Barrett Jackson 2025 Scottsdale Preview
With the ending of Mecum Kissimmee, right up next is Barrett Jackson Scottsdale.
I was able to attend this one time and it was a great visitor experience with just awesome weather for January and being from the East Coast.
Tons to see and do at the venue, easy to walk more then your able too! I recommend it if you have the chance to see something like this.
Here is a preview of some of the Willys and Kaiser Era stuff I ran across on their site…….
If anyone is going good luck and have fun!
https://www.barrett-jackson.com/scottsdale-2025
It doesn’t look “rewarding” for the Flat Fender CJ and DJ market from these samples.
I’ve covered Scottsdale auctions for a well known collector car magazine,.so I have some insight on those events.
You won’t see Jeeps at the really high end events that cater to the really expensive or exotic cars…sales like RM and Bonhams. They’re more comfortable with exotics, Enzo-era Ferraris, and racing Porsches.
As we see above, Barrett-Jackson and Mecum will sell some Jeeps, but their demographic seems to be cars in $50k+ range.
With the fees and costs involved with selling a car there (or the Monterey or Amelia Island sales) it doesn’t make sense to sell anything less that that at those sites.
Back in 2019, I saw a very nice CJ-7 sell for $1.2 million, but that was for the Gary Sinise Foundation which supports veterans.
You’ll also see at B-J and Mecun restored or original Jeep Wagoneers. As you probably know, for the last few years first-rate or extensively modified Broncos (and a few SUVs and pickups) are highly popular.
If you want to follow Jeep sales, I’d suggest looking at the online Bring a Trailer site. You can request email notifications when a particular model comes up for dale. If you are looking for a particular model, you’ll find it there. Hemmings and Hagerty have similar sites.
So, look at it this way…
-Jeeps are already famous, they don’t need any more name recognition brought by a few minutes of TV time.
-The real good news is that by in large, Jeeps are still affordable. They’re a great democtatizer in the classic car world, beloved by owners of all stripes. I’ve had a few collector cars, all have cost more than my M38A1, but none get more comments from the public.
So, while it’s fun to see people spend silly money on cars few of us will ever experience, we’ll have just as much fun with our Jeeps.
What is the “love affair” with high prices, it just prices ordinary guys like me out of the hobby. Most seem to be missing the point. The word HOBBY now seems appropriate, it has become a MONEY GRAB. I’m so tired it, I can understand making a profit on labor & investment, but the time will come when only the rich will be able to afford a classic vehicle.
The Jeep labeled 1953 CJ is not a CJ, it is an M38-A1.
Over 15 years ago, my wife and I watched them run an M38 across the block. It was missing a whole lot of important parts- wouldn’t have even qualified for judging at an MVPA conv. Two guys ran it up to over 95K before buyer’s premium. Probably 100K worth of buyer’s remorse. But hey, the beer was good, right?
JohnB’s right about the attention a Jeep will get at a show compared to other, more expensive vehicles. Often when a customer complains to us about the price of a rare, NOS part, I ask how much a similar part would cost for, say, a 57 Thunderbird? It would be several fold more! But park that restored Jeep next to that ‘bird at a car show and see who gets the attention.
Tom Jones…
The designation error is on the sellers, not the auction house.
Dealing with as many cars as the auction house is trying to sell, they believe what the seller tells them.(This is true of all sellers, not just B-J).
I know with the listing fees and commissions, they take, the auction houses SHOULD try to vet the listings more. But if you read the auction catalogs, there is a lot of weasel wording to make sure buyers know it is on them to make sure they know what they’re bidding on. They have to go out of their way not to suggest there is any kind of warranty.
So, perhaps the sellers think it’s a CJ-5 based on what the title says? I know when I registered mine, the woman at the licensing office had issues…couldn’t find Willys or Kaiser Willys let alone M38A1.
I checked the vehicle, it is an A1 with all the military features, they list the serial as MD74726, and the data plates are attached.
Remember, to the unwashed masses, all Jeeps are alike. A couple of years back there was a Washington dealer who was selling a A1 and listed it for months in national magazines as a M38. After seeing the ads for months, I contacted them and politely pointed out their not insignificant error. They told me to pound sand.
It’s errors like that that make some buyers shy away from some auctions.
Usually the auction houses are on top of things.
There is a lot of wrong with some of those but I’m sure they will for high prices. I liked like the black fenders on that jeepster.