Barrett-Jackson’s first Northeast auction at Mohegan Sun sold out on opening day, so for its second year, the company added an extra day, a new concours event, and a deeper lineup of collector cars. Here’s what the expanded 2017 event actually delivered, from the final sales total to the Ride ‘N Drives that let fans test-drive new muscle cars between bids.
More days, more tickets, more events for car buffs.
That’s what Barrett-Jackson is planning for 2017 after its inaugural Northeast auction sold out more than 10,000 tickets on opening day last year at Mohegan Sun.
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New to the festivities will be the New England Concours d’Elegance auto show and competition, sponsored by Barrett-Jackson, on Saturday and Sunday, June 17 and 18, followed by the second annual Barrett-Jackson Northeast Auction preview on Wednesday, June 21, and the much anticipated auction, Thursday through Saturday, June 22 to 24.
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A casino floor built for high rollers was about to host a very different kind of gamble, one measured in matching numbers and original paint instead of poker chips. Barrett-Jackson had already proven the Northeast wanted in on the collector car boom, selling out more than 10,000 tickets on opening day of its first-ever event at Mohegan Sun. Now the auction house was doubling down, adding an extra day of festivities, a new concours competition, and a lineup deep enough to keep bidders in their seats from sunup to last call. Would the second act top the sellout debut, or was lightning unlikely to strike twice in Connecticut?
Building On a Sellout Debut
The 2nd Annual Barrett-Jackson Northeast Auction ran June 21-24, 2017, expanding on a first-year event that had already sold out. By the time the gavel fell for the last time, the auction had moved 630 vehicles and 685 pieces of automobilia, generating roughly $24.3 million in total sales for the week.
More Than Just an Auction
Barrett-Jackson kicked off the week by sponsoring the New England Concours d’Elegance on the Mohegan Sun grounds June 17-18, giving the event a black-tie showcase before the bidding paddles came out. Fans who weren’t there to buy could still get behind the wheel through Ford and Chevrolet Ride ‘N Drives, or ride shotgun on a closed-course Dodge Thrill Ride, a formula that’s helped Barrett-Jackson turn its auctions into weekend-long festivals rather than single-day sales events.
Casinos as an Unlikely Auction Venue
Resort-casino properties like Mohegan Sun have become increasingly popular hosts for collector car auctions, largely because they already combine large event space with the hotel, dining, and entertainment infrastructure a multi-day crowd of bidders and spectators actually needs. That built-in convenience is a big part of why an auction house looking to expand beyond its home market gravitates toward a venue like this one.
Barrett-Jackson’s Expansion Beyond Scottsdale
Barrett-Jackson’s flagship event remains its January auction in Scottsdale, Arizona, but its push into regional markets like the Northeast reflects the broader growth of the collector car auction business well beyond its traditional Arizona home base. A sellout debut season at Mohegan Sun was exactly the kind of signal that convinced the company to commit to a second, expanded return.
A Concours Alongside the Gavel
Sponsoring a concours d’elegance alongside an auction blends two very different traditions of the collector car hobby — the judged, preservation-focused world of static showing, and the transactional energy of live bidding — under a single event banner, giving attendees a reason to show up even if they have no intention of raising a paddle.
Ride ‘N Drives Put Fans Behind the Wheel
Manufacturer-sponsored ride-and-drive and thrill-ride activations at events like this give attendees who aren’t bidding six or seven figures a genuinely hands-on way to participate, rather than simply watching from the stands as someone else’s car crosses the block.
Betting On the Northeast Market
Committing to a second consecutive expanded event, with an added day and a new concours competition, signals real confidence that the Northeast can sustain the kind of collector car demand that once seemed concentrated almost entirely around Arizona and Florida.
Connecticut’s Unlikely Rise on the Auction Map
A casino resort in Connecticut becoming a stop on a national collector car auction calendar reflects just how far the hobby’s geographic footprint has spread beyond its traditional Arizona and Florida strongholds in recent years.
Sponsorship as a Marketing Strategy
Attaching Barrett-Jackson’s name to a concours competition rather than just running a standalone auction gives the company a foothold in the region’s car culture well before bidding even starts, building goodwill with local owners and enthusiasts who might consign cars in future years.
630 Vehicles in Four Days
Moving that many vehicles across just four days requires the kind of streamlined, made-for-television auction format Barrett-Jackson has spent decades refining at its larger Scottsdale event, now exported successfully to a completely different region of the country.
A Second Year as the Real Test
A sellout debut can happen once on novelty alone. A strong encore the following year is a better signal of whether a market can sustain long-term interest, which is exactly the test this expanded second event was designed to pass.
A Blueprint Borrowed From Scottsdale
The multi-day format pairing a preview event, a concours, and a live-broadcast auction mirrors the structure Barrett-Jackson perfected at its flagship Scottsdale event over decades, now adapted for a very different regional audience on the opposite side of the country.
What Automobilia Adds to a Casino Weekend
Alongside the vehicles themselves, automobilia lots — vintage signage, dealership memorabilia, and period advertising — give attendees without six-figure budgets a way to take home a genuine piece of automotive history from the same event.
What Success Here Could Mean Elsewhere
A strong second year at Mohegan Sun gives Barrett-Jackson a template it could plausibly repeat in other regional markets that have never hosted a major collector car auction before, turning one casino resort’s results into a test case for the company’s broader expansion plans.
A Weekend Built for More Than Bidders
Even attendees with no intention of raising a paddle found plenty to fill a weekend here, between the concours field, the ride-along activations, and simply walking a lineup of cars most people only ever see in magazines.
One More Reason to Watch This Space
If the Northeast keeps delivering results like this, expect Barrett-Jackson to keep expanding its footprint here rather than treating Mohegan Sun as a passing experiment, giving Connecticut a permanent seat at the collector car auction table.
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Try showing the motors in the cars instead of talking about the way the body lines flow
The first thing you should do is swoop in and show the motors the body work we can see but we just have to take your word on the motors get your act together that’s why more people watch meecums auto auctions