DPC is back on the road and covering the 2023 Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Auction. Part three of his odyssey from Phoenix to WestWorld of Scottsdale is available here
My 13-year-old son has developed a love of cars in the last few years and I’ll take some responsibility for this development. He’s been to the last couple of Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auctions but due to my job I’ve been unable to just stroll WestWorld with my son looking at cars.
On Wednesday, after fulfilling my duties as an automotive journalist, I surprised my son by picking him up after school and we headed to WestWorld for the auction. His excitement was apparent, and I felt the same way.
It was about 5:00 p.m. when we got to WestWorld and the auction was still in high gear. I functioned as our tour guide, and we strolled through the pavilion. Large crowd, great energy and too many things to see. Most importantly I made a beeline to the Mini Donut Trolley and shared the offerings from my favorite vendor at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale.
We made our way to the auction floor and watched the cars roll by from my favorite spot at the staging lanes. I seemed to have a random anecdote for a lot of the cars that passed by, and like a dad I probably bored him with my work stories.
Since this was a school night I needed to make our evening somewhat educational and we made a our way to JFK’s 1962 Lincoln Continental. He understood the historical significance of the car and it was interesting to see a piece of Camelot up close. After that sobering school lesson we made our way to Will Ferrell’s 1961 Volkswagen Microbus. My son loves old VW vans and the movie “Elf,” so we took in the restored Microbus from every angle and agreed it was a great car. Who wouldn’t love a classic Volkswagen restored to it original glory that is being sold by Ron Burgundy?
We ended up walking around, looking at cars, and just talking about nothing in particular. It was one of those special evenings that are unfortunately too rare. After watching the action from the seats on the auction floor we headed home. Our energy was positive but my Mini Cooper emitted a funky smell after I turned over the engine and then a battery warning light lit up the dash.
No matter, we left the parking lot and made our way to the 101. It was 6:45 and we were about two miles away from WestWorld when my car let me know it was very hot and I needed to slow down. The Mini was lurching and I parked at a Hilton. Going by its odor and stutter-step performance I figured it would need a tow to get home. Even a sick car couldn’t ruin the day.
Great auction
Love the comment about your Mini, definitely the worst car I ever owned, but the car show was great.