HomeCar CultureCommentaryBarrett-Jackson hits the jackpot in Vegas

Barrett-Jackson hits the jackpot in Vegas

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With all 733 vehicles on the docket sold to new owners, Barrett-Jackson did a record $32.9 million in total sales at its 11th annual Las Vegas collector car auction, held this past weekend at the Mandalay Bay resort and casino. 

More than $1 million will go to various charities from six vehicles sold for their benefit, and more than $760,000 of the overall total was generated by the sale of 400 lots of automobilia.

“We want to thank the collector car and Las Vegas communities for capping off a great 2018 auction year (for Barrett-Jackson) in Las Vegas,” the company’s chairman and chief executive Craig Jackson was quoted in the company’s post-auction news release. 

“We had four great collections (on the docket), celebrity guest appearances and fans provided a wonderful tribute to our friend Burt Reynolds. 

“We are also very humbled by the tremendous support for our Driven Hearts campaign and the incredible generosity of the collector car community that not only helped raise much-needed awareness and donations for the American Heart Association, but also provided many great moments on the auction block.” 

Perhaps the surprise of the auction was the sale of this one-owner, low-mileage 1997 Acura Integra R for a record $63,800

Jackson noted, however, that it was a perhaps unexpected moment that many will remember.

“The excitement was especially tangible during exhilarating and record-breaking sales like the ’97 Acura Integra Type R that has rocked the collector car community.”

On Friday, the one-owner, 1,191-mile, 1 of only 320, well-maintained sporty import provided what many considered a stunning surprise when it sold for a record $63,800 (price includes buyer’s fee).

“If you were thinking it was a muscle car, pre-war classic or a modern supercar that created a lot of buzz on the block today, you’d be mistaken,” Barrett-Jackson said in its daily report Friday evening. “Perhaps a sign of the Asian import trend many said was coming, it was the $63,800 sale…  that surprised many in the arena and on the internet, setting a new world record in the process.”

The previous day, another “future classic” Japanese vehicle, a 1983 Toyota SR5 4×4 pickup truck, brought $55,000 on the Barrett-Jackson block, also setting a record for the highest price paid for that model at public auction.

This 1978 Pontiac Trans Am was one of four cars sold from the collection of actor Burt Reynolds

The late actor Burt Reynolds had planned to attend the auction to sell the last four vehicles from his personal collection. Those vehicles — a 1978 Pontiac Trans Am Bandit re-creation, a 1978 Firebird Formula Hooper re-creation, a 1987 Chevrolet pickup Cannonball Run re-creation and a 1984 Firebird Trans Am that promoted Reynold’s Tampa Bay Bandits football team — sold for a collective total of $379,500.

Stock car racing champion Richard Petty, “Mr. Las Vegas” entertainer Wayne Newton, magician Roy Horn of Siegfried & Roy, and two members of the Vegas Golden Knights hockey team, Brad Hunt and Brayden McNabb, were among the celebrities visiting the sale. 

Petty sold a customized 2018 Ford F-150 XLT for $100,000 to benefit Paralyzed Veterans of America, with an additional $6,500 raised when he auctioned off one of his famous Western-style hats. The hockey players were on hand for the sale of a specially wrapped 2018 Ford Mustang GT that sold for $250,000 for the Vegas-based Grand a Gift Autism Foundation. 

A 1956 Ford Thunderbird convertible from the Bryan Frank Collection sold for $295,000, money going to benefit Barrett-Jackson’s Driven Hearts campaign for the American Heart Association and to the Regional West Foundation, which provides cancer and cardiac patient services. The Driven Hearts effort also benefited from the sale of a 2015 Ford Shelby GT350 for $215,000. 

1956 Mercury Montclair makes its trip across the auction block

Top 10 sales, Barrett-Jackson Las Vegas 2018

1. 2018 Porsche 918 Spyder, $1.76 million

2. 2018 McLaren 720S, $352,000

3. 1999 Shelby Series I, $205,700

4. 1967 Shelby GT500, $198,000

     2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon, $198,000

6. Burt Reynolds’ 1978 Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am ‘Bandit’ re-creation, $192,500

     1971 Chevrolet Camaro custom coupe, $192,500

     2014 Rolls-Royce Wraith, $192,500

9. 1956 Ford F-100 ‘big-window’ custom, $181,500

10. 1965 Chevrolet Corvette custom coupe, $176,000

       2015 Chevrolet Camaro custom coupe, $176,000

(Prices include buyer’s fee.)

Also selling for enough to join a top-10 list but not included because they were sold for charity without fees:

1965 Ford Thunderbird convertible, $295,000

2018 Ford Mustang GT Premium coupe, $250,000

2015 Ford Shelby GT350 50th anniversary edition, $215,000

Like every other car offered at the auction, this 1964 Chevrolet Biscayne drove off the block with a SOLD sticker attached. This Chevy sold for $36,300

“It’s always such a great experience to be in Vegas and share the passion of the collector car hobby with our guests,” said Barrett-Jackson president Steve Davis. “Not only did we bring to the Entertainment Capital of the World some of the most coveted collector cars on the planet, we also filled the weekend with some extraordinarily special moments with the sale of six charity vehicles. With the help of our friends in the collector car community, we helped raise over $1 million to help countless people across the country.”

The previous record sales total for Barrett-Jackson in Las Vegas was $32.5 million generated by the 2016 auction. The 2018 sale was the second in a row in which a Porsche 918 Spyder was the No. 1 seller. In 2017, it was a 2015 example that sold for $1.76 million. 

Topping the automobilia portion of the auction was a Gilmore gas station island that sold for $63,250. 

Barrett-Jackson launches its 2019 calendar with its 48th annual Scottsdale auction, scheduled for January 12-20.

Larry Edsall
Larry Edsall
A former daily newspaper sports editor, Larry Edsall spent a dozen years as an editor at AutoWeek magazine before making the transition to writing for the web and becoming the author of more than 15 automotive books. In addition to being founding editor at ClassicCars.com, Larry has written for The New York Times and The Detroit News and was an adjunct honors professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

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