"It's like the Super Bowl for car guys." That's how my buddy's wife described the Barrett-Jackson auction broadcast on Speed TV. The cable channel has aired the auction for a number of years, with coverage expanding annually. This year, starting Tuesday 18 January and running through Sunday the 23rd, Speed aired 40 hours of the Scottsdale, Arizona event.

Over the last 40 years, the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction has evolved into a mecca for car collectors looking to buy or sell their treasures. And for those of us not lucky enough to have a large bankroll, the television coverage must suffice.

Although the Barrett-Jackson marketing machine has done an excellent job of focusing most of the attention on its own event, two other collector-car auctions take place in Scottsdale the same week. If Barrett-Jackson is the Super Bowl, the World Series is taking place off camera. Let's take a look.

The schedule for the Barrett-Jackson auction is usually organized to show better and better vehicles each day, building to a climax Saturday night during prime time. This year was no different.

After wading through a seemingly endless supply of "C2" Corvettes, late 1960s Mustangs, first-generation Camaros, and "resto-mods" of every ilk, the auctioneer finally arrived at the best stuff. During the last full day, no fewer than 30 Mustangs, 28 Camaros, 53 Corvettes, and 126 custom cars and trucks rolled across the block.

Speed viewers should now be well-versed in the differences between 1965 and 1967 Corvettes, as the producers cut away when virtually anything else came up for sale. If it weren't for the live Internet coverage, viewers would have no idea that anything else sold that day.

Among the vehicles to sell on Saturday were a $100,000 1929 Packard Eight, a $200,000 1929 Lincoln Model L, and a $300,000 1932 Chrysler Imperial. While the classics weren't bringing the big money they once did, large price tags accompanied a few customs and a Marine Technology 44-foot Catamaran (with a matching Z06 Corvette, of course), which topped all sales at $675,000.

With so few hyper-expensive cars on the block, the auction had to focus on controversy. One car not only stirred the audience but brought on the wrath of Jalopnik.com. In the pre-auction hype, the 1963 Pontiac Bonneville Ambulance built by Superior Coach took the spotlight with claims that it once carried the body of President John F. Kennedy on that fateful day, 22 November 1963.

The firestorm of excitement generated by the arguments for and against the car's purported history