both of which take place in January in Scottsdale far away from floodlights and camera booms and the echo of cattle-rattle, are curious locations to find muscle cars — particularly when there are other auctions that seemingly specialize in them. Both auctions are largely known for their careful curation of cars for sale. While the bulk of the lots appear to be full Classics, European sports cars, and the like, the truth is that if a muscle car — or a hybrid featuring exotic Euro sheetmetal but a throbbing all-American engine at its core — appears at one of these houses, there has to be something extraordinary about it. Ample provenance from new and interesting history is frequently par for the course; you’re not going to find some too-shiny puppy-mill Bondo baby running over the transom at either of these events. Because there are fewer of them at sales that offer maybe a hundred cars, it means that what’s there stands out even more because there’s nowhere to hide. It also means that anyone who grumps that auctions have
