Pictured below are two very sporty cars that changed hands over the weekend at the Scottsdale auction. The one that looks like a cross between a vintage Corvette and a Cadillac Eldorado is actually a 1954 Oldsmobile concept car. It seats two and is powered by a 324 cubic-inch Rocket V-8 engine. The other is a 1934 Duesenberg Model J convertible. It’s power plant is a straight eight with dual cams and four valves per cylinder. It seats six, with plenty of room on the running boards for the in-laws. Can you guess which fetched a higher price? If you said the Olds, you’re right:  $3.24 million, versus $2.75 million for the Doozy.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve always been partial to Oldsmobiles. The first and only time I ever got arrested was when I took my dad’s 1962 Starfire convertible, with its 383 cubes and four-barrel carburetor, for a spin, attempting to crack the 100 mph barrier on a usually quiet suburban street. I was 13 at the time, and it was surely a miracle that I didn’t hit anything -- even if my rubber-burning rampage down Delavan Avenue topped out at somewhat less than the century mark.

The marque had special cachet in Atlantic City, where I grew up, since it was the official car of the Miss America Pageant. All 50 contestants got chauffeured around in Olds 98 convertibles during pageant week in early September, and that model, as well as the  Delta 88, the muscular ‘442’ and even the lowly Cutlass always got special treatment at the GM exhibit on the Boardwalk. But who the hell would pay $3.24 million for a car that looks like some GM designer’s Lana Turner joke?  Come to think of it, maybe the buyer is onto something: “Car? What car? This is art!” Me, I’ll take the Duesenberg, thank you -- and have enough dollars left over to buy a Ferrari Enzo for grocery runs.