Today was an interesting day at the Atlantic City Classic Car Auction Ron Kowalke has been taking down the auction results for Old Cars Weekly and estimates that 30-40 percent of the cars are selling. He hasn't spotted any real trends or swings in interest, but he thinks that all the cars being sold are trading at levels off the high prices of the past few years. In some cases, I spotted great buys. Future Classics of Lakewod, N.J., sold a beautiful, unrestored '40 Pontiac Six Coupe for $15,000. It was a fabulous original car that could easily win car show trophies. Tony Averso of Troby's Memory Lane in South Hackensack, N.J., let a gorgeous, restored '41 Cadillac coupe go for under $50,000. It was another stunning looking machine. Among the top "barn finds" in the sale was a 1941 Lincoln Zephyr V-12 sedan. This one needed some work for show, but it was fully driveable and would be a fun car to use for a summer or two, before refurbishing it. How about a 1929 Plymouth Model U coupe with a 45-hp Silver Dome engine in running condition? The asking price was justy $7,50 for this all original Mopar. People we talked to described the venue as a "buyer's market." Whether you wanted an old car, a '50s car, a muscle car or a sports car, there were plenty to choose from and the prices were the most reasonable ones we've seen in years.

The regular Thursday auction at Atlantic City is kind of a warm up for the weekend. A lot of newer cars crossed the block, so that the big crowd days -- Friday and Saturday -- will be loaded with more Classic cars.

Things picked up steam at the Borgata sale on Thursday night, which offered 50 "higher end" cars. Eighteen of these vehicles were actually sold. Here are the successful sales:

2007 Shelby GTH Convertible ($62,000); 1948 Chevrolet Fleetline Conutry Club Aero Coupe ($29,000); 1936 Ford Hot Rod Woody Wagon ($60,000); 1936 Chevy Coupe with dual sidemounts -- Old Cars Weekly cover car ($35,000); 1956 Pontiac Star Chief convertible ($67,000); 1957 Ford Tunderbird ($51,500); 1935 Auburn Custom hot rod ($67,500); 1952 Muntz Jet ($72,000); 1939 LaSalle convertible ($39,000); 1962 Chevrolet Impala SS 409 convertible ($76,000); 1965 Buick Riviera GS Sport Coupe ($41,750); 1966 Pontiac Catalina 2+2 convertible ($33,000); 1957 Ford Skyliner Retractable ($45,000); 1961 Chrysler 300 G convertible ($79,000); 1936 Packard phaeton ($100,000); 1962 Corvette with added FI ($80,000); 1969 Chevelle SS-396 ($45,000); and 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T with custom paint ($36,000).

Some of these cars, like the '39 LaSalle, were excellent buys.

The Atlantic City Classic Car Auction will continue tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday so we'll be bringing you daily reports.

You've probably been wondering, "Where's that darn Gunner?" Well, this "antique" antigue-car writer has been pretty busy trying to catch up with the young 'uns on the so-called "technology curve."

Late last year, knowing that I was going to start my own free-lance writing business, I invested in a big digital camera and a laptop computer. About a week ago I took both contraptions to a motorcycle show in Indianapolis. The Dealer Expo Show was great, but I had no luck hooking up to the Internet with the laptop and though I got the camera to work fine, I found it a little cumbersome dragging a big Nikon around a show. It's fine for shooting pictures of cars, but it got real heavy as a piece of luggage. So when I got home, I bought a smaller digital camera.

Almost immediately, I took off for the Atlantic City Classic Car Auction. That's where I am right now. As you can tell, I have learned a little bit about laptops in two weeks and my smaller digital camera is great. I can carry it around the auction on my belt.

So I guess I'm all set to give you the very first HIGH TECH Gunner auction report over the next few nights. Stay tuned and I'll try to do the "News at 11" thing. For beginners, I can tell you there are more cars consigned than probably ever and definitely the most in years. A lot of Corvettes are already on the floor and more are rolling in by the minute. Another thing I noticed was at least three really hot and really cool (at the same time) Novas. For prewar car lovers, a Pennsylvania dealer named Toby's Classic Cars or something like that has a '41 Caddy coupe and convertible that would make great book ends, not to mention the same dealer's twin gold "Shark" Corvettes.

You are not going to see the Atlantic City sale on TV, so if you are interested, you better hop on the Parkway or Expressway and get down here.

Starting on August 28 in downtown Milwaukee, Harley-Davidson will be hosting a big party to celebrate the motorcycle maker's 105th anniversary. Advertisements for this event are comparing the company's 105th anniversary to Haley's Comet, which also rolls around every 105 years. The company has a complete fleet of slate-and-orange limited-production anniversary edition bikes for sale, as well as posters and other memorabilia.

To me, the most exciting thing will be the opening of the Harley-Davidson Museum during the birthday party. Last week, workmen started putting up the replica Board Track that will be part of the museum. Both motorcycles and cars were raced on these board tracks between 1910 and the mid-1930s.

An interesting thing is the company Website has a webcam feature for those interested. They can tune in and watch the Harley Davidson Museum being built piece by piece. It's a fascinating thing to watch. Check it out at www.HarleyDavidson.com.

I think this is going to be a big year for Harley and Harley enthusiasts.

When you are planning your show travel this year, check the dates carefully - AND DON'T RELY ON INTERNET LISTINGS!

I have found that there are many wrong show dates on the Internet. For instance, I was planning to go to the World of Wheels event in Green Bay and wanted to find the dates quickly, so I entered the name of the show in my search engine and got a page that said the show was at the end of March. Luckily, I double checked by contacting the show manager, Bob Ashton, and I found out that this show has been moved up this year. It will take place at the Brown County Arena's Shopko Hall on March 7-9, rather than in late March.

There are many good and reliable places to find car show dates, but I truly believe that the Calendar of Events in Old Cars Weekly (www.oldcarsweekly.com) is the best in the hobby. The information is updated every week and all of the listings are sent in by show organizers themselves, rather than being picked up on the Internet.

If you enjoy car shows, you should have a subscription to Old Cars Weekly so you get up-to-date event listings every week.

Lots of Internet chatter between Wisconsin old car clubs about a number of "casting calls" to line up 1930-1935 cars for a new movie that will be shot in different locations around the state very soon.

The movie "Public Enemies" about Depression era gangster John Dillinger will star Johnny Depp. It's natural to shoot it in Wisconsin, as Dillinger's infamous hideout in Little Bohemia was in the Badger State. I'm told there is even a man living here in Iola whose Uncle once had his Plymouth coupe commandeered by the Dillinger gang for awhile. 

From what I hear, there's a possibility that some filming will take place at an old bank in Baraboo (where my oldest son teaches) and at a courthouse in Darlington (where my middle son works on the newspaper). Other locations I've heard about are Richland Center, Milwaukee and Fond do Lac.

The old-car casting call has appeared in several newspaper stories and the car club Internet chatter is about certain precautions collectors should take when doing filmwork. How much is the pay, if any? How is insurance handled? How will the car be used? How will it be treated? Who will drive it?

This is all very good advice. But let me add that when I was younger - about 28 I believe - I had one of my cars in a film called "Next Stop Greenwich Village" that was shot in New York City. Now the '53 Pontiac sedan I owned then was not very valuable. I think I paid $175 for the car. The pay for working on the film was low - about $50 a day. The insurance thing never came up. No one drove the car but me. (My elbow even got in the movie!) We got some perks (a free lunch with some actors) the first day and nothing after that.

Was it worth doing? Yes. After my expenses, I did not really make anything, but it was fun. I never forgot the experience. To this day, I stil have the fake "Empire State" licensae plate they made for the car out of painted fiberboard. And I love seeing the old film when it's on TV.

Most papers that ran the casting call story did not give contact information. Car owners were simply instructed to go someplace to see if their car qualified. So in case you're interested and missed your cue, you can contact Howard Bachrach at (312) 287-7950 or email him at PEChicago@gmail.com.

Personally, I think that Universal Studios should get in touch with Wayne Lensing at the Historic Auto Attractions Museum in Roscoe, Ill. (www.HistoricAutoAttractions.com) and see if there's any way to get his "John Dillinger" 1932 Studebaker in the film. This car was used in an Indiana bank robbery. Just think how much publicity could be generated by advertising that a Dillinger film will have a real Dillinger car featured in it. That's better than seeing Johnny Depp (unless you're my youngest granddaughter, who goes ape over him).

If you're not into movies but love famous old cars, click the link above and check out Historic Auto Attractions. You may want to visit there someday. It's cool!

There's a new Old Cars "Community" being set up on the Old Cars Weekly website. They tell me it's like My Space.com, but being an old codger, I have no idea what that is. However, it seemed like it would be fun to try to set up a profile of my "bad habits" (collecting cars) so I clicked myself into the community and started figuring how to set up a profile. I'm told I was supposed to use the "Sign up" button, but I was scared of that 'cause I thought I might be signing up to buy something (which wasn't the case). So I hit the "Invite" button, which sounded more inviting, and I was confronted with a form on which to enter my information. This will create a profile so I can network with other collectors. Doing all the "paperwork" is kind of a job, but now I can talk to other hobbyists (for free) on line. Who knows when that might come in handy for getting a fact for an article or - even more important - tracing down a hard to get part for my MG Magnette.

In the old days, we used to say that carrying an attache case makes someone an expert. Attache cases seem kind of passe now and I don't have any. I'm also no expert. Despite my lack of expertise, I sometimes get asked to write about something I know nothing about. That's when I become a "researcher." A good researcher reads other books and visits lots of websites, but he also asks questions of people who really know the answers . . . like you.

The article I have to write in this case is about Z-code Corvette options. I'm trying to research all these options and come up with as complete as list as I possibly can.

If you know something about this topic, please contact me by using the comments link below or by email. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Last week I sold two signed copies of my books to Manfred Zumbroich of Hamburg, Germany on eBay. When Manfred contacted me by email, I told him that I could fit a third book in the Priority Mail International "flat rate" box with no increase in shipping. That gave me the opportunity to sell a third book and gave Manfred the chance to add another book to his automotive library without shipping cost. Manfred said he would accept this offer, but only if I threw in a Show Directory from last year's Iola Old Car Show!

This just goes to show you that the annual Iola Old Car Show, which is always held the second weekend in July, is an event that is known the world over.

Everyone readingthis is invited to come to the show this year Check www.iolaoldcarshow.com. And if you get in town, please look me up. I'll even sell you a book.

I was just doing some writing about Pontiac GTOs and used two great books for research. Both of these books were written by men who were there in the 1960s when GTO history was evolving. The first man is Jim Wangers, who I met for the first time in the mid '70s. Jim worked for Pontiac's ad agency. His book Glory Days: When Horsepower and Passion Ruled Detroit gives a remarkable insider's look at the history of many high-performance Pontiacs and the people who brought the cars to market. The second man is Milt Schornack, who I met about six years ago following a Pontiac show in Michigan. Milt worked for Ace Wilson's Royal Pontiac, a high-performance dealership with direct links to the factory. His book Milt Schornack and the Royal Bobcat GTOs is certainly must reading for enthusiasts.

Using these books made me wonder how many other men and women there are who were an important part of automotive history who haven't written books? Wouldn't it be great if publishers would seek them out and sign them up for books?

Years ago I had a chance to interview Ben Annibal, the man who was chief engineer for the first Pontiac of 1926. I was a young writer and I dragged my feet on getting the interview done and by the time I worked up my courage, Mr, Annibal had passed away. Now, I regret missing that opportunity and I hope that the younger writers who are doing research today will look up all the important personalities and get their first-hand memoirs into print befiore it's too late.