Las Vegas Weekly

October 9, 2008 · 8:55 AM

Bette Davis, Toby Keith, Nicholas Cage cars on the block next week

By Robin Leach

Cars with real “star power” will shine at next week’s debut Vegas auction for the prestigious Barrett-Jackson auction company -– and the crashed economy is only sending vintage vehicles up in value! Already a staggering 521 supercars are set to be on the block at Mandalay Bay starting one week today (Thursday, Oct. 16) for the three-day event.

Two presidential limousines will be up for bid: a 1962 Lincoln Continental from John F. Kennedy’s collection, and the 1984 Eagle motor coach that President George W. Bush used as his campaign headquarters. Racecar fans have the opportunity to bid on the two Dodge Chargers previously raced at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway by Robby Gordon and Kurt Busch. The proceeds from that sale will go to Kurt’s foundation to benefit the Victory Junction Gang Camp.

A superstar Shelby GT edition of the Mustang with signatures from Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson and Ryan Seacrest from American Idol will be sold, with all the proceeds going to our locally based Lili Claire Foundation.

Motorcycles owned by William Shatner and George Barris will be under the spotlight -- but expect all eyes and money to be on the Harley owned by the world’s greatest daredevil, the late Evel Knievel. You’ll find his autograph on both sides of the gas tank in gold leaf! The 1250cc bike has been customized with a unique windshield, saddlebags, race fueler and custom chrome exhaust pipes. Coincidentally, it will be sold on Friday of next week, which would have been Evel’s 70th birthday. His son Robbie is set to jump the new Mirage volcano exhibit on New Years Eve here on the Strip.

Collectors and casino high rollers will zero in though on the “star power” cars. Toby Keith is selling his 1934 custom Ford two-door Cabriolet, which is a brilliant-red, pristine-condition vehicle. Hip-hop star custom car aficionado Funkmaster Flex will also part ways with his 2006 customized Mustang that was featured on his ESPN reality TV show Car Wars. He’s turning over the proceeds to the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. Nicholas Cage’s Porsche Speedster was one of only 802 special production models ever built and it has only 1,200 original miles. While Nick was filming Gone in 60-Seconds, in which he played a notorious car thief the vehicle was stolen and recovered back in 2002! “Black Beauty” is the nickname for veteran screen actress Bette Davis’s Porsche 911 Carrera Speedster. It has been maintained at the Petersen Automotive museum for the past seven years in Los Angeles.

Cable’s SPEED TV cameras will capture all the live action on HD over the three-day ultimate celebration of collector cars. Chairman Craig Jackson commented: “Vegas now becomes our third annual auction following on Scottsdale and Palm Beach, where earlier this year sales shot past the $100-million mark. Fortunately this is a hobby mostly insulated from current Wall Street woes. Our core customers are above the economy. The main audience is the high-end customer with discretionary income and we believe Vegas will bring a lot of new people into the hobby.

“This will be the most exciting place to buy, sell and enjoy collector cars. Celebrities who are as passionate about cars as we are also love to be part of the action so regular folks will be rubbing shoulders with them as the battle with the bidding too.”

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