Jim Reichard

I was flipping channels last night and stumbled into the Barrett-Jackson Auction in Miami as they were getting ready to auction their feature car which was the personal car of Howard Hughes a 1953 Buick Roadmaster.

They drove it up on the block and Barrett (I guess he was Barrett) explained that his brother had pulled this car out of a warehouse and purchased it I guess from the Hughes estate several years ago. The trunk was almost completely filled with a huge air conditioner and air filtration system. The engine had a special generator system and even a small propeller in front of the special cooling system.

He stated the car was used by Hughes as his office until 1958 at which time the car was kept ready to use but was never used again as Hughes became more and more of a recluse.

The bidding very quickly moved to 400 then at about 450 it slowed and it took awhile to get to 500. At about 600 it became obvious that two guys were playing cat and mouse both acting like they were already over their limit. At about 750 the TV guy said he thought they had two guys who had decided they were going to have that car and it go up to a million which was correct. At about 1,250 one guy jumped it clear to 1,500 and the other guy folded.

dlq04

I tuned in to hear the end of the bid. How can people have so much money and be so stupid or desperate to identify with something? In the end it's nothing more than a slightly customized '53 Buick with a famous previous owner. Frankly I won't give anymore than $20k (probably twice what they normally sell for in mint condition).

mns2k

I have seen in a number of auctions that peopel just get carried away. It appears that the thrill of the hunt is better than the kill.

Chazmo

Yes, I've seen those auctions on TV, and I certainly wouldn't want to be involved in that. It's disgusting how they talk to these future owners and drive them over the edge. Kind of like sports psychology combined with preying on a gambler's weakness.

On the other hand, a fool and his money...