ATA Members Travel to Barrett Jackson Auction

On Wednesday, January 20, 2010, Scott Zirlin, Mike Warzek and Doug Shaver of the Adirondack Triumph Association traveled to Phoenix, Arizona, to attend the Barrett Jackson Auction. And, no, we were not there to buy anything, just look and enjoy, because purchasing a car was only part of the expense. In order to get into the bidders ring it cost $500 and guests were another $150. If you were to win the bid on a vehicle you had to pay an additional 10% of the sale price to Barrett Jackson, plus the expense of getting the vehicle home. Trailering the vehicle commercially was about $1800 to get it to the Albany area. All in all this would be a pretty expensive ordeal, in my opinion.

One of the great things about Phoenix in the middle of winter, especially for us folks from the Northeast, is the opportunity to get out of the snow and cold and into some great sunshine. Well, it just so happens that we hit record weather in Phoenix and it wasn’t of the good kind. While they normally get 3 inches of rainfall in a whole year (a fact) they got more than that in the first 24 hours of our visit. And, it continued to rain and blow for our entire visit with temperatures that barely got higher than 50 degrees; more about the weather later.

On Thursday morning we made our first visit to the Barrett Jackson Auction at Westworld in Phoenix. We were not disappointed! Huge tents had been erected to cover hundreds of cars and trucks waiting to be auctioned. If you could not find something you liked here then all you had to do was walk through the main tent where the actual auction took place to see another hundred or more vehicles on display and waiting for the auctioneer’s hammer. For me personally I most enjoyed the great selection of British vehicles including my favorite, E style Jaguars and big Healeys.

In addition to the fine selection of vehicles there were dozens and dozens of vendors way too numerous to list, but lots of fun to browse through and pickup the freebies they all offer. And, of course, the food vendors were excellent with a great selection of food and beer.

Later on Thursday we drove over to the Biltmore Resort and Spa and saw the RM Auction taking place there. The Thursday evening auction focused on a great selection of British vehicles. In fact, we later discovered that fellow ATA member Bob Ensign, representing someone else, was in the crowd and actually bought a couple of vehicles, including an E style Jag which he thought may have actually set a record with its price. Incidentally, the fellow that he was bidding against was Wayne Carini of Chasing Classic Cars fame and that may be partly how the price got so high. Scott, Mike and I actually got to say hi to Wayne. Something I am sure he will never forget.

On Friday morning it was back to Barrett Jackson to browse through some of the tents we didn’t get into the day before. What I found very interesting was the tents set up for vehicle owners who were there to sell their vehicles without going through the auction, like a car corral at a local car show. It seemed to me that this was the place for owners who have modified their cars into something quite different from what they started out life as. For instance, there was a corvette that had a 1953 front end and a 1966 back end, or something like that. Kind of a shame, I thought.

Then, we began hearing loud engines and squealing tires only to discover that a short race track had been set up and drivers were putting Shelby Mustangs and Corvettes through their paces. And while it was fun to watch we discovered that you could actually ride in both of these vehicles at no cost. The deal was that you had to first drive a Ford model in order to get a ride in the Mustang and then drive a GM model in order to get a ride in the Corvette. And when I say “drive” I mean they expected you to pound the pudding out of these vehicles. The course began with a straight away and went into a U turn and then a series of S turns, anyway you get the drift. What a hoot that was and all free of charge. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that they required each driver to pass a breathalyzer test before getting behind the wheel. Of course, Scott, Mike and I all passed easily (give me a break; it was barely 9 AM). After your test drive you got a ride in a Mustang and a Corvette with a professional driver at the wheel. Now I’m not saying it was frightening, but, I may have soiled myself slightly. Brother could those cars go and those drivers drive them. Hands down, the most exciting thing we did for the entire visit.

Once we recuperated from the thrill rides, we decided to take in another auction called the Silver Auction, located at Ft. McDowell about 12 to 15 miles out of Phoenix. I think it is fair to say we found this to be the least interesting auction. Not very formal or fancy and the vehicles a tad bit below average compared to what we had been seeing, but, none the less worth the visit. Also, this auction was located at a casino, much to our surprise, so we high tailed it out of there pretty quickly, as you can probably imagine.

And so, that brings us to Saturday. After we got packed up and the car loaded we decided we would check out one more auction before we headed to the airport. Now, you might remember earlier I said I would comment more about the weather. Well this is the place. The last auction we visited was the Russo and Steele Auction, also in Phoenix. On Thursday evening the bad weather brought with it very high winds. This resulted in 2 massive tents collapsing onto hundreds of vehicles in the auction. It was estimated that 50 to 60% of the vehicles suffered damage, in some cases huge steel poles smashed down on them. A portion of one tent actually ended up on a major highway causing it to be shut down for several hours.

While only vehicle owners were allowed in the tent area, Scott, Mike and I were able to walk along a chain link fence and get within about 30 feet or so of some of the damaged vehicles. Some convertibles had been left under the tents with their tops down and now the owners were actually bailing rain water out of them. Others lost mirrors, antennas and windshields while still others were total losses. All in all this was a very sad situation. And to make it even worse, each vehicle owner had signed a waiver holding the auction harmless in the event of any damage to their vehicles.

Also on Saturday morning, while driving along the highway we spotted the MG Shop owned by Glen Frost in Tempe, AZ with about 6 or 7 vehicles parked outside. When we pulled in and began looking around Glen came out, unlocked a gate and gave us free access to the entire yard. No exaggeration, there were hundreds and hundreds of vehicle parts, including a set of Moss front fenders that would fit a '67 MGB roadster, something Mike Warzek had been looking for. Mike made a deal and bought the fenders which he had shipped via Greyhound bus. And, 16 days later he had them in his possession. Mike adds that Glen is a great guy to deal with especially when you consider much of the dealing was by phone after we had returned home.

And so, we left for the airport to catch a noon hour flight and arrived home in Albany at about 9PM on Saturday evening. The three of us had a fantastic trip and something we would encourage others to take if given the opportunity. -- Doug Shaver

ATA Banquet -- report coming soon!