Saturday, October 10, 2009

Mecum vs. Barrett- Jackson Auctions on TV

Got to love the Muscle Car Auctions on TV. I mean talk about hundreds and hundreds of some of the finest USA Factory Hot Rods ever built coming right into your living room in HD. It's a blast ! It used to be that the Barrett-Jackson Auctions had more of the high quality cars. Not so anymore. Seems to me that Mecum has stepped up it's game and their consignments to at least equal that of BJ. Having said that, there are a couple of issues that annoy the hell out of me when watching a Mecum Auction. First, the Mecum boss man screaming in that awful scratchy voice of his and both he and his assistants getting a little too up close and personal with the buyers and the sellers. Talk about in your face ! How about showing a little class guys ? And, the second thing that bothers me is the poor camera work and narratives by the Mecum crew. For crying out loud Mecum, show us a complete side view of the cars ! Hold the camera still for more than three seconds please. Let us out here in TV land soak up the awesomeness (my new word) of these USA Factory Hot Rods. And, if you're going to have "so called" experts describing the cars to us, how about being accurate and actually know something about them. Too much fluff ! We want the facts. Well, like I said, Mecum has pretty much caught up with Barrett-Jackson as far as the cars are concerned, but still has a ways to go to catch up with the quality of their TV presentations. Hey guys and gals, what do you think ? mr mac

6 comments:

  1. Hey Mr. Mac - looking forward to seeing more of your posts! I'm kind of new to the musclecar thing. I've heard some conflicting opinions: do you consider Corvettes to be musclecars or sports cars?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey Buzz, interesting question. The quick, easy and knee jerk answer would be yes and yes. It's pretty safe to say that all newer Corvettes are both muscle and sports cars. The slowest of the C5's (1997-2004) and the C6's (2005-2010) will run 0-60 mph in about 5 seconds or less and the 1/4 mile at around 14 seconds flat at over 100 mph. And, these are the slowest versions (early C5's with automatic and the highway axle ratio). Numbers like these certainly qualify them in musclecar territory. Some older versions do not qualify as musclecars. The earliest C1 Corvettes were powered by in line 6 cylinder engines. While they were peppy for the times (mid 1950's), by no means were they musclecars. Another Corvette that stands out as not a musclecar would be the 1975 model. If memory serves me, it was an emmision controled strangled 350 with single exhaust and only 165 horsepower. Yikes ! Not a musclecar. So, while virtually all Corvettes have musclecar performance, a few (very few) do not. Now the other part of your question, are Corvettes sportscars, the answer is again with a very few exceptions, yes. I suppose a 1968 with a smoking hot L88 engine and 4.88 gears is not a car that you would necessarily enjoy for a long drive in the country as you would a far more balanced 327/350 version. The same cars, but with very different driving personalities. The 327/350 is happy on the street or the track. The L88 is never happy unless it is destroying the competition on the racetrack, preferably a quarter mile at a time. I hope this helps a little with your question Buzz, and thanks for visiting my blog. mr mac

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Mr. Mac. I was watching Barrett- Jackson a couple of weeks ago and they auctioned off a 1965 Ford Mustang Cpe, not a GT, and said it was a number matching "K" code 289/271. I thought that motor was available only with the GT package??? Love to know. Thanks. Dr34searay

    ReplyDelete
  4. Barret Jackson is horrible compared to Mecum on tv. BJ way too dark hard to see cars. BJ too much nonscence not related to the cars. BJ too many brake=s and commercials.In one hour of programing Mecum will show twice as many cars and present them better. What BJ doesnt understand is that people watch for the cars, not looking at the bidder or his dog,we dont care. Mecum's presentation seems to understand the cars are the star.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Doc SeaRay, Ford back in the day offered the Hi -PO 289 engine in coupe, fastback or convertible models. The GT package was not required. Also, many Hi-PO 289's were ordered with automatic transmissions. Thanks for your question

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Anonymous, you bet, there are notable differences between Mecum and Barrett Jackson Auctions. Start with the vehicles offered for sale. Barrett Jackson has more diversity. More high end and older cars for sure. Dusenbergs, Cords, Rolls Royce's, etc. And, correspondingly the audience tends to be more diversified also. More glitz, more glamor. Many of the folks attend because it's THE THING TO DO. To see and be seen flashing their Rolexes. Some authentic, some not. So, you're correct, there's more fluff at BJ to be sure. More celebrity's too. Also, BJ has the name recognition factor and appeals more to the casual car fan whereas Mecum appeals so ewhat more to the hard core enthusiast. I've attended both in person and both are exciting and lots of fun. What say you ?

    ReplyDelete