The 2008 auction season in Arizona got off to a rolling start on the weekend of January 12th & 13th. This was the fourth sale that ICA (International Classic Auctions) owner Stanley Torgerson hosted at his Diamond Ranch just south of downtown Gilbert, and it brought out an eclectic mix of vehicles crossing the block. And when I say crossing the block, I mean it literally, as a number of improvements have been started on the grounds, including a permanent auction block consisting of cinder blocks.

By next year, the majority of the grounds and all of the consignment parking area is scheduled to be paved.

When is the last time you saw a 1931 Chrysler Six 2-door convertible sedan cross the auction block? They had this one sell at the ICA auction.

As for the present, things overall went quite well. Slightly over half of the cars that were run over the block were declared sold, which is not too bad in today’s market. I’ve attended a number of similar auctions in the last six months which did a lot worse.

According to our tabulation of the results, the sales total were in excess of $1.4 million, for an average sale of $12,393 per car.

The ICA event really had something for everyone. This well restored 1950 International Farmall H tractor found a new owner Saturday night for $5000.

There was a good selection of cars, especially for the middle level of the market. While a there were also a few higher end cars, they generally had very unrealistic reserves, and therefore ended up going back to their original homes. There were also a number of good deals on lower end cars, such as the 1990 Lincoln Town Car. However, they were not of the genre that would be expected to find at a collector car auction.

It’s rather unusual to find a 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 convertible with a six-cylinder engine, but there was one that sold at the ICA Gilbert auction.

All in all, this was a respectable start for the 2008 auction season. We’ll see if this is a barometer for the rest of the industry, or if the ICA auction was simply a unique event.

While this 1952 Studebaker Champion Starlight 2-door hardtop has been on the auction circuit for a while, it found a new owner out in Arizona.

CLICK HERE for the complete 4th Annual January in Arizona Auction catalog from ICA.