Sunday, January 20, 2008

 

Of Robosaurus and GTOs

Everyone has secrets. And this is mine. Once a year, my husband and I transform from relatively normal artsy souls into car people. Our metamorphosis inevitably coincides with the Barrett-Jackson Annual Collector Car Auction, shown every year on Speed TV. From Tuesday till Sunday, they feature 30+ hours of coverage of what can only be considered the ultimate reality show. Real people buying real cars at auction. Live.

Now, most of the time I don't care all that much about V8s and V6s, fastbacks and hard tops, coupes and customs, retro-mods or originals. But for this one week, I'm hooked. I'm invested in why one car sells for 50,000 and the same model and year can sell for 300,00 two days later because of a difference in paint colour, mileage, etc.

The people bidding are also characters. There are the regulars - the people who are there every year and drop millions of dollars. There's the Ferrari Guy, and the Suit Jacket Guy, and the inevitable parade of celebrities like Leno, Reggie Jackson, Patrick Dempsey. This year John Schneider did an impromptu concert on top of The General Lee before it hit the block. A recreation of The Batmobile sold for two hundred thousand plus - and the main bidders were all dressed like Batman. I've never actually seen so many Batmen in one place. And when the car-crushing, fire-breathing Robosaurus went up for sale, it brought a respectable $575,000. Who knew?

So, once a year I'm a car girl. Makes you wonder what else you don't know about me, doesn't it? *smirk*

Comments:
You amaze me. :)
 
My husband went to Barrett Jackson last year. He's the car guy in our family. He has a car he's restoring in our garage. Where my car should be. Cause it's cold in Alberta.

Janet
 
Ah, Brenda, life would be boring if I didn't shake up people's expectations once in a while. *g*
 
J.E. - Hi! That must have been a cool experience for your hubby. Just out of curiosity, what kind of car is he restoring?
 
p.j., just over at Brenda's site reading pop culture discussion... where does Biggest Loser et al. fit in? I mean, all those ''reality" shows in general... or do they not cut it because they lack the "culture" aspect of the debate?

just curious...

your pal on the Pacific
 
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