Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach: The Opening Night Gala Edition

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So this olelongrooffan was fortunate enough to have bestowed upon me a full truckload credential package for the Barrett-Jackson experience down in Palm Beach, Florida for this weekend. That package included an invitation to the opening night gala out there at the South Florida Fairgrounds. Although I’m not really into the old cocktail party experience, I tend to prefer smaller groups, I had to check out the gala, well, just because.

Click on through to enjoy more of that experience with this olelongrooffan.

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Ironically, even before our Chief Blooger posted his experiences with one of these machines, I had spotted one among the booths in the lobby of the auction room. I spotted this same one last weekend up at the Brit Car Show and have lots more images of it to share with my fellow Hoons soon.

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Inside the auction room was a full blown party going on. Booze was freely flowing and the food lines were packed.

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Yeah, Craig Jackson and Steve Davis sure know how to throw a mighty fine shebang.

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The General even had banners floating from the rafters.

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Well, after checking out that gala, this olelongrooffan decided to head out to see what could be seen. First off I spotted this race car wheel table. Interestingly enough, I have one almost just like it but with Grand Am slicks and a bent up Corvette wheel. This one is being sold off to benefit the Darrell Gwynn Foundation and that Foundation worthy of every cent of that table’s $500 asking price.

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And should my fellow Hoons be mistaken in your belief that Barrett-Jackson is all about muscle cars, check out the above image. Those are a tri 5 Belair, 60ish Buick convertible, pretty sure a Lambo and a Camaro RS. How is that for diversity of product?

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And how about a real treat? A Ford Torino Talladega.

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And just because this olelongrooffan tends to forget, or underestimate, the true sense of history with certain vehicles, I had to capture this image of the owner’s info sheet taped to the windscreen of that rare old Ford.

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And just to add to the diversity of the offerings, Steve Davis decided to include this Fiat as well here in Palm Beach.

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But trust this olelongrooffan, this is no 128.

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Check out this Nash offering as well as the other vehicles in this image. Yeah, that’s a Chevelle longroof alongside it.

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Nothing like a Cadillac Sedanette to go along with your Desoto Sportsman.

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Just another image of some of the diverse offerings this year. Man, I miss the “Charles Barrett Special” already

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They even allowed this pristine Type II into the show just for we Volkswagen fanatics.

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So, having checked out the tents outside, I headed on back into the party to find the food lines had thinned out considerably so this olelongrooffan grabbed me some complimentary prime ribs, raw oysters, tortillini and a cold sodie pop and grabbed a bar stool at this display of soon to auctioned memorabilia and enjoyed me a bite to eat.

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All the while checking out this cool ass chain driven pedal Jeep.

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Afterwards, I wandered around the bar and people filled auction floor and checked out some more of the cool stuff including this autographed tool box.

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Even the band sounded good that evening to this sober olelongrooffan. I am sure the party revelers loved them even more.

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And up by the band and the dance floor, I spotted a sofa laden area reserved for many of the auction regulars I have spotted while watching Barrett-Jackson on Speed so many times.

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Yeah, it was a very scenic party that evening.

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This display was actually a display for the lift this ole woody ragtop was on. It also doubled as a dining room table for many of the party attendees.

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I know I included this image as the lead also but I include it again just to make a point.

In the past when I have watched these auctions on the boob tube, I always thought it was a bunch of snooty people with way more money than sense buying way over priced crap.

I could not have been more mistaken. Everyone I bumped into that evening was as pleasant as they could be and even went out of their way to talk about their passion which is the same as yours and mine, cars and trucks. They purchase the same stuff as we do, stuff they like. They just have a different budget than you and I do. That’s all.

And Craig Jackson and Steve Davis looked like they were having the time of their lives that evening and it showed on their smiling faces all evening long. Thanks for a great time guys.

Image Copyright Hooniverse 2013/longrooffan

Disclosure: This olelongrooffan was awarded complimentary media credentials by Barrett-Jackson along with a plate of delicious grub and a couple diet sodie pops.

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3 responses to “Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach: The Opening Night Gala Edition”

  1. Tom Lee Avatar
    Tom Lee

    glad you got the invite down and were able to attend
    lots of good stuff.
    tom

  2. MVEilenstein Avatar
    MVEilenstein

    Great stuff. Thanks for sharing.

  3. Irishzombieman☆ Avatar
    Irishzombieman☆

    Dang. Barrett-Jackson threw you a nice high-falootin' party to welcome you to high-falootin' south Florida. Enjoy, hombre.