Even if you aren’t bidding, Barrett-Jackson is an automotive wonderland
By Steve Turner
As amazing as it might sound, your author had never attended one of Barrett-Jackson’s auction spectaculars. In all my years on the automotive scene, I have documented the sales of significant Fords at these sales—particularly those sold by the Blue Oval for charity—but never made one in person. This year the fates were with me as the West Palm Beach, Florida, auction was to take place on the weekend I was heading down to Miami, Florida, for a Caribbean cruise—April 17-19.
Palm Beach represented our first opportunity to lay eyes on an Avalanche Gray Shelby GT350 in the flesh and it looks pretty darn sexy. While some detractors call this paint scheme primer, we have to say it looks far better in person, especially with the black stripes. In general, the S550 bodylines favor lighter colors
So, before I jumped on a big boat and actually unplugged myself from the Internet for a couple days, I took the opportunity to swing by on Friday to see what the experience was all about. It turns out that while the auction is the headlining act, the the full experience is a fusion of local car show, international auto show, and state fair all rolled into one.
Entering the main building at the South Florida Fairgrounds, we instantly entered a full on auto show with massive displays from all the Big Three automakers. Ford, in particular, had an impressive display dominated by its mainstream products and highlighted by a full complement of Ford Performance vehicles.
Next door to the manufacturer displays was the arena that hosts the auction you see on television, and it draws huge crowds no matter what is for sale.
It was also the first time we saw a Shelby GT350R in something other than that show-only Liquid Blue, and the “The fastest road-course production Mustang ever†looks sinister in black. While Ford reps were still coquettish about the car’s final performance specs, we did learn that Ford will eventually offer rides in Shelby GT350s at various historic road course across the country.
Once you exit the building, the event is alive with a midway full of manufacturer displays accented by numerous stands peddling food and drink. If you registered inside, you could walk to the back of the fairgrounds and participate in numerous manufacturer ride-and-drive experiences. Ford had some of the crew from Miller Motorports Park’s Ford Performance Racing School on hand to take eager fans on laps in 2015 Mustangs.
Forgive the glare from the indoor lighting, but this was our first eyes-on look at the R-model’s center-stack block-off panel emblazoned with a simple R logo.
On our way back to check out the ride and drives, we were able to see many of the cars waiting in the wings for the auction. It made for a great car show, and there were plenty of cool Fords, from GT500s to an old-school European Focus RS. You just didn’t know what you might see on the next aisle, which makes it fun.
In short, now that we’ve been to Barrett-Jackson auction, we want to go back. If you haven’t been, we highly recommend that you check it out if there’s one in your area. The next auction rolls into Reno, Nevada, from August 6-8, 2015.
Till next time, check out some of the highlights from the West Palm Beach event…
It’s always fun to see a new Mustang displayed on its side. In West Palm Beach it was the EcoBoost Mustang that showed off its underside to the crowd. As you can see in the sign overhead, you could score a free Mustang T-shirt and sign up a for ride-and-drive experiences at the kiosks next to the EcoBoost ’Stang.If you didn’t already want to make a trip out to the Ford Performance Racing School at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah, Ford offered the opportunity to ride in 2015 Mustangs with some of its instructors at Barrett-Jackson. There was a steady line of takers when we visited the track at the fairgrounds. Sadly we couldn’t work any seat time into our schedule.Outside we perused the manufacturer displays onsite and had another first-in-the-flesh look at the Roush Stage 3 Mustang. The TVS-supercharged RS3 looked sharp in Competition Orange, and we can see why so may people are fans of the tweaks Roush made to the S550.If you ever needed a reason to visit a Barrett-Jackson auction, it’s because you might see something that you can see anywhere else. With all the excitement about the forthcoming Focus RS, we were pretty excited to see this Electric Green 2010 Focus RS up for auction. With only 14,500 miles on the clock, this nicely optioned RS featured a few upgrades, including a larger turbo, a Stage 4 intercooler, forged pistons, 1,000cc fuel injectors, and more. It sold for $31,900.I’ve been mulling over selling my beloved GT500, so it was interesting to check out a couple of models of the same era for sale in Palm Beach. This black 2007 Shelby only has 4,000 miles on it and was nicely modded with Bassani headers, a Steeda cold-air intake, a Steeda supercharger pulley, Steeda Sport springs, an SCT tune, Carroll Shelby CS69 wheels, and Nitto NT555 tires. It sold for $44,000.Another S197 Shelby up for sale was this while 2007 Shelby that was nicely modded by our friends a Revan Racing. It features a Griggs suspension, a Torsen diff, a Shelby high-capacity radiator, FPRP 3.73 gears, and more. Though it had only 10,831 miles on the odometer, it had a bit of an altercation with a tree, which may account for its $31,350 sale price.One guy was tooling around the auction site in this sweet Shelby GT500 golf cart. Who doesn’t need one of these to drive around the neighborhood or racetrack?
