2006 Barrett-Jackson Experience

January 24th, 2006 by CobraMatt

Lot# 1259.1 at the Barrett-Jackson collector car auction was well worth the trip to Arizona at least in my opinion. The rights to purchase the 2007 Ford GT500 sold for $600K with a $48K buyers premium added to the total price to make it $648K. The buyer of the GT500 was unknown. During the auction I found myself on stage along with Carroll Shelby and Edsel Ford. It was an amazing few minutes as a couple bidders went back and fourth over the price until the hammer dropped at $648. All proceeds of the auction went to Carroll Shelbys foundation for kids.

You are probably asking yourself why would you go to an auction like this. Well I can tell you it was more then an auction, it is probably where most car guys would like to die and I literally mean that. I headed to BJ on Friday morning with a friend to take in all the sights and sounds of the auction. I obtained a few media passes before hand so we were able to get into almost anywhere in the venue. We were also able to get on stage and get up close and personal with what was happening. I took something like 300 photos of just about everything. At the auction I saw the likes of Sammy Haggar, Reggie Jackson, Alice Cooper, Chip Foose, Boyd C. and his wife, Carroll Shelby, Micheal Anthony, Goldberg, Billy Gibbons and Courtney Hansen from Overhaulin.

The Barrett-Jackson auction is considered the best collector car auction in the world by most car enthusiasts. I would say I can vouch for that myself as the whole event was top notch. The main auction was held under 3 or 4 massive tents that house display cars, the main auction area and vendor areas. Ford Motor Company had a big display of most of there higher priced vehicles including the new 2007 GT500 Convertible along with an on site dyno that featured a Mustang that was retrofited with all the latest performance parts from Ford Racing. Also on the grounds was a live drifting expo with a few Mustangs and a Ford Focus. Car Vendors lined the outside of the massive tents with just about anything you could think of relating to cars. Also below the grounds is where all the cars that were being auctioned off sat until it was there turn to go across the stage. The public is allowed to walk through these tents and view the cars.

The whole event just amazed me and I would have no problem going again next year. At no point did I find myself being bored because there was always something to look at or do. To see all the photos I took click here. To view the whole list of vehicles and there final prices click here.

Pictured Above is Craig Jackson, Edsel Ford and Carroll Shelby.