Yesterday, I went with Rob Wagemakers to the 2017 Edition of the Scottsdale Barrett-Jackson Auction. We went to see the vast selection of collector cars (primarily, but other “toys” are also on sale, such as boats, motorcycles, and memorabilia items).
Barrett-Jackson makes the claim to being the greatest of its class and rightfully so. Barrett-Jackson is an auction company headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. The company specializes in the auction of classic cars and antique cars, and runs collector events in Scottsdale, Palm Beach, Florida, Uncasville, Connecticut and Las Vegas Nevada.
In the space of 6 days, they will auction 1,200 cars at the Scottsdale event. Last year, 350,000 people attended and gross sales exceeded $100 million. It’s held at the very large, West World event centre.
And, I’m getting to it; I did take some pictures, 265 in total. Following are a few of those that caught my eye and it’s time to share them.
This first automobile is one of the older ones I photographed but by no means was it the only one from that era.
Also from that period was an elegant 1934 Packard. The last of this line of luxury cars was built in 1956. The company was acquired by Studebaker at that time, who continued the use of the name for awhile but the newer versions were just not the same.
Speaking of Studebaker, I managed to find a model that I’m personally familiar with, a 1956 Golden Hawk. My father owned a 1956 Power Hawk, a little less fancy and whole lot less pink! The Hawk was a sporty model, presumably intended to compete with the newly introduced Chevrolet Corvette. As it turns out, Studebaker didn’t survive, following its merger with Packard. The Packard marque was phased out and the company returned to the Studebaker Corporation name in 1962. The South Bend plant ceased production on December 20, 1963 and the last Studebaker automobile rolled off the Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, assembly line on March 16, 1966.
The next photograph is likely my favourite for the day. The Chevrolet Bel Air from the mid-1950’s is very popular among collectors of vintage automobiles and is very well represented at this year’s auction. I counted 43 Bel Airs from this period in the Index of Auction Vehicles. This one is the most appealing of those that I saw.
My final picture for today is one of the “muscle cars” of the 1960’s, The Judge. It’s a variant of Pontiac’s GTO series and this particular model is powered with a 430 cu in, 370 hp V8 engine. Plenty of muscle!
My trip to the auction was a great experience, one that I hope to repeat in future years.
Great photos, Peter… super fun at the auction! I went last year and maybe this Sunday.
Interesting shots, Peter. I know from experience how difficult it is to capture worthy images from such busy environments. Well done.