car he wanted, Jackson spent the summer before his senior year restoring that Corvette. Lesson learned—he should have cut a better deal with his dad. Now that he’s the father of a high school freshman, Jackson says he isn’t about to buy his son a Corvette when he turns 16. “I’m lucky I lived through that,” he says. But like his father, he expects his kids to work for their wheels. At 21, his daughter is doing just that—working at Barrett-Jackson while attending Arizona State University. Both his children have provided inspiration as to how to evolve Barrett-Jackson to meet the needs and expectations of generations to come, something of which Jackson has always been cognizant. It was his decision to put Barrett-Jackson on the Internet in the mid-1990s and to grow the company electronically that has really paid off for the brand. “Cutting the deal with Speed Vision, and then Speed Channel, and now the new deal with Discovery Velocity and the worldwide distribution of Barrett-Jackson—these are some of the milestones,” he says. “Being the first collector car auction live on television and on the Internet definitely catapulted us into mainstream America.” These strategic moves have led to highly successful annual auctions in Palm Beach, Florida, and the Reno-Taho location, and Las Vegas in Nevada. But Barrett-Jack-
son’s Scottsdale auction still stands as the biggest and best. “I have customers that we meet at all the other auctions who just can’t wait to come to Scottsdale, especially if they’re blown away by those auctions,” he says. He tells all of them that the mother ship back in Scottsdale will blow their minds. “Vegas is a good size auction—we fill that arena and the conference center, and it’s growing, but the Scottsdale auction is in a planetary system of its own,” he says. Jackson notes that the 2015 Scottsdale auction will generate far north of $100 million in sales and feature roughly 1,500 cars and well over 1,500 pieces of automobilia. “It’s the biggest of its type in the world,” he says, pointing out that nowhere else on the planet will you find an auction with the quality, quantity, and consistent year-after-year $100 million-plus amount of sales. Thanks to the recent $42.8 million expansion project of the Equidome at WestWorld, where the Barrett-Jackson auction is held, the event is set to get bigger and better every year. The enhancements to the venue were readily apparent at the 2014 Barrett-Jackson auction, which was the first event of the year at WestWorld to experience the enclosed and climatecontrolled Equidome. “It allowed us to grow the event and make everybody more comfortable. It also
made us more weather resistant and got us off of the polo field and from having to put the cars down in the flood-retention areas to now having all of them up above,” Jackson says. He also says that having real bathrooms instead of Porta Pottys is a big plus. The updated facility also allowed Barrett-Jackson to add more square footage, which resulted in the 2014 Scottsdale auction to be recognized by Guinness World Records for Largest Marquee, at 435,656.95 square feet and Largest Single-Unit Marquee, at 351,210.33 square feet. “From the front door to the back of the tent was eight-tenths of a mile under roof,” Jackson says. Expect the 2015 Barrett-Jackson auction to be even bigger and better. The upcoming January event includes a concert series, VIP tours, and more. According to Jackson, the goal is to continually grow and add more lifestyle and entertainment options while offering up the finest collector automobiles in the world. Weekly passes, daily tickets, and Family Value Day tickets can be purchased in advance from barrett-jackson.com or at the gate at WestWorld, 16601 N. Pima Rd., Scottsdale. Car lists change daily, so check the website to find out when your favorite car will go under the gavel. Registration for an auction account or to consign a car can also be completed online.
EASTVALLEYMAGAZINE.COM DECEMBER 2014 | JANUARY 2015
33