Barrett-Jackson has gone a long way as the No Reserve auction company, but that wasn’t the case in Palm Beach last weekend, where for the first time in seven years they accepted a reserve on certain consignments (those they valued at over $50,000). They’re not completely happy with the results, however, as the sale came in more than 20 percent down from the previous year, albeit on fewer consignments. Our informal count suggests about 40 percent of consignors opted for the reserve. A B-J spokesman told Speed.com the move was in response to customer requests stemming from the occasional low-ball sale of no-reserve cars. But Barrett-Jackson creates their huge sales in part on the all-no-reserve promise of seeing big cars sell cheap, so it’s not clear how or if this model will work for them, and as they told Speed, “After a careful analysis of our results in Florida, we will decide a course of action that makes sense for Barrett-Jackson, our customers and the collector-car hobby.”
Their top seller at that auction was a 1957 De Soto Adventurer convertible, sold with no reserve at $247,500, including premium. It previously sold at the Houston Classic last year at $159,000, so why the huge price discrepancy? Barrett-Jackson had offered it before, in 2001, when questions about its authenticity emerged. Perhaps These questions have been answered; if you know anything about it, let us know in the comments. Or perhaps it’s just the afterglow effect: This is the second B-J auction in a row with a De Soto as the top collector car sale, after a 1956 Fireflite convertible brought $368,500 in Scottsdale.
UPDATE: We have heard from multiple sources that any questions about the car were successfully resolved prior to the sale, with documentation from Chrysler Historical Collection based on the VIN and engine stampings. “It’s a righteous car,” said someone familiar with the vehicle.