Barrett-Jackson’s Palm Beach auction is sometimes overlooked, largely due to the sheer size and reach of the company’s Arizona auction. This is a big mistake, however, as the Palm Beach sale always has had great cars for buyers and has set a number of world records, which should be of interest to sellers.
The Palm Beach sale this weekend has a number of cars that I would love to park in my garage, from American classics to muscle cars to the best that Europe has to offer. The hardest part when going through the lots for sale was picking the ones that I wanted as I wanted so many.
After a few hours I was able to narrow it down to the six cars that I most want to take home:
 | 2004 Aston Martin Vanquish (Lot 410) Vanquish was the last car built at the old Newport Pagnell plant, the last hand-made Aston, the Bond car in Die Another Day, and this one, which lacks Q's modifications, has traveled less than 2,500 miles so it’s essentially a brand new car. And the Vanquish is an undervalued vehicle. Only 2,589 Vanquish and Vanquish S models were built yet the Vanquish typically trades hands for $60,000 while much more plentiful Testarossas and 308s go for six figures. |
 | 1963 Volkswagen Beetle (Lot 394) A Beetle? But not just any Beetle, but a real Herbie, used in the films Herbie Goes to Montecarlo and Herbie Goes Bananas. I bid on and missed a film-used Herbie a few years ago and wished I could have bought it. Owning a real Herbie guarantees you a crowd at any car show likely grants you entry into quite a few concours events as well. |
 | 1941 Cadillac Series 62 convertible (Lot 441) This has to be one of the prettiest Cadillac convertibles ever constructed. These cars are very special and the restoration bill alone would be staggering. They only made 3,100 of these convertibles in 1941. The car is eligible for practically any vintage driving event, would be welcome at most concours. |
 | 1969 Chevrolet Corvette (Lot 109) More and more I’m loving the C3 Corvette and this completely matching-numbers example was delivered with 427/390-hp engine and a desirable 4-speed transmission. It has been professionally painted to the original factory color and the interior is all original with the exception that the seatback covers were repainted. The front windshield and both door windows are original and have the factory etching on the glass; the rear removable window has been replaced. Remarkably the fiber optics displays in the car are functioning. All gauges, clock and radio are functioning. The engine runs great, the car performs well. |
 | 1977 Pontiac Trans Am (Lot 89) Due largely to being featured in the Burt Reynolds’ Smokey and the Bandit movies, the Pontiac Trans Am, especially in the black with gold trim color combo, is one of the most iconic cars of the 1970s and ‘80s. For quite awhile these muscle cars were also rans in the marketplace to Mustangs, Camaros and ‘Cudas, but their popularity is on the upswing and the cars have their own tour, naturally enough called the Bandit Run. Plus prices are on the rise wo you can buy yours now or wait and pay more next year. |
 | 1999 Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph (Lot 72)
The Silver Seraph represents the last new Rolls-Royce car built by hand at the Crewe factory. This was a car built after the acquisition of Rolls-Royce by BMW, at a time when VW owned the Crewe factory. This gave the new Rolls the benefit of a lot of great BMW technology, the most important of which is the fantastic 5.4-liter V12 engine. These cars were crazy expensive when new, selling for more than $230,000 in 1999. Only 1,570 were produced before the end of an era of the classic Rolls-Royce pedigree. |
How did Herbie do?