The Grand Ascent Hillclimb 2012

06/16/2012

On Tuesday 12/11, you'll get to see a classic episode of Chasing Classic Cars where Wayne Carini goes through his plan to market and then sell th Porsche Special Hill Climb Car. He takes it to the Hershey Hill Climb race to put it through its paces and has a darn good time doing it. But that doesn't stop him from taking it to auction.

THough the Hill Climb took place back in June, we were lucky enough to have Kenneth Visser - automobile fan, blogger and photographer extraordinaire on site and reporting back on the action. Take a walk down memory lane below, and don't forget to tune in to Chasing Classic Cars starting on Tuesday 12/11 starting at 9p.

Another fine tradition has been reignited with the second running of the The Grand Ascent Hillclimb held on the grounds of the Hershey Hotel.  This is a VSCCA sanctioned hill climb exhibition and features a wide variety historic racing cars thundering up a five turn three quarters of a mile long course.  A unique opportunity to see, hear and smell vintage race cars slamming gears.  This event was reignited with the start of the Elegance At Hershey.  We'll talk more about the Concours later.  Let's take a look at some of the neat machinery that was attacking the hill.

Wayne Carini was selected as the Honary Grand Marshall of the Grand Ascent.  He brought his smile and his driving skills to the hill.

Wayne Carini of Chasing Classic Cars took the Bill Rutan VW* special with a 356 four cam motor up the hill.  Wayne spoke about the rides up later "I had a blast"  And his sub 57 second times were reflective of his blistering pace. 

 

All Star Dealers: The In's and Out's of Sports Memorabilia

04/19/2012

Hot off the presses! Darren Russek from Grey Flannel Auctions sat down with the folks at Wikicollecting to discuss the upcoming Grey Flannel sale and major developments in the sports memorabilia market.

They even talked about what it is like to star in their own show, All Star Dealers airing Thursday nights at 10:00 and 10:30 pm E/P on Velocity Network.

Grab a coffee and learn all about sports memorabilia!

All Star Dealers: Holy Heisman!!

04/05/2012

by Eileen Marable

When I saw the title for tonight’s episode of All Star Dealers I had to ask the guys from Grey Flannel Auctions just what this special item was! Turns out it is a football signed by a whopping 57 Heisman Trophy winners, and incredibly these guys were never in the same room together!

The Heisman Trophy, created in 1935, honors the player deemed as the most outstanding player each year in college football. Many Heisman Trophy winners have gone on to be number one NFL draft picks and Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees. The list includes such household names as Roger Staubach, Doug Flutie, Bo Jackson, Barry Sanders and many, many more.

All Star Dealers airs Thursdays at 10:00p E/P                                        Photo: Grey Flannel Auctions

So, considering the star power we are talking about, it’s nothing short of incredible that this football has 57 signatures. Even just one or two of these signatures would be enough to make the ball valuable!

The guys at Grey Flannel Auctions told me the incredible story.

All Star Dealers: The Sensational Sandy Koufax

03/22/2012

In his never ending quest to uncover the greatest sports memorabilia, Rich heads to the Jewish Historical Society to have a look at a Sandy Koufax jersey. Even if he can't take it home, we get to learn about special piece of baseball history in tonight's All Star Dealers at 10:00 pm E/P.

Koufax is former Major League Baseball player who had a wicked left-handed, over-arm pitch. He played his entire career with the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, which ran from 1955 through 1966.

Koufax had a slow start in the game with a few minor injuries and trouble refining his fastball style. Things started turning around for him in 1959 when he set the record for a night game with 16 strikeouts and soon after pitching 18 strikeouts in one game.

He came into the ’61 season with guns blazing having worked out and led the league that year with 269 strikeouts.

Another great piece of Koufax memorabilia.

All Star Dealers: Air Jordans, 1928 Yankees World Series glory and more!

03/15/2012

by Eileen Marable

The gang at Grey Flannel Auctions are pretty darn lucky. Every day priceless sports artifacts come through their door. Jerseys, shoes, programs and just about anything tied to a sports star or team is open for consideration.

Sports memorabilia is a tricky business. Often it’s filled with emotion and an individual’s personal love for their team. Many sports fans can tell you the weather and the team line up on the day of an away game from their team’s 1985 season. Personal memories can become mixed in – like fans who hold Packer’s themed weddings or those who name their children after their favorite player and hold on to the all the game programs from the year they were born.

With all the variables involved in sports, big personalities and personal preferences, how does one determine what’s valuable in the market of sports memorabilia. What kind of items actually make the cut?

We'll give you some hints: autographed items are great. So are items from the early careers of all-star players or up-and-comers. And, if the item also comes from a record setting game, now you are talking.

Here are some items that with knock Rich’s socks off in tonight’s premiere episode at 10:00p E/P. We think you’ll start to see a pattern:

Michael Jordan’s NBA All-Star Game Sneakers – These sneakers tick all the must have boxes. Not only is this pair of sneakers worn and autographed they happed to belong to the man widely recognized as basketball’s greatest player ever.  Air Jordan. His Airness.  Mr. Michael Jordan. Among Jordan’s many accomplishments include bringing the Chicago Bulls to three back to back NBA championships from ’91 – ’93 and after a brief break came back to do it again from ’96 – ’98. He won five MVP awards and appeared in the NBA All-Star Games fourteen times. Basically if it was important- or even remotely related to – basketball, Jordan has done it. In fact he’s even been voted second only to Babe Ruth on the Associated Press’ list of athletes of the century.  

1928 World Series Program: Yankees v. Cardinals – Admittedly this item has a head start being valuable having survived from back in 1928. A program from this game gets even more points when you consider it had the nation riveted thanks to the amazing efforts of the winning NY Yankees and two of their star players. The Yankees came into the series strong and stayed strong thanks to a team effort. Lou Gehrig drove in as many runs alone as the entire Cardinals team combined.  And the Babe? He hit .625 and hit three homers in the final game to drive a nail in the Series. The Series win marked the first time a team had won back-to-back Series.  A surviving program from this historic game is truly a special find. 

LA Angels All-Star Jered Weaver Autographed Rookie Season Jersey – Weaver is one of the most talked about up-and-comers in baseball.  By now you are getting the hang of this sports memorabilia thing. First, he’s a prominent player with a winning record. Second, the jersey is autographed. Third, it is worn. Weaver used this jersey in his rookie season. But there is a surprising fourth reason that adds to this item’s value. We don’t want to give this one away so you’ll just have to watch and see if you can spot why this jersey might be extra collectible.

Are you hooked on sports memorabilia yet?  Have you gotten the hang of what makes a sweet find?  The team at Grey Flannel have so many items that come across their desks there are plenty of stories to share – and Velocity will be there as they unfold.

 All-Star Dealers airs Thursdays on Velocity at 10:00p E/P and 10:30p E/P 

Don’t let us be the only one telling stories…tell us your favorite sports memories or memorabilia?