Blue Oval Bidding
Ford’s presence was strong at the South Florida stop on the auction’s tour
By Steve Turner
Automotive auctions have become a television staple because it’s fun to watch well-heeled bidders buying pristine collectible cars. Theses beauties might be beyond the reach of most of us, but it’s still fun to dream. Not all the dream cars are completely unattainable, however. There are some real-world cars for sale too.
As auctions go, Barrett Jackson is at the forefront of popularity. This rolling roadshow tours from the West to the Southeast to the Northeast and back out West. If one is held near you, you should definitely add it to your automotive dance card.
You’ll see that there is more to these events than just bidding on beautiful cars, but there was plenty of that when we visited the Barrett Jackson in West Palm Beach, Florida, with over 23.2 million in collector cars and collectibles sold at the event.
“Our Palm Beach auction was a remarkable success with an incredible docket of desirable supercars, original muscle cars and automobilia,” said Craig Jackson, chairman and CEO of Barrett-Jackson. “The crowds were electric throughout the weekend and primetime Saturday felt like primetime in Scottsdale as the wave of energy carried over from our 45th Anniversary Scottsdale Auction. We look forward to bringing this same excitement to our inaugural Mohegan Sun Auction in June.”
In addition to the drama of the auctions the Barrett Jackson experience is like a traveling fair that combines a new-car auto show, a traditional car show made up of the auction vehicles, plus food, drinks and more. Beyond the stationary displays one of the real highlights is the manufacturer-fueled ride and drive experiences.
When we saw Shelby GT350s zipping around the small course, we couldn’t resist going for a ride with one of the Ford Performance Racing School drivers, Drew Staveley. Check it out…
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Riding in a GT350 with a pro driver was obviously the highlight of the show, but it was fun wandering through the cars for sale, the manufacturer displays and the various vendors showing off their wares. In all it was a great time and there were several significant Fords for sale, some of which went for big money.
Ford’s display at Barrett Jackson rivals what the company puts forth for a traditional auto show. From passenger cars and trucks to all the Ford Performance hardware, it’s a great place for no-pressure shopping research.
Two of the most significant Fords up for auction in West Palm were a pair of 2006 Ford GT Heritage Editions, one of which had only six miles on the odometer. These were two of only 343 Ford GT’s produced with the Gulf paint scheme. The six-mile example still wore all the stickers and plastic on the seats and sold for a whopping $467,500, which probably more than the sticker price of the forthcoming 2017. Next to the untouched model was a 3,050-mile example that went for an impressive $412,500.
This display was quite a tease. It’s one of the track-prepped Shelby GT350s employed by the Ford Performance Racing School for the Shelby GT350 Track Attack. We’d love to hit the track in one of these cars, but that honor is reserved for owners of 2015+ Shelby GT350s.
Speaking of the Ford Performance Racing School and Shelby GT350s, the school’s drivers were giving thrill rides in the top dog Mustang as part of the Ford’s Ride & Drive experience at Barrett Jackson. We were lucky enough to score a Shelby ride, but missed out on the Focus RS, which took laps later in the weekend.
We have fond memories of piloting the 2008 Shelby GT500KR and there were two nice examples up for auction in West Palm. This Silver Metallic example clocked 3,857 original miles and sold for $55,000. Parked right next it was an Ebony Black version with 3,212 miles. It brought in $79,200.
With all the excitement about the current Mustangs, it was refreshing to see that there is still strong interest for some of those cars that came before. One that really sold for impressive money was this showroom-fresh 2003 Mach 1. With only 3.6 miles on the odometer, the seller said this Mach 1 had never been wet and still wore factory plastic on the interior and shipping tape on the exterior. It sold for $55,000, which is about $15,000 more than its sticker price.
While the stock, low-mileage rides were bringing big money, this custom 2003 Lightning brought in solid cash. Besides the obvious vertical doors and 22-inch wheels, the truck was modded to put down over 507 horsepower and 548 lb-ft of torque at the wheels. Someone must have been in the market for a modded Lightning as it sold for $34,100.
This one wasn’t for sale or it might have brought in the largest bids. If you are one our Facebook followers, you saw this 2017 Ford GT slowly spinning in the Ford display. A brightly colored Ford GT is attractive enough, but there was something about it rotating on a turntable that put us in a momentary trance.
