Muscle Car Mania

Russo and Steele Sports and Muscle in Scottsdale

By Lindsay DeChacco

It’s a hobby that’s alive and kicking, generating no less than record sales at record prices. But, just what is the impetus that drives the collector car craze?

There are those elite few who will register for the event well ahead of time, study up on the cars and head into the bidders circle prepared to put up some serious money to finally lay claim to that elusive fantasy car that haunted their dreams as teenagers.

But for the grand majority, a car auction is like a day of window-shopping on Rodeo Drive. The appeal here might be best described as a form of Oscar-night syndrome, which can be explained like this:  Most of us aren’t actors, we’re not personally invested in the outcome of the night and we can’t afford to emulate the lifestyle of a movie star. 
Yet, we enjoy watching the Hollywood glitterati shuffle down the red carpet in stiletto heels because — well — they’re bright and shiny and it’s always interesting to note how the double-stick tape holds up.

Throw in a little nostalgia, and we’ve summed up the burgeoning popularity of collector car shows, minus the double stick tape of course. Thus, classic car auctions have become a thriving business model.

The Russo and Steele Collector Car Auction has steadily grown since its inaugural Scottsdale event in 2001. In 2006, sales topped $22 million, nearly double that of the previous year. Russo and Steele’s Sports and Muscle in Scottsdale stretched into a five-day extravaganza in 2007 and plans are underway for a repeat performance in 2008.

So what exactly is being put up on the block at one of these exclusive events? Is nostalgia alone enough to reel in the big bucks in the big tent? That is to ask: if I hang onto my already ten-year-old Toyota Celica for another forty years, will I see it evolve from old and beat-up to vintage and classic?

After studying up on the superstars of past and present classic car auctions, the answer seems to be a resounding no. For one thing, Asian economy doesn’t exactly fit into the American muscle/European opulence collector-car paradigm.

Russo and Steele does us a favor by embedding clues to the classics right into its name. Diverging from the eponymous name trend, founders Andrew and Josephine Alcazar combine Russo, which is derived from Russo Rubino, the dark shade of red found on vintage Ferraris, with Steele, referring to the “Detroit iron” of American muscle cars, to effectively encapsulate their events.

It seems that Americans don’t want their nostalgia gummed up with concerns of practicality or economy. Classic car collectors share Tim Allen’s mantra of “more power,” and words like “Hemi” and “Shelby” pepper the vernacular of the auction world.

So how can you identify a future classic? Well, if the horsepower is excessive, fuel economy doubtful or the price tag exorbitant, it may have a shot at future auction-block glory. If you’re lucky enough to set some sort of land-speed record, you won’t even have to wait to see your investment appreciate.

This year Russo and Steele will put up the 1999 Ferrari 550 Maranello. This particular not-exactly-vintage Ferrari broke the world record by almost an hour when it completed the Cannonball Run — the infamous East to West coast land race — in 32 hours and 51 minutes.

As for the European luxury brands, if it costs a small fortune today, it might be worth a larger one fifty years from now.

For example, the 1937 Rolls Royce Phantom III, another of Russo and Steele’s upcoming offerings, had to be as swank as they came during its heyday. A writer once described a scene in Dr. Zhivago, where Julie Christy arrives in a sleigh draped in white fur, as the epitome of luxury. This deco-era limousine, whose interior is swathed in royal purple velvet, gives Christy’s bearskin sleigh a run for its money.

Besides vintage muscle and luxury, I managed to glean a few more qualities that can set a car apart. It seems to me the real honeys of the collector car world are defined in terms of rarity, a rich history or a little Hollywood magic. Sometimes they even possess a combination of these traits.

For instance, in 2007 the 1966 Shelby Cobra 427 “Super Snake” sold for $5.5 million, partly because it was one of only two of these cars ever made. The other car was built for comic Bill Cosby, who quickly decided it was too dangerous.

Though Cosby only drove it once, he did reference the vehicle in a 1968 comedy routine where he related telling the Shelby America representative to give the car to George Wallace, who was the segregationist governor of Alabama at the time.  Interestingly, the subsequent owner — who was not Wallace — was in fact killed when he crashed the car into the Pacific.

Something like a Cosby connection certainly doesn’t hurt a car’s charisma. A good back-story can add a great deal to a classic car’s appeal. Buyers aren’t just bidding on iron and steel; a car’s lore is a real part of the package.

Russo and Steele’s Rolls Royce Phantom III becomes even more alluring when teamed with its history of being spirited from post-WWII Germany beneath the noses of former Nazi bigwigs, only to end up the stuff of urban myths, discovered in a rural American barn.

Even if a car hasn’t logged enough decades to generate an epic history, movies have no equal when it comes to creating instant classics. A James Bond Aston Martin is always a hot commodity in collector car circles.

At their July event in Monterey, Russo and Steele featured the Batmobile from Warner Brother’s 1992 film Batman Returns. Let’s face it, 15 years doesn’t usually qualify something a classic so — unless you think it’s high time Hannah Montana was up for a lifetime achievement award — you have to give Hollywood kudos for its ability to produce real cache, real fast.

Russo and Steele will bring together another 500 of the crème de la crème of classic cars in their event this month.  In the days leading up to the auction, collectors can attend previews, galas and charity events.

General admission affords access to the outside tents and the vendor pavilion on auction and preview days, but entry into the main event is reserved for registered bidders and their guests.

The show is staged with the auction block on the ground floor, surrounded by elevated theater seating that zeros in on the action. Access to the area is limited to maintain an intimate and exclusive format — a boutique auction.

Bidders can register online or at the event. Either way, in order to participate they must fill out an application, pay the $175 fee (guests are an additional $50 to $75), and provide a bank letter of guarantee, or at the very least, two credit cards with — let’s face it — a pretty hefty credit limit.

For the rest of us, however, sometimes just standing in the vicinity of the classics is enough to render up a sepia-toned memory or two.

And if that’s not enough, the event is in Scottsdale — there’s sure to be a little double stick tape in play.

Russo and Steele’s Sports and Muscle in Scottsdale
January 16-20
General Admission: $20; $15 for AAA members with a valid membership card.
602-252-2697
russoandsteele.com

“Motown Muscle” Charity Preview
January 16, 6:30 p.m. (registered bidders only)

Champagne Brunch
January 20
Gates open at 10 a.m.