Here's a link I picked up on another car board I view.. I thought it was kinda interesting article on B-J...

http://fourwheeldrift.wordpress.com/2007/01/27/barrett-jacksons-westworld-tents-turn-out-to-be-a-house-of-cards/

Mod... Move this if you want... sorry I think I should have posted this in the General discussion forum section... My bad

Very interesting indeed.... many folks with whom I have had casual discussions with while at B-J's have suspected and have inferred the same thing. One hears this pretty regularly as you walk around. It has always been amazing to me to see what we ordinarily would consider an average car with somewhat loose documentation get hyped up and sold for an astronomical sum. But then again, we are at a “show” and hype is the name of the game not necessarily common sense. One sees, on a pretty regular basis over the four day auction, cars which can be readily found on Corvette/Classic Car trader selling for two, sometimes three times what they are remotely worth. I have always attributed this to fools with too much money who really have no clue what they are buying. It appears there are plenty of them…. Regarding the manipulation of the auction, so what else is new? Least we forget the famous battles of the ‘major’ auction houses of a couple of years ago and the fraud and manipulation that these so-called ‘major’ houses were conducting, this is all part of the game…..

I'm dead tired and all I did was read this part

This all being said, there’s no doubt that Barrett-Jackson “jumped the shark” this year. Unlike when Fonzi did it, this story has Craig Jackson driving 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.

I smell smoke, so does that mean theres fire?

~Z~ :laugh:

This is an interesting article. I am not a collector by any stretch of the imagination. But, I have the same passion about Datsuns, especially the S30 Z that many on this board share. I have never seen the same vintage Datsuns, let alone Zs, on Speedvision's B-J auction. AND I am definately NOT an "insulated insider."

That said, I wonder where Mr. Barrett is during all this controversy? Is he ignoring the fracas, hoping his company gains notoriety? Is he distancing himself from Mr. Jackson's alleged antics? Is he just as culpable?

Hmmm.

This is nothing new...the same stuff happens in the stock market all the time. It is, however, unethical and I am bummed that it may be true.

I read Keith Martin and watch the B-J auctions. I always thought some of the prices at these auctions (and on Sports Car Market) were out of line, but maybe just in denial.