January in Arizona can only mean one thing! It is classic car auction time. Between all the car auctions being held in January, if you want a specific car this is the place to find it. And if you want to sell your car, this is the spot that will have the most buyers available. Most sites are held in impromptu tents on large pieces of vacant land. In six days, six auction houses will descend on the Valley of the Sun and offer a collective SEVENTEEN days worth of auctions. Surely a busy week for every car aficionado.
Barrett-Jackson
Craig Jackson’s dad was one of the pioneers in the classic car auctions and once again over 1300 cars will be sold over six days, January 14-19,2014. The auction takes advantage of permanent buildings at Westworld in Scottsdale, AZ and will have live coverage on three networks, after SPEED dropped off the cable scene. So the auction can be seen on Fox Sports1, Fox Business and National Geographic channels. Remember when the TV turns on, the prices go up! The funny cars and trailers from Don Prudhome and Tom McEwen recently popularized by the movie “$nake and Mongoose” will be for sale.
Most of the cars are sold with no reserve, except for a select few offered for sale on Saturday during prime time
Russo and Steele
This auction run be Drew Alcazar starts up on January 16th and runs through Sunday the 19th in North Scottsdale. Russo and Steele was the site of a horrendous storm where plenty of classics were damaged by uprooted tents a few years back, but Drew has persevered and offers a great event.
Gooding and Company
This British sounding group based in Santa Monica, CA will be having two days of sales on the 17th and 18th of January at the Scottsdale Fashion Center shopping mall. Last year they hit the fences with the highest selling car, a 1958 Ferrari California Spyder, which sold for $8,250,000.
Bonham’s
This auction is a one day affair on Wednesday January 16th at the Westin Kierland resort in Scottsdale. It is interesting that they want to have their slots over with before the heavy weekend of car sales.
Silver Auction
Mitch Silver runs a low-key, unpretentious auction on the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation and they are known for good cars at fair prices. They will be set up for Friday-Saturday the 17th and 18th as well, and expect 400 cars.
RM Auction
This site sneaks in for a quick two day sale on the 16th and 17th, again avoiding the hectic frenzy of a Saturday auction, while being held in the venerable Biltmore Resort in central Phoenix.
Automobilia Scottsdale
First time entrant offering strictly automobilia from various dealers will be held for two days January 16-17 at the Fort McDowell Radisson Resort, the same site as the Silver Auction. This is similar to the automobilia scene at Monterrey in August. It’ll be interesting how this fares as most car auctions have some car themed pieces to sell before the cars run through.
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It turns out the Hollywood magic must have worn out and the painted on Goodyear logo and Eagle name were removed showing the true brand of these tires – Pirelli.
For the past three years, at the end of the SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) Show on Friday, some of the cars on display drive out of the show onto the surrounding street in front of the Las Vegas Convention Center. It has become known as “The Cruise” and has become very popular, even amongst weary, dog tired show goers.
This year SEMA had an emcee and a DJ spinning some tunes. Because it gets dark early in Las Vegas, SEMA even arranges for some portable lights so the cars can be easily seen.
Some cars tossed out sponsor t-shirts or hats to the crowd and Chip Foose came over to say hi and thanked the crowd for attending. SEMA was even selling a limited number of hats, embroidered to commemorate the Cruise
