Prize cars await fate of other ‘Clunkers’

Somebody somewhere must be having a serious case of seller’s regret.

The Cash for Clunkers program was intended to get gas guzzlers off the road, but apparently some motorists who participated in the program needed their own cerebral clunker checked.

Among the 700,000 junked vehicles were gems that collectors and other car enthusiasts may have loved to own.

What level of desperation or lapse in judgment would lead someone to send a 1997 Bentley Continental R to the junkyard? Brand new back in 1997 those cars were tagged at about $250,000.

Also headed for the crusher was a 1997 Aston Martin DB7 Volante, photo of the same model shown below, with a one-time price tag of $135,000.

If that’s not shocking, 37 people clunked vehicles that were less than a year old, according to one news report.

Those vehicles probably couldn’t be sold for not even close to what the owners paid for them, but nowhere on the Internet could I find one for $4,500, the higher value of the Cash for Clunkers rebate.

Also destroyed was a rare Buick GNX. 1997 was the only production year for that vehicle, and just 547 were built.

The government says the program was a success; that it was expected to save or create 42,000 jobs.

But it’s not clear just how much it cost the country per vehicle.

And I certainly can’t see the value in trading a vehicle that could have been auctioned or sold to car enthusiasts for more than $4,500.