WE ARE ALL IN THE WRONG BUSINESS!
Coverage of the Barrett Jackson Collector Car Auction

By Carrie Fesler
Photography by Chris Fesler


How does one explain the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Event? How does insane sound? Or maybe out of control fits the bill a bit better. Both of these descriptions don’t even come close to what you experience at this seven (yes seven) day event.

The week of January 15, 2007 started out like any other. . . oh except for the fact that Mr. Craig Jackson of the Barrett Jackson Auction Company was getting ready to sell over $110 million dollars in collector cars that would earn him over $19 million dollars in commissions. Good ole Barrett predicted a record breaking year and lived up to their promise with the sale of over 1600 classic automobiles that ranged from early classics and muscle cars to your average everyday run of the mill daily driver.

WestWorld in Scottsdale, Arizona was once again the host to this unbelievable event. The already massive tent was extended hundreds of feet to accommodate the variety of vendors including Ford Motor Company and General Motors who sat facing each other at the entrance of the tent. The placement of the two big motor companies didn’t seem to bother onlookers who were equally impressed by the new Chevy pickup as well as Ford’s virtual Mustang dyno race game.

Weather posed a bit of a problem this year which likely cut down on attendance and another $7 million dollars in profits. The first part of the week yielded good deals on autos, memorabilia and weather with sunny skies and temperatures in the mid 60s. Some of the deals included a 1969 Camaro SS coupe which was stolen for a mere $31,000. Come the end of the week, things took a bit of a turn both in auction results and weather. Nice temperatures turned to freezing conditions, even bringing in snow (yes snow in Arizona) on Sunday. The freezing conditions seemed to heat up the auction, however with top notch sales happening on Friday and Saturday including the sale of a 1966 Shelby Cobra 427 which sold for a whopping 5.5 million dollars!

The most notable sale for Lateral-g members had to be Lot #1040, a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 RS Custom Coupe Clone which sold for over $200,000! Why is this such a great deal for Lateral-g members? Well for starters it shows that pro-touring style cars can pull just as much as originals and it also shows the shift in preference by buyers to something with a little more style. The season is a changing my friends to a time where car owners actually want to customize, drive and show off their ride instead of storing it in a climate controlled garage and caressing it with a baby’s diaper. Lot #1040 started out as nothing more than a regular ole 6-cylinder car which was upgraded with a new 502hp Ramjet engine, Richmond 6-speed, 3” tubbed rear end and air ride suspension.

There were other notable buys at this year’s show including several Corvette’s, Chevelles, Mustangs and Mopars. A disappointing sale was Alan Johnson’s 1971 Plymouth Cuda Custom (you know, the one with the carbon fiber front end) which only sold for $535,000. . .a number that was about $1.5 million dollars lower than what he expected it to pull. Other items that did not do well were trucks. For some reason, the automobile enthusiast can never appreciate these unique rides. It takes just as much work, if not more, to fix up and customize an early classic truck but somehow these vehicles never pull decent numbers. Another disappointing sale was Lot # 739, a 2007 Viper 2 Custom Motorcycle by Bourget Choppers. All the proceeds from the sale of this motorcycle went straight to Arizona Highway Patrol’s RAID (race against impaired driving) program, a charity Roger Bourget became involved with after loosing his daughter Autumn to a drunk driving incident. What makes the sale so disappointing is that the buyer got to write his/her check straight to the Charity making it a full write off! It was disappointing to see that more people didn’t pony up for a good cause. . .the bike only sold for $77,000.

All in all the show was a success. . .well for Mr. Jackson and the some of the lucky sellers who were able to pull big money for their projects. It makes me wonder if it wouldn’t be worth while to just shut down the shop and build vehicles just to sell at Barrett next year. Well, until my money tree blooms this spring, I guess we will have to keep our doors open. Until next year. . .happy bidding!