It was interesting to visit one of the "other" car auctions going on in Phoenix yesterday. The quality of the cars was much lower than Barrett-Jackson ones and the prices were like a police impound auction.

I saw a lot of bad body work and paint jobs. I was astounded by a totally custom 55 Chevy with bright paint and chrome with a completely rusty brake master cylinder right in your face in the engine compartment.

We watched two cars in particular cross the block. The 1st was an everyday '06 Mustang V6 'vert that I knew was a formal rental due to the "fleet sales only" color keyed door mouldings. It had 55K miles on it and several blemishes to the paint. These cars are going for $12 - $14K at any used car lot. The guy got $8K.

The car right after was an obvious backyard restification of a '67 Camaro including a do-it-yourself resale red paint job with numerous runs and drips. Bidding quit at $17.5K and it was a no-sale due to a $20K reserve.