The media center at this year's Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction featured a major improvement over last year: Free food and booze, including the greatest peach cobbler I've ever tasted. Thus it became a useful place for networking. During lunch a publisher eager to push his book offered handouts to media types at our table. The book, Cars That Matter, is smaller than a pocketbook and a great deal more useful to anyone wishing to buy or sell a collectible car.

In its compact 267 pages Cars That Matter lists the current values of collector cars, rated 1 to 4, fair to excellent. Because it is printed three times annually the prices remain up to date. Information used to compile values comes from a network of professionals from North America and around the world, thus guaranteeing reliability, although the publisher acknowledges the volubility of collector car values when economic conditions change. For anyone seriously interested in buying or selling a collectible, this little book is a must-have. Check it out online at Cars That Matter. And thanks, David Kinney, for offering a copy to a stranger from Canada.