2023 Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Auction Diary: Day Three

DPC is back on the road and covering the 2023 Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Auction. Part two of his odyssey from Phoenix to WestWorld of Scottsdale is available here

Yesterday afternoon the cars, trucks, and anything else considered a road-going vehicle began crossing the stage, and just like that the auction began. I consider the first two-days of the auction to be somewhat of a soft opening with the staff, exhibitors, and all of us here to work having a chance to acclimate ourselves and get everything ready for the big show. If I was to use my usual convoluted analogies, it’s akin to a pre-season NFL game.

Going by the inexact science of the eyeball test, yesterday had more folks in attendance than the same day at last’s year auction. This same method of inexact science give me the impressions that Monday’s crowd had substantially more energy than last year’s, but there is not a way to quantify this theory. Monday was cold by Arizona standards (35 degrees in the morning with a high of 47 degrees by the afternoon) but WestWorld was busy outside in the morning with folks checking out all the cars on the docket that hadn’t crossed the stage yet. It’s good to see larger crowds at the auction and I imagine Friday and Saturday should be electric with even more people in attendance than last year.

Yesterday afternoon I was watching the auction by the staging lanes, I find this to be a great location to see the cars on stage being auctioned off, while also getting a chance to check out the cars about to head on stage. I’d like to say that I had a laser-like focus on the auction, but crippling A.D.D. gives me the attention span of a jack rabbit and my mind tends to drift, or I zone out. This issue explains why it took me about eight-years to get a bachelor’s degree.

During one of my zoned-out moments a woman behind me was thinking aloud and asked no one in particular, “I had no idea they had regular cars here?” as a 2000 Cadillac Eldorado rolled on stage for its turn at bat.

My response entailed that there are a lot of higher end collector cars available, but ultimately there is something for everyone and the first couple of days of the auction shows the diversity of the docket. She seemed OK with my response, but never said another word and eventually walked away. My charm and people skills are second to many.

Within a few minutes I was gone myself. No one would notice the vacant spot I left as more folks made their way to my favorite perch to watch the auction. It’s good to see that our collective passion for classic cars and all things automotive is still growing. Even if I tend to zone out every now and then I’m cognitive enough to realize our hobby is in a good place.