1950 Cadillac sedan at Barrett-Jackson (Scottsdale)

[SledZeppelin]

Gorgeous cream-colored full restoration time capsule went for only $33k!!!

What gives?? <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

[WillingtonCadillac]

Yup Lot # 737. I keep the database up to date for Hi-Bid.com and there were 1210 cars sold at BJ this year. While the coupe WAS really nice, it seems the guys who NEEDED one weren't there. OR maybe they were saving their $36300 (with BJ's cut) for something else. There's always plenty of competition for bidder's dollars.A 65 Mustang coupe with AC (lot # 46.1) only went for $6700 and the owner was the guy from Ford who Named the Mustang! So, as with EBay and all auctions, they run hot and cold and it just depends who's in the room and wants it more. Jeff in CT

[Fred Zwicker]

<img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> Is it possible that some of these bargains could have been "buy-backs"? I know it happens at many auctions.

Fred

[Ron of Chicago]

You never know what really goes on in any auction. I have always been very hesitant to but from them because of the stories that you here.

Here is somthing that I picked up from another auto message board.

Barrett-Jackson's Westworld Tent Turns Out to be a House of Cards
January 27th, 2007 by fourwheeldrift

As a collector car journalist, I have been watching the Barrett-Jackson
auction for years. For the last five or so years, it has been very apparent
that the Scottsdale auction is at best a bastion of greed.and at worse,
all-out fraud.

I've discussed B-J with collectors, dealers and enthusiasts, many of whom
would be considered "insiders," meaning they've bought and sold cars at B-J
and other auctions, or are well-known in the collector car hobby. For some
reason, it is this year that people are all finally grumbling and passing
rumors in unison.

The bottom line is that Craig Jackson and the B-J company have really
screwed themselves this year. According to a disgruntled seller, their
contracts specifically promise every car three minutes on the stand. Due to
ego and greed, they expanded the Scottsdale '07 auction to the point they
could not provide this, plus they had the audacity to do it on live
television.

A well-known former judge in the Ford Thunderbird circles was one of the
sellers who had his car short-timed. He has already filed a law suit
against B-J, and this is already being discussed as translating into
class-action status.

According to this judge and other sources, it appears Barrett-Jackson was
operating a bit on the same level as an evangelical healing show. They had
assistants milling around asking what specific sellers thought their cars
would bring. Armed with this information at the control desk, if a lot
passed the value at which a seller indicated he'd be happy, the car would
be rushed off and the gavel would fall - even if bidding was still very
much alive.

Because the event was televised on live television via the Speed TV
network, the plaintiff(s) now have video/audio proof that buyers were
signaling increased bids before the three-minute marks, but were denied by
a too-fast last call and hammer.

While this all might cause Barrett-Jackson to have to pay money to sellers
in the form of a judgment or settlement, it is something else that might
land Craig Jackson in jail.

It is no secret that Barrett-Jackson owns many cars that are run through
the auction - it was something I suspected many, many years ago. This was
proven when they started maintaining a showroom of cars in Arizona. This is
not illegal, but stay with me.

I've always suspected that the cars owned by Craig Jackson and the B-J
company were often driven up by shill bidders working for the company.
Essentially, the strategy works in the sense that ever since the auction
focus moved from classics like Packards and Duesenbergs to muscle cars, B-J
has been able to shill, say a Hemi Cuda or mid-year Corvette 427 they own,
which causes the value of the 10 other identical cars to increase. They
wind up "buying" their own car back, but the others go on to regular
buyers, who now are paying higher because of the perception the market has
moved up.

This suspicion has been validated by at least one auction attendee this
year that says he witnessed cars sold at auction headed in trailers back to
B-J's warehouse. The lawsuit allegedly points out that these cars also
spent significantly more time on the block than others.

If this isn't all interesting enough, during this year's auction, fellow
collector car journalist, Keith Martin of Sports Car Market, was booted
from the Westworld premises and his media credentials revoked for voicing
loud, specific concern regarding the event while sitting in the media room.
Barrett-Jackson accused Keith Martin of "holding court" and attempting to
send VIPs and journalists to the competing RM and Russo and Steele auction
events. Among the alleged opinions included that the cars at B-J were of
inferior quality (and had quality misrepresented,) as well as that the
bidders were significantly over-bidding cars, which shouldn't come as a
surprise to anyone who has witnessed people paying six figures for cars
they could have bought for under $50,000 any other day of the year!!!

This is somewhat of an interesting twist. Keith Martin's publication has
marketed the B-J events and has helped fuel its popularity. Keith is
definitely one of the great "insiders" of the hobby, and has been a friend
to Craig Jackson. In past years, Keith nor his publication have been
critical of the goings-on and rumors, while other collector car journalists
screamed that something stunk.

It makes sense, since Sports Car Market really only tracks the value of
vehicles and other items sold at auction, rather than via private sales
(which really has skewed SCM's values for years!) So without kissing-censored to
B-J, Keith would have missed insider info on the largest events covered by
his mag. So we can only guess that Keith and Craig had a falling out of
some type.

I applaud Keith for turning the corner on his view of B-J, but I'm with
others I've talked to about this: I hate to say this about a colleague, but
I felt his behavior was a bit unprofessional. As journalists, it is our
responsibility to write what we think, but going to the show for years,
then promoting RM and Russo+Steele while at Westworld is somewhat
unprofessional. I agree that Keith, a true hobbyist who started out by
writing an Alfa Romeo newsletter, was for a long time too much a part of
the "circus" about which he finally rejected, and that SCM has to a
significant degree helped to fuel misinformation and a house of cards
regarding specific auction prices and bidding behavior. Keith, by all
accounts, is a really good guy - an enthusiast, who maybe just needed to
take a step back and a big breath and reacquaint himself with those outside
of the very insulated collector car "in crowd" - and spend time with some
car people who are not trying to exploit the collectors. There are plenty
of guys who have dug themselves too deep into this little crowd, and are no
longer fun to deal with, because they've put personal greed well ahead of
the cars and the collectors. Keith will rebound - he has a great internal
staff of really fantastic people, who hopefully will help him return to his
roots.

That being said. While I've never met him, the buzz among those in the
hobby - both collectors and journalists, is that Craig Jackson is quite
arrogant, so don't expect many to come to his rescue. He inherited his
father's company, and has fueled B-J's growth with a combination of
intelligence, drive, ego, and greed. While there is nothing wrong with that
combination, when it results in unethical and possibly illegal activities,
that's inexcusable.

Like many surrounding the hobby, I will be watching the events unfold. Will
the Westworld tents come down like a house of cards, or will everything
just go away with an exchange of a little money? It's happened before, like
the 2006 event's Futurliner debacle when investor Ron Pratt allegedly
negotiated a $3.0M price (after B-J staff admitted to mistaking the high
bid), but the reported sale was for $4.0M.

It's hard to predict the outcome. None of us have all the facts. Craig
Jackson has become a very powerful man, and his company has pumped billions
of dollars into the Arizona economy over the years. He's allowed his say,
and the appropriate judge/jury might very well decide he personally has
done nothing wrong.

This all being said, there's no doubt that Barrett-Jackson "jumped the
shark" this year. Unlike when Fonzi did it, Craig Jackson drove his
allegedly shill-bid Hemicudas over the tank and down a ramp that could lead
to six years in a minimum security prison-issued orange jumpsuit. If that's
the case, maybe he can get Sports Car Market in the slammer to keep-up on
Russo and Steele, RM and Kruse auction results.