Barrett-Jackson - Palm Beach Auto Sales

Barrett-Jackson is an auction company in Scottsdale, Arizona. The company specializes in the auction of classic cars and antique cars, and runs collector events in Scottsdale, Palm Beach, Florida, Reno, Nevada and Las Vegas, Nevada.

History

Russ Jackson and Tom Barrett organized the original auction at Scottsdale, Arizona. Jackson met Barrett through an interest in Barrett's 1933 Cadillac V-16 town car. In 1967, Barrett and Jackson presented a car show called "Fiesta del Auto Elegance", a fund-raiser for local charities, including the Scottsdale Library. Then in 1972, the two jointly presented a classic car auction, when they auctioned Adolf Hitler's armored Mercedes-Benz 770K. The car more than tripled the previous auction record, selling for $153,200.

Jackson died in 1993, and Barrett in 2004. Craig Jackson, who had worked actively on a daily basis throughout the year and on-site at the event, took over running the company in 1997, the same year the auction began airing live on the Speed television channel. Internet bidding was also introduced at that time.

Starting at the third annual Palm Beach auction in 2005, the show was renamed from "Barrett-Jackson Classic Car Auction" to "Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction," followed by the name change in the Scottsdale, Arizona auction in 2006.

Beginning in 2008, the auction also takes place in Las Vegas.

From 2010 to 2012 the auction was held in Orange County, California. However, on January 19, 2013, Barrett-Jackson announced it would move from Orange County to Reno, Nevada as part of the city's Hot August Nights event in August 2013.

Auction

Although it is billed as an automobile auction, other items are also sold, including trucks, motorcycles, airplanes, engines, boats and other memorabilia. American car manufacturers sell their first production vehicles of a given model and generation combination, in charity format.

Celebrities who have attended the event putting their own possessions up for auction include Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony, Jay Leno, Alice Cooper, Billy Corgan of the former Smashing Pumpkins, baseball players Reggie Jackson and Randy Johnson, DMX, Carroll Shelby, Bill Goldberg, Tony Stewart, and motorcycle customizer Jesse James.

Scottsdale, Arizona

The company's Scottsdale auction currently runs for eight days, including six days of auction, approximately 1000 vehicles, fashion shows, drifting, ride 'n drives, and demonstrations. The auction draws over 200,000 spectators at WestWorld, where the event has been held since 1989. The Speed channel has been providing TV coverage of the Barrett-Jackson auction since 1993. At the 39th annual Scottsdale auction, 40 hours of auction bidding was aired live on the channel.

Scottsdale auction sales

Notable sales at the Scottsdale auction have included:

Palm Beach, Florida

In 2003, Barrett-Jackson added a second annual event in Palm Beach, Florida. The auction draws over 50,000 visitors, and approximately 500 vehicles cross the auction block each spring. The event is held for three days at the Americraft Expo Center at the South Florida Fairgrounds and includes auction, ride 'n drives, demonstrations, sponsors and vendors. The Speed channel has been providing TV coverage of the Palm Beach Barrett-Jackson auction since 2002. At the 7th annual Palm Beach auction, 23 hours of auction bidding was aired live on the channel.

Palm Beach auction sales

Notable sales at the Palm Beach auction have included:

Las Vegas, Nevada

In 2008, Barrett-Jackson added a Las Vegas event at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino. The inaugural Las Vegas included 533 collector vehicles, over 50,000 attendants and nearly $30 million in total sales over 3 days. Over 16 hours of live coverage was broadcast on the Speed channel. In 2009, the second annual Barrett-Jackson Las Vegas event had over 51,000 visitors and over $23 million in total sales for 428 vehicles. The Speed channel showed 19 hours of the auction.

Las Vegas auction sales

Notable sales at the Las Vegas auction have included:

Reno, Nevada

In 2013 the Orange County, California auction was moved to Reno, Nevada.

Broadcasting

From 1997 through 2013, Barrett-Jackson's auctions were televised by Speed--a relationship dating back to its launch as Speedvision. Its first year featured highlights of the event, but due to popular demand, coverage was expanded into a six-hour live broadcast in 1998, and expanded even further in the years following. The auction's presence on Speedvision continued through its acquisition by Fox Sports and its re-branding as Speed Channel. Following the closure of Speed in 2013 through 2015, coverage was spread across several Fox-owned channels, including but not limited to Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, National Geographic Channel, and at the Scottsdale auction in 2013, the over-the-air Fox network as well.

In 2015, broadcast rights to the events were acquired by Discovery Communications, and coverage moved to Discovery Channel and Velocity beginning at the 2015 Scottsdale auction. Chris Jacobs of Overhaulin' and Ray Evernham (who hosts Velocity's AmeriCARna) became the main on-air hosts, joined by Rick Debruhl, Mike Joy, and Steve Magnante as analysts.

Charity work

Since 2006, the company has helped raise more than $20 million. In 2008 it raised nearly $7 million at the three annual events. In 2009 $4.4 million was raised at the Scottsdale auction and over $1.5 million in Palm Beach. Some of the charities that have benefited from Barrett-Jackson are The ChildHelp Foundation, The Darrell Gwynn Foundation, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, The National MS Foundation, The Carroll Shelby Children's Foundation, The Armed Forces Foundation, The Hendrick Marrow Foundation, MLB Charities, The Boy Scouts of America, the EAA Young Eagles, and St. Jude's.

Co-branding and licensing

In 2008, Sherwin-Williams and Barrett-Jackson launched a line of auto paint under the Planet Color brand. The line of 25 colors was sold in NAPA and Sherwin-Williams stores. Branded merchandise and apparel are also licensed, as well as novelties and die-cast toy automobiles.

Company auction records by year

Scottsdale, Arizona

Palm Beach, Florida

Las Vegas, Nevada

• Total price exceeds top bidding price after buyer premium

Orange County, California

Lawsuits

At the 2007 Scottsdale auction, after the last authenticated Ramchargers (a former drag racing team that had been staffed by Chrysler Corporation employees) race car had been sold for $300,000, owner David Clabuesch accused the auction company of ending the auctioneering prematurely, resulting in a lower than expected sale price. After the sale, Barrett-Jackson sued Clabuesch for "outrageous and defamatory actions," including chaining the car's wheels at the auction tent and putting up a sign calling its sale "void". On January 10, 2008, Barrett-Jackson announced a settlement had been reached three days earlier. In the settlement, Clabuesch exonerated Barrett-Jackson of all allegations of wrongdoing in relation to a situation that occurred at the company's Scottsdale event in January 2007.

2007 Sports Car Market dispute

During the 2007 Scottsdale auction, Keith Martin, editor of Sports Car Market and a former member of Speed Channel's on-air commentary team for the auction, was ejected from the auction by Barrett-Jackson. At the time Martin was ejected, Sports Car Market had run unfavorable editorials about the state of the collector car industry and whether some cars were worth the high dollars being spent on them but not mentioning Barrett-Jackson or any other firm by name. During the auction Martin allegedly made comments about company business practices and the quality of cars sold; according to Barrett-Jackson, he told people in the media center to leave B-J and attend the auction of a competitor. He was also dropped as a SPEED TV network commentator, at the request of Barrett-Jackson.

See also

• Auction theory
• Auto auction
• Antique car
• Classic car
• Game theory
• Online auction business model
• Winner's curse
• Most expensive cars sold in auction

References

External links

• Barrett-Jackson Auction Company homepage

Interesting Informations

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