This is a guest post by P.J. Emery – She volunteered to cover the Barrett-Jackson Orange County Auctions. I met her on Twitter and she told me she was going to the auctions and would submit a guest post. Thanks P.J. for sharing your experience with us!
My husband Matt and I were lucky enough to attend the Barrett-Jackson auction at the Orange County Fairgrounds on Saturday, June 23.
While we are both into cars, we’d never had a chance to experience the automotive auction scene. Also, because of someone’s (*cough*) college budget, we’re not exactly in the market for another classic car at the moment. But we discovered pretty quickly that we could still get a lot out of a trip to one of these auctions, even if we didn’t have that much money to put into it.
What we discovered worked for us:
- Showing up early. We were there when the gates opened at 8 a.m., which let us get a good look at all the cars. This also enabled us to avoid the later crowds who arrived after the automotive bidding began after noon. Because most of the lots stay on display throughout the three-day auction weekend, before and after sale, we could get amazing looks at what everyone brought.
- Following a car or two from start to finish. Early on, a 1936 Ford Phaeton convertible caught my eye probably because while it had the classic look of a 1930’s sedan, stylistically it already seemed to evoke the nostalgia of an earlier decade. I was privileged to watch that car roll onto the stage that afternoon, where it fetched $48,400. It was also a featured car in Hagarty’s Fantasy Bid contest, so it was nice to know that I wasn’t the only one impressed with it.
Also, since my mom used to own a 1967 Chevy Camaro, I was happy to see three of them find new homes that day (though a little saddened that one of them wasn’t coming home with me!).
- Getting into the auction hall just to see how crazy it can get when a car is on the block. If you’re not there with bidder’s credentials, you can enjoy the excitement with hundreds of your new best friends behind the ropes and in the bleachers on either side. The TV coverage does no justice to conveying the energy that these auctions generate.
- Enjoying the whole show. Because there’s more than just automotive auctioning – there’s also the “automobilia” auction that comes beforehand, where old porcelain gas station signs and pedal cars can sell for significant sums of their own. At the Orange County Fairgrounds, you can ride huge Ferris Wheel or take the Skyride (which, if you saw the Speed Channel coverage, got a little coverage between commercial breaks). Multiple vendor booths are set up at the auction, and they’re not all selling automotive-related items: wares ranged from jewelry to memory-foam beds!
- Getting a little bit of schwag. I’m not so broke that I can’t get one t-shirt or catalog to enjoy long after the event is over.
I don’t know if we have the funds to get to Scottsdale or Las Vegas, but it’s nice to know that when next summer arrives, we have another opportunity to take in the sights and sounds at the 4th Annual Orange County Barrett-Jackson auction.
(of course, we couldn’t forget showing this 1948 Cadillac Series 62 convertible which went for $88,000 on Saturday)
P.J. Emery is a PhD student at UCLA researching automobiles in early 20th-century American Literature, when she’s not riding around in Matt’s 1963 Mercury Comet. She’s available on Twitter at @Peejster.
where can i get envolved with guys driving cadillacs… i just purchased a cadillac sts 05 and would like to cruise the streets with my fellow cadillac owners… where would i go to link up? any ideas?
Great story about the Barrett-Jackson auction. I attend a smaller Auctions America event in Raleigh, NC sometimes as a bidder though I’ve never won one, and it is fun. You see different cars than you see at car shows and even Concours, cars from the 40’s and 50’s (my generation) and not just muscle and foreign cars.