IF YOU’VE BEEN TO Barrett-Jackson’s market-defining January event in Scottsdale, and you think you know what to expect, a visit to the summertime Sin City version may raise an eyebrow or two. If you’re there to buy and/or sell a car (or three), the ability to get to the cars without fighting through hordes of jewelers, jet-airplane salespeople, and artists of varying quality is delightful. What’s more, everything fits in a single room at the Las Vegas Convention Center; there’s no wandering around between buildings and outdoors into larger tents. You wouldn’t have wanted to be outside in Las Vegas June 22-24, 2023, anyway, with its triple-digit temps during the event.
The numbers over three days look impressive on their face. Thirty million bucks after charity and automobilia are added in? Massive! Nearly 500 cars and a near-$59,000 sale average all appear to be strong numbers, 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
