Beauty, Desire, Art and Valuation

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

Last year, the Mercedes-Benz Formula 1 car driven by Juan Manuel Fangio (W-196R) was sold at auction for the fantastic sum of $29,650,095.00 - thats almost 30 BIG ONES! It's not the record though; that belongs to a 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO. You could probably purchase this year's alottment of Audi RS7's in North America for that amount of money, fer cryin' out loud.

Availability, authenticity, rarity and history will decide what any one very wealthy individual is willing to pay, but surely, possessing a unique (aka only one on the planet) object can help explain the big numbers when stuff goes to auction. So it is with the W196 that sold at Goodwood, it is the only version of the racer in private hands. The owner might as well be Tony Stark, and who can blame the real owner for wanting anonimity and protecting his/her privacy. Who wants to bet that Pepper Potts bought the car?

Switch speeds for a second now and take a look at the Warhol silkscreen (commissioned by Mercedes) up above. This piece of art sold two weeks ago at auction  for $13,045,00.00 - it is entitled "Mercedes-Benz W196R Grand Prix Car (Steamlined Version,1954)". It measures about 13' x 15' and like the entirely real racing car - it is rare. Andy Warhol passed away before the project was completed. So there you have it - a piece of art that, in the simplest of  terms, was sold for $450.00 per square inch tells us nothing about why we want beautiful unique things. Give me an RS7 and I'll tell you why in about 3.7 seconds.

Gifts for the Audi Guy

Can't Go Wrong with This Stuff

Trying to find some interesting gift ideas for the guy that drives an Audi? Found it on the intertoobz... The images below are just a sampling of what they're offering. The link to the gift section of the site "Cool Hunting" can be found here.  Take a look around if you've got a minute - the site is all about design - pop culture - interesting stuff. They even have a review on the RS7. Enjoy!

Tool Helps Buy Used Audi Cars

Would You Buy a Used Car from...

Not many used car purchase decisions are this easy

Buying or selling for yourself can be a bumpy road. If you're selling your car, the only really important rule to state here is: DO NOT SELL YOUR CAR TO A RELATIVE - EVER - NOT EVEN A DISTANT RELATIVE.  NOT even if the car is a winter beater that you're gonna take a loss on because your sister's husband's nephew needed transport and you wanted to do him a favor - forget it.  If you're foolish enough to be reminded (for the rest of your life) about the piece of cr@p little Jimmy forgot to put oil in, you deserve whatever you get.

Give the car away! and then only with six pages of disclaimers in dense legalese because it may be the only way you won't suffer recriminating looks at all future family gatherings.

If you are buying a car and you want to put in the time to save some cash - a private sale is the only way to go. Decide what vehicle you want with the budget you have and check the listings every day. Your car will come up sooner or later and all your efforts will be made worthwhile. Ideally, you will be purchasing the car from an older couple who live in a nice burb  and who will soon be moving to Arizona. Do not let your enthusiasm for that 2 year old Audi A3 at an incredible price get the better of you. EVER! CHECK OUT THE HISTORY OF THAT CAR!

Now it's easier than ever to run a history on a car. We don't know anybody in this company; we're not being compensated in any way for mentioning this company - but what a great tool when you're kicking some tires and you know that if you don't close the deal - somebody may pull up and scoop that little bundle of road joy right out from under you.