Although I’m not an Arizona native, the Barrett-Jackson car auction has become an institution in Scottsdale Arizona. Originally
conceived as a local community fund raiser it began as ‘Fiesta del los Auto Elegance’ in the same image as more prestigious antique
car shows, but grew into the ‘Grandfather of the Collector Car Industry’, or so the heir to the event, Craig Jackson, claims. The
‘Collector Car Industry’ is actually a much new conception something born of cable television and the sheer numbers of the graying
Baby Boomers satisfying the dreams of their adolescence. While a hobby to some its big business to many involved and the promoters
are very careful to always say the word hobby and never ‘investment’.
As I have attended year-by-year, fewer old cars (by that I mean pre WWII) are represented as the Great Generation marches to their
graves. The Boomers don’t really care about the classics even though they have the pockets to afford them. They want cars for the
same reasons their parents did: to impress their neighbors and friends. So, the hobby is just that, a hobby for the bourgeoisie. The
historians, purists, and collectors of industry as art are represented in ever fewer numbers every year and the Barrett-Jackson is a
good place to lose money on selling the Classic you just inherited from your father. I didn’t see antique motorcycles this year so the
Barrett-Jackson is becoming the home base for weird cars, star cars, movie cars, custom cars and above all the Muscle Cars of the late
1960’s: collectible kitsch.
The Barrett is an event that draws people from all over the nation. I didn’t speak to any locals this year as I did my yearly street photo
coverage of the event! This photo essay attached is arranged as one would normally take in the event. The Barrett-Jackson is mostly a
county fair for cars instead of cows.
At the entrance one passes the High Dollar Vendor’s area which leads to the low dollar area occupied by purveyors of $10
hamburgers, amateur arts and craftsmen, hawkers of automobilia collectables like olden day gas pumps, and booths for anyone
selling anything automobile related or not who can afford the Barrett-Jackson square footage. This year I saw booths occupied by
luthiers, jewelers, and insurance salesmen. The High Dollar area is held by the major automakers with their barkers and pretty girls.
At the entrance this year was a beautiful ’32 Lincoln V-12 hot rod and it sure got my attention. Behind it was Ford’s latest commercial
copy of the famous GT - 40 LeMans race car. In font of the GT was a table occupied by an especially Pretty Girl pushing a Raffle For
Names to fatten Ford’s customer contact list. Because I am not the man I used to be I wasn’t able to flatter her enough to pose behind
the back light of the GT and give me a wave which I thought would make a nice shot. Guilt works better than flattery for an old man, I
signed whatever raffle papers she put in front of me and she gave me the 5 seconds I requested to squeeze one off.
Beyond the entrance area is the auction itself, and further still are the specialty cars that have been part of famous collections or
featured in the automotive tabloids. Outside the auction are other vendors of everything from speed parts, choppers, and car wax.
Below that is an area about an acre size that is covered in tents where the sellers prepare their cars for sale and the buyers prepare
their prizes for shipment home.
Barrett-Jackson collects fees from everyone involved, the seller, the buyer and the visitor.
The goal is to bring the seller and buyer together, and fees cover promotions, advertising of the cars to be sold, and quality control
management (Barrett-Jackson has it’s own quality control that guarantees what is sold is what it as advertised). The fees also cover
big functions with diner and drinks that bring the buyers and sellers together. There is plenty of liquor outside that is also sold by
Barrett-Jackson, and things get pretty well oiled from 3 in the afternoon on, so plan on spending an afternoon and evening to take in
the party atmosphere.
Successful sellers bring their own cigars and liquor, and the wise visitor should bring his own bottle.
Although the Barrett-Jackson is presented as being about cars, it’s really about people and it’s really quite a fun event. Sure it would
be politically incorrect to say that it is sexist (not many women are there and the wives seem to more like arm pieces than the ladies
attending a football game, my lady subjects being exceptions), racist (it’s really Caucasian in persuasion), rich (who can afford to
trailer, tow and store toy cars?). It is sill pretty much a reflection of those who have Made It In America and probably have a boat or
airplane collection to match their cars. Having money has NEVER equaled having good taste and I don’t think Barrett-Jackson buyers
would know art if it stared them in the face, but the love of cars is somehow enjoyed by rich and poor alike. I like the Barrett-Jackson
because I can hob nob with the wealthy without being one, and I can live their car dreams vicariously.
A note on the photographs:
These shots were all made with a Leica M6, at 150 ASA (can you say FILM?), as street photography with a f2.8 35mm Summaron
made in 1960. There is NO flash, and the indoor shots were often hand held at ¼ to 1/15 of second. I shot 90 exposures over 5 hours
and kept 40 (far better than my usual B.A.). If the quality or artistic merit is not consistent, the goal was to tell a story.