Classic cars were the true winners in a series of automobile auctions that took place in Arizona Friday and Saturday.

RM Auctions Managing Director Ian Kelleher said the sale of a 1959 Ferrari 250 GT long-wheelbase California Spider for $3.3 million dominated the trio of auctions where many cars sold for more than $1 million, The Arizona Republic reported.

“The classics are stronger than ever,” Kelleher said.

The Ferrari commanded the top price among all the vehicles sold at the auctions and newcomer Gooding & Co. took home the bragging rights for the profitable sale.

The company also parted with a 1932 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Gran Sport Spider for more than $1.5 million and a 1963 Ferrari 400 Superamerica Coupe for more than $1.3 million.

“We were thrilled by the exceptional turnout and results,” the auction site’s president, David Gooding, said.

The Republic said classic cars also were on the block at the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Event, where a 1963 Chevrolet Corvette concept car, called the Rondine, sold for $1.6 million.

AUTOMOTIVE giant General Motors Corp (GM) will launch its new Chevrolet Aveo Notchback and improved Chevrolet Optra by year-end to capitalise on the good demand for compact cars in the country. 

General Motors South-East Asia operations president Stephen Carlisle said the local small and compact car segment offered promising growth potential for GM. 

“It is a high volume segment and the success of the Myvi is a good reflection of that market,” Carlisle told reporters at a media conference in Chiangmai last week. “The small and compact car segment in Malaysia also provides the best opportunity for non-national carmakers to grow,” he added. 

The Chevrolet cars would be distributed through Hicom-Chevrolet Sdn Bhd, a joint venture between GM unit General Motors Asia Pacific LLC and DRB-Hicom Bhd, which holds a 49% stake. Hicom-Chevrolet Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Yukontorn Wisadkosin said the success and popularity of the previous models of Aveo and Optra was one reason to re-launch the cars. 

“We already have these products which were popular and well received when we first launched them in Malaysia,” Wisadkosin said. 

She added that with the Chevrolet models being assembled in Thailand, GM could further take advantage of the Asean Free Trade Area (AFTA), which under the Common Effective Preferential Tariff would see a reduction in import duties. 

On GM’s sales target for the models, Wisadkosin said: “Of course, we would like to sell as many models as possible, but our ultimate goal is to sell 4,000 to 5,000 units a year.” 

GM’s latest product in Malaysia, the 7-seater Chevrolet Captiva SUV, has already had about 50 gistered purchasers and over 100 bookings since its launch in November last year. 

Wisadkosin also said that having the proper distribution channels would be the key for GM to achieve its annual sales target. 

“We need to have the right distribution network as well (to achieve our targets). We need to ensure that our dealers are up and ready,” she said, adding that GM was targeting to have 15 dealers nationwide by year-end.  

GM currently has four dealerships in Malaysia. Wisadkosin said it planned to have 20 to 25 dealers locally by 2009. 

Apart from the small and compact car range, GM is looking to establish its presence in a different segment as well. 

“It is inevitable for us to have a luxury brand in a market like Malaysia. It is just a matter of when the circumstances are right,” Carlisle said. 

Regardless of segment, Carlisle said, GM would endeavour to add value to its products with a prime emphasis on technology. 

“One of the confidence factors that people have in a brand is technology. If you can bring technology to the market, it is an indication that you are very capable and going to be around (for a long time),” he said. 

Three cars sold for more than a million dollars each at the premier US car auctions, with a one-of-a-kind 1963 Chevrolet Corvette from Italy’s Pininfarina pulling in 1.6 million dollars, the auctioneer said Sunday.The week-long annual Barrett-Jackson sale of collector cars in Scottsdale, Arizona also saw buyers put out one million dollars for a brand new 2009 Corvette ZR-1 — the first to hit the market — before the 10-12 percent commission charged by the auctioneer.

And another one million dollars was bid for one of the sale’s oldest cars, a 1928 Duesenberg dual cowl Phaeton, a favorite of Hollywood stars of the time.

Legendary race car builder Carroll Shelby, 85, was on hand at the sale to see his own personal 1969 GT500 Ford Mustang bring in 675,000 dollars, three times the estimate.

A second GT500 once owned by Shelby’s son earned 330,000 dollars — a handsome gain for the seller who paid 24,000 for it in 1991.

They were among some 1,100 collectible cars up for sale this year at Barrett-Jackson’s 37-year-old sale. The week-long auction closed Sunday.

Highlights also included the 1966 Ford Thunderbird used in the iconic film “Thelma and Louise,” which the two stars drive over a cliff into the Grand Canyon in the film’s last frames.

That earned 65,000 dollars, 50 percent above the estimate, but far behind another well known Hollywood car, the 1969 Dodge Charger “General Lee” from “Dukes of Hazzard,” which sold for 450,000 dollars.

Sales generally appeared weaker this year than last, though final figures won’t be known until Monday. In 2007, 16 cars topped the half-million dollar mark, while this year only 11 reached that figure.

Industry figures had earlier described the market as soft in the face of a sharp US economic slowdown, especially for muscle cars popular with US collectors, but had expressed hopes that buyers from abroad, especially Russians and Middle Easterners, would drive the action.

“The Russians are becoming real players. A lot of bling, they love Mercedes and Corvettes,” said Mark Hyman of Hyman Ltd. Classic Cars.

“The market for the quality, the best cars, is strong,” said Tom duPont, who publishes the duPont Registry, which specializes in fine cars.

“There’s a limited number of supplies, a fairly significant number of bidders or buyers, and on top of that you have the impact of the imbalance of the US currency, which is making these cars very attractive to European and Middle Eastern buyers.