Much as I crave the sun in January and enjoy viewing great old cars I was not prepared to attend the Scottsdale auction week in January, 2008. It was a matter of budget priorities, you see. I've dreamt of sailing on a cruise ship ever since they were called ocean liners and planned on traveling in winter to a destination where the sun shines warm. The trick lay in choosing an itinerary to someplace I hadn't seen before at a price I could afford. Now, I'm not a world traveler, but I've seen much of the Caribbean and Mediterranean and Western Europe. Hawaii's tempting but May to December's the best season. Mexico was a possible, unfortunately too many days are spent at sea and too few visiting ports. The Greek isles via Venice would be delightful however air fare from the west coast isn't cheap. Ditto the Far East. And to make things more difficult, as a single male unwilling to share a room, I'm required to pay the same cruise price as two people traveling together.

So I'm going to Scottsdale after all and after glimpsing a few of RM Auction's early consignments I'm glad. This 1941 Chrysler Thunderbolt concept is a typical example and as one of only five built it's not likely I'll see another one anytime soon. Chrysler's first "dream car," it is quite correctly described by RM as "a prewar icon of automotive styling" and it's not hard to imagine how exciting the Thunderbolt must have seemed to North Americans still accustomed to running boards and stand-alone headlights. The car was designed and constructed by the famed LeBaron custom body builders and featured an automatic one-piece metal top that disappeared into a compartment behind the cockpit. Fully restored and in 100-point condition it was a winner at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in 1997. Estimated to sell for $1,500,000-$2,000,000 US, this Thunderbolt's a tad too expensive for me, which is a relief as I'm determined to take that cruise someday and need to put a few dollars aside.