Richard:
I see it as a double-edged sword. Sure, the greedy asshats of the world are going to try to jack up the prices of motors, body panels, frames, etc, especially for older, hard-to-find hardware.
However, televised auctions like B-J also bring new people into the collector/antique car hobby. They may have an old 'Bolt (orMustang or Nova or whatever) in the garage (or barn or U-Stor-It) and decide to restore or rod it.
The uber-high prices at B-J are for the best of the best. The vast majority of the street rods you see up for auction are professionally built by the best minds & hands in the industry, not by Joe Gearhead.
Look at the '87 Porsche 911 turbo that went last night. I know for a fact that when it was new, that car was $90,000+. That was in 1987. It sold for $31,000 (before buyer's fee).
Hell, if I had $35K, that is a great deal in my opinion. I love Porsches and have since I was a teenager. For a sports car to drive around, race at soem SCCA club events and look cool sporting around town, that's a steal.
$100,000 for an amphibi-car or $40,000 for a VW Beetle convertible? No, those aren't good deals to me. Sure, they're immaculate restorations, but they couldn't be driven without fear of damaging the vehicle. That's not the purpose of a vehicle to me. Any car I get, I want to drive it. I don't want a 'trophy'.
