like they’re installing Dynamat.”

Finale carbonfiber Chevrolet Camaro

Finale carbonfiber Chevrolet Camaro

Finale carbonfiber Chevrolet Camaro

Finale carbonfiber Chevrolet Camaro

Finale carbonfiber Chevrolet Camaro

Finale carbonfiber Chevrolet Camaro

Finale carbonfiber Chevrolet Camaro

Finale carbonfiber Chevrolet Camaro

Finale carbonfiber Chevrolet Camaro

Finale carbonfiber Chevrolet Camaro

Finale carbonfiber Chevrolet Camaro

Finale carbonfiber Chevrolet Camaro

Finale carbonfiber Chevrolet Camaro

Finale carbonfiber Chevrolet Camaro

Finale carbonfiber Chevrolet Camaro

Finale carbonfiber Chevrolet Camaro

Finale carbonfiber Chevrolet Camaro

Finale carbonfiber Chevrolet Camaro

Finale carbonfiber Chevrolet Camaro

Finale carbonfiber Chevrolet Camaro

Finale carbonfiber Chevrolet Camaro

Finale carbonfiber Chevrolet Camaro

Finale carbonfiber Chevrolet Camaro

Finale carbonfiber Chevrolet Camaro

Finale carbonfiber Chevrolet Camaro

Finale carbonfiber Chevrolet Camaro

Finale carbonfiber Chevrolet Camaro

Once Brothers delivers the individual panels to Finale, the crew there begins piecing together the panels into a full body, attaching them to each other and to the steel inner structure of the donor car using a panel bonding adhesive. All of the panels are exact replicas of the originals, Rudisill said, so OE components like glass and door strikers will mate right up to the carbon-fiber bodies.

“It’s a true art to line up the panels, but the biggest hurdle is making the molds,” Rudisill said. Because he wants the carbon-fiber weave to be visible in the end product regardless of whether the customer specifies a bare or painted body, he said his crew puts in the time to make sure the source body and the fiberglass molds are as straight and smooth as possible.

According to Jacobs, Finale makes use of the donor car’s steel inner structure – including the firewall, dash structure, and much of the floor – to retain the car’s VIN and make registering the car straightforward. He said the company currently has a good stock of donors with VINs, but should they run out, they might consider producing entirely new bodies under the Low Volume Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Act.

While Rudisill said he started the venture to build the carbon-fiber Camaros (“One of my personal favorite cars,” he said), the manufacturing process essentially allows Finale to replicate any cars in carbon fiber. He and Jacobs are currently pursuing a licensing deal with Ford to build and offer complete bodies for an undisclosed vehicle, and Jacobs said the license deal with Dodge allows the company to build carbon-fiber bodies for any Dodge vehicle. “In the future, I’d like to see us get out of the box with something like an A-body Barracuda or a 1971 Charger,” Jacobs said. “We’ve even been talking about GM G-bodies. We have total freedom to do what we want; it’s just a matter of finding a clean version of that model and using some portion of an existing car.”

That also includes offering carbon-fiber bodies in pretty much any state of completion, from bare bodies to turnkey cars. Finale currently lists the 1970 Charger body, sitting on a Salvaggio Designs perimeter chassis and equipped with Detroit Speed front and rear suspension, Wildwood 14-inch disc brakes, and Forgeline wheels, for $199,000. Viral, the carbon-fiber Camaro, is a complete running and driving car with a full interior; Finale currently lists it for $429,000. According to Jacobs, Finale currently has body panels for another five Camaros and five Chargers. Lead time for the cars sits at six to eight months, and Jacobs said that Finale currently has the capacity to complete two to three cars per month.

For more information about Finale’s carbon fiber-bodied Charger and Camaro, visit FinaleSpeed.com.