You have probably all heard the story by now. Back in January, Barrett-Jackson, the auction people out of Arizona, filed a lawsuit against a seller of a 1970 Ramchargers Hemi 'Cuda'. It had sold for $300,000 and the seller was unhappy because he thought it was worth twice as much. This is far more that I would be willing to spend for a 'Cuda' even if I could afford it. But they are fun to drive.
The seller is a Judge from Michigan and I read articles from across the nation about this, including Michigan, about how he felt he was cheated. He may have a point. His car was only on the block for 2:41 and yet another simular car was on the block for 4:39 and brought $680,000. You never know if the auctioneer is giving someone a deal in which he shares part of the profit.
In both automobile and motorcycle auctions I have seen many things that I thought were questionable. If you go to enough of them you see the same players, all on a first name basis. In newspapers that allow the readers to respond some felt that Barrett-Jackson had a right to sue and shut the Judge up. Some questioned where did a Judge get that kind of money. That, of course, is totally unfair. Maney can be from anywhere. I don't see people questioning farmers that show up at farm auctions with wads of money and looking like they just slept the night on a street corner somewhere. Others, probably those burned in auctions, hope that the Judge takes them to task and prevails. It will be interesting to see how it shakes out.
Sports Car Market has done a nice job of laying out the legal work from both sides. If you do not know the story you should read the Barrett-Jackson side:
http://www.sportscarmarket.com/articles/archives/1076
And the Judge's side:
http://www.sportscarmarket.com/articles/archives/1141
