Back in January, classic car collectors spent nearly $250 million at auctions in Arizona. Silver Auctionsâ piece of that pie was a mere sliver — at $3.1 million it was less than 2 percent — and yet Mitch Silver was thrilled.
âWe were very, very happy with it,â the founder of Silver Auctions said as he arrived back in Arizona for yet another sale at the Fort McDowell resort and casino in Fountain Hills, just east of Scottsdale.
Silver, it seems, wasnât the only one who was happy with his sale in January. Consignors filled every available slot for the two-day event, so Silver has decided to expand his sale next January to three days, starting on Thursday evening and then going all day Friday and Saturday.
But thatâs next year. This weekend, Silver Auctions will offer some 200 cars for bidding, starting around 4 p.m. Friday and resuming at 10 a.m. Saturday, the first hour or so of each round devoted to automobilia.
Speaking of automobilia, Silver notes that such sales at his auction in January exceeded $70,000.
But the emphasis is on cars, and he noted that heâll offer everything from an outstanding 1967 Volkswagen âbugâ that should sell for less than $10,000 to a 1940 Ford convertible street rod that figures to draw bids of $70,000 or more.
Heâs also excited about a just-consigned and brand-new to the market 1967 Chevrolet Impala SS convertible, with a 396-cubic-inch V8 and automatic transmission.
âItâs date-coded properly but itâs not matching numbers,â he said. âThat takes it off the stratosphere, but you can drive it and enjoy it every day.
âItâs from a restorer weâve worked with for many years. Weâre expecting mid-20s and itâs a lot of car for that.â
Not being ânumbers matchingâ makes the Impala much more affordable, but doesnât detract from the fun of driving the car.
[pullquote]
Nobody ever asks that about (numbers matching on) Fords or GTOs.”
— Mitch Silver
[/pullquote]âNobody ever asks that about Fords or GTOs,â Silver said. âThey just want to know if itâs a proper engine. But Chevy just happened to put numbers on there so you can check it easily.
âMy personal response is that for most collectors, you can take a car and you can change every piece of sheet metal and chrome and every piece of the interior and the glass and rebuild it and the question of numbers matching never comes up. But that big chunk of iron under the hood that actually can wear out and itâs the one thing youâre not supposed to change!
âThatâs not to discount the fact that when you find a pristine car that has not been altered, it is a blueprint for how to restore the car properly, and those cars should be preserved,â Silver added.
âBut I think there are a lot of people who donât know why it (numbers matching) makes a difference (he added that it does make a difference with âbig blockâ Chevys and Corvettes). But they still ask, âis it numbers matching?â â
Take, for example, Silver said, a 1980s-era Corvette thatâs been âpainted a couple of times and has 150,000 miles and 350cid. Numbers matching is not an important question. The car already has been gone through too many times. Just keep it on the road and let somebody enjoy it and learn about the hobby.â
Spoken like a true educator (which is what Mitch Silver was, a car-collecting college professor, in his previous life).