Ron Pratte collection

[69Z28-RS]

Can somebody please explain this all to me? How is it that what is now acknowledged as being a rebodied Z28 with a Jerry MacNeish  report from 2008 stating it has a "restoration drive train" ever be worth anything close to 148K. Confused..........

Only thing I can figure is....  Barrett and Jackson wanted to ensure that Ron didn't *lose money* on that investment?     OH..  and I understand the documents you get with it are great.. 

[Classic Gary]

I don't think Barrett Jackson was ensuring anything. The bid went to 140,000.00 pretty quick, then the rebody was mentioned, and the bid dropped to 120,000.00. It was a struggle to get it back up to 135,000.00. Remember it takes two to play that game.

[Carbuff]

From what Ive seen from Tuesday prices to wednesday prices, If they rolled out a turd on a plate and said it was from the Pratt collection, it would sell for $200k. The same turd would sell for 1/3 of that without the pratt name attached to it. No disrespect to Mr. Pratt. Just an observation.

[maroman]

Remember it takes two to play that game.

Not really, at BJ the owner can bid on his own car. So it only takes one unsuspecting fool.

[BillOhio]

Mecum is allowed to bid up cars to the reserve. I have seen on TV where a car goes good then stops reserve not met. You hear them say we don't have anyone and they go to the next car. Speeds things up but makes it look like someone thinks its worth something

[Steve Shauger]

If we assume that when it was certified, it was as a rebodied/restoration drivetrain vehicle as indicated by the second and final certification. The  professional appraisal value was 100,000-120,000 in 2008. No one on this site questioned the appraisal value then.... I don't know why, to me it was virtually worthless unless you collect documentation.  So logically if it was worth what it appraised for in 2008 at 100-120K, then based on the increased value in cars 148K is not unrealistic in today market.

Again the car has very little value whether it was in 2008 or 2015. There is nothing original and should be valued at nicely restored clone cars...but that's just my opinion.

[jack92584]

Mecum is allowed to bid up cars to the reserve. I have seen on TV where a car goes good then stops reserve not met. You hear them say we don't have anyone and they go to the next car. Speeds things up but makes it look like someone thinks its worth something

Its called chandelier bidding. As mentioned its a way to move things along and get the bids up close to the reserve to see if there are any real buyers near the reserve price and a deal can be made. Its totally legal but can be abused. Worst case I ever saw was this Carolina blue Z28 at the Indy Mecum auction.
https://www.mecum.com/lot-detail.cfm?lot_id=SC0514-184213
I think we all could agree this car is probably a low six figure car at best yet it was "bid" to 450K and didnt meet the reserve. What stunk about it was that the car was personally owned by Dana Mecum (not disclosed at the auction). Now he can say the value is $450K because thats what was bid?
Anyway, with BJ being no reserve chandelier bidding shouldnt come into play (illegal) and thats why I'm somewhat baffled as to why that Z went for so much. Only thing that makes sense is the buyer got sucked into "Ron Pratte only buys the best" line saw what he had paid for it (125k) and figured it must be worth at least that plus a little more because it now was once part of the Ron Pratte collection. Well good luck to him when he tries to sell it and the potential buyer Googles the vin.

[69Z28-RS]

If we assume that when it was certified, it was as a rebodied/restoration drivetrain vehicle as indicated by the second and final certification. The  professional appraisal value was 100,000-120,000 in 2008. No one on this site questioned the appraisal value then.... I don't know why, to me it was virtually worthless unless you collect documentation.  So logically if it was worth what it appraised for in 2008 at 100-120K, then based on the increased value in cars 148K is not unrealistic in today market.

Again the car has very little value whether it was in 2008 or 2015. There is nothing original and should be valued at nicely restored clone cars...but that's just my opinion.

I would guess that most of us share your opinion, Steve...  but then it IS a *pretty car*, and with B-J pushing certain cars, there are many big$$ folks there who bid on 'pretty', in response to the 'push' that B-J provides them...?   

but personally, pretty or not, I wouldn't trade my original, unrestored, partially-disassembled *real*  Z28 for it.. 

[6667ss138]

The BJ big money phenomenon is definitely confusing for sure. I understand the egos play a part. Its just a shame though because a lot of people watch their results every year to look for indicators of where the market is at on collector cars. They just never seem very reasonable or realistic to me. I went to Scottsdale last year for the first time and watched this pair of 69 Z's bring over 100K. Both were very nice restorations even to the point of being over restored. Both were non numbers matching, JM certified, real Z's. One with JL8 and the other had Cross/Ram. Its hard for me to believe that either one of those cars were really worth that kind of money especially the HO car at 143K (even though I know the NOS Cross/Ram parts alone do bring big money).  JMHO

http://www.barrett-jackson.com/Archive/Event/Item/1969-CHEVROLET-CAMARO-Z-28-2-DOOR-COUPE-160982

http://www.barrett-jackson.com/Archive/Event/Item/1969-CHEVROLET-CAMARO-Z-28-2-DOOR-COUPE-160983

[68 Ragtop]

One thing, I'd like to know, how they figured out it is a re-body. Everyone was so sure it wasn't, back then.

Jerry M. wasn't there inspecting cars last time - he is this year.  :-)

Jerry M inspected the car for the owner before the 2008 auction and the car hasn't changed. What has changed is that Jerry M is now working for BJ and they are trying to reduce the amount of fraud and misrepresentation.

This car was outed on this site and TC, so much so that Mike Joy himself signed up to post about the car.

They really had no choice but to change the description to reflect the re-body. The restoration (re-stamped) drivetrain was noted in the "final" 2008 inspection report, but not in the auction description.

Does anyone see a change in how the cars are described this year? I have. Quite a few Corvettes now being described as having reproduction trim tags.

[JohnZ]

. Quite a few Corvettes now being described as having reproduction trim tags.

Which, in the Corvette world, will disqualify them instantly if they're presented for NCRS Flight Judging, and brand the car as "Counterfeit" in the NCRS judging database. Spotting bogus/reproduction Corvette trim tags became a simple matter since NCRS published the "Trim Tag Book" in 2005. It's the first thing checked (by the Team Leader) before actual judging starts.

[bcmiller]

And that was a welcome addition to the judging John, well for most people anyway.

[bcmiller]

Most of the cars that have sold at Scottsdale this year so far have been overpriced in my opinion.

[rsr]

 It must be that new Barrett-Jackson car care products applied to those that bring the big bucks?

[jdv69z]

Can somebody please explain this all to me? How is it that what is now acknowledged as being a rebodied Z28 with a Jerry MacNeish  report from 2008 stating it has a "restoration drive train" ever be worth anything close to 148K. Confused..........

Is the VIN of the donor body known by anyone? Other than by whoever did the re-body?