Collectible Corvettes at Barrett-Jackson Las Vegas

For roughly the last quarter century, there has been a significant increase in the number of indviduals (and groups) who have made Corvette collecting a “national passtime.” There are the big names, like Rick Hendrick or Ken Lingenfelter, whose collections rival (and exceed) those of the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky or the Marconi Auto Museum in Tustin, California.  At the same time, there are a great many more collectors – some who own dozens (if not hundreds) of Corvettes, while a great many more own smaller collections of five to ten cars.   While the big players collections are the ones we most frequently talk about around the water cooler, consider how uncommon it would have been – even just a few years ago – to know someone who personally owned a half dozen (or more) cars that they kept in the garage behind the house?

It used to be that car ownership, especially performance and exotic car ownership, was limited to the wealthiest among us – quite often people of more “senior” status who had the disposable income to invest in the car (or cars) they dreamed of owning their entire life.  In today’s economy, where healthier incomes made thru a combination of higher income jobs, social media advertising, better money planning, and smart crypto/financial investments, there have been more and more “young” buyers investing in cars that, just one generation earlier, would have been entirely out of reach.

Commercial automobile auction companies have recognized the viability of the current consumer markets.  Companies like Barrett Jackson and Mecum Auction have made auto auctions as popular a passtime on national television of Monday night football.  Spectators around the globe tune in each time these companies host one of their week long auction events.  The cars crossing the block are beautiful, exclusive, exotic.  Some are more commonplace than others, but each has a cool story, an interesting history, and offer both the spectators and would-be buyers an incredible purchasing opportunity – if, that is, you can afford the price of admission.  While the REALLY big dollar cars – the Paganis, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, etc., may still be out of reach to many, cars like the Ford Mustang, the Dodge Challenger, and most especially, the Chevy Corvette, have become the target of consumers from all walks of life – including both the aspiring enthusiast to the established collector.

Now you might ask the question – why bother with an auction house when there seem to be an abundence of Corvettes available online, at the local dealer, or even for sale by owner?  The answer, as you can probably guess, is exclusivity.  While not all of the cars crossing the auction block are ultra-rare, many have either low VIN numbers (Rick Hendrick frequently spends BIG dollars to purchase VIN #001 of each new MY Corvette), or they have low production volume (a rare color, rare option package, a limited edition model, etc.)  Additionally, cars sold at auction are often (though not always) some of the best examples of what’s out there.  Where a 1958 Corvette for sale at a local lot may be full of body filler and hastily slapped together to make a quick sale, the pedigree of the cars at auction are researched, published and established as being the “cream of the crop.”  In terms of Corvette, that often means a car that’s been thru NCRS judging (or similar) and is recognized for its accuracy and authenticity.