Barrett Jackson Scottsdale – Cars and Stars Shine in the Desert!

Barrett Jackson Scottsdale is unparalleled in size, scope and sensation. Spanning eight full days at Westworld the 47th annual collector car auction saw over 1,750 vehicles cross the auction block. European coach built creations, Ford GT’s, classics, concours cars, muscle cars, hot rods, customs, boats, bikes – if it has a VIN – it’s for sale here.

The auction is so prolific, there are as many as 15 auctioneer’s speaking in tongues and pounding the gavel hundreds of times per day. This year’s total sales eclipsed a staggering $116.7 Million.

As for sheer size and scope, consider this. Attendance figures are in the hundreds of thousands. The auction covers 73 acres. There is 1.1 million square feet of tent space housing auction cars, countless vendor and lifestyle booths and gourmet food and drink. Setup begins the day after Thanksgiving running seven weeks before the gates swing open.

This auction spans genres and generations. They come from all over the world to be part of this electrifying scene. Holding court each day on the block, Barrett Jackson chairman and CEO Craig Jackson alongside company president Steve Davis seem to possess intimate knowledge about nearly every machine that “hammers” before being whisked away to its new life and new owner.

Watching the floor men is a show in itself. Barking, hollering, raising fingers and whipping prospective buyers into a frenzy, the men have firm command of the massive arena. Most everything is sold here at “No Reserve” meaning the sale prices are ultimately in the hands of the bidders.

Bids are taken from the floor, the phones and online. It was only Saturday during prime time that several “reserve” cars went across the block, some passing the reserves thus being sold, others not.

Make no mistake, the block is where the Barrett Jackson magic happens. The energy is electric. The buzz palpable. As the auctioneers scream, sale prices increase by the thousands almost instantly, drawing thunderous applause.

Super Saturday as it’s known is where all the stars and big cars come out. A group so impressive it even included an exclusive visit from the 43rd President of the United States George W Bush (pictured above in the middle of the stage). He was on hand to help auction a 2019 carbon-edition Corvette ZR1 to benefit George W. Bush Presidential Center’s Military Service Initiative. It sold for a cool $1,400,000.

Grabbing top seller honors was a brilliant blue 2017 Ford GT (with carbon fiber wheels) donated by business man Ron Pratte with all sales proceeds going to benefit The Autism Society of North Carolina’s Ignite Program and the Autism Alliance of Michigan. It pulled in $2.5 million dollars.

Other big sellers included a 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder which brought 1.3 million, a $950,000 2018 ZR1 Corvette and more. Speaking of Corvette’s, many C1’s in Resto Mod and Pro-Touring trim sold for a half million dollars. The first-ever 2019 BULLITT Ford Mustang hammered for $300k on Friday night.

When we were hanging at the block Friday afternoon and evening, it seemed as though every muscle car that went through was bringing $100,000 or more. It was nuts! One of our favorite six-figure sellers was Joe Yezzi’s radical ’73 C-10 which brought $107,000. Joe will use the funds for his next Squarebody Syndicate project already underway.

There was one auction result that stood out for the wrong reason. Dwayne Peace’s 2012 Ridler and Goodguys Custom Rod of the Year-winning ’55 Thunderbird brought just $260,000. For whatever reason, this rolling work of art fell short. But Peace and his sons (who built the car at their shop in Tyler, Texas) remained upbeat.

Other than the actual auction, Barrett Jackson Scottsdale is as much about lifestyle as it is about cars. We saw tricked out humidifiers, carved marble statues, artists and galleries, wheelsmith’s, shoesmith’s, belt makers, mattress demonstrations, beautification booths and every other booth you could possibly imagine.

Throughout any given 12-hour period the auction changes shapes. During the day, the hard core car people are making the rounds.

By evening, the party crowd comes out to play. Near the top of the staging lanes was the Coca Cola Garage, Prime Time bar & grill, fire pits and countless cocktails being served up.

The vibe was better than a night club due to a continuous stream of beautiful cars flowing right by all the action.

Then there was the DIY Pavilion with live at-event builds taking place highlighted by RideTech’s 48-Hour 1971 Camaro. Powered by a 570hp Lingenfelter LS3 engine, the car came together throughout the duration of the event with hot rodding’s elite suppliers coming by to help install their components. It was a lot of fun watching these guys thrash. More on Ridetech – their Track 1 Corvette, winner of the Goodguys 2017 PRO AutoCross championship brought in $128,700. It was a huge week and weekend for Bret Voelkel and his team.

Next up for Barrett Jackson is their Palm Beach, Florida auction April 12-15 at the South Florida Fair Grounds. We can’t wait to see what happens!

Giant Barrett Jackson Photo Extra!