Scottsdale, Arizona.

In late January, the Scottsdale Barrett-Jackson Auto Auction became my focus on the usual Thursday for me and family members who shared the day with us. Scheduled about a week later than usual at WestWorld, this year the shuttles from the “purple lot” parking area were back in service and the sale seemed to be back to normal despite Omicron. Given all of the members of our group are triple vaxxed and most of the cars we viewed were outside under open-air tents, we had no concerns about Covid, and indeed, all have now returned home with no indication of the disease. But I digress, so that’s all I’m going to say about the pandemic.

I like to go on Thursdays because there are fewer attendees than on the weekend, and many cars, like the one in the opening photo, have already been sold. They await pickup or delivery to the new owner. Marked with a Sold sticker on the windshield, a little white space allows for a notation of the sold price. The docket number is plain to see so that I can look up the details on the vehicle at Barrett-Jackson’s website. I noticed a discrepancy between the price written on the sticker and the price on the docket. The window sticker says $22K, but the docket page indicates sold at $24,200. Thanks to a friend of mine at Disaffected Musings, a blog about cars, he noted the price on the sticker is the “hammer price”, the additional cost in the docket includes buyer’s commission. If you are into cars and automotive history, check out my friend’s blog.

Like all of the cars featured here, this car is unique and rare, one of only a few built between 1957 to 1962. The Autobianchi Bianchina Transformable is built on a Fiat 500 platform with a rear-mounted 2-cylinder, 21 hp engine. This 1958 model has a 4-speed manual transmission to motivate it, and, though you cannot see them in this photo, it sports a pair of suicide doors (doors that open hinged in the rear instead of the front.)

When I first saw this Fiat-based vehicle with wicker seats and white fringed top, I was immediately drawn to one of my favorite TV shows from the past. The show opened with Tattoo saying, “Boss, da plane, da plane!!!” and Mr. Roarke greeting the guests and leading them to their fantasy. No, this car has nothing to do with Fantasy Island, the 1977 TV series, it just reminded me of the show.

This vehicle is a 1965 Fiat Ghia Giardiniera Jolly and was designed by the then chairman of Fiat Motors. According to the description on the docket, it was sold as a vehicle “designed for wealthy Europeans to carry aboard their yachts to be used while in port.” Oh, my! Not so far from Fantasy Island for most of the world, anyway. This vehicle sold for a cool $56,100.

In 1975 and 1976, Cadillac built a relative handful of the Mirage pickup. Yes, that’s right, a Cadillac pickup. Though you cannot see the pickup bed from this view, this is a fully equipped Cadillac front with a bench seat but without that back seat. Cadillac only made 204 of these vehicles in the two-year production run, and 15 of them included something that the other 189 lacked.

In the view above, you can see the rear window of the pickup is directly behind the front seat, and the rear side window looks into the pickup bed. That’s the normal design of the Mirage roofline to maintain that dignified “Cadillac look”. What is unique is the small door that opens up in the area below the pickup bed. Of course, it’s for your golf clubs. It sold for $41,800 and included a period-correct set of golf clubs stowed inside the golf club compartment.

My favorite vehicle of the show, this 1977 GMC Gadabout is a 26-foot motorhome built for Coca-Cola in their 1978 national sweepstakes. One of only five built, this Gadabout features full equipment that would have been found in a motorhome of the era. Even the spare tire cover features a Coca-Cola bottlecap design.

The interior features the Coca-Cola red-and-white color scheme, and many accessories like that Coca-Cola napkin holder on the small table. This unique vehicle sold for $53,900.

The doorway of the unit was too narrow for me to get a good view of the kitchenette area due to the refrigerator cabinet on the right, but as you can see, it was delivered with a sink, microwave, and gas range. Above and to the right of the photo, a modern LCD television replaced the original 1977-design portable TV, a nice upgrade.

My favorite Coca-Cola reference in the motorhome is the standard motorhome style refrigerator done up with decals that made it look like a Coke machine. No, the buttons don’t work, it just looks like a Coke machine.

Of course, there were many other beautiful cars of all types we saw this year, and I am looking forward to the possibility of attending the Mecum auction in Glendale, Arizona in March. That will be our first trip there. Unless something more important comes up, (like a cruise), we’ll plan to check it out.

All of the images in this post are available to view in 2K HD. Click on any image to pixel-peep, scroll through the gallery, or see the specific metadata of each image, should you be so inclined. You can also visit the album page here.

John Steiner