Secrets of bidders: Is this your year to steal a car at the Arizona auctions?

Each January, enthusiasts flock to Arizona for the most exciting events on the auction calendar. Seven companies--Barrett-Jackson, RM Auctions, Gooding & Co., Russo and Steele, Kruse International, ICA Auctions and Silver Auctions--will duke it out, with more than 3,000 collector cars on the block. But with real estate tanking, the economy in a tailspin, consumer confidence at an all-time low, retail car sales bottoming and automakers begging for loans in Washing-ton, is this any time to buy an old car at auction?

Jaguar E-Type for sale – 12 of them

Three of the 12 E-Type Jags on offer from one seller on Ebay If you ask anyone what the most iconic car of the ’60s was most people  - we guess – would suggest the Jaguar E-Type. It seems to epitomise all the was impressive about the decade and – despite now being 50 years old – it still stands up as a stylish and desirable car. Not only is the E-type stylish and iconic it’s having new life breathed back in to it by companies like Eagle, who build E-Types to order from restoration projects and to a standard that surpasses the way they ever came out of British Leyland (or whatever the name of the company was that built them at the time  - there were several iterations of the BL Brand, unfortunately).

BMW X1 (2009) at 2009 Frankfurt motor show

By Ben Barry First Official Pictures 02 July 2009 00:01 CAR’s Georg Kacher drove a camouflaged prototype a few months back, but now BMW has pulled the covers off its X1 mini-SUV and revealed UK specs and pricing for the first time. Nope. Firstly, only diesel power will be offered in the UK, buyers getting a choice of 18d, 20d and 23d models.