Both are 67 years old, one has been restored to mint condition

Photo by Kathleen Rolfsrud

Two Boomers at  Barret-Jackson  -- World's Largest Collector Car Auction

A classic car or truck is auctioned here every few minutes.
We watched 30 of them change hands.

Above is a fully-restored and extremely rare 1947 Ford cab-over engine body throw-back -- on sale this week at the world-famous Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction in Scottsdale. Thousands of car lovers from all over the world will stream there every day this week to this incredible exhibition under the Arizona sun, many there to actually bid on the exotic, classic or rare vehicles offered in the non-stop auction in a huge arena surrounded by millions of dollars worth of collector automobiles and related equipment. Shifts of auctioneers hammered the bidders in a feverish tempo designed to maximize excitement and the prices.
A lot of interest was generated when renown auto collector Ron Pratte offered his entire collection for sale. His life's work was on display in one of the massive circus tents on the property. We parked miles away on a football field and took a shuttle just to get near. A senior discount ticket went for $25. More on weekends.
You could also watch the auction streaming on-line and perhaps bid on your favorite Nash-Rambler over the phone, but today we were there in person to be amazed as our host and sponsor, John Gerken, helped us absorb and understand the culture at this once-in-a-lifetime auto experience. We'll never see anything like it again. We figure there were 3,000 collector quality cars to displayed today, we viewed at least 1,000 of them.

Katie's favorite, a Packard

But we were there to see the renown Ron Pratte 140 car collection, a story in itself. It did not disappoint. We are not car people, but we had a wonderful time watching this treasury of familiar automotive history throb with activity, as the nation's collector car inventory streamed over the chanting auctioneer's block, leaving the grounds with the highest bidder.
To get the flavor of the show, watch this video. Click here.

Make an offer.