Idle Torque: Brock Commodore fetches top dollar
Once seen as the poor alternative to the more established classic Australian muscle cars of the 1960s and 70s, the Brock Commodores of the 1980s are continuing to move strongly towards becoming serious six-figure machines.
The latest evidence of this was at the Shannons winter auction in Sydney, where a beautifully original 1985 VK Commodore Group A SS sold for $92,000.
Shannons said the car had just 31,197km on its odometer at the time of the sale and its engine had been rebuilt 1000km previously by Peter Brock's renowned engine builder, Neill Burns.
The car sold on Monday was number 485 of the 500 built for racing homologation in 1985, after the move in Australia to the International Group A touring car regulations.
The sale took place just a fortnight before the eighth anniversary of Peter Brock's death in Gidgegannup on September 8, 2006, so perhaps this was also present in the minds of bidders.
Arguably the most obscure car in the sale was a 1934 Chrysler Airflow sedan.
Built at a time when most other American cars still had separate headlights and wings with tall, vertical radiators, the Chrysler Airflow was something of a revelation with its streamlined shape.
The Airflow wasn't a huge sales success and was only made between 1934 and 1937.
Its styling became increasingly conservative over those years in a bid to broaden the car's appeal.
Today, it's this original 1934 shape which defines the Chrysler Airflow and nowadays this shape is the one most sought after by collectors.
Hence, the one in Monday's Shannons sale reaped a strong $67,000. Top price at this sale was achieved by a 1964 Porsche 356 SC, which sold for a staggering $180,000, while a 1958 Mercedes-Benz 190SL also sold well at $137,000.
Both of these models have appreciated strongly over the past 15 years, especially the 190SL, which has approximately doubled its value in that time.
Next down the list from these was a 1951 Jaguar XK120, which went to a new owner in exchange for $105,000.
LEGO PRODUCES A MINI MINI*
In competition circles they were known as flying bricks and now there's a Mini that is literally made of them.
Lego bricks, that is.
The renowned Danish toy maker has added the Mini Cooper to its range, complete with a body in the classic British racing green colour with a white roof.
The Lego version of the Mini is based on the car produced from August 1997 to July 1998 to mark the 40th anniversary of the classic Mini, and comprises 1077 pieces.
Coincidentally, this number is very close to the engine size of the original Cooper S, which was 1071cc.
