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Saturday, Oct 10 |
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Photography - Stephen Jones |
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Saturday, Oct 10 |
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Photography - Stephen Jones |
The 2nd edition of the Barrett-Jackson collector car auction in Las Vegas is now in the books. With thousands of tickets sold, nearly 500 vehicles offered up for auction with 400 sold and over 1,000 registered bidders, this event has to be one of the biggest and successful events for Barrett-Jackson.
The Barrett-Jackson story is really quite
interesting. To quote the legacy of the company.
"What
started as a simple meeting between two car buffs in the early 1960s
has blossomed over some 48 years into the world's most prestigious and
anticipated
collector car auctions and events."
To read all about the history of the company and
what is involved in the entire auction process, click here
for the Barrett-Jackson web site.
I was fortunate enough and had the time to fly to
Las Vegas this past weekend to view, photograph, and write this story
about the event and what it's like
to our readers. I'm sure many here have seen the
auctions on the
SPEED Channel from Scottsdale, AZ (the base home of
the Barrett-Jackson), Palm Beach, FL, and
the newly announced event in Costa Mesa in Orange
County, CA in 2010.
Thanks to PR rep Elizabeth Holzhauer, my
registration went very easily and I must add that all the people I
dealt with in the BJ organization were extremely friendly
and helpful. After registering and getting my
media card, I went to checkout the layout of the event and where
everything was. There were three major areas where I wanted
to do most of my work.
Just past the Shark Reef display was the huge
convention center where all the auctions cars were displayed. After
checking this out, I headed to the actual auction area. This
is where the rock concerts, boxing events, and
other grand spectacles occur. The stage area is where all the
memorabilia and cars are paraded and the vast seating area is
everyone watches and bids. Most all the seats in
front of the stage are reserved for pre-registered bidders. There are
2 rotating display areas on each side of the stage and the
auctioneers are on a raised platform in the
middle of the stage. Click HERE
for a map of the area and the schedule of events
The 3rd area where I was going to be working was
behind the stage and the outside staging area. These are the areas
where the cars are lined up to head for auction and head
out when they are sold. This is also the area
where all the smokers hung out, including yours truly. I met and
talked to a lot of really nice people in this area.
After checking everything out, I took the long
walk (it seamed shorter by Saturday) back to the motel room still
wondering if I should have left some bread crumbs! I guess with
anything new, especially a different environment,
once you get used to it, it gets easier. I actually stopped in the
casino for a few minutes to play a few slot machines. As I did
this a few times in numerous casinos in Vegas
throughout the weekend, I NEVER won a damn thing! Guess I just didn't
have the touch.
I got my camera gear and headed back to the
auction arena. I introduced myself to the 2 house
photographers...nice, friendly guys who were as busy as I was
throughout the
weekend...and started watching and shooting.
Between the pro auctioneer and the bidder assistants, there's a lot
of screaming and yelling and claps and cheers. It's quite
fascinating to watch and tried to photograph as
much of this action as possible.
The action builds up from the start on Thursday
until the biggest day of the weekend...Saturday. This when all the
real high dollar bidding takes place and the celebrities
show up. Bruce Willis was apparently supposed to
be on hand as 3 of his cars, a limo and several other cars, were
included in the auction. Willis was a now show, but his
cars went for BIG money. HOWEVER, we did get an
appearance from John Schneider from The Dukes Of Hazzard who helped
auction off the General Lee Charger
from the TV show AND Jay Leno auctioned off (I'm
assuming) one of his custom made bikes. Both seamed to enjoy the time
on the stage as did all the bidders and fans.
Both also were busy signing autographs and
talking to the fans.
We also had charity bidding for several cars for
the Juvenile Diabetes group and the Suzan B. Komen Breast cancer
foundation. With the auctioneers, Barrett-Jackson officials
and everyone on stage cheering on the bidders,
the high bids went for well over $100,000 bucks.
One of these charity auction cars was a specially
designed and built SNAKE Mustang and Don Prudhomme was on hand with
the auctioneers and to get pictures taken
after the auction was over.
Some of the BIGGEST selling cars:
550 hp Iacocca Mustang worth about $362,000 went for $320,
000
780 hp 1967 Shelby GT500 SE Super Snake
- $330,000
800 hp 2007 Shelby GT500 Super Snake Prudhomme Edition
- $302, 500
Bo's General Lee 1969 Dodge Charger John Shneider
built for Dukes Of Hazzard - $258,500
2nd full production 2005 Ford GT
- $253, 000
1967 Corvette Convertible owned by Bruce Willis
- $165, 000
An origional Buick GNX - $132,
000
One of the biggest thrills for me that finished
the weekend was seeing, photographing, and actually shaking the hand
of 86 year old Carroll Shelby. I had actually wanted
to get out to his plant at the Las Vegas
Speedway, but didn't have the time. I was able to shoot him
autographing several cars and talking to the lady that won the
auction, for
a ton of money, for both cars.
This pretty much needed the long weekend on a real high note.
Thanks much to the entire Barrett-Jackson staff for making this a huge success and making it a truly unique experience for this reporter and photographer.
Please check out the following photo gallery from Saturday and the Thursday and Friday images on a separate page.
ENJOY!!
Stephen Jones
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