Scottsdale preview: Blastolene face-off
It’s mid-January, so it must be time again for the Scottsdale auction machine to shift into high gear. It’s always a little bit of a wild guess trying to figure out what’ll be the big-dollar theme each year. Mid-50s GM dream cars? Nah, done that. Shelby roadsters and Mustangs? So last year. How about tank-engined monstrosities? Perfect! We get to name-drop Jay Leno all over the place!
Okay, it’s hard to have a theme when there are only two going up for auction: the Blastolene “Indy Special” (above) at Barrett-Jackson and the Blastolene “Piss’d Off Pete” (below) at Russo and Steele.
Though they both came from the duo of Michael Leeds and Randy Grubb, already well known for sticking ginormous engines into equally titanic chassis, atop which they plant unexpected hand-formed bodies, these two couldn’t be more different. The Indy Special, inspired by the Watson roadsters of the 1950s, was built in about 2004 and features a 29-Liter (1,792-cu.in.) V-12 out of a Patton tank. Piss’d Off Pete, finished in the last year or so, is based on a 1960 Peterbilt and is motivated by an 852-cu.in. two-stroke Detroit Diesel V-12 with two 6-71 superchargers.
What’s more, the two auctions will differ entirely too. Barrett-Jackson is an all-no-reserve auction, while Russo and Steele is an all-reserve event.
So will these two bring the big bucks this year? Or will it be something else?