California dreamin'; Auctions deal with market realities.(Sports Car Market )(Brief Article)

Amidst all the fun of the big Monterey weekend, a thought must strike most onlookers: ``Hey, maybe I could be that guy with the cool car.'' Of course, in our consumptive society one need only briefly consider anything and several sellers will immediately prostrate themselves to the cause. So you wanna be a Pebble Beach Concours winner? Drive to a podium finish at the Monterey Historic Races? Flash your Ferrari Red at Concorso Italiano? Step right up.

Four weekend auctions hoped to cash in on the dreams of Monterey stardom this year. And though each house touted some big dollar sales, the weekend as a whole was down considerably from last year. An analysis provided by Sports Car Market shows car sales at the three biggest auctions totaling $31,682,873, down about 42 percent from last year. Apparently the realities of our not-so-booming economy are giving pause to quite a few potential buyers.

But some are always ready to make their dreams a reality, or, to put it less romantically, part with large sums of cash. One such buyer is Vic Edelbrock, famous speed part merchant and Monterey Historics racer. According to Drew Alcasar, president of Russo and Steele, Edelbrock made a record purchase when he paid $319,680 for a 1969 Boss 302 Ford Mustang Trans-Am car. The car is the George Follmer-driven Bud Moore Engineering Team car, and was one of 35 muscle cars auctioned. Russo and Steele's was the smallest of the auctions, with total sales at just over $1.3 million. Nineteen cars sold, despite the preview being held in a hotel parking garage-not the best ...