I'm rather fond of American cars from the 1950's, and so I'd have happily bid on this 1955 Chevrolet Belair convertible at the Barrett-Jackson Auction. If, of course, I could afford it.

Someone who could afford it happily (I hope) paid $109,080 for the privilege of driving this delectable peach and cream beauty down Main Street in his home town. Michael Mills, the musician and composer from London whose 37 Cord convertible I showed in an earlier blog, must surely be smiling after his car went under the hammer for $216,000. Even after paying the auction fees he'll have a substantial amount of cash with which to finance his work. The owner of a 37 Cord 812 Westchester sedan was not so fortunate, for his car brought a mere $118,000. Convertibles do outrank sedans but not by that much, so perhaps it was needing substantial mechanical work.

As the week drew to a close I was pleased to note there were some excellent if not exciting bargains to be had in the $8000-15,000 range ready to be driven away by the less affluent among us, for you needn't be wealthy to have fun at this event. (Thank goodness they don't take credit cards or I'd have been sorely tempted.)