After donning a rather large pair of shoes and a huge rubber globe that I attached to the end of my nose, hell, I wanted to fit in, I was off to the circus- better known as the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction in Scottsdale Arizona; and what a circus it is.

Flying out of Orange County at 6:30 in the morning on Wednesday (I missed out on a few hours of beauty rest, those of you who know me, know I need it) I was on my way to Scottsdale. Marc Jones, a very old (yes, that old) friend of mine lives there and we agreed to meet at the show, so I was in good company. Marc was also there to beat me over the head, should I bid on a car that was going for too much money. He done good- I am still waiting for some of the swelling to subside.

After picking up a fantastic Chevrolet Cobalt from Enterprise and giving the map a brief look, I took off for the show, though not very quickly.

It was my first visit, some good, some bad, some ugly. I will make an attempt to explain. The premise behind my visit was two-fold, see what the collector car market was doing and to perhaps acquire a couple of cars for my employer, Crevier Classic Car Co.

Barrett-Jackson does a fine job with parking, staffing, vendors and all the other amenities that one would want or need. As both Marc and I started previewing the cars however, we both came to the same conclusion rather quickly; most of these “collector cars” were just average used cars with fresh paint, please note; I did not say good paint-just fresh. From 20 feet away, most of them looked pretty darn nice, but as one got closer to them….oh, my god!

The question I asked myself constantly was; who approves these crap boxes for sale as “collectable” or “restored”? Now, don’t get me wrong here, there were some simply fantastic cars available as well. Some of the cars were restored very nicely and it was obvious that the owners (consignors) had taken the time to properly restore them, but a good percentage of what was available and being lauded as “restored” were second-rate cars at best. Perhaps “B-J” needed to fill the field and were willing to accept just about anything as “restored”, disappointing to say the least. Perhaps my idea of a restored car is somehow different than theirs, but “restored” in my book, means more than a 3 inch thick Macco paint job.

It got better! All of the cars from the television series “Monster Garage” were being auctioned off as well, COLLECTOR CARS? These cobbled together, rat infested pieces of s&*%, only belong in one place. That Barrett-Jackson would stoop to this new low is not only disappointing to someone who loves cars, but of perhaps even more importance, may display the true class, or rather lack of; that the Barrett-Jackson company represents as a whole. Bad image guys but water under the bridge as well, damage done. Sorry, I just call ‘em as I see ‘em.

Ok, the bad and the ugly are out of the way and for the most part the Barrett-Jackson collector car auction is really fun and very well run. After having spent 3 days there, I still did not see it all. The show is huge and there is something there for everyone, car junky or not. The vendor area is enormous and one can find just about anything and everything, from art to jewelry, airplanes to motorcycles, antique gas pumps to furs for the ladies (or, not), even helicopters can be ordered and bought. WOW!

The best part of the show however, aside from acquiring a couple of cars at fair prices, were the bidder assistants that work for Barrett-Jackson; These guys and gals were terrific! They work their butts off. Their “job” is to keep you in the game once you have bid on a car, that is rather obvious, but what impressed me even more was their willingness to be helpful, really helpful. I had not been to a car auction before, I did not know the proper signals or language, but the assistants that I had the pleasure to work with went well beyond the call of duty. They went out of their way to help insure that I did not make huge rookie mistakes. It actually got to the point where-by we could simply make eye contact and KNOW what we wanted to do. They were helpful, fun and sometimes just down right funny and a terrific asset in this kind of fast paced, feeding frenzied environment. I would like to personally thank those who helped me, THANKS GUYS!!!

Thanks again to my long time friend Marc Jones…..now if this ringing would just go away….

Next time the circus is in town, go!

Klaus Kindor
O.C.C.E