Millennials a growing force at Barrett-Jackson car auction

High-powered super cars, Japanese imports and vintage SUVs are growing in popularity at car auctions like Barrett-Jackson in Scottsdale as younger collectors make their presence felt in the billion-dollar industry.

A 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder with an 887-horsepower engine fetched nearly $1.8 million as the top-selling car at Barrett-Jackson last year, but the price may have been less important than its buyer's identity: a real-estate developer in his 30s, according to Craig Jackson, CEO of the auction company.

"All I know is he started driving the car the next day," Jackson said. "He wanted instant gratification."

Baby Boomers still have a commanding presence at collector-car auctions, but the infusion of young blood is forcing changes.

"Millennials are really joining the market because the oldest of them are 35, turning 36," said McKeel Hagerty, CEO of Michigan-based Hagerty Insurance Agency, which insures more than a million collector cars worldwide. "Generations move on, and it's not the Baby Boomer car market anymore."

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Hagerty has seen a 21 percent increase in insurance quotes requested by Millennials in the past year, compared with a 7.4 percent increase from Boomers and 2 percent decline from "pre-Boomers," according to company spokesman Jonathan Klinger.

Celebrities, media boost exposure

Car collecting has long relied on a social structure dominated by auto clubs and classic-car shows, where hobbyists could build a familiar network with like-minded people. For Millennials, however, automotive media — car magazines and cable networks — have become the stronger source of influence.

"If you look at most of the really popular car stuff, it is the media that drives a lot of those collecting habits instead of clubs," Hagerty said.

That media influence at Barrett-Jackson is obvious. Pop icon Justin Bieber'sFerrari has been among the most talked about cars at this year's auction, and a 1,000-horsepower, 16-cylinder Bugatti once owned by boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. caused a splash when it joined the lineup Thursday.

An AMC Pacer made famous by the 1992 film "Wayne's World" recently sold for more than $37,000 at Barrett-Jackson in Las Vegas. A slew of "resto-mods" — vintage cars restored beyond their original condition — have gained traction at this year's Scottsdale auction thanks in part to greater acceptance from Millennials who grew up watching the "Fast and Furious" movies.

"Millennials are much more comfortable with modified vehicles, swapping out wheels or doing little body kits," Hagerty said. "They don't feel like they're trying to adhere to a common standard."

Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale's extensive media exposure, including 36 hours of live television broadcast on the Discovery and Velocity networks, also has helped the event catch the attention of younger viewers and major celebrities.

"It works across every generation," Hagerty said. "There used to be Sinatra cars and Elvis cars, and then you kind of move forward to more-relevant celebrities. But the next generations are going to want even more than that."

Room for improvement

Ben Sinnott, a 43-year-old collector from Fairfield, Conn., attended Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale for the first time this week to look at resto-mods, a departure from his usual tendency to collect modern European cars.

"I like big motors and loud cars, which is why some of these where the original car had 200 horsepower and now there's a 600-horsepower monster engine jammed in there, I love that idea," Sinnott said. "It's totally stupid. Right up my alley."

Despite finding an abundance of restored classics to browse, Sinnott wasn't sure he would make a purchase because of the general lack of information about most cars — something he said younger buyers won't find acceptable.

You can buy a piece of Disneyland at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale

"Unless the owner is standing there, you really have a limited ability to find out anything about the car," he said. "Maybe an older person is happy with that kind of thing, but my generation expects to be able to know pretty much everything. It's just a given."

Hagerty agreed that auction companies will need to boost the level of information available about their consignments to build greater trust among young collectors.

"If you think of the best auction catalogs, there's typically a picture of the car, a bunch of Wikipedia-style history of those cars and then about one paragraph about the car," Hagerty said. "That's not going to work for the next generation. They are just going to demand more information."

Vintage SUVs, Japanse cars make gains

For many young collectors, the seed of interest was planted by a parent, often a father who tinkered with mechanical projects in the garage. But their interests within the automotive world often diverge as they become adults.

Brendan Quinlan, a 24-year-old from Chandler, bought two 1980s BMWs after learning mechanical skills from his dad, a U.S. Air Force technician. 

"His interests don't really go past the 1970s American stuff," Quinlan said. "But the current generation has removed a little of the stigma around the import cars that there used to be."

Millennials grew up seeing more Japanese cars and SUVs on the road, and their interests have propelled that segment of the market considerably, Hagerty said.

"If you want to buy vintage cars, your SUV choices are much fewer, so clearly those late 1960s and 1970s Ford Broncos and International Scouts, that sort of class has caught on, and they're buying them very quickly," Hagerty said. 

And while Japanese vehicles are "always tough for the traditional car guy," they're much more popular with the younger crowd, he said.

"Like Toyota Supras — when I was in college in California those were pretty hot stuff, and now they're heavily collected."

Barrett-Jackson sold a 1994 Toyota Supra for a world-record price last year, $31,350, another indication of the auction company's swing toward younger demographics. The average bidder age is shrinking each year, Jackson said.

"I made the decision years ago, and it wasn't a very popular decision, to start bringing in more modern cars," Jackson said. "You've got to talk to the younger people on the platform they are familiar with."