My .02 on Barrett-Jackson

[Charley Lillard]

Reggie was selling cars at Barrett-Jackson

[L78M22Rag]

This was my first time to BJ, and after spending about half a day wandering through the outside tents looking at hundreds of cars... I had to look long and hard to find those that I'd want in my garage. Unfortunately, many of the cars at BJ appeared to be just slapped together in a hurry to get to the auction. Yes, they had some NICE cars roped-off in the exclusive tent inside, but a small percentage out of their 1200 or so cars. I'm not surprized that prices were down for most of the cars... and the guys that came with big $$$ and an empty trailer ended up fighing over the few good cars and driving some prices up higher than expected. I think the lack of quality was a reflection of the no reserve. Hats off to those few brave souls that brought a genuine high-dollar car and signed over the title without a reserve.

The next day I went to Russo and Steele and... after a half a day of looking I barely made it down one row of cars. Nearly every car was worth stopping and having a very close look. Overall, I thought the R&S cars were very high quality.

Then... seeing the Christenholz collection nearly blew my mind! Nice cars there!!!

I hope I didn't offend anyone... just my two bits.

I saw Reggie at Russo and Steele on Friday night. In fact, I believe he was selling a car there.

[m22mike]

Helmut
Last year was my first BJ auction, had a great time, it is a must for a car guy to treat yourself at least once.
I noticed the same thing as you did about the quality of cars there in 06, auction could have been trimmed to 600 cars and you would not have to see so many very average cars.
The no reserve still scares me !
Sounds like you had a good time, hope you made it to the Pavillion's, last it a must see.

Mike

[L78M22Rag]

You bet I made it to the Pavillions. I was stunned!

I think the my reaction to BJ is just because its so watered down. If BJ had fewer cars like R&S, it would have been as good as R&S... I hope Russo and Steele stays just the way it is!