Despite sales swoon, happy days are here again; Auctions signal surge of interest in '50s comfort cars.(News)

Byline: BOB GRITZINGER, ROGER HART

A rare JANUARY snowfall in Phoenix foreshadowed cooling sales across the Arizona auction scene this year.

Russo and Steele, RM and Silver auctions all saw sales drop by about $1 million compared with 2006, and Barrett-Jackson's total take of $112

million was up $12 million from 2006. The 12 percent increase was well below the 62 percent average sale surges Barrett-Jackson has experienced each year since 2004. All cars for auction go under the hammer at no reserve.

"You can't expect to double it once you hit $100 million," said Barrett-Jackson president and CEO Craig Jackson.

While the numbers suggest recent years' rocketing sales are slowing, auction houses were generally pleased with results-and witnessed the emergence of collector interest in an overlooked segment: big, comfortable classic cars from the 1950s.

McKeel Hagerty, whose company specializes in insuring collector cars, said he noted a revival of interest in 1950s-era American iron-the kind of cars the whole family could take to the ice cream shop. He speculated that muscle-car buyers might be maturing and choosing their collector cars accordingly.