<VV> Barrett-Jackson (No Corvair)

[Gary Swiatowy]

I found the following quite interesting, I thought a lot of cars were going
through too fast, mand always suspected that this auction was just ripe for
some shill bidding........

 

Barrett-Jackson's Westworld Tent Turns Out to be a House of Cards

http://fourwheeldrift.wordpress.com/

January 27th, 2007 by fourwheeldrift 
As a collector car journalist, I have been watching the Barrett-Jackson
auction for years. For the last five or so years, it has been very apparent
that the Scottsdale auction is at best a bastion of greed and
manipulation.and at worse, all-out fraud.

I've discussed B-J with collectors, dealers and enthusiasts, many of whom
would be considered "insiders," meaning they've bought and sold cars at B-J
and other auctions, or are well-known in the collector car hobby. For some
reason, it is this year that people are all finally grumbling and passing
rumors in unison.

The bottom line is that Craig Jackson and the B-J company have really
screwed themselves this year. Their contracts specifically promise every car
three minutes on the stand. Due to ego and greed, they expanded the
Scottsdale '07 auction to the point they could not provide this, plus they
had the audacity to do it on live television.

A well-known former head judge in the Ford Thunderbird circles was one of
the sellers who had his car short-timed. He has already filed a law suit
against B-J, and this is already headed towards class-action status.
According to this judge and other sources, it appears Barrett-Jackson was
operating a bit on the same level as an evangelical healing show. They had
assistants milling around asking what specific sellers thought their cars
would bring. Armed with this information at the control desk, if a lot
passed the value at which a seller indicated he'd be happy, the car would be
rushed off and the gavel would fall - even if bidding was still very much
alive.

Because the event was televised on live television via the Speed TV network,
the plaintiff(s) now have video/audio proof that buyers were signaling
increased bids before the three-minute marks, but were denied by a too-fast
last call and hammer.

While this all might cause Barrett-Jackson to have to pay money to sellers
in the form of a judgment or settlement, it is something else that might
land Craig Jackson in jail.

It is no secret that Barrett-Jackson owns many cars that are run through the
auction - it was something I suspected many, many years ago. This was proven
when they started maintaining a showroom of cars in Arizona. This is not
illegal, but stay with me.

I've always suspected that the cars owned by Craig Jackson and the B-J
company were often driven up by shill bidders working for the company.
Essentially, the strategy works in the sense that ever since the auction
focus moved from classics like Packards and Duesenbergs to muscle cars, B-J
has been able to shill, say a Hemi Cuda or mid-year Corvette 427 they own,
which causes the value of the 10 other identical cars to increase. They wind
up "buying" their own car back, but the others go on to regular buyers, who
now are paying higher because of the perception the market has moved up.

This suspicion has been validated by auction attendees this year that
witnessed cars sold at auction headed in trailers back to B-J's warehouse.
The lawsuit allegedly points out that these cars also spent significantly
more time on the block than others.

If this isn't all interesting enough, during this year's auction, fellow
collector car journalist, Keith Martin of Sports Car Market, was booted from
the Westworld premises and his media credentials revoked for voicing loud,
specific concern regarding the event while sitting in the media room.
Barrett-Jackson accused Keith Martin of "holding court" and attempting to
send VIPs and journalists to the competing RM and Russo and Steele auction
events. Among the alleged opinions included that the cars at B-J were of
inferior quality (and had quality misrepresented,) as well as that the
bidders were significantly over-bidding cars, which shouldn't come as a
surprise to anyone who has witnessed people paying six figures for cars they
could have bought for under $50,000 any other day of the year!!!
This is somewhat of an interesting twist. Keith Martin's publication has
marketed the B-J events and has helped fuel its popularity. Keith is
definitely one of the great "insiders" of the hobby, and has been a friend
to Craig Jackson. In past years, Keith nor his publication have been
critical of the goings-on and rumors, while other collector car journalists
have been outwardly screaming that something stunk.

It makes sense, since Sports Car Market really only tracks the value of
vehicles and other items sold at auction, rather than via private sales
(which really has skewed SCM's values for years!) So without kissing-ass to
B-J, Keith would have missed insider info on the largest events covered by
his mag. So we can only guess that Keith and Craig had a falling out of some
type.

I applaud Keith for turning the corner on his view of B-J, but I'm with
others I've talked to about this: I hate to say this about a colleague, but
I felt his behavior was a bit unprofessional. As journalists, it is our
responsibility to write what we think, but going to the show for years, then
promoting RM and Russo+Steele while at Westworld is somewhat unprofessional.
I agree that Keith, a true hobbyist who started out by writing an Alfa Romeo
newsletter, was for a long time too much a part of the "circus" about which
he finally rejected, and that SCM has to a significant degree helped to fuel
misinformation and a house of cards regarding specific auction prices and
bidding behavior. Keith, by all accounts, is a really good guy - an
enthusiast, who maybe just needed to take a step back and a big breath and
reacquaint himself with those outside of the very insulated collector car
"in crowd" - and spend time with some car people who are not trying to
exploit the collectors. There are plenty of guys who have dug themselves too
deep into this little crowd, and are no longer fun to deal with, because
they've put personal greed well ahead of the cars and the collectors. Keith
will rebound - he has a great internal staff of really fantastic people, who
hopefully will help him return to his roots.

That being said. While I've never met him, the buzz among those in the hobby
- both collectors and journalists, is that Craig Jackson is quite arrogant,
so don't expect many to come to his rescue. He inherited his father's
company, and has fueled B-J's growth with a combination of intelligence,
drive, ego, and greed. While there is nothing wrong with that combination,
when it results in unethical and possibly illegal activities, that's
inexcusable.

Like many surrounding the hobby, I will be watching the events unfold. Will
the Westworld tents come down like a house of cards, or will everything just
go away with an exchange of a little money? It's hard to predict. Craig
Jackson has become a very powerful man, and his company has pumped billions
of dollars into the Arizona economy over the years.
This all being said, there's no doubt that Barrett-Jackson "jumped the
shark" this year. Unlike when Fonzi did it, Craig Jackson drove his
allegedly shill-bid Hemicudas over the tank and down a ramp that could lead
to six years in a minimum security prison-issued orange jumpsuit. If that's
the case, maybe he can get Sports Car Market in the slammer to keep-up on
Russo and Steele, RM and Kruse auction results.

 

 

Gary Swiatowy