Barrett Jackson Auction Scottsdale AZ - Bargain Hunt

Big-money rides get all the press, but there are real deals to be found at the Barrett-Jackson auction. Maybe it's a car someone dumped $100,000 into, and you can steal it for $50,000. Or it could be something costing less than your average Honda Civic. At this year's Scottsdale, Arizona, auction, 187 cars sold for under $25,000, 28 of which went for less than $10,000. But don't bother looking for these deals on the tube-the producers don't seem to share our opinion that a '74 Duster gaveled-out at $7,000 is "must-see TV."

We walked the miles of aisles to scope out our 10 favorite deals for the budget-driven buyer. Four of our PHR Top Ten musclecars were sold on Wednesday, five on Tuesday, and one on Sunday. That means if you want to go bargain hunting for something south of a '71 Hemi 'Cuda, plan to do the bulk of your shopping on "non-TV" days.

Television doesn't do this event justice. When limited to the confines of the small screen, there's no way to genuinely appreciate how massive Barrett-Jackson's Scottsdale auction is. The main tent is the largest in the United States, and the adjacent tents combine to cover more than seven acres of Arizona desert. Over 250,000 people attend this seven-day event, and there are almost 1,300 vehicles of every make, model, and type you could imagine, from the mainstream to the truly bizarre. It's like a car show, but with one big difference: they're all for sale-and can be yours if you have enough cash. At the 2007 event, sales for all vehicles totaled a whopping $112 million. Here are some of the sweet deals that really caught our attention. (Keep in mind that the "sold for" price we list includes Barrett-Jackson's 10 percent buyer's fee.)