Every year, just before the Super Bowl, Barrett-Jackson puts on one of the biggest auto auctions in the country. It has been several years since I have attended, primarily due to the threat posed by the COVID pandemic.

In the display hall, this year's BIG THING was electric vehicles. Just inside the entrance, Ford was displaying their EV, the Mustang Mach-E. Ford says "Take Charge of Your Life" for "only" $46,895 (they add that some models lease for "only" $626/month).

My Social Security check has not arrived yet so I was forced to only consider some less expensive items — such as these old-time relics, gas pumps, oil dispensers, and signs for gasoline companies. They are all being sold at auction just like the cars.

Surprisingly (to me), they were not all that inexpensive. Plumps like the "Polly Gas" pump were selling for $20,000 and more. I was also surprised that the announcer was pumping up the price by interrupting the auctioneer to let potential buyers know that the current bid price (say $2,000) was way under the current value and they ordinarily would list such an item at $20,000 and it would sell for considerably more. I don't know if that is true but the price then shot up above that $20K value. Suckers or smart investors? I don't know.

Big Boy Restaurants (yes, they still exist) became one of the first burger chains in the US and are represented by the cute statue shown here. BTW, did you know that Big Boy became the central figure in the Big Boy comic book series written by Stan Lee and produced by Timely Comics (later known as Marvel!) until 1961. Manny Stallman, followed by Bob Bindig, continued the series until 1996, making it one of the longest-running comics in American history.

I was surprised to learn that the Beatles dined at Bob's Big Boy® in Burbank, CA the summer of 1965. A plaque commemorating the event is posted at a corner booth by the window facing Riverside Drive. Many regulars and tourists from around the world request "the Beatles booth" every day.

There are still some 66 Big Boy restaurants still operating in the US plus a couple in Thailand.

Now, this is cute — a miniature Batmobile that a kid can ride for a mere 10 cents. I could see buying one of these for when the grandchildren come by. In fact, they would probably want to live at grandpa's house until they could no longer fit in the seats. He would have to keep lots of dimes around.

This miniature Good Humor Ice Cream truck brings back lots of memories for me — at least memories of the real ones riding slowly through our neighborhood jingling their bells. We would yell "Wait a minute" while we checked how much change we had to buy ice cream. We could almost always afford a Popsicle.

Here are samples of lighted signs, often for companies that have changed their names or who are no longer in business. I was surprised to see them selling for thousands of dollars.

This fine example of automotive excellence is the Lamborghini Aventador — a mid-engine sports car produced by the Italian automotive manufacturer Lamborghini (parent company, Audi AG). In keeping with Lamborghini tradition, the Aventador is named after a Spanish fighting bull that fought in Zaragoza, Aragón, in 1993. This vehicle was made by hand in Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy.

Here we see a Ferrari 296, a plug-in hybrid sports car from Ferrari, the Italian automobile manufacturer. Note that Ferrari is the star of both the original and reboot "Magnum, P.I." television shows, although just as the actors are different, so are the models of Ferrari driven by Magnum.

You can tell by the radiator cap that this is a Mercedes but you need the scorecard to tell you that the model is a 1939 540K, powered by a 5.4-liter straight-8 engine with a 4-speed manual transmission. As I write this, the car has not yet been sold, so hurry. For potential buyers — "It is the winner of multiple prestigious awards, including Most Significant Mercedes-Benz at the 2008 Meadow Brook Concours d'Elegance, Mercedes-Benz Star of Excellence at the 2009 Amelia Island Concours, and Best in Class, European Class Prewar at 2011 Amelia Island Concours. From the Bill Munday Auto Collection."

This 2001 Ferrari 550 Barchetta is #92 of just 448 Barchetta 550s made. Previously owned by rock legend Rod Stewart, this example is finished in Argento Nürburgring (Silver) with Nero (Black) leather. The Barchetta is powered by a 5.5-liter V12 engine with 485hp and 420 ft/lbs of torque. Hurry, since this one has not yet gone on the auction block.

My favorite cars are the ones I became familiar with when I was a teenager such as this 1969 Ford Mustang Boss 429, finished in Wimbledon White over a black deluxe interior. It is powered by a matching-numbers Boss 429 engine rated at 375hp, backed by a Toploader 4-speed manual transmission. This car has been fully restored. It sold for $374,000. If you fell in love with it too, sorry, we're both too late.

I am not familiar with this model and I failed to photograph the description in the front window. My bad. Oh well, I promise to do better next week.