Everything looks impressive in isolation. Thirty million bucks after charity and automobilia are added in, over the course of three days, June 22-24? Yowsa! Nearly 500 cars and a near-$59,000 sale average all appeared to be strong numbers on their own, and on site it felt like brisk business was being done. That’s the glass-half-full view. The glass-half-empty crowd will look at last year’s strong numbers (and the year before that), and note that both ’21 and ’22 were $48 million weekends. In ’21, the average sale was just above $65,000, while ’22’s Vegas average was around $72,000. Buyers probably appreciated the lower average price this year, but thirteen grand less per car is going to add up. Or get subtracted out, I suppose. Math is hard.
If you’ve been to the January Scottsdale extravaganza, a visit to the Vegas edition in June may not be what you expect. The “automotive lifestyle” aspect of the Barrett-Jackson experience is pruned back significantly. As someone there to see the cars, the lack of hydraulic lifts, driftwood coffee tables and free offers to clean my sunglasses, placed between
