This was forwarded to me by a buddy in the business. Not sure of the validity, but it definitely makes you wonder....

January 27th, 2007 by fourwheeldrift
As a collector car journalist, I have been watching the Barrett- Jackson auction for years. For the last five or so years, it has been very apparent that the Scottsdale auction is at best a bastion of greed and manipulation...and at worse, all-out fraud.

I've discussed B-J with collectors, dealers and enthusiasts, many of whom would be considered "insiders," meaning they've bought and sold cars at B-J and other auctions, or are well-known in the collector car hobby. For some reason, it is this year that people are all finally grumbling and passing rumors in unison.

The bottom line is that Craig Jackson and the B-J company have really screwed themselves this year. Their contracts specifically promise every car three minutes on the stand. Due to ego and greed, they expanded the Scottsdale '07 auction to the point they could not provide this, plus they had the audacity to do it on live television.

A well-known former head judge in the Ford Thunderbird circles was one of the sellers who had his car short-timed. He has already filed a law suit against B-J, and this is already headed towards class-action status.
According to this judge and other sources, it appears Barrett-Jackson was operating a bit on the same level as an evangelical healing show.
They had assistants milling around asking what specific sellers thought their cars would bring. Armed with this information at the control desk, if a lot passed the value at which a seller indicated he'd be happy, the car would be rushed off and the gavel would fall - even if bidding was still very much alive.

Because the event was televised on live television via the Speed TV network, the plaintiff(s) now have video/audio proof that buyers were signaling increased bids before the three-minute marks, but were denied by a too-fast last call and hammer.

While this all might cause Barrett-Jackson to have to pay money to sellers in the form of a judgment or settlement, it is something else that might land Craig Jackson in jail.

It is no secret that Barrett-Jackson owns many cars that are run through the auction - it was something I suspected many, many years ago. This was proven when they started maintaining a showroom of cars in Arizona. This is not illegal, but stay with me.

I've always suspected that the cars owned by Craig Jackson and the B-J company were often driven up by shill bidders working for the company.
Essentially, the strategy works in the sense that ever since the auction focus moved from classics like Packards and Duesenbergs to muscle cars, B-J has been able to shill, say a Hemi Cuda or mid-year Corvette 427 they own, which causes the value of the 10 other identical cars to increase. They wind up "buying" their own car back, but the others go on to regular buyers, who now are paying higher because of the perception the market has moved up.

This suspicion has been validated by auction attendees this year that witnessed cars sold at auction headed in trailers back to B-J's warehouse. The lawsuit allegedly points out that these cars also spent significantly more time on the block than others.

If this isn't all interesting enough, during this year's auction, fellow collector car journalist, Keith Martin of Sports Car Market, was booted from the Westworld premises and his media credentials revoked for voicing loud, specific concern regarding the event while sitting in the media room. Barrett-Jackson accused Keith Martin of "holding court" and attempting to send VIPs and journalists to the competing RM and Russo and Steele auction events. Among the alleged opinions included that the cars at B-J were of inferior quality (and had quality misrepresented,) as well as that the bidders were significantly over-bidding cars, which shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who has witnessed people paying six figures for cars they could have bought for under $50,000 any other day of the year!!!

This is somewhat of an interesting twist. Keith Martin's publication has marketed the B-J events and has helped fuel its popularity. Keith is definitely one of the great "insiders" of the hobby, and has been a friend to Craig Jackson. In past years, Keith nor his publication have been critical of the goings-on and rumors, while other collector car journalists have been outwardly screaming that something stunk.

It makes sense, since Sports Car Market really only tracks the value of vehicles and other items sold at auction, rather than via private sales (which really has skewed SCM's values for years!) So without kissing-*** to B-J, Keith would have missed insider info on the largest events covered by his mag. So we can only guess that Keith and Craig had a falling out of some type.

I applaud Keith for turning the corner on his view of B-J, but I'm with others I've talked to about this: I hate to say this about a colleague, but I felt his behavior was a bit unprofessional. As journalists, it is our responsibility to write what we think, but going to the show for years, then promoting RM and Russo+Steele while at Westworld is somewhat unprofessional. I agree that Keith, a true hobbyist who started out by writing an Alfa Romeo newsletter, was for a long time too much a part of the "circus" about which he finally rejected, and that SCM has to a significant degree helped to fuel misinformation and a house of cards regarding specific auction prices and bidding behavior. Keith, by all accounts, is a really good guy -- an enthusiast, who maybe just needed to take a step back and a big breath and reacquaint himself with those outside of the very insulated collector car "in crowd" -- and spend time with some car people who are not trying to exploit the collectors. There are plenty of guys who have dug themselves too deep into this little crowd, and are no longer fun to deal with, because they've put personal greed well ahead of the cars and the collectors. Keith will rebound -- he has a great internal staff of really fantastic people, who hopefully will help him return to his roots.

That being said... While I've never met him, the buzz among those in the hobby -- both collectors and journalists, is that Craig Jackson is quite arrogant, so don't expect many to come to his rescue. He inherited his father's company, and has fueled B-J's growth with a combination of intelligence, drive, ego, and greed. While there is nothing wrong with that combination, when it results in unethical and possibly illegal activities, that's inexcusable.

Like many surrounding the hobby, I will be watching the events unfold.
Will the Westworld tents come down like a house of cards, or will everything just go away with an exchange of a little money? It's hard to predict. Craig Jackson has become a very powerful man, and his company has pumped billions of dollars into the Arizona economy over the years. This all being said, there's no doubt that Barrett- Jackson "jumped the shark" this year. Unlike when Fonzi did it, Craig Jackson drove his allegedly shill-bid Hemicudas over the tank and down a ramp that could lead to six years in a minimum security prison- issued orange jumpsuit. If that's the case, maybe he can get Sports Car Market in the slammer to keep-up on Russo and Steele, RM and Kruse auction results.

 

Holy cow, not only has this hack job been posted all over the forum numerous times, but now I see you posted it at C1/2 and here... and...?
Are you kidding me? Are you related to the "journalist?"

 

I wonder how much of it is true, or close any way. Money talks. Peace,,, Moosie

 

I just got this as an email. I was wondering how long it would take before it hit the forum. Well, not long!

If it is true then for BJ

 

Hey, they can start bidding up the '74 Corvette coupes if they like. That would help me out.

 

That would help me out as well. Ive noticed the 74 starting to go up on ebay and cars.com Bought mine for $3000 and a year later a 74 in the same condition go for about $4500. Yea!!

 

The best thing about the goofy C-2 market is that it's bringing the C-3 prices up even for those of us with rubber bumpers.....

 

 

wife brought up a good question "why would they short-time a car if the bidding is still going on ??? isn't that more money they could have made on commish buyer/seller?

 

Joined Jan.'07....Did you join to make this post? If you had an interest in us where have you been? My question to you is what do you have to gain by the demise of BJ? I don't have any knowledge of this matter. I do know one weakness of the Internet. People can post anything about anybody anytime without any legal obligation to prove the Validity of their claims. Should it be a requirement to post your identity if you are going to make claims of lawbreaking or serious character attack? Makes you wonder. You have some kind of hidden agenda of your own. PEOPLE WHO HIDE IN THE DARK AND THROW POT SHOTS don't merit much notice. What is the name of your ....UH..Publication?

 

I have watched BJ auctions for the last few years and have noticed several things that I would consider either poor business practices or at worst, unethical practices. As much as I like to watch the auctions, I would never spend a penny with BJ. Just a little too shady for me.
Bob

 

The original article was brought to our attention a few days ago here:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...hlight=jackson

The article was written by forum member Sammyb, who checked in on that thread. Meanwhile, the original author has somewhat retracted that story, explanation here:

http://fourwheeldrift.wordpress.com/...o-longer-here/


So, there is as much of the story as I can provide. I am not sure what the point is of just posting the original article now to numerous forums. And that (as Paul Harvey would say).......

 

I noticed this happening a couple of times, but I blamed the sheer size of the auction and difficulty in keeping track of such widely distributed bidders. Also, I noticed that a number of times during the auction, bidding would stall and someone other than the auctioneer would talk up the lot to encourage more bids. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it frustrated the heck out of the high bidder who tried to get them to drop the hammer.

 

Thats what I was wondering?

 

It makes me wonder why people like you have to degrade and challenge new people . The guy has a C6 and did fill out his profile. Maybe someone doesn't need an agenda to post their first time. Or do they need to be a redneck grease monkey asking a question on how to roll up a window. No agenda then!

Maybe he was just passing on some info and didn't know that all you "guys in the know" already heard about it. I hadn't heard anything about itbut it does not surprise me. I do believe that BJ auctions are fixed and they do pump up the prices. After all, the more they pump the more money they make. Just look at the commission scale. 10% fromm one side and 8% from the other. What a ripoff!! And if any of you really believe nay of those prices then I have a bridge to sell you!

 

I know one thing if I were to spend a million dollars on a car. I wouldn't be put down on one. I would have a few. And wouldn't need to fill BJ's pockets doing it. I don't trust the guy

 

We were there at Thursdays auction at BJ...although we were only in the "tent" for 45 minutes....it did seem like they rushed some cars through while bidding was still going on...so,after returning home,and watching close on TV, there were several instances of some "confusion" over bids made,or attempted to be made....no doubt about that....what all this means, ???? Who knows....
Rich

 

Agree!

 

America is the greatest country in the world!
We're able to take in every bit of information on a subject, combine it with what we see ourselves, and form our own opinions.
I watched so much of the auction this year, my wife was about to leave me! I did see some of the things mentioned here, like cars being moved off stage while bidding was still taking place. While that doesn't make much sense to me either, I know what I saw. I guess we'll have to wait and see what the outcome is. Either way, the BJ auction has become what it is; another outlet for selling collector cars. Somewhat higher profile than Ebay, persay, but still another outlet.
I'm going to wait and see what happens. Quite interesting though to see this kind of lobbying taking place here in the forum....

 

If your looking to give B-J a sharp stick in the eye, this is a good place to do it, given the fact that Vettes make up a fair percentage of all the cars offered. Seemed like the entire production run of '67 435 cars were available (not counting an equal number of cars not for sale at home and being built across the country).
B-J is NOT responsible for authenticating each car. Bloomington can't even do that and they have several top guy's look at cars for a couple hours.
Everyone is looking for the last barn car, the car bought just before a serviceman went to Nam and got killed, or the the one advertised in the local paper as "1953 Chevy 2 door". When they get resold however, top dollar is asked for. The greed is the market for the rarest of these cars and the pull through that comes with it. If you don't like the prices of the cars, stop buying them, the market will correct itself (remember the '80s?).
Craig Jackson only serves the market. When internal combustion of fossil fuels is banned, there will be more museum quality cars than museums and the values will plumet (only one way values could fall). Enjoy them while you can. /:\