Company History

The World's Greatest Collector Car Auctions

Barrett-Jackson specializes in providing products and services to astute classic and collector car owners and automotive enthusiasts around the world. Barrett-Jackson produces The World's Greatest Collector Car Auctions in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Palm Beach, Florida, where hundreds of the most sought-after, unique and valuable automobiles cross the block in front of a global audience.

Early Days

1960s

First meeting between two car buffs, Russ Jackson and Tom Barrett.

1967

The “Fiesta de los Autos Elegantes” car show and parade held to raise money for Scottsdale's art center and to buy books for the community's library.

1971

Headquarters established in Scottsdale, Arizona. By the fall, the car show was phased out and work began on a collector car auction to be held that winter, seeded with 75 vehicles from Jackson's and Barrett's personal collections. Held next to the Safari Resort on Scottsdale Road, the auction - with its star vehicles being Barrett's pair of Mercedes-Benz 770 Phaetons - was reported live on the national weekend evening news.

1989

The auction grew exponentially, moving to a larger space some 10 miles north to WestWorld of Scottsdale, where the massive automotive lifestyle event has remained ever since.

2003

Barrett-Jackson took its famous auction and lifestyle event across the country to Palm Beach, Florida. With a unique ambiance and collector car lineup that reflects the South Florida setting, the Palm Beach auction has continued to record impressive attendance and sales.

2005

Barrett-Jackson became one of the first auction houses to offer most of its vehicles at No Reserve, which means these vehicles sold to their highest bidder. This groundbreaking approach led to monumental growth for years to come.

2008

Barrett-Jackson added a Las Vegas event at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, giving auto enthusiasts around the globe a trifecta of car collecting.

2013

The Barrett-Jackson Cup was introduced to raise the bar in the custom automotive specialty universe even higher.

2015

The 44th Annual Scottsdale event in 2015 marked the debut of Barrett-Jackson's new television coverage on Discovery and Velocity, with 36 hours of live broadcasts throughout the United States and Canada, as well as in Spanish to Latin America ‒ another first for the company. The auction was highlighted by the extraordinary Ron Pratte Collection of more than 140 incredible vehicles and 1,500 outstanding pieces of automobilia. The record-breaking results sent shock waves throughout the collector car industry. With automobilia sales nearly tripling the world record, and attendance, car sales, charity funds raised and number of cars consigned witnessing a sizable increase, the nine-day event was historic on many levels.

2016

Barrett-Jackson's inaugural Northeast Auction was held at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. It marked the first time the company held an event in the Northeastern United States and - coupled with the 14th Annual Palm Beach Auction in April - was also the first time Barrett-Jackson held two collector car auctions on the East Coast in the same calendar year. That first Northeast Auction was an unprecedented success, with tickets selling out shortly after gates opened on Thursday and vehicle consignments closing days ahead of the auction - sparking the first double sellout in the company's long history.

2017

The Las Vegas Auction took on unexpected meaning and became a catalyst for healing when, following the tragic shooting in the city, the auction of Barrett-Jackson President Steve Davis' very special 2007 Ford Shelby GT500 Super Snake was sold for $1 million with 100% of the sale price to benefit Las Vegas first responders.

2018

Barrett-Jackson achieved two more milestones at the flagship Scottsdale Auction: the achievement of raising more than $100 million for charity since the company's inception (largely through the auction of vehicles for worthy causes) and the first visit by a former president. George W. Bush surprised the packed auction arena when he appeared on the auction to help sell a 2018 Carbon 65 Edition Corvette donated by General Motors, which brought in $1.4 million to benefit his Military Service Initiative.

2021

In 2021, the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Auction in March proved to be the perfect setting for the Barrett-Jackson Cup competition to make its triumphant return.

2024

The World's Greatest Collector Car Auctions supercharged its kickoff auction calendar with their flagship Scottsdale Auction at WestWorld in Scottsdale, Arizona. In dynamic fashion, the event featured its largest auction docket in company history with 2,016 collectible vehicles, all selling with No Reserve, for $200.9 million in auction sales. Additionally, Barrett-Jackson sold 1,180 pieces of authentic automobilia for $6.7 million, bringing total auction sales to $207.6 million, the most for a single auction in Barrett-Jackson history, with a 100 percent sell-through rate and over 190 world-record auction sales.