Photo: Mecum
We reached the end of our journey when it comes to discovering what cars scored the most or failed spectacularly during the month's largest auction in America. And we do so by looking at how one of the most appealing of the cars on the Monterey lot failed to meet its set target, but still went into new ownership.
The car I'm talking about is an orange Chevrolet Camaro from the first generation. In fact, it's one of the cars made during the gen's last year on the market, 1969, and like many others of its kind it has been modified so that it remains to this day not only an interesting sight to behold, but also a cool American classic to own.
We first stumbled upon it at the beginning of August, when we learned of it going under the hammer during the Mecum auction in Monterey, California. Given its state, but also its story, the $130,000 expected for it didn't seem that far-fetched.
The pony car traces its roots to 18 years ago, when one of the icons of the custom world, Chip Foose, decided to build together with Unique Performance a small batch of modified Camaros. The builds were documented in one of Foose's shows, Rides, and the Camaro you're staring at now is one of them.
We don't know about the others made as part of the run, but this one wasn't used much since completion. The thing's odometer reads only 324 miles (521 km), meaning that if it was stored properly (there's no info on that) the car can be considered practically brand new.
Such reduced usage also means the 572ci Chevrolet big block engine may be a bit out of shape, and that the 620 horsepower it develops could be in need of a little training. A 5-speed manual transmission and a 9-inch Positraction differential are on deck to help with that.
Whereas the clean exterior of the car is more than capable of speaking for itself with no effort from the onlooker, the interior needs those beautiful doors to move out of the way to be properly admired: sport seats drowned in leather, a Lecarra steering wheel, Autometer gauges, and an LCD screen at the end of the center console.
I said earlier the seller of the car was hoping to fetch as much as $130,000 for it. The crowds present in Monterey seem to have concluded that despite being impressive and cool, the Camaro does not deserve all that much. The highest someone was willing to offer was $110,000, and that seems to have been deemed enough, as the car is now listed as sold.
The $20,000 difference between what was expected and what was accepted may not seem all that great, and at this value, it probably isn't. But the perspective changes when you consider putting the Camaro together in this form was much more expensive than this: $200,000.
We first stumbled upon it at the beginning of August, when we learned of it going under the hammer during the Mecum auction in Monterey, California. Given its state, but also its story, the $130,000 expected for it didn't seem that far-fetched.
The pony car traces its roots to 18 years ago, when one of the icons of the custom world, Chip Foose, decided to build together with Unique Performance a small batch of modified Camaros. The builds were documented in one of Foose's shows, Rides, and the Camaro you're staring at now is one of them.
We don't know about the others made as part of the run, but this one wasn't used much since completion. The thing's odometer reads only 324 miles (521 km), meaning that if it was stored properly (there's no info on that) the car can be considered practically brand new.
Such reduced usage also means the 572ci Chevrolet big block engine may be a bit out of shape, and that the 620 horsepower it develops could be in need of a little training. A 5-speed manual transmission and a 9-inch Positraction differential are on deck to help with that.
Whereas the clean exterior of the car is more than capable of speaking for itself with no effort from the onlooker, the interior needs those beautiful doors to move out of the way to be properly admired: sport seats drowned in leather, a Lecarra steering wheel, Autometer gauges, and an LCD screen at the end of the center console.
I said earlier the seller of the car was hoping to fetch as much as $130,000 for it. The crowds present in Monterey seem to have concluded that despite being impressive and cool, the Camaro does not deserve all that much. The highest someone was willing to offer was $110,000, and that seems to have been deemed enough, as the car is now listed as sold.
The $20,000 difference between what was expected and what was accepted may not seem all that great, and at this value, it probably isn't. But the perspective changes when you consider putting the Camaro together in this form was much more expensive than this: $200,000.
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