Playing a starring role in several “I Love Lucy” episodes, Lucille Ball’s 1955 Pontiac Star Chief Convertible made another shining appearance at the 44th Annual Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Auction in January. Part of the prestigious Ron Pratte Collection, the antique, glistening car with chrome accents brought back memories as it brought in the big bucks.
Classic car enthusiasts and longtime Lucy fans may recall episode 109, “Lucy Learns to Drive,” in which the Ricardos buy a new car and Lucy wants to drive it around the block. After giving her one driving lesson, Ricky is a beaten man, but Lucy is so confident that she offers to teach Ethel Mertz how to drive. The result is a completely hilarious fiasco, of course, but the car is no worse for the wear. Sixty years later, the V8 continues to rev up the star power and could have been yours for $220,000.
“Barrett-Jackson is a celebration of the automobile, but it is more than just a car auction. It is an international lifestyle event,” said Jerry McGlothin, a retired Northern Arizona University electrical engineering professor and classic car collector. “They have all kinds of vendors here selling every aspect of the luxury lifestyle that you can imagine – boats, airplanes – anything that people would aspire to [own while] living a luxury lifestyle. And of course, part of the lifestyle of the rich and famous, and not so famous, are the beautiful classic cars.”
Another Barrett-Jackson showstopper was the 1966 Shelby Cobra Super Snake. Touted as the “Cobra to end all Cobras,” the CSX 3015 is one of only 23 such competition roadsters built. Reportedly, Carroll Shelby created it just to see how fast it could be at a time when Americans were just Americans and proud to be Americans. It sold for $5.1 million.
“As a new driver, my first experience at the Barrett-Jackson was amazing!” said 16-year-old Madison Rolley of Flagstaff. “I like driving a RAV4, but have found a new passion for vintage muscle cars – so cool. There were so many tents just full of amazing cars!”
Another amazing car was the latest generation of the iconic Corvette family – the 2015 Corvette Z06, co-developed with the C7.R racecar to be the most powerful production Corvette of all time.
“The design and grace is unmatched,” said Chris Faulkner, an NAU electrical engineering alumnus and part-time Flagstaff resident. “The Corvette started out as the C1. Chevy did an amazing job balancing the cars and Ford tried to imitate that with the GT 350, but it pales in comparison to the Corvette. It’s unequal in its engineering.”
One of the major technological advances in automobiles through the years, says McGlothin, is fuel injection replacing the carburetor. “The carburetor has lasted 60, 70, 80 years, and a lot of these old classics are still run by a carburetor. It’s a device that brings in air and fuel and mixes them together and sends it to a cylinder and the piston goes up and down in the cylinder that causes an explosion. Get that air in there, get that gasoline in there and get that spark in there and bingo, you’ve got something. There will be an explosion and it will produce a force and the car will move.”
He says fuel injection and electronic controllers have changed the game in terms of efficiency, reliability and horsepower per cubic inch.
However, he says, this means little to classic, classic car enthusiasts. “Where the old cars have the real value is when they are original and they’re running, they’re maintained. If one takes an old classic car and puts a new engine in there with the highly reliable and efficient electronic systems, it devalues the car. The original cars, with the original bodies, the original engines, the original drive trains, original interiors – those are the cars that are worth the money.”
From mohair seats to fin-tailed rear ends and the latest in carbon fiber affects, car enthusiasts rave about Barrett-Jackson’s ability to showcase American engineering at its best.
“It epitomizes Americana and the latest in high-tech, fantastic American engineering,” said Faulkner. FBN
By Bonnie Stevens
Flagstaff Business News
Leave a Reply