Barrett Jackson Northeast 2016
Uncasville, CTSaturday, June 25, 2016
Barrett-Jackson Northeast was an inaugural event for Mohegan Sun Casino and for the Barrett-Jackson Auction Company…and for this Hotrod Hotline Roving Reporter too. Before last weekend, my collector car auction experience was limited to what I saw on television. I had a lot to learn.
An event like this is a big deal in Connecticut. The TV news people had been reporting for days leading up to last Thursday that hotel rooms as far away as Hartford were fully booked. The last time that happened was…probably never. The reports said 30,000 advance tickets had been sold. With only 10,000 seats in the Mohegan Sun Arena, I wondered what they would do if 30,000 people showed up at the Barrett-Jackson Auction at the same time. Then I read that the Barrett-Jackson crew’s normal set up schedule had to be shortened by two or three days, because another event at the casino was still in progress on the same parking lot acreage needed for the auction car staging area, Showcase Pavilion, and food courts. I fully expected to see a few glitches and problem areas at this first time, largest ever event at Mohegan Sun. I saw none. Zero. The Barrett-Jackson team and the Mohegan Sun team had their act together. You’d have thought they’d done all of this at Mohegan Sun ten times before.
On Thursday I went to see the cars in the staging area and quickly learned that the Barrett-Jackson Auction isn’t all about the cars, trucks, and motorcycles that are for sale. It’s an event that is designed to keep you entertained for every minute of the day that you’re there. Automakers are present to give you a ride in a fast car. Suppliers such as Mothers Polish and Shelby American are there so you can talk to experts and maybe purchase some Instant Detailer, or a Super Snake conversion for your Mustang GT. That’s just scratching the surface. There isn’t enough time in only one day to see all of the attractions and check out the cars before the auction begins. I returned on Saturday to see what I’d missed on my first pass through the Showcase Pavilion and to take a few photos of more of the auction cars.
To sum things up, the Barrett-Jackson and Mohegan Sun employees who staffed the event made everything easy for this rookie auction spectator. I’m already looking forward to Barrett-Jackson Northeast 2017.