Ten Gems at the Upcoming Barrett-Jackson Las Vegas
Tommy Parry
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With the upcoming Barrett-Jackson Las Vegas auctions taking place October 19-21, there are plenty of good reasons to start browsing airlines for reasonable tickets and take a day or two off work. Among the selection of incredible machinery for auction there are hot rods, pristine pickups, slices of Americana, muscle cars, off-roaders and even a few modern exotics. We’ve picked out ten of the prettiest machines to whet your appetite. Let's begin:
1929 Ford Custom Coupe
With a fiberglass Bruiser frame on top of a zeed chassis, it has all the style and rigidity anyone could want in a classic hot rod. Powering this creation is a 5.7-liter Chevy V8 mated to a 4-speed, driving that power to a 10-bolt axle and a 4-link rear suspension; this car ought to have the right sort of power to match the pizazz.
This two-toned Bel Air has a mere 2,000 miles on it after being completely restored 10 years ago. The suspension and brakes are completely overhauled, and the powertrain - a 265ci with an automatic - has been rebuilt. The striking green paint was completely cleaned away and repainted to match the original color code. This classic cruiser is not to be missed.
Completely overhauled, this Mouse Gray-White Microbus has undergone a frame-off restoration to its original condition. The engine, a rare single-port 1600cc, won’t blow your socks off in speed, but it will satisfy your desires for an original VW gem like this.
This rotisserie-restored Camaro might look vintage, but it’s all new underneath. For propulsion, it uses a modern LS3, a more aggressive cam and a T-56 transmission for all the performance anyone could want. The suspension is completely overhauled, with modern TCI parts front and rear, and the stoppers are modern discs from Wilwood. In keeping with the retrofit theme, the interior is outfitted with a USB-capable Autosound vintage radio with Rockford Fosgate amp and RF speakers. It’s completely new from top to bottom, and doused with a coat of Nissan GT-R Midnight Blue.
This pristine, blue Mach 1 has spent its well-documented life in sunny California. With the factory 351 lightly modified for a little more performance, an added Shaker hood, a new rear end with 3.25 gears and Magnum-500 style wheels, it’s powerful, clean, understated and with just a hint of resto-mod style. This one will likely command a respectable price.
One of the original “Widowmakers,” this pristine Porsche is lightly modified with new headlights, an exhaust system, larger wheels, an ebony-crested shift knob, a RENNline perforated aluminum pedal set, a Pioneer stereo with Alpine speakers and Coco floormats. It’s a mildly-tuned, immaculate Porsche Turbo with only 47,917 miles, and ought to have no problem finding a new home.
For the quintessential ‘80s supercar, nothing tops a Testarossa. With a mere 14,900 miles on the clock, this well-maintained Ferrari will have its new owner feeling like James Crockett, and they can probably rest at ease with a well-documented service history and the original books.
To get your hands on a first-year model of the Viper GTS - the car which blazed a path forward for American supercars - you can bid on this 9,600-mile example. It’s only 1 of 1,166, and wears that iconic color combination which we’ve all grown to associate with the Viper. Even considering today’s standards, the future owner of this Dodge will be awed by this original V10-powered American supercar and its immense torque.
With the same motor as the blue supercar above, this truck became a cult icon in the early 2000s, and even uses a 6-speed transmission to drive this monster down the road. As the ultimate barroom boast, the new owner of this truck can gloat about how the Ram SRT-10 holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest production truck, with an average speed of 154.586 mph.
Topping the list of these cars with a simply outrageous amount of grunt, the Hellcat is known these days as one of the most powerful Mopar production cars ever released. The engine: a 6.2-liter V8 producing an absurd 707-horsepower to hit 60 mph in 3.6, even with a 5-speed automatic. For those who love abundance and believe “bigger is better,” the Hellcat is the car for them - nothing else can whine quite like one of these as it brushes past 200 MPH on the speedometer.
For those who want to see these cars in the flesh, they’ll have to make the trip to the fantastic Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, 3950 S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89119. Further information on the incredible collection of machines on auction can be found here. Happy bidding!
