Barrett-Jackson 2014: Snake and Mongoose lot fizzles, then sells [w/video]
Sat, 18 Jan 2014That was rather anticlimactic. After a huge buildup and a massive media scrum, surely due at least in part to a fresh Hollywood movie, the Hot Wheels-branded Snake and Mongoose Funny Cars, which were sold together along with matching haulers, fizzled out at a cool million dollars at the 2014 Barrett-Jackson event.
Yes, a million bucks isn't a small sum of money, but it wasn't enough to meet the reserve price, which means that a sale was not made. We can't say with any degree of certainly why bidding didn't reach the high figures some were expecting, but perhaps buyers were dissuaded by the fact that the red 1972 Plymouth Duster Mongoose car is actually a replica, and that the two ramp trucks aren't original. The yellow 1970 Plymouth Barracuda Snake car, however, is a well-restored original – in fact, it's the only existing original in existence.
But then, a savior in the form of Rick Hendrick, a noted classic car enthusiast and NASCAR team owner, made a deal to purchase all four vehicles after the auction had ended. Check out our high-res gallery of live images above, then watch a video of the live auction below.
By Jeremy Korzeniewski