Barrett-Jackson prospers by selling a lot more cars, for a lot less money, to a wider demographic than the rest.
Craig Jackson recognizes Canadians at a glance at his Barrett-Jackson classic car auction in Scottsdale, Ariz.
“You can always spot them – they’re the ones in shorts on days when everybody else is wearing jackets,” jokes Jackson, who is opening the Canadian International AutoShow in Toronto on Thursday as guest speaker at the annual media conference.
Canadians bought 11 per cent of the 1,629 cars that his company sold during the Jan. 12-20 auctions, up from 10 per cent a year earlier. Overall earnings increased for the third consecutive year to $119 million – even as more prestigious houses experienced declines at their Arizona sales.
Electric and green or high-performance cars and the internal combustion engine, Petrina Gentile and Mark Richardson debate the future of cars at the Canadian International AutoShow in Toronto.
Barrett-Jackson prospers by selling a lot more cars, for a lot less money, to a wider demographic than the rest. The average price among 1,629 sales was $73,086 this year; by contrast, Gooding & Company performed best in the big-money realm, averaging $456,905 on only 104 sold.
“What you saw was a different buyer from in the past,” Jackson said in a telephone interview from Scottsdale. "The appetite for supercars, customs and resto-mods (stock in appearance, radical mechanically) came on strong last year and that continues. We sold 151 this year.
“I think of several cases of two cars selling back-to-back, same year but one stock and the other custom – the as-original ’57 Chevy brought $75,000, the custom $475,000.”
Overall earnings for the company increased for the third consecutive year to $119 million.
The company has unerringly anticipated the evolving market. Gen X and millennials bought twice as many vehicles in 2018 than in 2013, Barrett-Jackson reports. As a result, the average model year of vehicles sold jumped from 1968 in 2013, to 1978 last year.
“Gen X grew up with SUVs, so no surprise there, we’re selling lots of Broncos and Blazers,” Jackson said. “The goal now is millennials. We’re grooming millennials with more foreign cars, Japanese cars, along with IROC [International Race of Champion muscle] cars , Vipers, the hot cars they can relate to.”
Canadians bought 11 per cent of the 1,629 cars that Jackson's company sold during the Jan. 12-20 auctions, up from 10 per cent a year earlier.
Attention is duly paid to trends and statistics, but the gut judgments that take shape during each year’s auction may carry more weight. “When you get five, six bidders jumping in with bids on one type of car, no action for another, we pay attention," Jackson said. “Because we’ve got no reserves (minimum prices a consignee will accept for their car), every sale is a true snapshot.”
He dismisses concerns that electric cars are going to short-circuit the car collecting hobby.
“The supercar hybrids will be tomorrow’s collectibles – they just spool up so quick (accelerating from a standstill). I see a lot of collector interest in the future just because of that.”
For now, gasoline-gulping rules. The 840-horsepower 2018 Dodge Demon is certain to appreciate. Recent Shelby Mustangs are another sure thing: he’s bought a dozen.
His 2008 Bugatti Veyron, though, has yet to gain traction. When the gavel fell on the car at $700,000 at the 2010 Las Vegas sale and the winning bidder said he’d been just kidding and was escorted to the door, Jackson famously announced that if nobody else wanted to bid, he’d take it home. And so it transpired.
Gen X and millennials bought twice as many vehicles in 2018 than in 2013, Barrett-Jackson reports, for a total of $66.5 million, up from $33.5-million. As a result, the average model year of vehicles sold jumped from 1968 in 2013, to 1978 last year.
“I drive it,” he said. “I’m on my third set of tires.” The previous owner already had gone through three sets reaching 11,800 miles; the odometer reads 17,000 now. “I just sent it for a full service at Bugatti in L.A.,” Jackson said. The cost? “Probably $75,000,” he said. “It can be $17,000 just for belts and hoses.”
It was the first time in the entire conversation the man’s confidence seemed momentarily shaken.
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