RECORD BREAKING $88-MILLION SALES OF GREATEST COLLECTOR CARS
The mind-blowing $88-million record sales racked up at the 37th annual Greatest Collector Car Event in Phoenix is only a taste of what’s to come here from Oct. 15 through Oct. 18.
Other records were shattered at the world-famous Barrett-Jackson auction: 280,000 people attended and there were over 100-million web-site hits for the 1,163 collector cars. That one-event number was just 100 less than the company sold in the entire preceding 12-months! The SPEED network carried 39-hours of live auction broadcast.
“It all proves that when the collector car event comes to Vegas for the first time ever this fall at Mandalay Bay, it will be even bigger and better,” I was told.
Craig Jackson, chairman and CEO of the company commented: “It also showed that the collector car market remains strong and viable. The average hammer price for the Corvettes and the 1955-57 Chevy’s increased by 13 percent this year. Overall sales increased an astounding 47 percent and sales over the internet totaled $2.4 million! We had three crown-jewel cars that each hit at least $1-million, including a Pininfarina Chevy Corvette that went for $1.6 million. We had everything from Rolls Royces to Mustangs to overseas classics and custom cars, plus vehicles that Hollywood stars have owned.”
Tony Stewart’s 2007 winning NASCAR Monte Carlo racer sold for $300,000. Among the stars turning up for the event were Muhammad Ali, Patrick Dempsey, John Schneider, Carroll Shelby and Jay Leno—who drove a Corvette ZR1 across the block. Rock-star and auto enthusiast Alice Cooper sold his 1955 Mercedes 300SL Gull-Wing for $185,000. Over $5-million was raised for charity from the event.
When the auction and showroom pavilion are set at Mandalay Bay this fall, executives are predicting the world’s largest auction ever—both in terms of star-appearances, incredible cars and even bigger prices!